food for thought. [Cy!]

[Fox]

The morning sun shone its watery light onto the inhabitants of Eyrie, dappling the red dirt of the canyon with a cheery gleam. It wasn’t very late in the day yet; the sun was still far from reaching its zenith, and the light breeze was cool against K’ean’s face. Silently, he stood on the ledge of his eyling, hands shoved into his pockets as he surveyed the stirrings of life all throughout the little city. Behind him, Seronaph also raised his head to peer out into the sun, his amber eyes gleaming an almost burnished gold in the waxing light. He was hungry. Very hungry. In fact, his hunger was beginning to rub off on his rider, as K’ean’s own stomach made a very audible protest at its forlorn, empty state. I am hungry, Mine.[/color] The red rumbled to his bonded, his voice finally succeeding in drawing K’ean’s blue gaze away from the view and the far distances it had been traversing in his thoughts. His didn’t say much; rather, with a brief nod to the affirmative coupled with a wave of acknowledgement, K’ean was soon in the saddle and Seronaph only had to spread his large red wings before taking off for the feeding pens.

Go ahead, Seph. The young man suggested as he released the simourv to do what he willed for a few hours until they made a start. I’m going to go eat something as well, I think.[/b] K’ean only offered this as an appeasement of himself; it was plain from the distracted look in Seronaph’s eyes that he was already looking forward to his breakfast. With a shrug and a faintly bemused sigh, the redrider took off for the kitchens at a disgustingly alert trot. In the back of his mind, the young man was aware of his simourv’s taking down of a cow, and he had to make a conscious effort to block the sensations of hot blood and warm flesh from his mind. It was always a disconcerting sensation to suddenly find one’s potatoes tasting like warm, copper blood. K’ean wasn’t looking to repeat the experience. Once had been quite enough.

Normally, K’ean was undeniably, irrevocably, horrendously a morning person. He was up with the sun no matter how little he’d slept (unless he was drunk), and often he was one of the first into the kitchens. It was only today that had been an exception; this afternoon he had planned to fly out to Itnala and he had spent the morning making sure that his gear and Seronaph’s was up to the trip. After the injury during Valenph’s flight, the redrider had made sure to double- and triple-check everything. He didn’t plan on wrenching out his arm again any time soon. By the time he wandered into one of the small mess halls, tray of food in hand, it was quite well populated, though there were still a fair amount of empty tables. He chose one of these, setting the tray down and sliding into a seat. Without much ceremony, K’ean began to shovel the food into his mouth, his stomach already grumbling after being empty for so long. [/size]

[Cy]

[/b] She cooed playfully, narrowing her eyes on him in coy regard.[/ul][/size]

[Fox]

Potatoes and carrots and meats all got shoveled into K’ean’s mouth with a cheerful disregard for individual tastes or textures. Truth to tell, the young man cared very little for food; eating only when his stomach would not stand any further procrastination. Usually, his breakfast consisted of a roll of bread and a nice hot cup of tea, but because K’ean and Seronaph would likely be flying through lunch, he had decided to eat slightly more so that he could forego eating entirely when he reached Itnala. Fish pastry had never been his favourite food anyway, and there wasn’t much else that he got besides that in the little fishing town. Best to eat here where there was meat enough to fill him up; fish wasn’t very substantial even when paired with thick pie crust and gravy. Besides, K’ean was Sayaie born and bred, and he would never outgrow his healthy fixation on meat for his meals when he had to eat at all.

The young man hadn’t noticed the impending approach of someone he knew until a tray dropped onto the table in front of him. Surprised, he blinked several times at the fresh plate of food before his eyes followed the hand that held the tray up to settle on a familiar pretty face. Immediately swallowing his food (suppressing a gag reflex in the process at a large bite of unchewed vegetable), K’ean’s mouth stretched into a welcoming smile as he recognised Talia, who had by this time seated herself opposite him. ”How could I forget?” He asked her with a grin that was only half-joking, pausing to put his fork down. It was only polite to give her his full attention, and it wasn’t as if the food was all that great tasting anyway. ”How have you been, Talia?” Almost unwittingly, K’ean leaned slightly forward over the table, knitting his fingers together as he spoke. The woman’s cheer was infectious and K’ean found himself responding to it without even noticing.

Belatedly, he remembered seeing her at the hatching. She had been the first to bond, and the redrider recalled his and Seronaph’s shared sense of pride at the candidate they had searched. A little green had Impressed her. ”But your name’s changed, hasn’t it?” He said, the question more of a statement as he bent his head almost formally in acknowledgement of her change in title. ”Congratulations on becoming a greenride.” At this last, K’ean couldn’t quite keep the swell of pride out of his voice or off his face. Both she and his sister’s friend Reiths- now R’ths- were candidates Seronaph had searched, and they had both bonded successfully. Separate from his pride in a job done, the redrider really was happy for them. There was nothing better in the world than having that bond with a simourv, no matter how irritating that simourv could be at times. He was almost eager to meet their bondeds, but thus far he and Seronaph had had little time for any kind of meet and greet session with the hatchlings besides Dionyph and Caidiph. K’ean had to wonder what Talia’s simourv was like to have bonded to the bright, cheerful, butterfly-like woman.

