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Post by kaedryn on Dec 10, 2007 1:06:53 GMT -5
Kaedryn was just walking along, minding her own business, when Belus at her side started growling just as they reached the door to the main room of the candidate's barracks. Not knowing what was going on yet knowing to be careful as well, Kaedryn peeked around the door into the room. Standing inside was a lone girl, someone Kae' had yet to meet in the short time since her arrival, so she strode forward, hand outstretched and a wary smile already on her face. "Hey, I'm Kaedryn, a candidate here. How are you doing today?" She asked politly.
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Post by glamourie on Dec 10, 2007 1:46:31 GMT -5
When he stood facing away from the entrance of the barracks, Keliris looked like a female. He had just past chin-length dark blood-auburn waves and stood at a whopping 5'4" - making him not the shortest of the candidates but also not the tallest by far. With a slender and trim build and a penchant for wearing clothing far too baggy for him, it was hard to tell exactly what gender Keliris was from behind. But the facial features, while undeniably possessing feminine aspects, were most definitely masculine. That particular afternoon, Lir was standing at the center of the candidate barracks common room pulling apart a tangle in one of the toys that he'd been working on for Anai. Despite the fact that the firelizard was clearly stuck on herself, Lir was rather fond of the little green, and Beka was probably too busy to make very many toys for her. He was determined to remedy that by tying various, bright colored strings together. If nothing else, it would give Anai something to chew on when he was through, but he'd accidentally knotted them too far. Typical. Why did things like that always happen to him?
And then someone was speaking. Keliris looked up from his work to blink as a hand was held out to him and then narrowed cool amber eyes almost skeptically. Though she introduced herself, he couldn't help but wonder who the girl was, as most people wanted little to do with him. Keliris often gave off "I don't like you!" vibes, or at least he tried to. He wasn't quite as mean a kitten as he liked to pretend to be, but he did have a foul mouth and absolutely no talent for expressing himself. He often said one thing and meant another, then did not understand why the people he spoke to couldn't figure out what he meant based on what he said. Cue confusion.
"I'm busy," he growled, eying the girl's hand quite skeptically. "And you're in my light, girl. You might want to move."
Hardly the best way to greet a newcomer, to be sure, but Keliris wasn't known for his friendliness. She really was in his light and if he was going to make any progress on the knot, he'd have to be able to see it. Nimble fingers glided over the cloth, pulling on the end of one blue piece while tugging at a deep green one. He'd gotten someone to sew in ANAI on the side of the brightest, largest ribbon of cloth, which was a vibrant ivy color, no doubt intended for symbolism for the green firelizard. The toy itself was designed so that, when someone threw it up in the air, it glided down thanks to the wide spread of green... not unlike a parachute... with dozens of colorful, lighter-weight cloths spreading out at the sides. Brightly colored, floaty, and with things she could pull on: with any luck it would be a firelizard's dream come true. Trust him to spoil someone else's pet, since he didn't have one of his own.
[ I know you said 'girl' but... neither Req nor I have any female candidates. XD ]
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Post by kaedryn on Dec 10, 2007 1:59:48 GMT -5
Slightly startled when the girl turned out to be, in fact, a boy, Kaedryn nevertheless let a wide grin spread across her face and a knowing look glint in her eye when he spoke roughly to her. This boy reminded her much of her father in attitude, even if he looked nothing like him. Rough and somewhat brash was what they were. Well, she certainly wouldn't let that scare her off, she was made of much sterner stuff than that and if he thought he was just going to shoo her away like a mutt, he had another thing coming.
Clicking to call Belus to her side, Kaedryn took a few steps around the male who she matched almost exactly in height, going over to sit on the ground, legs crossed over one another. Belus, his shining gold and black fur whispering as he moved, came to sit at her side, putting his lean head in her hands to pet. Obliging him, she also turned and fixed her stunning indigo and silver eyes on the boy infront of her, having nothing better to do then sit there and watch him as he made his... thing... She could wait him out... And even if he growled at her again, she could take it and get over it, much like she did with her father.
