AWKWARD. [Tags: Kalina]

[Ruby]

It was shortly after dusk, and Piden and Pidesk had woken very recently. Piden was still yawning, clad in his now embarassingly signature fluffy bathrobe that nearly matched Pidek in the moonlight. He didn't mean to wear the thing all the time, but having breakfast in his room, still in his pijamas was a luxury he did not intend to pass up if he could help it. He was a common sight now in the kitchens, trailing in near the end of dinner asking for breakfast leftovers, mussed hair and sleep still in the corner of his eyes pointing to his strange schedule. Pidesk usually came along, hoping to snag a scrap or two on the way back, as did Red (tucked, as usual, into his collar). They made a somewhat silly sight- Pidesk, slim but still with a Wher's awkwardness, flanking the shambling, yawning, fuzzy-looking handler. Luckily, most people had finished dinner by now and headed back to their rooms already, so he wasn't usually seen by too many as he slipped into the kitchens. Not anyone that knew him, anyway.

Tonight, he was questioning Pidesk about the recent Green dragon flight the Bronze had participated in. "Got that out of your system now, have you?" he asked, shooting an accusing look at his Wher. Pidesk shrugged as he walked, sending noncommital feelings back to his rider. "What do you mean, you're not sure? Greens are fine and all, even though you're a bronze, whatever. But dragons? You can't fly! No way can you catch a dragon!" Pidesk sent along a lovingly crafted image of himself stopping Uminth's fall, his wings wildly exaggerated. Piden just shook his head in disbelief. "And Red? What if she were to rise, eh? Would you chase her too?" Another image, this time of Pidesk chasing a vastly oversized salamandyr that looked suspiciously like Piden's own strangely spotted beast, made Piden laugh aloud. "You don't seriously think Whers and Salamandyrs can breed, do you? She's the size of your little talon!" Not to mention other pieces of the Wher, but Piden didn't want to bring that up just now.

All in all, it was shaping up to be a good night. Unseasonably warm but certainly not unpleasant, good company, something new to tease the Bronze about. Red hadn't even thrown up yet today, and she'd been generally silent for the past sevenday or so (always a good sign). And then... he saw her. Just as Piden's boat guide shoved off, leaving him stranded on the bank, there she was, all black hair and pretty and green and... with a glare at Pidesk, who was obviously allowing his feelings for Uminth to trickle through to Piden's feelings about the rider, Piden tried to lurk away into the forest or something. Kalina must have had a late dinner. It wasn't that Piden was... scared, or running away or anything. Never that. He just didn't want to have to explain to her why his wher tried to catch her dragon. He'd almost managed to sneak away unnoticed, but the bathrobe seemed to emit light, and he thought he saw her catch his eye. He froze, not knowing what to do.

Excellent. Night ruined.

[archenstone]

The evening air felt cool and good to Kalina as she walked along the docks. She was looking up, the various constellations had caught her eyes tonight. She felt calmer walking outside in the evenings instead of tramping indoors. Tonight was a little later than normal, but the routine of evening walks started after her last-first flight. Her hair was askew in one of the old styles she used to stubbornly wear at Selenitas hold. Her bare feet padded quietly along. She was startled when noise caused her to look forward instead of up.

After a moment she realized it was a Wher and person. She wouldn't have paid much attention except he had gone suddenly still. Looking closer she realized it was Piden. She blushed slightly...struggling to mask her sudden sense of uneasy shyness. She had been reacting as such to just about everyone who had flown for Uminth. She was still unsure about some things....mostly to do with how she[/] felt. Realizing he knew she was near him and not wanting to be rude she greeted him.

"Oh, hi Piden..." She fidgeted a little.

[Ruby]

Awkward awkward awkward. What was he supposed to say? 'Oh hi, my Wher wants to have your Dragon's babies?' 'Oh hi, we haven't seen eachother in two years or so, but apparently there is some sort of uncomfortable, undeniable cross-species attraction, at least from Pidesk's end?' He shifted uncomfortably for a second, thinking about how incredibly glad he was that he'd impressed a Wher, not a Dragon- there were TONS of dragons, he'd have to deal with this sort of thing all the time! Then again, Piden was no stranger to the one-night stand, so maybe it would be ok... as long as the dragons forcing the union were... oh, you know, both Dragons.

In the end, he went with "Oh hi, Kalina." He almost left it at that, because obviously she was uncomfortable too. He didn't blame her, of course- what was SHE supposed to say to HIM? Having a Wher chase a Dragon had to be something along the lines of a declaration of true love, even if it was just Pidesk being insufferable. However, Pidesk climbed up the bank just then, having taken his time shaking off down at the water's edge. Seeing Kalina, he sent Piden a queston and an image of Uminth, clearly asking where she was. He then proceeded to twine around behind his handler, effectively preventing any escape that didn't make it look like he was trying to run away. Piden would certainly have LIKED to run away at that point, and preferably avoid Kalina like the plague from then on, but Pidesk seemed to have other ideas.

"Um... how's Uminth?" he asked, looking off over Kalina's shoulder at the Main Hall and fiddling with his hair with his left hand. Oh, he hated this so much. Nothing against Kalina, of course, she seemed like a sweet girl. He was just anoyed at Pidesk for putting- and keeping- him in this sort of situation. He was used to being able to dissapear after an embarassing experiance- facing up to his uncomfortable mistake was not something he relished. What made it worse was that Kalina was, in fact, quite pretty, and under normal circumstances Piden would never have objected to talking to her, or even a bit of a tumble. Now, though... You ruined everything, you big lump! Pidesk just purred in response.