Lifelike {Jack}

[Admin]

I'm a fragile tough girl,
Steady as a tree,
I'm a fragile tough girl,
And life is messy.

Sonia ambled down the path that ran along the side of the bowl from the low dip of the entranceway to the kitchens. The Weyr's small gardens, which helped to provide some added food for the fairer months and work for errant brats, were located near the trail. Her arms were full of baskets filled with contents from those garden, tubers and tough greens. The scene was familiar to her, but carefully designed to be unfamiliar and unnoticeable to anyone else. Even though candidacy had brought her more food and more everything, she remained an ever tiny, unobtrusive figure. Candidacy hadn't brought her trust, only the barest hope, so she continued to beautifully play her part in the broken pieces of the world.

The hour was early, though not heinously so since Sonia had been working for more than long enough by that point. It was quiet, a half-broken silence hanging over the bowl. She kept her eyes down and found some peace in that, reading into the whispers in the partial silence without a question on her lips. All her questions stayed hidden in her mind, deep beneath the worries and the wariness.

With a full chorus of raucous cries, a cacophony so very familiar to her, seven firelizards burst into the air above Sonia, leaving between to send a cold gust of air washing over her. Gold caught the light of Rukbat as Eulo arched her back, disentangling herself from the others with a feral grace she loved to exude. Images flashed through the tiny candidate's mind, momentarily overwhelming her. The pictures gave way to a simple pulse of colors and emotions. It should have sent her reeling, but she only paused in her steps, head shifting to gaze up at the whirl of their many colored bodies, expression wary but calm and unfazed.

"Enough;" she whispered. All of the foreign thoughts that had briefly overcome her mind faded into the back. Three of the seven firelizards dropped onto her shoulders and arms. Green Zola hid in her hair, twining around her neck. Eulo remained in the sky, a triumphant figure, silenced but not destroyed. Bronze Ruy and white Olya flanked her. The sight only made Sonia sniff faintly in wary frustration. They should have known to behave better when they chose to join her.

I can take a slap like the best of them,
But when it hurts too much to feel,
I just dress my heart up in,
These bandages of steel.

[jack]

"That's quite a hoard you've got there." Lips were pulled back in an energetic smile as the speaker approached, one hand on his hip and the other curled gently around a worn scrap of paper. Kaitecoon loomed over Sonia as he approached, but his merriment was genuine, and he leaned down to inspect the perched firelizards from a relaxed, unobtrusive distance. "They must cause quite a ruckus--from what I understand that large a group of flits can be stressful. Especially with a Queen and King amongst them."

With a cheerful laugh the man straightened, absently tugging on a strand of his dreadlocked hair. He himself stood before her with only one firelizard, a pale Pink thing that hovered over the man's head and gave occasional, demanding chatters. A bright red ribbon was tied around its neck in a girlish little bow, and even as she flew she absently fiddled with the ends. Coon looked up at the Pink--who gave a rather annoyed look back at him--and finally gave in with a laugh, his hands lifted in surrender.

"Alright, alright, you impatient creature." A hand dove into the pockets of his pants--the only true bit of clothing on his lean form--and pulled out a small piece of paper and a locket. Humming to himself, he looped the necklace around the paper and then handed it to the rose-colored flit. Sourness away with a pleased little chirp, the flit was off and betweened, leaving Coon shaking his head after her. "That's my younger sister's flit, Princess. Well-named, I assure you. That little creature is as spoiled as they get." He turned his attention to Sonia, chuckling, "Handling her is hard enough when she just comes for things. I can't imagine owning anything as demanding as that."

The dancer crossed his arms over his chest absently, looking off towards where the flit had headed, and began to lean almost inhumanly backwards. His spine popped rhythmically as he stretched it, but when he was leaned back almost to the ground, he snapped back to attention with an over-exaggerated stumble. "Oh! Where are my manners." He stretched out a hand, a jovial smile back on his features, "My name's Kaitecoon. I'm a Journeyman Harper--Drums and messages and all that fun."

[Admin]

Hey, slow it down,
Whataya want from me,
Whataya want from me,
Yeah, I'm afraid.

Sonia twisted around at the sound of a voice, drawing a hiss from Jary from where he was perched on her shoulder. Her eyes glanced over the approaching figure's intimidating height, and then she dropped her gaze to the ground. Her fair was more thorough in their inspection. Twisting around in the air, Ruy peered over the boy with slowly swirling green-white eyes. Eulo ducked her head, less forward than the steady bronze but just as ready to see what was happening. She didn't mind the attention of someone else looking at her. The rest of them were highly less interested. Jary offered a couple more hisses, and then a few more when a pink came sweeping down before Sonia silenced him. She felt pinned with her new acquaintance inspecting her fair. The skittish urge settled somewhat when he was distracted by the arrival of his pest.

Seven firelizards watched the pink that appeared, silent as they observed. Sonia didn't watch, but she listened. Her fair was hardly spoiled. They were more half feral when allowed out of her control. Esti, Zola, and Ife were generally sweet, but the rest of them would bite, torment, and harass if irritated and left without guidance. Two turns of training generally stuck, and she knew how to control he fair. It was his sister's fault for letting her pink become spoiled. Sometimes, having an entire collection could be a pain, but she at least managed her lot better than most others managed their singular specimens. Why exactly everyone wanted a firelizard they weren't even going to train was beyond her. Despite her thoughts towards the demanding pink, she held her peace. She always held her peace. Her pink, Esti, gave her an assuring croon.