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Requiem
Weyrleader S'rei WM M?ta Rider A'nd Harper/Handler Dmitri Weyrbrat Miguel
Posts: 2,861
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Post by Requiem on Dec 10, 2007 2:29:39 GMT -5
He hurt. Not badly, and it wasn't noticeable to the casual observer, as Mutasim had long since learned how to hide injuries from prying eyes. Where he came from...signs of weakness almost invariably led to your throat getting slit, especially physical weakness. Still, though, his shoulder had a lovely bruise on it, courtesy of the senior queen. He didn't like her. She was far too easily angered, and she'd caused a rift between him and Jabari. A necessary one, since he was certain Aslath would likely have killed the little brown had he not been so harsh in telling the flit to leave, but a rift nonetheless. And, no matter how heartless his exterior, Mutasim truly loved this little pet to distraction. It pained him to be the cause of Jabari's distress.
The brown was only just now forgiving him for that, having curled about his neck, hidden by the high collar that the candidate always wore to conceal his curious scars. "...has been hurt really badly, you know, and I wasn't there..." His voice trailed off as he realized that he wasn't alone in the common room. Mutasim rarely spoke, or at least, was rarely heard to speak, but he often talked to his little companion as if he were one of the boy's dearest human friends. The two in the common room, if they had heard him at all, must think he was crazy, to be walking around talking to himself. Oh well. Their opinions weren't really of concern to him.
One he knew, if only by face. A candidate here, with a brother Muta's own age, though Mutasim looked about five turns younger than he truly was. He hadn't yet even crested five feet tall, and was quite thin and wiry in stature, his dark eyes large in a face that had not yet lengthened as boy's faces did when they began to mature. The boy was glaringly obvious in any crowd, as his skin was an olive hue, and his eyes, when turned upon you, gave off the impression of agelessness. They also contained within them a knowledge that was beyond loss of innocence, and were often quite disturbing to any who hadn't seen a child raised amidst poverty, hunger and perversion before. There was a ruthlesness about Mutasim that at once stood at odds with his seeming youth.
Glancing at the older girl seated on the ground, the boy began to move again, as he had things he wished to do away from the barracks this day. Though it necessarily took him past these other candidates, Mutasim truly didn't think they would bother to stop him. Why should they? He'd already been to one Hatching and had been left standing on the sands...some seven months before. And no one had bothered to reach out to him from amongst the candidates in all that time. He was relatively safe by his own reckoning.
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Post by glamourie on Dec 10, 2007 4:04:05 GMT -5
Hmph, she left him alone. Good. Keliris went back to fiddling with the toy, tying knots effectively at the bottom of the ribbons, so that half of the brightly colored ones had individual knots at the ends. The other half was cut shorter. The longest ribbons were rather short, and did not weigh much, especially in comparison to the wideness of the cloth strip. With any luck, the toy would work effectively. Keliris clicked his tongue, then tossed it up into the air. The shorter ribbons flared out and the larger strip ballooned upward much like a parachute, as he'd thought it would, with the knotted ribbons weighing it so that it floated harmlessly back down into his palm. What a lovely toy it made. He was happy with it, though before he could test it once more, another person walked into the common room, talking: Mutasim.
They were not friends. Lir didn't have many friends, and the few people he talked to regularly were considered more associates by him, despite the fact that he would have defended them to the death. Keliris was frighteningly protective of his friends, though it took so much to merit being his friend that he wouldn't have put much stock in that behavior of his. The only person who received such treatment from him was Kaliran, though Beka was quickly making herself a place on the list of friends for Keliris. Mutasim, to Keliris, was a stranger, but a somewhat familiar one at that, due to how long he'd been at the Weyr. He was one of the few people Lir bothered to learn to recognize by name, even if he never spoke to him, and after the Touching, he had a good reason for noticing him. He was easily one of the most recognizable people at the Weyr after that, for any of the candidates.
Silently, Keliris glanced at Kaedryn, though he didn't speak to her. He didn't know her and Keliris wasn't one for speaking much if he didn't have a reason to, or wasn't looking for a fight. It could be said that Lir did often pick arguments, though, if only because he greatly enjoyed debating with people. Probably not the most mature of his behaviors, that, though it was one of the most memorable.
"Mutasim." He tilted his head, ignoring the fact that the boy was talking to himself. That was probably the first time he'd ever heard Mutasim speak, actually, though he was sure he'd done so at some other point. He didn't mind people not talking. To him, they were far more pleasant to be around. Lir didn't like spending any time around people who spoke a lot. He wasn't a friendly sort. Which was why him addressing Mutasim first was probably unusual, though he thought he had an extremely good reason for doing so... and if anyone disagreed, he didn't care. "Is your firelizard all right?" He wasn't the type to care much about people, and he knew Mutasim was hurt. Truthfully it didn't matter. He did care more about the flitter, since he'd looked so distressed when he left. Lir was sure he'd appear rude, ignoring the girl, but...