[Cy]

[/b] She returned coyly.

And then her eyes were back to him, as forward and unwavering as always, and she moved to extend a hand to him as if this was the first time they were meeting all over again. In a way, perhaps it was. “T’ia of Green Shovaph,” she introduced with a sultry smirk, waiting for his larger hand to fill her own before giving it a squeeze to hold on to it, tilting her head forward to peer up at him through her thick lashes. ”Do tell me it’s as lovely as Talia, hm.” She prompted without shame, offering a light fit of laughter to escape her full lips before sliding her hand smoothly from his and straightening up in her seat to grab up her fork, quirking an eyebrow up at him. “Sho is quite the lady, you might like her.” She offered with a wider grin, tilting her head and holding his eyes before briefly looking away to spear up a good chunk of meat, looking back up to him as she slipped it off her fork with her teeth.[/ul][/size]

[Fox]

More often than not, K’ean tended to go through the days almost as if he had one eye closed. He could talk to a person, issue orders and explanations, and not remember what they looked like the next minute. Or, on occasion, he could look straight through a person that he knew and liked, not seeing them at all if he had something else on his mind. Sometimes it seemed as if people weren’t important; as if in the whole world there existed only him and Seronaph. Of course, there were a few whom he noticed besides his family and close friends; the girls that he had searched he remembered, and he would occasionally seek them out to check up on them. But few had pushed to become anything resembling friends; not like T’ia seemed to be doing now. K’ean was well aware of the general aura of inapproachability he tended to exude, and more often than not he was thankful for it. The redrider didn’t do well with small talk; he was too straightforward to spend time dancing about a subject when there were so many other things to do besides.

It was strange, therefore, how easily he could converse with this woman. ”A pleasure, T’ia of Green Shovaph.” He said calmly, dipping his head shortly as he replied. One of K’ean’s eyebrows inched upwards as he slipped his hand into her offered palm, blue eyes calmly darting over the details of her face. She was warm and pretty, and lively, and it seemed as if every little emotion that she felt flitted across her face. It was a lovely face, alluring in its openness, and K’ean huffed lightly in amusement before letting his eyes slide away to one side, already withdrawing slightly from the moment of alertness in which he had placed her under such distant scrutiny. After shaking her hand once firmly, as he would have done to any other, he tried to pull away only to be stopped by a sudden squeeze of her hand. Briefly, his blue eyes flashed back to hers, brows pulling downwards confusedly, but she spoke before he could comment. He blinked a moment, head rearing slightly backwards in surprise. ”Certainly.” K’ean said, his voice trailing off in what seemed almost like uncertainty. Her actions confused him, and his brows furrowed for a moment, blue eyes narrowing to inspect her. It did not occur to him that she might be flirting with him; that was a surprisingly out of the question idea.

K’ean reclaimed his hand slowly, picking up his fork again to mask the sudden coldness of his palm. The furrowing of his brow did not smooth, even as he popped a small piece of potato into his mouth. Chew, swallow, think. ”I’m sure I would.” He returned politely, not quite sure what else to say even though he had his own doubts about binding himself by such a statement. ”I would love to meet her at some point; Seronaph and I haven’t had much of a chance to meet many of the hatchlings yet.” There had been a few he and the red had spoken to, but it was barely a fraction of the twenty-five hatchlings that had been born of Eceph’s clutch. As he lapsed into a brief silence, K’ean struggled for something to say, his mind still whirring over her odd, provocative attitude. Finally, he seized on something, even though it wasn’t a very good conversation starter. ”You’ve started your lessons already, correct? With K’huna and Canph?” Silliness. He knew they’d started the lessons. They would have started the day after the Hatching. After all, the winglets needed to know how to feed their simourvs. But hey, anything that would relieve K’ean of the burden of coming up with conversation from a mind that had gone suspiciously blank was a lifesaver.

[Cy]

[/I], how kind.”[/b] She returned, her dark eyes glittering as they stared back at him and she finally allowed his hand to escape from her grasp. “And what, might I ask, was your name before you became K’ean?” She questioned boldly, narrowing her gaze on him and tilting her head with the weight of her curiosity.

Continuing to peer at him through her thick lashes as she returned to her meal, satisfying her empty stomach bit by bit, she was pleased to find that little crease still etched along the line of his forehead. It spoke of his confusion and she strangely found it to be a nice thing for him to be perplexed by her. Men rarely liked to be confused. Baffling things needed to be figured out and he was more than free to try to figure her out. Her smile grew as he expressed an interest in meeting her Shovaph, not for the fact that it was nice but for the sad notion that she held little doubt that the little green would not approve of the man. She rarely approved of anyone. Of course, she’d seemed quite fond of K’huna when they’d met at the feast and the lady had been in such a splendid mood earlier. Perhaps K’ean and Seronaph would manage to slip through the cracks in Shovaph’s ridiculously high standards. The man, at least, was certainly polite enough. “We’ll have to arrange something then.”

