i've been on the brink [sari]

[Avu]

“You are not as cute as you think you are.”
P’ease?
“And you can’t even ask properly. Why can’t you ask properly?”
’Caaaause. P’eaaaase. ViiiiiixMiiiiiine.
“Drawing out words that should be one syllable into five doesn’t make them more convincing, Rook. Lemme alone.” And, just to be a brat, Vix took a bite of the sweetroll, like he was using the click of his teeth to punctuate his sentence. He almost immediately regretted it as sharp little teeth nipped at his neck, though, Vix jerking away so fast he nearly fell onto Tekivisk, who was nosing around in the tall grass nearby. “Ow! Little vampire – get away, go away – ”

Perhaps, Tekivisk suggested, the wher’s tail slithering against his thigh, if he just gave Rook a little piece of his roll, the blue would stop asking? The quiet brush of her mind against Vix’s was almost welcome compared to the veritable flood that always came from Rook – or it would have been, had it not been accompanied by Rook’s surge of agreement. Vix rubbed his temples, wondering if it would be better if he just shoved the rest of the sweetroll into his mouth, possibility of choking be damned. Rook wasn’t stupid, as he’d previously thought all Salamandyrs were; the blue was perfectly aware that Tekivisk was fascinated by him. And he would exploit it.

“No,” Vix reiterated, rapidly losing patience. “I said no – he didn’t do anything to deserve it. He bit me.” He touched his fingertips against his neck, half-expecting blood, but no: Apparently Rook had mastered the ability to bite without breaking skin, and still make it painful. Halfheartedly swatting at the blue Salamandyr dangling over his shoulder, doing his best to get his teeth into the sweetroll, Vix sighed. Only a few more candlemarks to morning, when he could justify getting back to the Apartments, going to sleep, where neither Rook nor Tekivisk (or anyone else, for that matter) could bother him.

He’d later blame Rook for distracting him so thoroughly.

Actually, later he’d deny shrieking at all.

It wasn’t so much as a shriek as a choked off cry that ended in a hiccup – but regardless, the sound that emerged when Tekivisk’s head popped up in front of him not five minutes later was not dignified. The green wher was holding carefully in her mouth a pile of ruffled-looking feathers, and placed it directly into his lap. Vix gaped as the feathers shifted, and claws scraped against his pants. Two little avian eyes peered up at him spitefully, and he could almost feel the heart hammering in the delicate ribcage against his thigh. They stared at each other for a minute, Rook even curious enough to scramble halfway down his chest and chirp at the invader, before Vix raised his gaze slowly to Tekivisk.

“What the – are you hungry or something?”
Meeee. I am, Rook interjected immediately.
No! was Tekivisk’s immediate response, horror clear in her eyes. She leaned forward, licking at the very indignant avian that drummed one wing – the other was bent at a clearly broken angle. Which explained why it hadn’t fled from Tekivisk – or him, for that matter. The green hummed, sliding against Vix’s legs hopefully. It was broken, see? Fix it? Not just the wing, either. It was also losing feathers at an alarming rate and she didn’t really think a bald avian would be able to fly. Or be very pretty. Why was it going bald? There were feathers in her mouth.

[raii]

Upasanath seemed to enjoy swimming just as much as Sari enjoyed running. Sari was usually an early riser, but Upasanath kept her sleeping schedule unpredictable. Sometimes the green tired her out so much she found herself asleep until noon. Sometimes--like today--the pale green woke her up before the sun rose. The green felt like swimming. She didn't mind swimming at dark, so surely Sari wouldn't either! As if that weren't enough, she often woke Dusk, Mika, and Lazuli. Fortunately, however, they stayed asleep today. Upasanath silently nudged Sari with her nose until the girl woke up.

Fine, fine. To the river it is.

Upasanath resisted the urge to bugle in triumph. Thank you, Sarilove! Her mind voice sang to Sari. Off they went, travelling through the forest. Upasanath nearly tripped several times. She was not the most graceful of dragons, this was for sure. Sari was struggling to carry Upasanath's tail. Poor Upasanath had a tail far too long. They would have to come up with something soon. Her body was beginning to even out, but the long tail could still harm any nearby, especially the pale green. They reached the river quickly.