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Post by kaedryn on Dec 10, 2007 4:49:48 GMT -5
At the entrance of the other boy, darker in all aspects than the one already in the room, Kaedryn has sat up straighter, and Belus had suddenly stood up, wary, but not yet to the point of being scary about it. She laid a hand on the large dog, stroking him gently from shoulder to hip until he eventually calmed down, all his muscles relaxing even though he kept his gaze steady on the newcomer. She watched them carefully, oddly colored eyes gleaming as she watched the interaction between the two, one hesitantly stretching out a verbal hand to the wary boy he called Mutasim.
Belus moved once again, walking to carefully stand in front of her, still completly fixed on the stranger as if seeing something she could not. She whispered to him even as he walked, head up and feet placed precisely and carefully, over to the dark skinned boy with the world-weary eyes. At this, Kaedryn froze. Belus was an excellent judge of character, more intelligent than any of the other dog's in her pack and she had quickly learned to rely on that judgement. If Belus accepted this stranger, she would as well...
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Requiem
Weyrleader S'rei WM M?ta Rider A'nd Harper/Handler Dmitri Weyrbrat Miguel
Posts: 2,861
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Post by Requiem on Dec 10, 2007 21:15:24 GMT -5
When Mutasim paused, it was as much at the dog that had risen as at the sound of his name, his eyes narrowing warily. He was not completely unfamiliar with canines. Though this was perhaps the first one he'd seen that apparently was someone's pet. In Bitra, they had been strays, and this stance the creature took had been a common one. From that stance, he could shift to snarling, and then to the attack - though that wasn't to say that Mutasim either disliked or feared the creatures. In truth, he respected dogs as fellow survivors. They'd been struggling for life just as he and his den were.
Only after the creature relaxed did his gaze shift to the boy who had called his name. Who...? Out of his memory, he pulled the syllables, distinctly recalling hearing someone address this candidate before. It was this memory and intellect that had served him well on the streets. Keliris. Brother Kaliran. The older of the brothers. In silent response to the candidate's question, Mutasim pulled aside his collar for a moment, revealing Jabari's head. The brown peeked out from his hiding place with what must be curiosity, eyeing the pretty little colored thing the other manthingy had, though he turned his head aside and buried it against Mutasim's neck after a moment. Shy, this brown.
The dog was moving. In front of the girl with the oddly colored eyes. The boy stiffened, thinking that maybe the canine would try to protect his owner, and remembering just how powerful these creatures could be, when it approached him at a sedate pace. Mutasim was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. Sure, the dog wasn't exactly charging him, but he had reason to be wary of these creatures, and, from what he could see of the girl's reaction...he definitely had reason to be careful around this animal.
Jabari shifted at his neck. Before the candidate could stop him, the little brown flit had uncoiled, hopping the short distance to the dog's shoulder. "Jabari!" Mutasim hissed, worriedly, the first flickering of emotion coming into his face. The brown ignored the concern of his humanpet, crooning softly and burying himself into the warm fur between the dog's shoulderblades. He wanted to snatch the firelizard up, but was afraid of the canine's reaction, more due to what might happen to Jabari than anything that the dog could do to him. He shot a pleading look to the other two candidates, clearly distressed. Mutasim and Jabari hadn't been physically separated more than once since the flit's hatching, and that was when the brown rose up in defense of the candidate against the golden queen of Selenitas.
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Post by glamourie on Dec 11, 2007 4:29:35 GMT -5
Keliris froze and his eyes silently followed the girl's pet. He hadn't really acknowledged the canine before, if only because he didn't see a purpose, but its behavior in regards to the smaller boy was noted with interest. Funny, creatures seemed to have interesting reactions to him, if the way that first Aslath and then the canine regarded the boy were anything to judge by. Keliris almost wondered if there was something wrong with the younger boy, but most of his being was incapable of caring much. His eyes flicked, back and forth. The girl didn't seem to make any effort to stop her pet, either, which concerned him. The redheaded boy narrowed his eyes. If she wasn't going to keep her pet in line, she would find it getting into trouble at some point, (Ultimate pessimist that he was, Keliris half-expected the girl to let her canine go running up to a furious queen and he would bet all the marks he could save in a Turn's time that a canine on the Hatching Sands would not go over well with the seemingly agitated queen.) and she might even lose the creature. Oh well. Not his problem, though he did feel slightly bad for the canine that his mistress seemed to have such poor control over him.
