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 Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:18 pm
  A sneeze could be heard echoing through the quiet day. A rather loud sneeze, at that.
Damn butterflies. Again?
Abattie's ears perked up as soon as the nasty feeling in her nose had disappeared and yellow eyes darted around the surroundings. There they were indeed. Those ignorant but pretty flying creatures that Nos said were called butterflies. Idiots. They made her sneeze as a filly, and now as an adult? That wasn't fair.
"Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it!!" The dark yellow mare screamed loudly, stomping a hoof. "I've had it with you creatures! Leave me alone! I HATE you!" Abattie frowned, turning her head away from the ones she could see so they wouldn't make her sneeze.
Which only resulted in the revealing of more. "Ahhh! Go away!" Attie shook her head, suddently on the verge of tears. No. Not again. Not today. She wouldn't cry. Not as an adult. That was immature and she was far from that.
Her first few days out on her own for real weren't going so well. And she had no one to back her up. Growing up around her brother, sister and parents, Abattie really had no childhood friends. No close buddies that she could run to if she was in trouble. Besides her family, Attie was really out on her own. Literally.
She definitely didn't like it, but she couldn't say she hated it. Freedom, right? That's what every new adult wanted. A chance to be themselves.
Although with those butterflies, this certain mare was finding it hard to have freedom.
Damn insects. A sniffle came to her and she sneezed once again.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:33 pm
As a child, Antony had never had any unpleasant run-ins with bugs. Then again, growing up in his family had been much more of a complication than any insect could fathom.
Consequently, as he stood watching the antics of the vibrantly yellow mare, he was more than a little confused. That she was reacting to bugs didn't even cross his mind; instead, he figured that either she was talking to herself, or else to someone else that he couldn't see.
That she was talking to him occured to him at least briefly, but as she'd been talking when he'd first noticed her, he very much doubted that was the case.
Well, only one way to figure it out!
Tossing back his mane, he walked over towards the mare, a concerned expression on his face. "Excuse me, Ma'am...but are you ok?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:45 pm
He snuck up so quietly and so quickly, Attie didn't notice him until he spoke. And she was also preoccupied with the butterflies.
Which sent her flying a good foot or so into the air with surprise. Yellow eyes darted to the one that approached her and with caution Abattie looked him up and down. A stallion, ick. And a one with wings, nonetheless. Although those wings were funny they were-! No! Could he be? Papa had told her stories of those creatures, but the mare had no intention of meeting one so soon in her life.
"Sorry..." A soft voice mumbled after she was able to collect herself. "I'm...fine. I think. Yea, I'm fine." She shook her head to get rid of any butterfly that dare cross her path now, after she had just ride herself of them.
"Just these bugs. I hate them. Growing up they always made me sneeze and well...I just sneezed and-" The yellowish brown mare paused. She probably looked like an idiot, talking to herself earlier. Boy, what an amazing first impression, eh?
Frowning, Abattie turned her head away from the young Kalona. "Call it a childhood phobia, if you will." Her voice was harder that time, more cautious now that she made an idiot of herself. "And don't call me ma'am. I'm not a ma'am."
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 7:01 pm
Bugs? She was freaking out because of bugs? Well, that was rather strange, but he could understand the desire to not sneeze. Sneezing was rather obnoxious, so being unable to avoid the source of the sneezing had to suck.
However, at her last comment he gave the mare a curious look. Her voice had changed, suddenly, and that last comment was downright frowsy. Did she always talk to people like this?
No, it was probably because she was embarrassed. His sister was the same way, after all; he could understand it. Besides, hadn't he learned at a young age that mares reacted oddly to everyday stimulae?
Consequently, he gave no indication he'd noticed the change, merely chuckling in a rueful manner. "Alright, so you're not a "Ma'am". I suppose I could call you "Mare," but I'm rather funny in liking a bit more specific a handle. What's your name? And I'm Antony, by the way."