The water was a deep velvety blue, no doubt from reflecting the still dark side. Oh, Upasanath... Sari sighed. Hopefully Upasanath's sleeping would even out eventually. The green crooned and bounded for the water. Before she could reach it, however, she got distracted. She twisted around, her tail swinging around and whipping her in the side. She ignored this, however, as she headed straight to the nearby wherhandler and his wher. People! Yay! Hellooo! I am Upasanath of Sari, who are you?

Sari dashed after her dragon. She reached Upasanath quickly, being a strong runner. Without a need to breath heavily, she quickly smiled. "Well, no need to introduce myself I suppose--" Her eyes were drawn to the nearby animal, slowly moulting. She noticed the broken wing, which reminded her immediately of the broken fire lizard wing she had healed years ago. Concern lined her face, and instinctively she picked the bird up off his lap. She held it gently, pinning down its good wing and claws for a moment, before slowly stretching out the broken wing. "This is a bad break..." The bird seemed in pain, so Sari let the wing relax after she inspected it.

She began to think. This avian would need some special care or it would die, even if she could help heal its wing. A flightless fowl would have trouble finding food and avoiding predators. Not to mention, the poor creature might struggle free and harm himself even more. Blushing as she realized she'd forgotten the young man, she placed the creature back on his lap. "Sorry..." She murmured, forcing a smile. Her mind was elsewhere, however. She would need a makeshift splint, someone to care for the bird, and some numbweed as soon as possible. The poor creature was suffering so.

[Avu]

Vix was seriously wondering if his ear-to-brain filter had broken. Except, no, more like his brain-to-brain (because that made sense) because he was seriously thinking that Tekivisk wanted him to fix the freaking avian. He stared at the wher, and she stared back, completely serious, and he was fairly certain Tekivisk wasn’t that good an actor. Vix drew in his breath, short and sharp, and let it hiss back out again in a long exhale. “Are you,” he started, voice actually crackling faintly in disbelief, “ – do you – I don’t,” he settled on firmly, gaze dropping to the avian still in his lap, “fix – I don’t fix birds, ‘ki, I don’t even – I mean, it’s not – ngh!”

His blank stammering was cut off at the voice in his mind that was decidedly not Rook (as if Rook would be so…coherent), Vix jerking forward sharply in surprise and nearly toppling the avian out of his lap entirely. It uttered a croaking sound and Tekivisk lurched forward with a whine as if to catch it, and ended up with Rook flipping off of Vix’s shirt in surprise and landing flat on her muzzle. The Salamandyr puffed himself up, startled, and scrambled onto the top of Tekivisk’s head as the green crooned politely at the dragon nearby, peering curiously around Vix. She’d never seen a dragon before. Not one that was actually awake and everything, anyway. And how nice of her to introduce herself!

Vix stared at Upasanath for a moment before his gaze slid down to the girl that followed, bewildered. “Uh, Vix,” he said after a moment, forcing his mouth to work because what was going on? “Vix. Um. This is Tekivisk, that’s Rook…” The introduction was almost mechanical; he wasn’t used to not giving his own name after someone gave theirs, even if he was fairly certain they’d be moving on within the next, like, five seconds or something.

Hi, hi, Rook offered, bright and cheerful, as if he hadn’t just been begging for food and biting His. Hello, prettyling greenone, prettyling person, hello. The Salamandyr flapped his wings for emphasis, eyes bright with curiosity. Person. Mm, yes, Rook liked company, especially of the female variety – they were easier to charm (speaking on a basis of knowing Tekivisk versus Vix only, really) and get food out of. His claws tickled along Tekivisk’s head before he threw himself back onto Vix, curling around his shoulder, peeping quietly in greeting at Upasanath again. Green dragon. Like his pet wher, only more. Night you, greenone?