Fortunately, Mutasim didn't seem to mind very much, or so he appeared to Keliris, who didn't know him to say for sure. Since he didn't run off, Lir assumed that meant he was okay with it, and his eyes remained on the small boy. A curt nod was offered to the shown firelizard, as if to say "Good" - he'd been worried for the little brown. Lir had no flitters of his own, probably due to his demeanor, but he liked them and he didn't fancy the idea of any firelizard getting hurt... especially since the queen had been behaving so very oddly.
Whatever he might have said was quite quickly blocked away by the brown flitter flying over to the canine, just as a blue appeared from between with a distraught creel. Chattering animatedly, Maris, who looked to Keliris's brother Kaliran, settled on Keliris's shoulder and nudged him, sending images of hands clutched around him and disproportionate arms along with the shiny thing that he was trying so hard to protect. The young blue firelizard practically climbed all over Keliris's shoulder and face, making a great deal of racket in his distress, his eyes whirling rapid colors, but his frantic behavior made it impossible for Lir, who he didn't look to, to comprehend what his problem was. Little did the sixteen-turn-old know that Kaliran was well aware of the problem, but currently busy harassing the bluerider responsible for distressing Maris so very much.
"Calm down, Maris, you're loud," Keliris scolded quietly, though his eyes remained on Jabari, as if out of worry. "You're disturbing everyone, stop - whatever your problem is, I'll tell Ran about it, okay? Stop." The blue gave another low chirp, then turned to look at the canine before fluting inquisitively. What was that?
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Post by kaedryn on Dec 11, 2007 9:20:49 GMT -5
When Belus had gone to the dark boy, Kaedryn had let him go. It would be good to know if he was someone she must watch, but her eyes lightened considerably when the small brown flitt had leapt into Belus' long back fur. Having never seen such a small creature as a flitt until he had come with her here, the four year old borzoi dog had taken an extreme liking to them, infinently gentle and playful. Belus had turned his sharp angled face to the brown and gave it a small 'yip' in answer to it, then cocked his head at the small blue that suddenly appeared from between, along with everyone in the room.
It was then that Belus turned back to Mutasim, as she had heard his name called. He walked carefully, his entire being radiating calm intent, and gently nudged his hand carefully, as if not to hurt him even with such a gently touch. Kaedryn relaxed completly, a bright soft smile blooming across her face as she caught the boy's eye gently. His eyes were old for such a young person. She nodded slightly to him, hoping her eyes reflected the fact that she now trusted him, even if she didn't know him. "Belus is an excellent judge of character." She said in reply to the question in his eyes. She then proved that she hadn't just let him wander when she snapped her fingers, the long haired dog instantly whirling in place to come stand at her side. She then moved in her hand in a small movement and Belus bowed on his front legs before sitting down in one perfect move.
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Requiem
Weyrleader S'rei WM M?ta Rider A'nd Harper/Handler Dmitri Weyrbrat Miguel
Posts: 2,861
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Post by Requiem on Dec 11, 2007 15:46:10 GMT -5
Mutasim visibly flinched as the blue screeched out of Between, his hand having drifted suspiciously behind his back, a subtle shifting in his stance going from passivity to seemingly on edge, though the difference would be hard for most observers to describe. In reality, he'd simply shifted his weight to the balls of his feet. A move like that was an instant warning to the well-trained eyes of a Bitra resident. And the second move, when his weight went back to even distribution, enough to calm them. It was just...a firelizard. Mutasim wasn't exactly a good person to surprise. He tended to utilize his throwing daggers at a perceived threat before taking complete stock of what that threat was. Such instant reactions had saved his life on more than one occasion.
So. The blue was one of Kaliran's flitters. That explained things - somewhat - though why he had to make such an insufferable racket was perplexing...Though not as perplexing as what possessed Jabari to make a nest out of the canine’s fur. Mutasim stared down at the dog, not sure exactly how to react to the creature’s approach. Should he back away? Yes. Probably. Though that would leave Jabari alone with the canine, and the candidate was loathe to do that. So he waited, unmoving as the animal nudged him gently, a slight frown turning down his mouth. It wasn’t displeasure so much as confusion. How could one wild creature greet him so differently than the next? They all seemed fascinated by him, which did not make Mutasim particularly comfortable. He made no move to respond to the dog’s show of trust, not entirely sure how stable it was, and not particularly keen on adding more injuries to his growing list.