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:32 pm
The look he was giving her made the yellow mare want to just shout at him, yell at him for something so...simple. She honestly couldn't stand it when others didn't understand her. But to give her looks as though she was an idiot!? Disrespectful! Abattie had half a mind to get up and leave that very second...but something about him told her to stay. The Kalonaness he carried with him, she was sure of it. Her Papa's fasination with those creatures obviously passed down to her as well.
Ah! The nerve! The words he spoke next she shook her head at. The emotional mare didn't understand the ego in some stallions, or rather the snarky sarcastic idiots in others. "I'm not a-" She paused, "Okay, so I am a mare, but that's disrespectful. It's like me calling you stallion and I haven't yet. Call me Miss because I'm not mated, or call me by my first name which is..."
She cut herself off, as the Kalona had spoken his name. So...odd. Antony. That actually fit him, it fit the way he looked. Abattie was slightly of a name freak, and could tell when someone's name just wasn't right...but Antony. Wow.
"Abattie. My good sir." The tempation to cry which came over her earlier had completely left now, all that was left was the curiousity for the stallion. Attie's first meeting to someone very close to her own age.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 3:35 pm
Ah, so she was of the disresectful/respectful dichotomy. That made sense. Her arguement, however, didn't, as he was quick to point out in his mild manner. "True enough, saying "Mare" would be rather blunt, but I've been called "stallion" before and have found it much less obnoxious a term that still other things I've been called. And "Miss" Probably would have been the best fit, as you yourself say, yet nothing about your appearance is indicatory of your mated state, if I might be so bold. You don't appear to be an older mare by any means, yet I've heard that some Soquili settle down as soon as they're old enough and, barring the wearing of a "single" sign...I felt it best to err on the side of caution."
Long speech. Thanks, Dad, for the genes that made it completely impossible to say anything simply! Chuckling at his own long-windedness, Antony shook his head in mock-despair, giving the mare an apologetic smile. "And now that I've talked your ear off...there's no need to call me "Sir" anything, Abattie; Antony is fine, or even Tony. I'm not big on formalities myself, so I apologize if I managed to offend you before."
And he was. Sometimes one's own habits could offend others without you even realizing it, and since he hated offending anyone...
Smiling, he swept the mare a bow, his leathery wings spreading out behind him as an accent to the gesture. "But anyway, it's nice to meet you."
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:28 pm
Yellow eyes blinked at the talkative stallion. Boy did he really know how to get his point across. Although, the mare was rather amused by this and instead of getting upset, she actually giggled. His words made perfect sense, of cource...but to be so detailed? Usually Abattie knew only but to get straight to the point.
"I'm not old. I'm just barely an adult now. First few days out on my own. Not going so well." A half-hearted smile appeared on her normally emotional face. "And not mated indeed. Idiotic, those who think love is worth everything they put themselves through...unless you honestly find, 'the one'."
The dark yellow and brown mare shook her head in return to his apology. "No worries it happens. Besides, someone like me is easily offended. It's not you, naturally. It's usually me." She smiled again, still keeping a cautious eye on him. One never knew when danger just might strike. "Antony it is, then. I'm not big on nicknames myself. Papa calls me Attie, but that's it." Another giggle came from the mare, this meeting was definitely that of the interesting one.
Abattie picked up her hoof in surprise as he bowed. Wow, unexpected gesture, but a nice one at that. Bairn had always told her to be polite first, just to come off as the more mature one, but Antony had gotten to that before her...oh well. "Antony, please. I'm nothing to bow over." Her comment was almost mimicking to what her grandmother Mahiri said whenever someone tried being polite.
"And the pleasure is all mine, I suppose. You're the first one I've met since I've grown."
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:43 pm
"You know, as I always understood it, the whole 'it's not you, it's me' thing is a classic breaking up line. Isn't it typical to get together before breaking up?" He couldn't resist addressing that rather odd turn of phrase, his pointed teeth displayed in an amused grin. She was an interesting one, this mare, if a bit overly sensitive. Probably jitters of some sort.