"Sonia. I'm a candidate." The tiny girl raised her eyes for the briefest of moments when she spoke her name. Her gaze was back on the ground by the time she got to her title, which came as a weak comfort to her. "And these are gold Eulo, bronze Ruy, blue Jary, white Olya, and pink Esti. The lighter green is Ife. The darker green is Zola." She listed off her fair with ease, only allowing each of them to make one quiet trills at their names. Once done with that, she lapsed back to silence. A million things she could have said in reply to all that he had said trailed through her mind, but her lips remained closed. Nervously, she shifted, adjusting the baskets in her grip without upsetting her fair too much. She needed to get back to work. Her fair protested, keeping quiet but offering a flare of emotions. Ife and Esti whistled helpfully at Coon.

Please don't give in,
I won't let you down,
It messed me up,
Need a second to breathe.

[jack]

"Sonia? What a lovely name. And a Candidate too? Haha! You're quite the lucky little dreamer, aren't you?" With nothing but genuine fondness in his voice, Kaitecoon smiled, tilting his head to the side to look at her curiously. His attention wavered quickly, however, as he glanced towards the sky.

The broad wingspan that flew across it casted a shadow over both of them, and the man's smile in reply to it was peaceful and content. Quite beautiful, dragons...beautiful, wonderful creatures that made a person just want...to sing and dance and bask in their glory. He laughed, quietly, and without thinking about it spun into a lazy few steps, a graceful little dance from a routine he'd mastered as a child. "Eulo, Ruy, Jary, Olya, Esti, Ife and Zola." He rattled off easily, smiling at them all, "It is a pleasure to make the acquaintance of each and every one of you."

Coon fell quickly into a bow after his comment, his heels together and one arm folded behind his back as he gestured with the other and bent at the waist. As quick as he'd gone down, however, he was back again, humming quietly. "So, dear little dreamer, perhaps--if you have the time, you seem to waver as though in a rush--you could do me a favor?"

Still smiling--as he seemed to permanently be doing--the drummer gestured to the Weyr, his eyes already wandering over every inch he could see of it. The dragons he seemed particularly interested in, his wide eyes tracking their movements easily. But the sounds he also was tuned into; the distant sound of singing and the steady beats that simply was life itself. Far off--laying on the grass--he could see a Brown dragon half-sprawled in the Lake, his upper half possessively curled around his rider. Nearby was a dark Pink thing, a much more delicate creature who swayed her neck noticeably. Hers was a man, whose hands were working away at some sort of instrument. The other rider was a woman, and even from here he recognized the playful beats of a drum. He smiled, liking this place already. There was so much...life here!

"I was invited to come here a while back...an invitation I still haven't decided to take. Could...could I request your opinion on this lovely Weyr? Just out of curiousity, of course, and you certainly don't have to answer if it would cause you to be late to anything..."

[Admin]

If I don't cry,
Do you think I don't feel.
If I look away,
It doesn't mean I don't see.

Sonia didn't bother to think up protests to his declaration that she was a dreamer. As long as he didn't bother her too much, he could think whatever he wished of her. The only thing that bothered her was the way that he watched her, but that quickly went away when he shifted his gaze. Some of his motions made her heart twitch as she caught them out of the corners of her lowered eyes, but none of them were very threatening. She noticed that he seemed to have plenty of grace. The bow was certainly interesting. It drew twitters from Ife and a snort from Eulo, though nothing from Sonia. She raised her gaze when he mentioned a favor, expression instantly sharpening. A favor? Why should she do him a favor? An order, yes, an order she would follow. However, she didn't trust favors. She didn't have enough friends to do favors. Warily, she sized him up again.

In the end, the favor turned out to be a simple question. Sonia almost felt foolish. Almost. She knew better than to trust. Easy smile or not, she didn't know him, and he didn't know her. That second part was for the better. Taking her time, she considered the question. She really did need to get back to work. He said she could go if she would be late. Ife let out a whistle of protest. She wanted to stay! Sonia shot the green a look. In response, she fluttered her wings innocently. The tiny candidate frowned vaguely. "Eulo, Olya, Ife;" she stated, shifting her hold again and raising one of her baskets. Rising, the trio snatched wrapped their claws, as best they could, especially in the case of Olya, around the handle. "Ruy, Esti, Jary." The second basket was also grabbed as she raised it. Fixing it an image of the kitchens in their minds with a firm demand for obedience, she sent them on their way. Then it was just her and Zola.

Turning her head, the little candidate surveyed the bowl. She thought nothing of sending her fair to help finish her chore. They wanted to stay and have fun. Instead, they could work. That was how it worked. Her gaze traced its way over the features of the bowl. What did she think of the Weyr? "It's nice;" she finally said, speaking carefully. Her bruises had finally faded and no one had recently punched her. She was fed, even if she didn't show it and didn't take full opportunity of the available food. She was clothed. Life continued. She could have said other things, all the little thoughts that wriggled her brain, but it wasn't really her place. "You should probably ask one of the riders, or the crafters here. I've only been here a couple months." Despite her careful consideration of the question, she was quick to make herself seem small, even smaller than she was.

How strong do you think I am?
How much can I take of this?
Am I a rock,
Or a rose, or a fist?