His eyes flicked to Kaedryn for a brief moment as she spoke, his mouth twisting into something that only vaguely resembled a smile, the expression distinctly wry. This girl was looking at him very strangely. He spoke for the first time since he’d entered the room, his voice carrying remarkably well given how soft-spoken he was. “His judgment can’t be all that great.” It was rather hard to tell if Mutasim meant that as humor or not. Nor would there be much of a chance to pursue it, as Jabari shrilled with the dog’s quick movements, the brown surging upward and rushing back to the safety of his humanthingy, careening into the small boy’s chest with enough power that it forced Muta back a step.
Hands instinctively coming to cradle Jabari, who was still flapping about in distress and pressing himself into Mutasim’s chest with a determination that seemed to suggest he wanted to bury himself inside the boy, the small candidate cupped the firelizard gently in one hand, stroking the creature’s spine. A low rumble came from his throat, not really a growl, but what else it could be was hard to tell. Whatever it was, the flitter seemed to respond to it, settling down to stare at the big furry thing that had scared it so, his little chest rising and falling so very fast.
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Post by glamourie on Dec 11, 2007 16:06:33 GMT -5
Keliris let his hands roam over Maris as the blue chittered, slowly calming down. His eyes whirled and he finally settled completely on the boy's shoulder. He didn't like Keliris as much as he did his person but his person was around the mean person who grabbed him. His person's look-alike could be a good substitute, for the moment, though he would likely soon tire of Lir. Aside from that gentle touch, though, Keliris was oblivious to the frantic firelizard on his shoulder, for the chittering was quiet enough so as not to be disrupting. His eyes remained flickering between the canine and Mutasim, the boy's slight movement making him tilt his head, though only because he'd merely noted a change in posture. Inquisitive was the head tilt, much the way someone might poke something to get a reaction, though Keliris would not be quite so brash most of the time. Verbally yes, physically no, and in the case of one of the few people at the Weyr who didn't annoy him, he wasn't likely to say anything verbally either. Best not to question a good thing. While he was sure Mutasim would not follow him around babbling, it wasn't a precedent he wanted to set.
And the girl was talking again, which made Lir turn his attention back to her. His expression became one of clear disbelief, as though he was blatantly shocked by what she'd said. Mutasim's response made him snort in reaction, and that was all the ammunition he needed, though he bit his tongue long enough to turn and look when the other firelizard made such a distressed sound. Amber eyes darted back and fort, as if to make sure that the little brown was all right. He really did care more about pets than their owners most of the time. Once he was completely sure that the brown was, in fact, not hurt by something the canine did, Keliris whirled back on Kaedryn and stepped over toward her, though he stayed out of arm's range.
"It is exceedingly interesting that you would trust the opinion of a canine over your own. Are you truly such a poor judge of character as to have to rely on a canine?" He was sure the canine would dislike him for insulting its master, but Keliris was not up to caring. He could have one canine dislike him. There were plenty of flits that did. Animals as a rule didn't like Lir, which was funny, since he liked most of them. The blue on his shoulder didn't even look to him, and his movements made Maris give a quiet chirp before taking to wing and flying off. Lir did not watch him, instead focusing completely on Kaedryn. He was being nasty and he knew it; he also didn't care. Once someone opened themselves up, Keliris rarely stopped to give them a chance to take back what they said or defend themselves. He liked arguing for the sheer sport of arguing, really, and he was naturally sarcastic. "Or perhaps you choose to rely on your pet because its intelligence level greatly exceeds your own?" He was implying she was dim on purpose, hoping to spur an argument. He had no reason to, really, except that her canine had obviously upset Mutasim's firelizard... and that was good enough for Lir when he was so testy to begin with.
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Post by kaedryn on Dec 11, 2007 19:26:43 GMT -5
Angered slightly by the insinuations from the first boy, Kaedryn's next words were accompanied by blazing eyes and lips drawn back slightly from teeth, like a dog did when angered. "Humans can be fooled, their senses confused and their actions misinterpreted. I never said he was good, and he may not be. But if Belus says he will not harm me if I do nothing to him, I will trust his decision. In that respect, he is far wiser than all humans." She said, almond shaped eyes with their odd coloring narrowing, the outer ring of grey lightening to silver and the indigo middle darkening, like a storm cloud ringed with lightning.