Meanwhile, Vix’s eyebrows had both climbed dangerously high, the expression on his face very close to absolute disbelief. Was she actually – “You know what,” he said to Tekivisk, startling the green, who was staring intently at Sari, “Why don’t you just ditch me and Bond to her? I’m sure Upasanath wouldn’t mind sharing and your goals seem to be all the same anyway. You can even take Rook along with you, I promise I wouldn’t mind, just – ” He cut himself off as the avian was placed back in his lap, and blinked, grabbing for Sari’s wrist automatically again.

“You can, uh, keep it, I don’t – I don’t fix birds,” he informed her. “’ki just doesn’t get – I mean, I fix things. Not…birds.” Peering down at the bedraggled mop of feathers in his lap for a moment, Vix looked back up at Sari. “I mean, if it’s up to me, best thing to do would be to kill it. ‘S not going to get anywhere with a broken wing and I don’t…seriously. I don’t want it.” The unspoken ‘anywhere near me’ that had gotten clipped off of the end was swallowed.

Tekivisk, however, leaned forward with a soft croon, peering up at Sari hopefully. Would she fix it, please? VixHers wouldn’t stop someone else from fixing it, she was sure. Please?

[raii]

Hi Vix, Tekvisk, Rook![/i] Upasanath crooned in response. He seemed confused and unhappy with the sudden intrusion, but Tekvisk seemed to like meeting Upasanath. Rook greeted the pair kindly. Upasanath crooned. Hello, little one. It may be night, but I do like being outside, just like mine.[/i] Sari blushed slightly. She wasn't used to being called pretty by a salamandyr. Upasanath and Mika were sweet, Lazuli was playful, and Dusk was...well, Dusk. She wasn't used to anything really calling her that.

As she handed him the bird back, ready to launch into an encouraging speech, he grabbed her hand. Her eyes opened wide in surprise. He insisted he wouldn't fix it, but Tekvisk pleaded for her too. "Of course I'll fix it," she assured the green, scooping up the bird. "But, to tell you the truth, I don't think she'd like my home very much. I seem to have acquired a small fair of fire lizards, one being impossible." She smiled. "I don't know much about whers, but doesn't the amount of letters from your name symbolize how close you are?"

"I just met you both, but I think she's more than happy with you." Sari stroked the bird's feathers lightly. She turned to Upasanath. I know escaping without the children is rare, but could you summon Lazuli please? Sari felt the stirring presence. Moments later, the dark blue popped out of between. He chirped in greeting. "Would you mind fetching me a few things? A straight stick, thick but not rough; some fabric, string, or bandages; and if possible, some numbweed?" Lazuli had been chosen as the obedient one.

Dusk didn't listen to her at all. Mika was eager to help, but had the memory of a fish. Luckily, the other two didn't wake up. Lazuli trilled happily, disappearing again to retrieve the items. Sari sat cross-legged across from Tekvix, and continued to stroke the bird's feathers gently. The avian was nearly hidden in the collecting pile of feathers. Upasanath looked at it, her eyes whirling with concern. She so hoped the poor creature would be okay!

In a flash, Lazuli was back with a stick and one of Sari's shirts. He went off again, going to steal some numbweed, no doubt. Sari placed the stick gently along the sensitive tip of the wing. It tried to retract its wing, but it was far too weak. Sighing, Sari ripped a strip of cloth off of her shirt with her teeth. She used the fabric to loosely attack the stick to the wing, making a strangely fashioned splint. It was loose, yes, but firm enough to stay. No doubt, the bird's moulting was related to the injury. She didn't know if it was from panic or pain, or the physical injury itself.

[Avu]

[ -- so just for future reference, Vix’s name is spelled ‘Tekivix’ – there’s another i in there. ;3]


Night pretty, Rook replied to Upasanath, unabashed by his severely limited vocabulary – Vix had never bothered to teach him any words he didn’t know and he had to pick up words on his own. He tried picking them out of Vix’s mind before, and his reward was getting swatted away because Vix did not approve of such an intrusion, end of story. The Salamandyr crooned, flipped his tail, and scrambled up Vix’s shoulder, rearing up on his hind legs to brace his forepaws against his Bonded’s ear. Just to get a little closer to Upasanath… Pretty greenone. Day too?

