snuggle buddies [Lan!]

[Cy]

[/i]. She wasn't getting anything done.

'You have done a lot today, Mine!' Lormanuph announced with an excitement separate from the calmness of her posture, barging noise so suddenly into the serenity that S'ara jumped with surprise, dark eyes quickly growing wide as she dropped her eyes down to the green who remained undisturbed by it. 'You have, Mine, you have done a lot. You cleaned and you washed and you cleaned some more and you broke the ice and you carried water and then you washed and then–' “Thank you, love.” S'ara quickly interrupted, a smile gracing her full lips as she moved her fingers steadily over the chick's head, silencing her smoothly, both embarrassed by the complimenting assurance and pleased all the same. She was proud of the work she did and she couldn't quite remember the last time that her hard work had been recognized. It felt good.

'I am proud of you, my S'ara.' It was purred into her skull, soft and sweet, and Lormanuph made the effort to snuggle even closer against her bonded. The woman's smile grew even more, another feat in itself, and she lifted a hand to place discreetly over her mouth, hiding it away until she could encourage it to dim again, affectionately moving her other hand to stroke down over the length of the chick before rising back to her head. “Okay, we'll stay here a little bit longer, then we'll get back to work.” She conceded, lifting her eyes back up, the frozen vapors of her breath rising up into her vision as she looked up to the whitewashed cloudy sky. Despite the dreary weather, it was a good day, a feat in itself for her to think so.[/ul][/size]

[Lan]

Hilton was walking. It was something that happened on the occasion that he was feeling particularly in a peaceful mood... and when he was trying to get away from his brother. Not that they had had a dispute, but when one lived with another person it was always nice to get away once in a while. Today was one of those days. He had drifted through the canyon bed, occasionally talking to some people and flirting with others. For lunch he had stopped by the Kitchens and found himself a bite to eat, although he had had to do quite a bit of chatting to get himself into a situation where the cook wanted to feed him for free. And now? He was walking. That was enough... for the moment.

The gardens caught his fancy and he drifted through them as serenely as an old woman shuffles through in pure nostalgia. Really, the tanner had nothing to be nostalgic about. While he had been there for a long time, the place held no real memories. And if they did, Hilton would prefer not to focus on them. The here and now were the only real things that mattered. He really wished his previous girlfriends could understand that. Most of them went passive aggressive... although there was that occasional nutjob that insisted on stalking him. Well, okay, there were none of those yet... to his knowledge. But it was a scenario that Hilton was not keen on meeting. He was musing over this and many other odd little things when quite suddenly something took his mind off of his random what-if-the-world-collapsed-and-I-turned-into-a-goose thoughts.

There was a girl along the path. And not just any girl. A very, very lovely woman who was as beautiful as any sunset Hilton had even seen... and moreso! What attracted his attention was that gentle, serene smile that just made his legs seem to melt underneath him. How could he not have met her before? He must meet her now! However, as he tread down the path he noticed that she was not alone... there was a infant simourv there. A green one. A green simourv, of hatchling status, had her head resting in the woman's lap. So she was one of those winglets that had come to infest the Eyrie? Which meant she would be a rider someday. Well, that sort of busted his bubble of bubbly happiness. All the women riders he had had the misfortune to encounter were usually of the terribly masculine sort, with tempers and vanity that was not befitting a proper lady. For a moment he hesitated. But she seemed so... peaceful. And she was without a doubt very beautiful. So his hormones got the better of him. He proceeded forward.

"Hello there, gorgeous." Hilton winked, stopping in front of her and giving the most charming of his smiles he could muster. Then, in a fluid movement, he looked down and knelt beside the little green. "And who is this adorable little creature?" He glanced up to S'ara for an answer, keeping that ever-so-charming grin plastered on his face as if he were a canvas to be painted. Cautiously at first, he reached out to give an affectionate scratch to the little green on the back of her head, being gentle as he knew she was still just a hatchling. With most of the simourv he had worked with, mainly adults, he had gotten to know their temperaments and who liked physical affection and who didn't, and from his best assumption he assumed the green was the kind that didn't mind some attention.

[Bre]

How strange, how strange . . .

There was one of his green sisters! Hardly noticing Hilton at all at first, the little lost blue can trundling over to say hello to Lormanuph. He trilled and burbled happily, still having no way with words. Though he had grown, and was not as exceedingly young as he had once been, he was hardly old and he maintained his childish nature. He was beginning to grow a little more independent from Eceph and she not too possessive a mother, though she may not have entirely known where he was going. Since the hatching, he had hardly gotten to see his brothers and sisters at all! He clicked his beak happily at Lormanuph, just to show her that he was happy, broadcasting his joy like a rainbow around him so that no one would know that he was anything but splendorous. He gave S'ara a glance, knowing that she was Lormanuph's rider, and bobbed his head at her.

