[PRP] Play Time [Namid x Asku]

[Skyflu]

A cool breeze drifted into the cave and ruffled the fur in between Namid's ears. A couple specks of dust floated in front of her face. She went to blow them to the ground, but the puff of air that escaped her lips only set the dust flying upwards. Namid huffed. She was bored. It didn't happen often, but it seemed to be happening today. With the stars whispering to her and things needing attention, she always had something to do. In fact, she was lucky to find time to sleep. However...now she was bored. Nothing was knocking on her brain for attention. Everything was silent. She didn't think she'd say it, but Namid needed some entertainment.

She managed to work up enough energy to flop over towards Asku. If her normal outlet of things didn't provide her with something to do, then maybe Asku will. "I'm bored and I don't know what to do."
Namid reflected on her current situation. It was actually kind of weird not doing anything. She wasn't lazy, just... nothing. Weird.

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Asku dozed lightly in the warmth of the cave, glad for a respite from those nagging stars. Someone really needed to tell them to hush up more often. Were things really that important that they had to bug Namid all day, every day? Or at least, almost every day. Today was nice and quite so far, and he really couldn't think of a better way to spend his time than sleeping next to Namid in his lovely cave an-

He snorted softly as Namid spoke and lifted his head to look over his shoulder at him. "Hm?" Bored? Had he heard correctly? "You? Bored?" he asked, yawning widely. "Really?" He shook his head and rolled over to look at Namid, his eyes half closed. Bored...hm. That was actually kind of exciting! He wasn't sure it had ever happened before.

"Well...do you want me to do something about that?" he asked, glancing outside of their cave. He could play a game with her...that would be fun. "We could go hunting, or play a game..."  

[Skyflu]

Namid raised her paw and scratched her nose with one nail. She stared off into the depths of the cave, continuing to scratch while Asku woke up. This boredom problem really needed to go. She couldn't quite figure out what to do with herself and scratching her nose all night would be dreadful...wait...what if that's all she could do? Scratch her nose for the rest of her life? The thought sent Namid curling into a ball, forcing her paw to stop scratching her nose.

Though, Asku's words brought her ears perking upward. A game....that would be different. Namid hasn't played a game in ages. That is...if she ever did. Well, her siblings used to "play" with her, but really...it was just them messing with her when she was on a mission for the stars. They thought it was a game, but really, she was doing important stuff.

Namid raised her head to address Asku, "What game? Is it easy?"

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Asku shook himself again to wake up a bit and glanced down at Namid, who was slowly uncurling from a ball. An easy game? He could certainly think of one. "Oh sure. I know lots of game," he said with an easy smile. He had to know lots of games to keep the pups entertained. His favorites when he had been younger had included things like chasing butterflies or bugs, hiding a shiny stone and making one of his siblings find it, and seeing how many times he could run from one point to another by the time someone else counted to one hundred. He figured Namid wouldn't like the racing game, though.

"Here...we'll try this one," he said, looking around their cave for a moment. He finally spotted a shiny stone and went over to it. He batted it back to Namid and watched as it rolled to a stop right before her nose. "All right. Take a good look at that rock. And then once you know what it looks like, close your eyes and I'll hide it. And when I'm done, you get to try to find it. I'll give you clues like '...oh, you're getting closer!' or maybe 'oh no, you're going the wrong way' if you get stuck. It's lots of fun!"

He sat back on his haunches and waited for Namid to close her eyes, his tail wagging quickly. He hadn't played this game in ages! He liked hiding the rocks in tricky places, like wedged in a crack in the ground or under a leaf. That way they really had to look...but maybe he should take it easy on Namid this time. It was her first time playing this particular game, after all.

Blu Chalk

 

[Skyflu]

Find a rock? Why would she want to do that? Namid cocked her head to the side as she analysed the rock game. So Asku would hide it and she would find it...That didn't seem very fun. Everything had a signature and they spoke to her. Like light whispers. Some where very pretty and others were loud. Like, AHHHHH!! Namid folded her ears back at the memory of a really nasty leaf. It was very grumpy and screamed all the time. She was glad to eat it.

Asku's positive attitude was very infectious though. She watched as he selected a rock and tossed it. The rock stopped in front of her. Alright, she will play this game of finding. Asku was really happy and she wouldn't want to ruin his mood by not playing. She'll at least try it once.