She looked once again, how gently Mutasim held the brown flitt. In her mind, unused to being around strangers more than her pack, treatment such as that to a creature redeemed anything he could do to humans, she cared more for animals anyway. Kaedryn snorted at the boy right in his face, staring at him.
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Requiem
Weyrleader S'rei WM M?ta Rider A'nd Harper/Handler Dmitri Weyrbrat Miguel
Posts: 2,861
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Post by Requiem on Dec 12, 2007 19:36:53 GMT -5
The candidate's steady gaze had remained on this nameless girl with her dog, Belus. Completely devoid of emotion, it masked the annoyance that was growing with each passing second towards her. Not only had she been incapable of what was obviously - to him at least- a plea to rescue Jabari from the dog, but then she'd had Belus move, startling the poor flit. It was fortunate that the firelizard hadn't injured himself in his headlong flight into Mutasim. Even now, the brown was quivering, traumatized. Jabari had never been a particularly brave creature, always hiding beneath the candidate's collar, curled around his neck. And, though he waited patiently, she made no acknowledgement of the distress she'd caused Jabari. A dark anger was welling up inside the boy. How could she be so careless about someone else's pet, when it seemed she cared quite a bit about her own? Jabari had a mind-link with Mutasim, which made it harder for him to see the brown frightened than had he owned a mutt like hers.
Then he blinked. What was this? Keliris was laying into the new candidate with a mercilessness that couldn't help but instill Mutasim with a flare of grudging admiration. The boy had quickly come to respect viciousness on the streets of Bitra - even if he hadn't always liked the forms it took. This was meager in comparison to that, but it still amused him that the older boy would care enough to bother getting into an argument over whether or not the girl should base her character impressions on a dog's whim. Then again, Keliris might just enjoy an argument for the sake of arguing. Mutasim wouldn't know. He'd never observed this behavior in the candidate before, and frankly hadn't been around Keliris much at all, such that he didn't know if this sort of behavior was commonplace.
Mutasim had to admit he'd found her comment rather odd. After all, he'd actually responded to it. Though he saw it a little differently than the other boy seemed to. Mutasim, were he to let loose the rein on his tongue, would likely have asked what caused the girl to place such trust in the instincts of a stupid beast such as that canine. The fact that Belus hadn't reacted poorly to Mutasim was proof enough of that. Most people knew better that to trust Muta, and yet she claimed this dog's instincts were better? If so, Belus should be tearing his throat out right now.
The boy actually snickered at her comment. Not harm her? He wouldn't hesitate. Mutasim simply never performed an unnecessary action, but certainly if her mutilation or death was likely to make his life easier, he'd do what pragmatism demanded without so much as a hint of remorse. In fact, he'd been quite murderous where he came from. Here, though...it was more dangerous to go on a killing spree, and Mutasim was all for making life easier, not harder. All this he truly believed of himself. Whether or not it was truth - well, that was hard to say. Mutasim's oddities didn't cease mystifying even him at times. It was, after all, easier just to say that he was a monster rather than delve into the intimate details of why he reacted as he did to different situations. A monster need not regret. A monster need not explain himself. A monster simply was...a monster.
"Are you so certain of that?" he inquired of the girl, his smile mocking.
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Post by glamourie on Dec 13, 2007 5:45:21 GMT -5
Keliris snorted and - briefly - debated pointing out that animals could be fooled, rather easily in fact, by soft words and tender touches. Creatures were fooled by how they were treated, with little regard to how the same person turned and treated someone else. Dragons and firelizards to some degree were different except that firelizards were, most of the time, drawn to the person with the most food. Dragons were far more selective. But canines and domestic felines, one could tame and keep as a pet with soft praises, gentle tones and affection. It didn't require being a good person or having a heart of gold. He knew that to be fact because most animals reacted poorly to Keliris, yet he'd not harm most of their masters. It was his tone. He knew that, but he hadn't tried to fix it. Only Kaliran's Maris and, strangely enough, Beka's Anai, managed to see through that, and coincidentally they looked to the two people Lir had been nicest to in his own way. The dog likely reacted well to Mutasim because the boy hadn't yelled at it in any way, nor did he seem to register any fear that Keliris could detect. Canines were predators by nature and so they would have picked up on fear or yelling, or even the slightest snide tone, like the one he took in regards to the girl. If she didn't know enough about animals to know that, he certainly wasn't going to correct her.
