[PRP-Jauhar] It's You! (Callum//V'demhe)

[Painted Moose]

"Faulina, heel! Slow down!"

Try as he might Callum's pleas fell on deaf ears. The young Kinfa had found a joy in flight, which was joyous in itself, had it not meant leaps of faith from extremely tall branches. Callum had been chasing the pink avian for a while now. His arms ached from clutching onto branches just to stay upright, and his heart was nearly shot from nerves with each leap he had to make just to reach a new branch so she wouldn't out fly him.

Every time she would land to catch her breath Callum had tried to catch her. Kinfa were an intelligent species in general, though Faulina always seemed one step ahead of him. She almost seemed to be taunting him when she flew. Though, as young she was, the hatchling wasn't able to keep her altitude for long and was soon coasting on the ground. This came as a great relief to her handler, as Callum was much more at home running than he ever was in the trees.

Finally he had to admit defeat. Callum hunched over and wheezed with his hands on his knees. There was only so much the lad could do! When he looked up Faulina had settled on an exposed root just a ways from him. If he was correct then she was just as tired as he was. Bout damn time.

Heras Box

 

[Heras Box]

Painted Moose

The young alkidike was resting against a tree as she waited for Maya to get more supplies. She'd gone through the medicine that Teiluj had supplied her with just to make sure she wasn't slowing down the older woman. V'demhe's rest was cut short, however, when Maha perked up and seemed to sniff the air. He found something interesting. It was at that moment that Dem got to her feet, not wanting to be caught in a prone state if there was an unfriendly.

When her familiar started to walk forward Dem gave a soft groan and moved to follow. She knew the radaku wouldn't stop until he figured out what it was he was smelling.

Before too long they came upon a young kinfa and a male who seemed out of breath. V'demhe did her best to reach out and touch Maha so that she could halt him in his tracks but she missed and he went to investigate the bird.  

[Painted Moose]

Heras Box

Callum would have been fairly content to focus on making sure his lungs wouldn't burst into flames, but Faulina's sudden sqwauk caught his attention. It was a shrill cry, something of a surprise warning, that made the young hybrid fear the worst. Were they being attacked?

The little kinfa was much too tired to take off into the safety of her trees. So she settled with puffing up her feathers, attempting to make herself seem much larger and oh so much more badass than she truly was. Even in her youth, Faulina was all sass and little bite.

Her caretaker's attention was on the Alkidike behind the radaku. She looked as worn as he felt, but his grandmother's warnings kept cropping up in his mind. It was conflicting since so many of his friends had Alkidike blood. Was he in the right to be scared of this woman? It didn't mean he had to be rude though. Rising to his full height, Callum brushed sweaty strands of white hair off his face and smiled. "Your radaku is safe so long as he doesn't get too close, but I would advise that you keep your distance from her. Faulina doesn't take well to females." He cast a warning look to the avian and wasn't surprised to see her attention kept on trying to look intimidating.  

[Heras Box]

Painted Moose

The male seemed concerned for her radaku, saying that he was safe so long as they both stayed away. V'demhe stared at him for a moment then looked at the kinfa. It was the first one she'd seen that thought she was a threat. A bit ironic really, since she was still wounded and in the process of healing. Slowly the Alkidike reached out to lay a hand on Maha, a simple gesture but one that had the familiar moving back a step and then sitting beside his owner. With that done Dem cast her eyes toward the bird. "Relax, Maha only wanted to play." Since meeting both Teiluj's and Virain's kinfas the radaku had developed a playful streak whenever he saw the birds.

Looking now toward the male she took in his appearance. He had the shifter's color hair but not the skin tone. Since she had yet to go beyond Jauhar she didn't know what the other earthlings looked like, but she knew this male was a hybrid of some kind. "You can relax as well, I'm not going to hurt you or the bird." V'demhe thought it was safer to say that she meant no harm than to simply stare and wait for something to happen.  

[Painted Moose]

Heras Box

It took a while for Faulina to calm, but even once she had the little avian kept her eyes on V'demhe. The radaku was barely a concern to her now, though when she did eventually fly up to a branch Faulina watched for Maha as well. She didn't fly away out of fear, rather for a better position to study the strange creature.

Callum took the females words at face value and visibly relaxed. As he walked he pulled his hair behind him and began to twist it into a loose braid. "I'm sorry if I seemed rude; I hate that I have to be so suspicious." His eyes focused in on the Alkidike's lips, and for a moment he was pretty open in his staring. "Your lip ring is...by chance have you ever met an Alkidike hybrid with short, blond hair? Hoop earrings, goes by Ming'we?"

It didn't really matter if she had met Ming'we or not, Callum had to give it up to his friend; lip rings were pretty inviting. If only he had the guts to get one for himself.  

[Heras Box]

Painted Moose

Her eyes followed the bird as it moved up to a branch. Not once did she consider that the creature was moving out of fear. Mostly because she had seen a bird that was frightened and it didn't move so calmly. Bringing her eyes back toward the male she only arched one of her brows at him. "It's alright. I understand why earthlings are that way, especially in these times." And she did. After all she'd had an encounter with an extremist not too long ago. When Dem noticed that the male was staring at her lip ring she started to toy with it.

What he said next made her give a groan. "Yes, I... have met her." Great. What had the hybrid said? That she made out with V'demhe? Or that they were an item?  