Before she closed her eyes, she lapped up the stone into her mouth. She needed to taste it. Not literally taste it because it didn't have a taste, but she needed to gather its essence. Namid let the stone sit on her tongue a few seconds before swishing it around in her mouth. Then she spit it back out and closed her eyes. "Alright, hide it. I'm ready."
Oh, this may be exciting.

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Asku waited while Namid thought over the idea of this game. He had others if she wasn't terribly interested in it, but he hoped she'd like this one. That way they wouldn't have to leave the cave and head out into the hot afternoon. He could tell, just from moving near the mouth of the cave, that it was nasty and humid out. There were lots of bugs flying around, though, so if this rock thing didn't work, maybe the bug thing would.

He held still in surprise as Namid ate the rock. Wait...no, not ate, just...sucked on. He stared at it for a moment as she spit it back out, and decided he'd kick it along the ground to let it dry off. "All right...just keep those eyes closed." Once it was sufficiently dry, he picked it up in his mouth and brought it to the back of the cave. After selecting a nice pile of pebbles to hide it in, he returned to Namid's spot.

"All right. Open your eyes, and try to find it," he said cheerfully. She'd probably be looking for a while, he thought to himself as he sat down. That was good, though. She needed to stay entertained or else he feared they'd end up going on another sprint through the woods to find some kind of bark from a certain tree. That had been a rather disastrous adventure.

Blu Chalk

 

[Skyflu]

Namid kept her eyes shut, but she could still see where the rock was. Well, not literally see it with her eyes, but she could detect it's essence as Asku kicked it along the ground. It disappeared for a short bit while Asku had the rock in his mouth. Though, Namid wasn't worried she would lose it. Of course, Asku could eat the rock and then Namid wouldn't be able to find it till later. By then it would be gross...or maybe she would have won the game already since she knew that the rock had to be in his gut?

The reappearance of the rock's location brought Namid back to focusing on the game. The rock was lowered into a pile of other rocks which made it difficult for Namid to see the 'game' rock. All the rocks were jumbling up the same waves and Namid quickly lost it in the volume of the others. Luckily, she put her own scent on the rock because she was able to pick up a trail of purple. It wasn't much, but enough for her to 'see'.

As soon as Asku allowed her to escape from the blindness, she shot straight up and hurried over to the rock pile. Her ears twitched in multiple directions to help her navigate through all the signals. It was a lot harder to find the rock with her eyes open. Too many distractions. So, she closed her eyes and was greeted with the purple strand. She dove straight for it and came up with the rock.

She padded back over to Asku, placing the rock at his feet. "Is that it?" She sat down and cocked her head to the side.

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Asku sat back and grinned slightly as Namid hopped up. There was no way she'd find that quickly. He had it hidden in the best...spot...wait. How was she running right over to the pile? Had the stars pointed her in the right direction? She always seemed to locate things exactly when she needed to. That was cheating, then. Wasn't it?

When Namid tossed the rock to him he sighed quietly and batted it away. "Yes, that's the correct one. You're not supposed to get any help in finding it. You're supposed to use your eyes only. And not that...tracking thing the stars help you do." Well...perhaps she wouldn't understand. He glanced around, trying to think of another game that wouldn't involve her relying on her connection to the heavens. Oh, the butterflies!

"Why don't we go chase some butterflies?" he suggested, nodding out to the mouth of the cave where the bugs flew around in the sunlight. "They're pretty hard to catch...they're like feathers with minds." And really, they were quite difficult. Once they realized something was snapping at them, their erratic flight patterns became even more random and a lot faster. "The goal is to catch one in your mouth. And you get bonus points if you don't kill it and it can fly away after you let it go."

Blu Chalk

 

[Skyflu]

Namid frowned a bit at Asku's disappointment. How else was she suppost to find the rock? I mean, she was looking for it and found it. Isn't that what the game was about? It's not her fault she put her scent on it. Well... it was, but he didn't say she couldn't do it. Next time he needed to be more specific with the rules. Then again, Namid wasn't very good with rules. She just did whatever she had to, whether or not it was within the law.