Straightening up, Antony tosssed back his overly-long forelock, the good-natured grin holding. "And I'll make up my own mind who I bow to; maybe I just like bowing, hrm? Stretches the leg muscles, shows off the wings, all those nice little considerations. And I seriously don't mind; it's just something I was taught to do. But enough about that."
Standing up at his full height, he almost towered over the smaller mare; kalona height he'd inherited in full. But being used to being a bit bigger than most others, he dismissed such out of hand.
"A pity about the not so well thing, though. I've only been on my own for a short while too, but I'm loving it. Freedom is a splendid thing to have, particularly after experiencing enough to tantalize as a foal. I'm a bit of a gadabout, though, so that might make things a bit different for me. But what's bugging you so far, if you don't mind me asking?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:03 pm
Her cheeks instantly got red. Which was bluntly noticeable, being her cheeks were normally yellow. Opps, wrong choice of words. Or rather he just over thought everything. Because she didn't mean it that way. "I didn't..." Abattie's cheeks got redder with every passing second and she tore her yellow eyes away from the stallion. Dang it. "Sorry?"
But the grin told her something otherwise. He was just playing, hopefully. Just being friendly. Something the young mare wasn't used to. "Perhaps." Abattie giggled, the obvious color in her cheeks still lingering. "But you don't strike me as the show-offy type. So those reasons wouldn't suit you. And I was taught to bow too...just not..." She stopped herself. Okay, so he had just one that silly arguement she was going to have. If Antony hadn't bowed first, it was clear she was going to. So either way her words were shot down.
Although yellow eyes watched in amazement as the Kalona towered over her. Wow, she thought. Papa was the only one she met that was bigger then anyone she ever pictured to be...but him? Possibly...obviously, much bigger then Papa.
"Well, your freedom doesn't involve getting bothered by ignorant butterflies." Abattie frowned, head quickly turning to see if any more of those bugs were around still. "I want to be able to love life, but I don't have a reason to yet." Opps, that wasn't supposed to come out...that was her own thoughts, her own secret 'I'll always be by myself' thoughts that she had when she was alone. "A gadabout, eh? Well, we're opposites, then Antony. Indeed, opposites."
Abattie didn't answer his question at first, as she pondered the answer. What was truly bothering her so far, apart from the bugs? Well, for starters it was annoying stallions that her Papa had warned her about. Well, okay so that wasn't bothering her but the young mare was always on the avoidance of them. "Oh...bugs, water, lonliness, the nagging voice that my Papa left in my head, seeing ignorant soquili run around all happy-go-lucky like...
...can I leave it at that?" She asked, grinning sheepishly.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:33 pm
Cute blush she had; perhaps it was the yellow of her coat, but in Abattie's case the end result had a rosy coral thing going on. Color aside, the fact that she was blushing at all was cute; she must not be used to being teased that much if such a little thing as that set her off.
Still, it was nice to know that he wasn't that out of it. Grinning, he gave her a wink at the blush, but otherwise let it slide. She was out of her element, as confirmed by her own words.
"Actually, I've never really noticed bugs one way or the other. Perhaps you just need to learn to ignore them, and then maybe you won't have to worry about them. Or the problems they cause."
Glancing about, Antony eyed the surrounding butterflies, then suddenly flapped back his wings; the ensuing gust of wind cleared the area for at least a little while, along with blowing out the manes and tails of both Soquili present. A few of the dark roses in Antony's tail were blown off by the action, but he had enough. Unlike with his father, Antony's roses were purely an afterthought. He just liked them, nothing more.
Besides, why worry about a few flowers when there was a problem to be solved? Abattie's short list of problems was still overly long for the stallion, and he had a hunch that she wasn't through. Especially given that last comment of hers. However, he wasn't going to push it.