Vix blinked. Wait, what? Number of letters – he frowned. Never heard that before, but it seemed…oddly familiar, the feeling that he had known that somehow, subconsciously, trickling down his spine. Still, he pushed it away. It wasn’t his problem that Tekivisk seemed to love him so much. He’d spent days when she was asleep staring at her, wondering why she felt the need to love him like she did because he couldn’t love her back. “I don’t know, she loves everything that freaking breathes,” he muttered in response instead, because just how dysfunctional their Bond was…was kind of private. “’M sure she’d be fine.”

The appearance of the firelizard startled Tekivisk, the green offering a quiet croon of greeting. Merely a formality, especially since the blue was off as quickly as he’d come again. The wher nudged Vix’s legs open, sliding in between his knees, rested her head against one thigh, and twisted so she could see what Sari was doing to the bird. The physical contact with Hers would’ve been more than enough to soothe anything wrong, but this was…different.

Vix’s hand came to rest loosely on top of her head, gaze lingering on the bird. It was as good as dead, to him – he’d been an apprentice to a Beastcrafter at one point, and the man’d been about economy. If Healing it takes more than it’s worth, then kill it. Which, ironically, apparently he hadn’t been ‘worth it’, because he’d gotten quite a lot of beatings and verbal lashings. “Where’s he gonna go when he’s healing, then? Can’t live with a splint he can’t remove of his own accord,” he commented, gaze flicking momentarily up at Sari. “It’s just one bird, and it’s obviously in pain. Wouldn’t it be…” He faltered, decided upon, “Merciful, just to end it? ‘S not like it has that great a life anyway, small as it is.”

Had to be constantly fleeing bigger predators. “Probably going to get a heart attack from just being too close to humans, can’t imagine that it’s had much contact previously…” He clicked his tongue, eyebrow rising faintly. Tekivisk was young, that was all – and he apologized for the thought absently, fingers sliding down the arch of her neck, feeling her steady heartbeat against his leg – young and she didn’t understand mortality, that everything had to go at some point. The girl – Sari? – didn’t have to…indulge her. Not when the bird would probably end up dead within the sevenday regardless. ‘ki would have to learn the lesson some day, anyway.

[raii]

Day too. Upasanath crooned to the little blue. He amused her. Hers had to get one of these! They were like fire lizards, but talked! Well, close enough. Were they all such flatterers? She relayed this to Sari, who looked up to Upasanath for a moment before turning back to the little avian creature. The poor thing was in so much pain, where was Lazuli with the numbweed? Lazuli prided himself on being mischievous. Pranks were his specialty, but he had more than his fair share of skills in stealing. Of course, she didn't encourage it, but it was necessary. Poor creature.

Sari stiffened at Tekivix's suggestion. She looked up, an uncharacteristic anger in her eyes. She was a firm believer in justice. In Sari's justice system, it was necessary to help any in need, including her beloved animals. Upasanath looked surprised. The anger was nothing fierce, of course, but it was a rarity, to be sure. "I'll take care of him until he's better. I've done it many times before." The bird was nestled in her arms, wing propped against her wiry bones. "So it would be merciful to put him out of his misery? What if you broke your leg. Would it still be merciful?" Sari's tone was angry and strong, but didn't completely lose it's softness. In fact, her anger had a touch of gentle tact, a strange combination, but only noticeable in her tone.

"You don't need to worry about him, though I'm not quite sure that was your intention. I'm good with animals." Imagine, saying that the creature's life was worthless. Perhaps Sari was just strange in that way. Every life was important, beyond understanding. A significant, breathing, living creature wasn't to be underestimated. Sari never killed even a tiny bug on purpose. She had cared for broken, ill, and stray animals before. It was nothing foreign to her. Of course, she ate meat. A vegetable diet didn't strike her as the easiest thing to stick to. But killing without a purpose...that was awful.

Refusing to help was just as bad in her mind.