Then he looked at Hilton, eyes roving with curiosity. The boy was not any simourv's rider, but that was normal. He had not found one such as Hilton right for him on the sands. Many people did not have simourvs, which the blue actually found quite strange. Everyone but him got to live with their riders! Everyone else was so happy! So understood! He was not the jealous type, but it did make him a little sad. However, sitting there, looking at Hilton with his yellowish green eyes, he was not so sad. After all, the boy was not sad, and he had no simourv! If a human could do it, so could he! Especially if it was Hilton. The young blue blinked a few times, feeling quite odd, rather than splendorous. His head felt all fuzzy. It was a good sort of fuzzy though, a happy type of fuzzy, but he also knew that his head was not supposed to be fuzzy like that. He clicked his beak again, trying to work it all out in his mind.

Oh! That's how you do this! Suddenly, the words snapped into place in the blue's head. Not feral, not wild, not awkward, but instead perfectly logical and understood. He gazed down on Hilton and suddenly he was even happier than he had been before. Without a second thought, his butt sank to the ground and his tail curled neatly about his feet. He would wait for H'ton to finish. Oh, but he had to said that! And he had to a lot to say! My, these word things were so very useful when you got them right! H'ton, I did not think I was still looking, but you are mine. I wonder how this happened, because I do not really know. But I am glad I found you. Your Norloph is glad he found you. Oh! Can we still visit mother Eceph sometimes though? The wingletmasters are very nice, but she is my mother! With that, the blue subsided, practically beaming. He had found a rider! Finally.


curious, a bit of a mama's boy, obedient but easy to distract

. . . 'cause you know what they say.

[Cy]

[/i][/color] Lormanuph crooned from her lap, dark eyes now opening to watch the man in question as he approached. He seemed so harmless. With that big smile on his face, he seemed happy and friendly. There should be nothing to worry about in speaking with him. She hummed softly and inched closer.

Greetings didn't typically involve calling a stranger “gorgeous” and she snapped her attentions up to the man again in time to catch his wink. She blinked dumbly, full lips parting slightly without forming any words at all. What was one even meant to say to something like that? Men didn't usually call her gorgeous, especially not with their very first words. Men didn't wink at her. What she was expected to do? Suddenly, he was dropping down in one smooth gesture to kneel at Lorma's side, prompting the greent to perk her head up, pleased and curious as she watched him with wide happy eyes. Dropping her hand from the hatchling's head to her back, the winglet glanced between the man and the simourv, her brain still struggling to piece together the oddities of this abrupt conversation and formulate some kind of appropriate response. So far, her cheeks were merely growing heated with a vivid pink blush. Suddenly, she shook her head lightly as if snapping out of some kind of trance. “Oh, um... Lormanuph.” She answered, glancing back to the man, smiling slightly. “She's Lormanuph.” The named hatchling responded immediately to the man as he reached out for her by stretching her head out to him, encouraging him in his quest to pet her. Her eyes slid shut. If she'd been born a feline, she might have purred in great contentment at the affection shown to her, but, as it was, she was simourv and she released a long, low croon of ecstasy. She loved being pet. She loved it just as much as she loved snuggling! She loved it so much when she was being pet while being snuggled though.

Alongside being pet and being snuggled though, she loved her siblings! They were all beautiful and wonderful! Catching on to her brother's presence as the little blue approached, she straightened up to turn her head to watch him. If her beak had been capable of it, she'd have broken into a broad grin at the sight of him, but instead she could only chirp a precious greeting to him. It was not quite like the rest of them. He was still alone, His had not been at the Hatching – but she didn't think about this, she just listened happily as he trilled and burbled. Eagerly, she returned his excitement, mirroring his noises and slipping words into his head. Her brother was so nice to talk to. S'ara watched with a pleasant smile as her green chattered with the blue, clicking her beak and whistling. Her fingers returned to lightly stroking through feathers, her brown eyes slipping off to the side to glance to the man that had kneeled beside them before looking back to the blue.

