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 Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:03 pm
 While he still didn't consider himself a member of the tribe as such, Kalevi had come to see the Solarie lands as home, and the tribe's members as...well, not even tribesmates, let alone, friends, but...people he could put up with living in his space. Some days.
Today wasn't one of those days, however, and so he was in his usual "I want to be by myself, leave me alone" spot on the far side of the lake from the main tribe activities, half watching what the rest of the tribe was up to, but not really paying them any particular attention.
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:37 pm
 Furii took a drink from the cool oasis and flicked her eyes about, scanning the tribe that had become her family.
Well, most of them were her family anyway. Except for the one that wasn't.
Rolling her eyes, Furii spotted him: Kalevi. He had...sort of grown. Changed. Sort of. At least, he had stopped being so completely antagonistic towards everyone. And he was still there, and that was something.
More importantly, he still intruiged her. It was this odd intruige that surrounded her leafy friend--acquaintance--Something that brought her to his space, which he had designated as his 'leave me alone' area. As usual, she ignored that and sat down a few feet away from him.
"Good morning."
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:40 pm
He huffed in slight annoyance that Furii had come over to see him, but no surprise. The whole tribe, and even its Elder, respected "his" spot. Except for Furii. He had never been that welcoming to her, but she persisted nonetheless.
"Good morning," he replied. That, and nothing else, as he waited to see what had brought her over this time.
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:49 pm
Furii smiled amusedly as her tail twitched across her feet; at least he had stopped jumping down her throat every time she got within 20 feet of him.
"How are you today, Kalevi?" she asked lightly, headtilting curiously at him. To her surprise, she actually cared.
Kind of.
Sort of.
Maybe. But not really.
"I hope you slept well."
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:53 pm
Well, that was new. He stared at her for a moment, but answered her honestly nonetheless. She had nothing to gain from knowing; he had nothing to lose from telling.
"I'm fine."
Nothing to gain or lose, but he still suspected her of some ulterior motive. It was in his nature, because of his background. He had a hard time beliving things were as simple as they seemed on the surface. But he would play along. For now.
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 9:06 pm
Furii smiled a little bit, keeping her triumphant grin to herself; it was like he was a puzzle she had been desperately trying to figure out, and so far the pieces hadn't been completely scattered again.
Yet.
"Glad to hear it. I'm fine as well--good, even. Have any of the others tried to bother you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow just a slight bit.
"I advised them to let you be, just so know." She added as an afterthought--she wondered, idly, if she and Kalevi would ever be anything besides awkward.
Part of her hoped so. Part of her wanted to keep it like this--she had a feeling that as soon as she figured him out, he would become...boring, and she certainly didn't want that. What else would she do for fun?
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 9:10 pm
"Have you now?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. That was...interesting. Why would she? He didn't think she cared enough to absolutely guarantee to get him to herself. And besides that fact, she was the only one who came over here.
Just making chitchat? He was never that up on social niceties this early in the morning (as evidenced by his less-that-scintilating side of the conversation), so maybe.
He didn't get her. Why bother with him? He had stopped minding her months ago, so getting under his fur wasn't it.
But then what was?
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 9:41 pm
"I have," Furii answered, noddng slightly. She thought she was doing him a favor, seeing how he didn't actually like people...but maybe he was trying to change? Like she thought? Was she just getting in his way? The thought, for some reason, troubled her.
"Is that alright?" she asked, tilting her head curiously at him, a slight frown gracing her face. She kind of cared what he thought, and she sort-of-kind-of cared about seeing him happy, and if her gently implying that the other foxes should respect people's wishes--more specifically, his wishes, was distressing him...
God. She didn't care.
Not really.
Sort of.
Kind of.
Okay, so she kind of did. But, fearing her mental babble would translate into spoken babble, she kept her mouth shut.
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 9:45 pm
"Why did you bother?" he asked, not even addressing her question. "No one comes over here. Besides you."
He didn't say it with any venom: it was just a simple statement of fact. He had minded, once, but now he had grown accustomed to it.
To her always coming over here. Being the only one to ever come over here.
He just couldn't figure out why.
Did she want him to herself? He couldn't figure out why she would. There were plenty of other foxes in the tribe, and every singe last one of them had to be more sociable than he was. So it seemed unlikely.
But so far, it was the only thing he could think of that it could be.
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 9:57 pm
Furii shrugged one shoulder, deciding after a moment or two of thought that she might as well tell him the truth.
"Because you and I are...kind of friends," she explained. "And you don't like people bothering you. I heard Kirke, one of Conundrum's daughters, talking about how you never have any friends."
She paused to roll her eyes, allowing a slight chuckle to escape her lips. "Maybe you don't know Kirke, but she is...determined. And more annoying than me." She added, shaking her head.
"Would you like me to tell her and the others they should feel free to join you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow lightly. It's not like she'd be upset if he wanted to be more social. Just surprised.
Just another piece to the puzzle.
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 10:05 pm
'Kind of friends.' He rolled that one over in his mind. It wasn't how he would describe them. But he didn't have anything better, either.
"More annoying than you? I doubt it." He was teasing. Sort of. He didn't exactly think Furii was annoying anymore. Just...puzzling. "She's one of his and Ate's daughters?"
He could tell on sight which of Conundrum's daughters were from which mother, but that was as far as he knew them. He didn't know which one was, say, Kirke.
"No, don't tell them to come over here. Someone will take you up on the offer." He grimaced. He could tolerate Furii, but he would not put up with the rest of the tribe intruding on 'his' spot.
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 10:22 pm
Furii actually laughed. He had just made a joke, kind of. In his own Kalevi-esque way.
"She is, yes. I could point her out to you, if you'd like," she offered, knowing he probably didn't care enough to take her up on that offer. But if anyone could tell him who was whom, she could--she was a Carer, after all.
She chuckled and nodded--this Tribe was not one for the solitary kind: it was where social butterflies came to roost.
Which was just another reason Kalevi choosing to remain here was so...puzzling. Fascinating.
"One of them definitely would. Maybe even more than one." Furii chuckled and shook her head. "They might all gang up on you and see what's so interesting."
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 11:06 pm
He shrugged, not particularly caring which fox was Kirke, so long as she (and all the rest) stayed on 'their' side of the lake.
"There's nothing interesting." Not to see, at least. He supposed his old tribe, his old life, could be called 'interesting', but he had never talked about those, and he doubted anyone around knew much about them. His old tribe had kept to itself.
As had he. Until one day some 'deity with a perverse sense of humor had decided that now this tribe was to be his new home.
Between the old tribe and new, he didn't think very highly of the 'deities.
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 11:18 pm
"Don't believe you." Furii said simply, blinking easily at him. It was true--he was definitely interesting, and she was sure that, with a bit of prying and annoyance, she'd find out what it was.
It seemed to have worked so far.
"But don't worry, they all still think you're the scary loner fox," she assured him, with a playful roll of her eyes. It amazed her that once upon a time she had almost agreed with them, but now she thought he was anything but.
Well, okay, he was still a loner, but he let her hang around now, and that was something.
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 11:25 pm
Well obviously she didn't, if she was still sticking around for whatever unfathomable reason. Kalevi didn't think he'd ever be able to puzzle her out.
He was glad that the rest of the tribe thought he was a 'scary loner fox'. That was something.
"Even Kirke thinks that?" he asked, somewhat teasing again.
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