[Painted Moose]

Heras Box

Callum had to laugh at her reaction. As he continued to speak, Callum knotted off the braid with a strip of leather produced from his side satchel. "You don't have to look so uneasy. All she said was that she met an Alkidike with a cute lip ring." So maybe that wasn't exactly how she'd put it, but Callum was trying his best not to get into sticky territory."It's nice to see the face behind the jewelry."

When he was finished Callum held out his hand. "The names Callum. Thanks for being nice to my sister. Well, she's not really my sister, but you get the point. With everything going on I worry about her, and kindness seems harder to find."  

[Heras Box]

Painted Moose

She gave a sigh and visibly relaxed. V'demhe reached up and rubbed at her neck a bit before she blinked. So this boy had wanted to know who she was, well that was alright. She moved her hand away from her neck and into Callum's hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm V'demhe." Hearing that this weird earthling viewed the hybrid s his sister he gave a smile. "Good to know she has decent family then. When I met her I was carrying her home after she'd gotten beaten by some villagers."  

[Painted Moose]

Heras Box

Callum gave her a hearty, though soft shake and once his hands were free the boy crossed them behind his back in lackadaisical fashion. "You flatter me. Family is just supposed to look out for each other, right?" Although he was smiling, he put emphasis on the 'supposed' bit. Just because that was the definition of family, that didn't always mean that it worked out. Callum liked to think of himself as the exception to his bloodline.

"Oh, well that-!!" Callum nearly choked on his own spit in his shock. He put a hand up to his check as he cleared his throat. "She what?! Ming'we never mentioned that to me! How badly was she hurt? Who did it, is she in danger now?"  

[Heras Box]

Painted Moose

She had to blink several times. Why had the girl not told her family about what had happened. It made V'demhe frown a bit since she had insisted that Ming'we get someone to look after her. The Alkidike gave a sigh before shaking her head. "I want to say it was a month ago.. I was passing through on my way to see a friend when I came upon the scene." It could have been longer, after all Dem wasn't sure about how many days she had spent sleeping off her own injuries in the past week or so. If she wanted to know exactly then she would need to ask Teiluj or possibly even Maya.

"As to whether or not she's still in danger.. Yes. With the unrest still milling about it is likely she'll be attacked by extremists." She based her answer off the event that happened to her not too long ago. The way a leading Alkidike had tried to kill an innocent hybrid child. She could only imagine what would be done to a grown hybrid. It was enough to make her look behind her toward the direction she had come from. She worried about Teiluj. What if something happened to her friend while she was away?  

[Painted Moose]

Heras Box

A month ago?

Callum bit his lower lip and shook his head. It bothered him that he hadn't known about it sooner, but if he was in her shoes, would he have told her? He wouldn't have wanted her to worry, so maybe that's how she felt...All the more reason for him to take up arms against all the ignorant hatred. Ming'we was just as much a Sister as the Alkidike standing before him, and she shouldn't have been treated like that.

Noticing the way she was looking over her shoulder cause Callum to be on his toes once more. What if she was looking for back up? Would it have really mattered? He wasn't likely to run; not with that lip ring so close...Callum took a couple steps closer. "Your headband looks a little crooked. I can fix it for you if you bend down a little."  

[Heras Box]

Painted Moose

Her hand went up to her headband when Callum said something about it but paused and gave a nod. V'demhe ducked down a little so that he could reach it without too much of a stretch. All the while she fiddled with that lip ring, still worrying about her friend. "Thanks." Came a mumbled response to his help. Dem wasn't sure how else to react to his kindness in helping with something so trivial.  

[Painted Moose]

Heras Box

Callum might have been bold in his affections, but he was normally an observer, not a doer. If a situation looked as if it were going to be bad for his health he stayed clear. That was the norm for Callum.

The newly improved Callum was more brazen than ever before.

He ducked in as quickly as possible and stole a kiss. That lip ring had been driving him wild since the moment he saw it, and her constant fiddling hadn't helped.  

[Heras Box]

Painted Moose

There was a moment of shock that seemed to hold her in place. She couldn't figure out why she had been kissed nor why it had only been a peck. V'demhe blinked before she tilted her head at Callum. "I take it my headband is fine?" That was all she was able to really say at the moment. All other thoughts were stilled, trying to catch up to what had happened. Was it a trait of the wind tribe to just kiss whomever? It was the only connection she could make between Ming'we and Callum. They both had part wind and they both had kissed her without warning.

Finally she cleared her throat a little and stepped closer to the male, still keeping low so that they were eye to eye. With a bit of a smirk the Alkidike drew nearer to him and gave him a kiss in return. Hers was more playful, her lip ring being manipulated to tease him a bit, then she pulled away. "There, now I won't have to worry about you saying I am a bad kisser."  

[Painted Moose]

Heras Box

"You saw through me." Callum smiled impishly, and shrugged his shoulders. She didn't seem as perturbed by it as others might have been, but then, he wasn't the only one who had stolen a kiss.

His heart stopped as she came closer. Was she...? Was she going to punch him or something? The smirk was what peeked his interest, but the kiss is what kept it. He pressed back a little, giving in to a little n** at the lip ring before the contact was broken.

Callum smirked. "No, you definitely don't have to worry about that."

A bundle of squawking, shrieking pink fluff descended from the sky over head and flew at V'demhe's head. Faulina dove in with her talons, yanking and snatching her dreads with just enough force to pull her away.

"Faulina!"