But that she seemed convinced Mutasim wouldn't hurt her amazed him to some degree. Keliris didn't know Mutasim, but he knew humanity. At the first justification, humans by nature looked to tear one another apart. They were independent creatures designed for solitary life, forced by circumstance in the form of a silver menace falling from the skies, to be confined to massive groups. On their own they were a dangerous breed but together they would devour one another whole without thinking twice. Most humans needed a reason but 'reason' was a veil to justify cruelty to one's conscience, and not every individual was confined by those rules. Look at the north, or was the girl so foolish as to ignore? Wars were fought for the pettiest of reasons on the outside because the truth was that they were looking for excuses to rip one another apart. Every human being was capable of harm, and some more than others. Just because she didn't perceive herself as having given Mutasim a reason, didn't mean she didn't. And she was naive to think that nothing she'd done could be perceived as an insult. She'd practically terrified the boy's brown firelizard. If Lir had a pet, he would have hurt her for letting her canine scare it so. It was probably a very good thing that Lir did not.
"Your naivety astounds. I don't know him," and he nodded toward Mutasim, as if to imply that the words that would follow were not intended to be insulting to him, "but I know plenty of people who could tear apart your actions here so far and find an excuse to hurt you. You say, 'If I do nothing to him' but you have done something to him. You let your canine walk up to him without stopping to consider whether he liked canines or not, which is a blatant disregard for his preferences. You then called Belus back and upset the firelizard considerably, and I'm fairly sure you were the one groveling at the Touching so you should have known that firelizard's had quite a stressful sevenday on top of it. Yes, I remember you and your babbling nonsense at Aslath, you're truly lucky she didn't just eat you. Let's see, what else? Oh, yes, you haven't even apologized for your canine's behavior. Judge of character or not, so far you've been exceptionally rude. Lives have been lost for far lesser insults. But you keep telling yourself that you've done nothing, that your canine is such an excellent judge of character. I can't speak for Mutasim, but since the canine seems to completely ignore me, I'd say he's not so smart after all."
Keliris didn't really care, though, that the dog seemed to overlook him. He'd been talking with such cold tones, it was likely the thing would hate him before all was said and done. He didn't like canines much though. Of all the pets he'd seen, they were his least favourites, and Keliris was still considering getting a domestic feline cub himself. Hmm. And -- wow. Mutasim spoke again. Keliris actually turned to look at him, inclining his head slightly, as though seeing the small boy for the first time. He'd never spoken to him before and as a result, he'd never tried to understand his behavior, but that one phrase, no matter what the expression he wore, was ominous in its own way. And he was fairly sure that was the most words he'd ever heard Mutasim speak before. How funny. It would be interesting to see how the little big-mouth with her oh-so-smart canine took that remark, because Lir, ever paranoid, knew exactly how he took it. He didn't trust anyone, and whether intentional or not, Mutasim just gave him a perfect excuse never to try with him. Not that it would ever be spoken or acknowledged, nor did he think the younger boy would care.
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Post by kaedryn on Dec 18, 2007 16:16:03 GMT -5
Startled by the almost hatred and antagonism actually coming from the two boys, Kaedryn let her features suddenly slide into a snarl, teeth bared and eyes narrowed almost ferally. "Fine, if you want to judge me or my dog, you may do so. I have been around humans very little. Perhaps you are fooling me and Belus, but I do not care." Her furious eyes swung back and forth between the two, the grey around her eyes lighting up like lightning around the indigo blue of her inner eye which had darkened.
"And this is why I prefer canines to humans." She snarled out again, hand slashing before her body. She walked back a few steps, a feral dog and Belus drifted in front of her, not truly angry just wary at the ones in the room. Kaedryn threw back her head, pissed off. She knew these two were laughing at her in their heads at her, at her naivete, and that made her absolutly furious. She didn't have much experience with humans, only with her dogs... And dogs always told you what they thought through body language and scents... But humans did not, humans could trick and fool. And if they could fool even Belus, if what each said was true, then she could no longer trust anyone near her.
Her eyes began to dart back and forth, her head ducking as if to protect her throat as she began to look for a way out of the room. She told Belus to leave, him being here might only antagonize either of the men. He left reluctantly, golden eyes trained on all three, but he eventually did leave. Kaedryn began to move, walk stifflegged yet oddly fluid as she circled around the room to leave.
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