The simourv wasn't speaking with Lorma anymore though. He was staring up at the man, seemingly absolutely fascinated because he just wasn't looking anywhere else. He was rooted. And then he was plopping himself down, clicking his beak and still staring up at the man. Oblivious to the true magnitude of the event, not even beginning to connect the blue's behaviour with that of his siblings on the nesting sands some time ago because who had ever heard of a chick bonding so long after their hatching, her mouth stretched into a wider smile, amused and pleased, glancing up to the man. “I think he likes you.” She muttered with a faint chuckle beneath her quiet words. [/ul][/size]

[Lan]

"Lormanuph;" Hilton repeated, smiling down at the chick, "She's a pretty thing, isn't she? So full of love, too!" He continued petting her, getting familiar with her temperament as he liked to do with the simourvs around the Eyrie. If he was going to be making harnesses for them, he felt he should get acquainted with the beasts. After all, making harnesses meant that he had to to work rather intimately with both the creatures and their riders to make sure it was a perfect fit. There were some from both species he had problems with, but that's how it would be wherever a person would go.

Suddenly Lormanuph looked up, though, and Hilton's gaze followed hers. The little blue from the hatching, the riderless chick, came strolling along the garden path. He offered the tiny blue a smile, too, as kindly as he had given his green sister. Poor little thing. He felt for the chap. From what he had gathered at Eceph's recent hatching, the blue was so confused and hurt about not finding his rider. He seemed to be getting along fine now, though. So when the unnamed blue bobbed his head amiably at the green winglet, the tanner thought nothing of it and looked up at her as well. At least, it seemed like the blue wasn't paying him any attention. You could imagine his surprise, then, when a voice entered his head.

Oh! That's how you do this! H'ton, I did not think I was still looking, but you are mine. I wonder how this happened, because I do not really know. But I am glad I found you. Your Norloph is glad he found you. Oh! Can we still visit mother Eceph sometimes though? The wingletmasters are very nice, but she is my mother!

Hilton blinked and looked down at the hatchling, experiencing one of those few moments where he was stunned beyond words. Wait... what? What just happened? Rewind. Take it back. What? Two minutes ago he was quite sure there weren't any voices poking around his head. However, this voice seemed as familiar as it was foreign. It emanated from the blue, of that much he was certain. But what did the chick call him? H'ton? That was a rider's name. Hilton was not a rider. He worked with riders, sure but he never really aspired to become one! Yet here the blue was--here Norloph was... talking to his H'ton. Whoa. This was some heavy shit.

"Umm... sure. Of course," He responded to the chick, not knowing what else to say. Slowly, he reached out a hand and Norloph moved his head beneath it, nuzzling up to his rider's touch. Only then was it really, honest-to-heaven real to H'ton. His heart melting at this little creature whose mind had touched his so intimately, his face slipped into a wide and slightly dumbfounded grin. His Norloph. H'ton's Norloph. Norloph and H'ton. It began to sound more and more wonderful.

"Yeah... he certainly does!" H'ton looked up at S'ara with the same wide smile, giving a chuckle at the irony of her words. Now continually petting Norloph, he faced her and prepared himself to explain a situation he never thought he'd find himself talking about. "He says his name's Norloph. And, before he met me, I was going to introduce myself as Hilton... but, according to him it's H'ton now." He wrapped his arms around Norloph, snuggling his face into the blue's feathers in a sudden demonstration of the overwhelming affection he felt toward the blue. While indubitably weird, it seemed almost natural. Like this was something he'd longed to do for a long time. Norloph warbled in happiness then, as H'ton released him from their embrace, he hopped over and snuggled next to Lormanuph, rubbing his head against her shoulder much like H'ton had just done to him.

Lormanuph! Norloph found his rider, did you see? But now Norloph is cold. Can we cuddle? As he spoke he inched ever closer to the green until the only closer he could be was to actually occupy the same exact space. But he didn't mind the proximity. He reveled being so close to his sister! And now he could be with his siblings all the time! Mother Eceph would be so proud! He should tell her about his good fortune! But right now he just wanted to cuddle.

Moving to sit closer to S'ara, H'ton giggled at the two young simourvs and glanced over at her, still somewhat dumbstruck at how his day had turned out. Damn... he'd have to tell his brother he'd be taking a hiatus from working. Maybe he could still work on harnesses, though, in-between lessons and chores? Shit. Chores. He'd have to do chores! Maybe he could talk his Wingletmaster into just letting him do his previous job instead... it was important, after all. The Eyrie was only as strong as its weakest harness! But that was not important now. What was important was Norloph. And Lormanuph. And especially Lormanuph's very beautiful rider.

"So what's your name, m'dear?" He continued as if their conversation hadn't been interrupted by something so tremendous as the bonding of a simourv.