Chasing butterflies? Humm... that sounded a lot more fun than looking for a rock. Yes, Namid could do that. In fact, the thought of snapping her jaws around something had her tail wagging and butt dancing. "Yes! Lets try this bug game!" The randomness of the possibilities was extra exciting. Things in order didn't stay in order. A good shake up is just what she needed. Hopefully, the butterflies flight patterns would be a good challenge.

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Asku perked up again as Namid reacted positively to his suggestion. Good! She seemed to like this idea. He had seen her chasing them a few days ago, but he wasn't sure if she had been doing that for fun or if they were flying all wrong and the stars were upset. Either way, at least she knew how to play this game.

"All right! Follow me," he said as he trotted out of the cave. The sunlight made him squint a bit as he peered up into the sky, searching for a good target. Ah...that one. It was yellow and blue and easy to keep an eye on. "All right...now, the way I play is this: chase them, and if you can catch them without killing them, it's extra good. If you do kill them it's okay, but the goal is to try to let them go so you can chase them another day. Got it?"

These rules were pretty simple, after all. There was no 'no using your magical star powers to help' rule. It was just chase, catch, release. He wagged his tail a few times before leaping into the air after his target, missing completely and falling to the ground in an uncoordinated pile. He was back on his feet again, though, and took off after the weaving and bobbing bug.

Blu Chalk

 

[Skyflu]

Namid followed close behind Asku as he walked outside. She nodded in agreement to the instructions. Things needed guidelines, a certain path to travel. Though, it's ok to travel away from the common. Things need order as well as disorder or else the world would fail. That ying-yang bit she's heard travelers speak about. Every people has their own word for it, so it was important.

Namid didn't think she could not kill the bugs, she would try, but she doubted she'd be successful. Her eyes followed Asku as he flopped around the bugs in front of him. She hunkered her lower body to the ground, forcing her butt in the air. At this position, she'd be able to put all her power in her legs.

Asku's excitement was infectious and Namid couldn't help wagging her tail. The yellow and blue butterfly fluttered into her ratios. She laid her ears down in concentration. As it glided closer, she tensed her muscles. Then with her pent up energy, she sprung upward and snapped her jaws in the air. The butterfly veered to the right and Namid collapsed back to the ground, unsuccessful.

Oh, no. Namid will not have that! She pivoted on her back leg and quickly positioned herself with the butterfly in her sights. She will not fail at this catch game. This time she leaped again and managed to clip the end of the bug's wing. It wobbled in a feeble attempt to get away. Namid quickly raised her head and chomped down on the butterfly, killing it. There wasn't a way it would survive now that she had damaged its wing. So, she swallowed in respect to her kill.

Namid looked around and spotted Asku chasing after some larger bugs. She jogged over to his direction. "I had to kill the play bug." The last memory of the 'play bug' dotted all over her muzzle from the butterfly's powder from its wings. "I do not want to play this game anymore. How about something that requires us to be still?" She figured she'd be good at that.

SilverLutz

 

[SilverLutz]

Asku was pretty bad at this game. He remembered now only successfully catching a bug and letting it go once. Every other time he had killed them. It had been quite a while since he had played this game and it was obvious: he kept missing and flopping on his face! It was kind of embarrassing.

He glanced over his shoulder as Namid came up to him, blue and yellow wing bits on her face. Oh dear...well. He figured that would happen. He sighed softly and nodded, glancing back at the cave. "Why don't we go back and...you can tell me what the stars are saying? If they have any stories or...if you have any stories about them."

He nodding back to the cave and headed back, honestly glad to be heading back into the cool shade of their home.  

[Skyflu]

Namid pawed at the butterfly powder to remove it from her face. She examined her paw after cleaning her face. The specks of blue and yellow still lingered in the creases of her paws. Namid pulled her head closer to get a better look. The powder was definitely different. It had this lofty feel to it while still being grounded. Maybe should would use it in the future for something. Though, she'd need to kill a lot of butterflies in order to get enough powder to do anything. No, for now she'll leave it be.

Namid turned her attention back to Asku. A story would be nice. She was getting rather hot and the cool walls of the cave would be an excellent canvas for her to use. Yes, a quiet time is in order. She wasn't very good at telling stories since she often skipped straight to the point, but it will be a good time to practice. She watched how others told tales and their audiences were captured by their embellishments and strategic pauses. Namid knew a lot about her professor of star gazing, but little about socializing. Yes, there was still much she needed to learn.

END