"Well, we've dealt with the bugs and I don't see any water; hopefully I'm doing something about the loneliness, at least for the moment, and I don't see any ignorant Soquili at all, let alone happy go lucky ones...so, short of the voice, I think we're doing admirably on that list of yours. And for now we'll let the list stay at that....for now."
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:30 pm
The rosy coral color in her cheeks finally competely faded. A feeling of relief waved over her as she felt her cheek return to it's normal temperature. They were no longer warm, thank god. And that wink. Ah...he really shouldn't push that one too much furthur, she thought with a grin.
"They make me sneeze. What more evidence do you need to get to know that I cannot get rid of them? And they're so tiny, it's hard not to notice them." Ah, Abattie giggled at her own words, how strange they sounded. Usually, one would think that the tinnier the object, the less likely to see, but it was the opposite for this certain yellow mare. Mostly because she chose to normally ignore the bigger picture. "Bugs, they just...they're everywhere and I..." Oh, no. Not the tears. She could feel them coming, and with everythign she had, tried to stop them. Not right now, perhaps when he left, but not right now.
But the stunt he pulled with his wings made her eyes light up. Wow, just like that and all the butterflies were gone. Abattie suddently wished she had that power. The wind that Antony gave off had caused a few strands of hair to fall out of the braids, and even one of them fell out of place. But that didn't matter. The mare just shrugged it off. She wasn't one to care about her looks, let alone if her hair looked perfect. "Thank you, Antony. That was..." The yellow mare giggled again, catching herself from saying anything stupid, "...helpful."
His words were so witty, she thought. Such a stallion as himself didn't strike her as one to talk the way he did, but it was a nice change. Her Papa normally just yelled, told her advice or acted like a father. His true colors never came out around his children. "Well, it's good there is no water, I hate the reflection of me that it gives back. And for the loneliness? Well, you are now, but when you leave? Who knows what'll happen."
The mare grinned back at him, nodding slowly. He was right, so far her list was shot down because nothing she had said applied to that moment. No ignorant soquili, no happy-go-lucky ones, no water...no anything. Just the two of them and a field underneath them.
"Thank you, Antony. I'll bet you get all the mare's attention by doing the exact same thing. I'll bet every mare you meet just throws themselves at you."
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:04 pm
A bug allergy? That had to be a bummer, but at least at the moment he seemed to have done something about that. Grinning, he flipped back his wings to their usual position on his back, but not before striking a suitably macho pose, wings up. "See, THAT is why some of us are given wings. It's not so we can keep warm, or look good, or even fly; it's to sweep away bugs. A handy trait."
So said, he returned his wings to their place of rest; holding them aloft for too long was a simple waste of energy.
However, that merely served as a conversation segway at her rather self-depricating comment about reflections. "But I suppose that my silliniess is being contagious; if a cutie like you says she can't stand seeing herself, then either the world has turned on head or you're pulling my leg. And that would be plain impractical, because what would you do with my leg? Use it as a crutch, maybe? I assure you, it's likely more important to me." Although spoken solemnly, the mischievious sparkle in Antony's pale eyes belied any and all seriousness, especially when he continued.
"As to the throwing of mares, that's only happened twice; the rest of the time I have to work much harder, I assure you. But it helps develop social skills, right?"
The sparkle was still there, but this time, there was only half-silliness in his words. As a matter of fact, he HAD had mares throw themselves at him twice...and he HAD had to do a bit of pursuing. But such was an accepted part of life...at least in HIS family.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 3:46 pm
Her eyes twinkled again, as the stallion showed off his 'stuff' again. She had half a mind to shake her head and walk away, because she found it rather idiotic when they did that...but no, she couldn't. This conversation, or rather his words were too interesting to just walk away from. "Glad to have you here then, Antony. Without you and your wings, the bugs would be surrounding me!"
Abattie frowned, his words were so much more playful and fun rather then her own, which, taking after her father, was very serious. Hardly even a playful grin came from this young mare, let alone a flirty comment or two. That just wasn't something she normally did, in fact, she'd rather do without. What was the point? A flirt didn't mean anything to anyone, and love was only true if you...well, she couldn't explain that one very well because she never experienced it.