Sari? Upasanath sounded confused. Are you okay? Should we leave? Was hers sick? Sari never acted this way. Sari was always sweet and accommodating. Sari looked up at Upasanath, smiling. I'm okay...I just don't like it when people say things like that. Check on Lazuli, will you? Upasanath crooned in agreement, her tone full of concern. Lazuli popped out of between moments later, carrying a piece of cloth with numbweed on it. Someone must have seen Lazuli struggling to steal a jar and helped him. He let Sari take it before fluttering over to Upasanath landing on her head.

Lazuli observed the three creatures before him with interest. The human didn't interest him much. The wher was a strange creature, and he crooned a polite greeting to her. The creature on the human's shoulder was a salamandyr. Lazuli trilled a greeting to his fellow blue. He had such tiny wings, though. Salamandyrs were such odd creatures. He looked at them for a moment. Salamandyrs reminded him a bit of the strange whers. Strong legs, small wings; running creatures. Sari ignored Lazuli's distraction as she rubbed the cloth over the bird's wing. She let out a soft sound, almost absently. The avian calmed down quickly as the pain faded.

[Avu]

Vix couldn’t help the low huff of amused laughter at the girl’s outburst. It wasn’t as if he was pointing at some perfectly healthy avian and deciding it would be fun to watch it die, but seriously – the way she reacted. And in any case, Vix really didn’t see how the bird would do anything but die. Wing probably (not definitely, but probably) wouldn’t heal right, since they didn’t know accurately how long it had been broken before Tekivisk chanced upon the bird, and short of re-breaking it so that it could set properly, it’d just end up hindering the avian for the rest of its (likely very short in the wild) life. On the other hand, the girl could try to tame it, but as far as Vix was concerned, her chances of that were slightly below zero. Wild animals were wild, instinctively frightened of people. Having one poke at its broken wing wasn’t going to make that better.

“So I’ve been told,” he responded dryly to the idea of being killed because of a broken leg. Runners were, a lot of the time. Not built for lying down for long periods of time while their leg healed, too much effort – whatever. Vix considered himself more or less immunized to that kind of ‘killing’. Generally, he’d argue that humans were different – sentient, useful, unlike a single wild avian, but…whatever. He’d still been told that he was ‘useless’ when his previous Master had been particularly frustrated at him, and while he’d never been outright told he’d be killed if he broke a leg, it was kind of implied in the tongue lashings. Vix pressed his palm against Tekivisk’s neck, huffed out a quiet breath.

“Right now,” the greenwherling said, keeping his voice calm and detached, “You’re going off of emotions. It’s not logical to keep it alive. What happens if the break doesn’t heal properly, you’re going to keep a wild avian in the Weyr? That won’t last a sevenday before some feline or canine or even a dragon gets to it, and it’s still going to be wild and scared to hell of everyone. It’ll take too long to heal anyway,” he added, and shrugged, glancing down at Tekivisk. She was looking up at him, eyes wide and luminescent in the half-dark, leaning trustingly into his touch as his hand slid down her chest, fingers pressed against her heartbeat. “It won’t eat if it’s scared, if you just hand it food. It’s still going to die.”

You’re just drawing that out. You’re getting attached. It’s going to be harder later.

The unspoken words curled on the tip of his tongue, and Vix was very tempted to just spit them out. It was true, in his eyes. There would always be some residual stiffness in that wing and in the wild, the bird didn’t have a chance. Just stupid. It seemed like something a child would do, before they understood that sometimes it was just better to let go. He felt Tekivisk’s heartbeat speed up a little, then steady again, the green rubbing her head quietly against his thigh. She was silent, although she brushed sorry against Sari’s mind, soft and uncertain.

Quiet, VixLove, Rook protested, flapping what passed for wings agitatedly. Must His get involved when he was trying to make the greenone and Hers like him? The Salamandyr’s tail flicked out in upset, Rook clambering onto his opposite shoulder to croon at Lazuli. Hello, flitterling. He was shunning His, and he made that quite obvious in the upward tilt of his head. Or at least, he hoped it was obvious. It’d kind of ruin the point if it wasn’t.