But she darn right knew she never wanted to. Although Antony's flirty ways were almost something attractive about him, to say the least. Without that, you'd have just a normal Kalona. Without his 'fun', wouldn't he be kinda...evil?
Attie rolled her eyes in an almost annoyed way. "I'm not cute don't call me cute." She stammered, but shrugged it off as just another comment that he usually probably said to every mare he met. "I don't need your like, dear Antony. I'm afraid I have enough for myself, rather...the world perhaps something is wrong with the world. When it lets such two young'ins such as ourselves meet. A major contradiction."
A small, soft but full-hearted laugh came from the yellow mare. Antony was indeed a fascinating creature. It took some spunk to be able to stick up to the words he spoke. To make herself act like the mare she was, instead of one of those flirty annoying mares.
"Twice, eh? Well, that's two more then myself. So you've beaten me I'm afraid. And work harder? Boy..." Abattie could only just roll her eyes, either he was just playing or being serious, she could not tell. "It does indeed, but I assure you, harder you'll work to get through me. Much harder." A playful gesture, one of the few. It was alienated and different, but it was...fun.
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:03 pm
So very, very cute, in a charmingly innocent sort of fashion. She'd admitted that she was recently grown, but even if she hadn't said as much he probably would have been able to surmise as much from the frequency of her blushes. Somehow, he doubted she'd been flirted with much, or hadn't realized such if she had been.
Oh well. It wasn't like he was all that great at it himself; most of his experience had been watching his father work the magic, and that hadn't necessarily been within Antony's range of hearing. You didn't get too close when you were spying, after all!
Besides, he wasn't big into the whole 'flirting' thing, reaction garnering aside.
That made it all the much easier to handle this situation; regardless of whether or not he was 'shot down,' as long as he got a good conversation he was happy.
"Two such as ourselves? Now, what sort of contradiction is implied there? Male and female, colorful and solid, tall and short? Or is it these that you're referring to?"
As he spoke, Antony flipped out his wings once again, this time spreading them to their full reach. "If so, I'm gonna have to correct you at least a wee bit. I'm not exactly a kalona. Not a full blood, anyway, but I'm sure you could tell that from a few missing features. Still, I've been around enough uneasy people to understand the effect even something as minor as wings can have."
Sad when one had to explain their own genes, but it was either that or constantly having to deal with accusations of bloodthirstiness. This way was much simpler, cutting it in the bud, as it were. But anyway...
"And maybe I feel like a good pursuit. Challenges are always fun, right?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 3:53 pm
The young mare shifted her weight as she looked at the half-Kalona in front of her. Those markings on his legs, very interesting. Made him stick out. Little things like that mattered to her, she liked that he had such a basic color, but beautiful markings nonetheless. Much like herself, with the four little dots beneath both eyes and the yellow spots on her back.
Although, when he spoke, the reddish color in her cheeks returned. Did he just take her comment like that? Oh no! Not good! She hadn't meant to insult him.
Quickly gathering herself back up, Abattie frowned. "No! Like personality wise. I mean, we have differences like that. Our personalities kinda clash...not the outside. The inside!"
Although, the mare couldn't help but stare at him when he opened his wings completely. Such an amazing sight, something her Papa probably never saw. "You don't scare me for being who you are. That actually makes it more fun. I..." She paused, not really finding any good words to say, but she had to continue. "Half-Kalona or not, I still share my Papa's interest in your...kind."
Yellow eyes blinked at Antony when he spoke again. He really was a flirt, but not a bad one...an interesting one. Ah, well...nothing she could do about it.
"Indeed. But that depends on the challenge. Like me?" She shook her head, "No. Not so fun. But I suppose to some stallions, I'm a 'game'." It hurt to say that, but it was true. Bairn and Astia were both strikingly good looking to the opposite gender, it was only obvious they were going to pass it down.
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