She smiled around a bite of food, her lips full and sweet, but she was courteous enough to swallow before she opened her mouth to speak. “I most certainly have and they’re quite a pair, by the way. I can now butcher a herdbeast with the best of them.” She gloated with blatant exaggeration, grinning and holding up her fork, the tines sporting another chunk of meat to punctuate her claim. Her eyes narrowed with a sudden thought, letting her fork waver idly between her loose fingers. “You didn’t have lessons when you were taking care of Seronaph, did you.” She pointed out, stating it and yet curious all the same. Her voice had lowered from its flirtatious ring to a low line of seriousness, a rare line for her to tread upon at even the worst of times.[/ul][/size]

[Fox]

K’ean decided, after another narrow-eyed glance at T’ia, that he would let her odd behaviour go for now. It wasn’t as if there was anything actually malicious about her; it was just that she was baffling, and the redrider didn’t really like to be baffled. He liked to put people in their neat little boxes, and keep them there, and thus far she was destroying each box he made for her with her larger-than-life personality. It was almost as if she was not meant to be contained. Shoving his uncertainty to the back of his mind, K’ean forced himself to answer as he would have with any other friend rather than thinking too much about this and possibly stumbling over his own tongue. ”It matters why?” He shot back, the crease in his forehead smoothing out in favour of a raised eyebrow. ”K’ean is what you call me, anyway. If you really want to know, guess.” Kalean was who he had been, but K’ean was what he answered to now, regardless. It was strange, now, to hear people referring to him by his old name. The young man offered T’ia a half-smile as he returned to his still-full plate, curious blue eyes never straying from her face.

He ate slowly, prolonging the time when eventually his plate would be empty and he would be forced to get up and take leave of T’ia’s delightful company. The previously planned trip to Itnala now hung over him like a cloud, weighting his hand as it rose and fell mechanically, fork in its grip. There was no good reason for him to delay his journey, and K’ean truthfully would not let himself try and justify it. He would leave when he was finished; but in the meantime, T’ia was an interesting conversational companion. Not one to waste words, the man nodded calmly to the new greenrider’s decision, and mentally filed it away for further thought. He would like to meet this little green.

Hearing T’ia talk of K’huna and Canph made the small smile that lingered on K’ean’s face stretch into a grin. In all honesty, the fellow redpair were not the ones that K’ean would have pegged to be chosen to fill the position of wingletmaster, but he couldn’t deny that they did an excellent job of it. From what Seronaph had told him, Canph was enjoying his role immensely. ”Indeed they are. And I’m sure all the herdbeasts now cower away from you in fear.” He had sobered as he spoke, the smile fading, but there was undeniable humour in the dance of his blue eyes, and the tone of his voice was deceptively deadpan. K’ean was glad to hear that T’ia was progressing and learning well in her classes. He just couldn’t quite resist the urge to tease. It didn’t come often, after all. Of course, the woman’s next, entirely serious question did give him pause. No, they hadn’t had lessons. The twenty-four original riders had basically had to learn as they went. There had been countless mistakes and injuries along the way, but they’d made it out alive. ”No, I did not. We all kind of figured it out as we went along, I suppose.” He said with a shrug, not really caring to go into detail about the struggles. K’ean knew he had had it easier than some; experience as a hunter had given him means enough to provide for his hatchling, even when Seronaph had threatened to very well eat him out of house and home. It was a miracle that the red had not had to roll out of the mountains, really, he ate so much.

[Cy]

[/b] She raised her eyebrows as she drawled a potential starter out, trailing off and holding her lips around the syllable as she waited for some kind of sign as to whether she was on the right track or not.

Picking her fork back up, she waved it playfully in a small circle as she broke into a grin. “Oh, you have no idea. I come marching in and they automatically huddle away in the farthest corner. It really is a most pitiful sight, I feel awful.” She teased, forcing a mock frown to her lips and a sympathetic loft to her brows as she shook her head and dropped her dark eyes to her plate where she ironically speared a chunk of herdbeast meat. The hypocrisy was not lost on her as she brought it to her mouth where she smiled as she chewed it thoughtfully. Truly, the art of butchering an animal was not coming easily to her. She loved animals and so slicing into a beast that she could have very well been cooing over just the other morning was a task in itself. Not to mention, Shovaph demanded a certain level of cleanliness that just couldn’t be maintained when dealing with blood and guts. She’d not yet mastered the ability to ignore such strong waves of disgust. She loved her little green though and so she would learn how to make it all happen until she could learn to take her own food from the pens. If she’d ever care to, of course. It was messy business after all and Shovaph wasn’t keen on being involved in any messy businesses.

As the conversation turned to serious matters, surprisingly prompted by her own inquiry, she managed to keep a straight face as she focused her gaze patiently on him. He shrugged as if it was nothing and perhaps, to him, it had been. This was difficult enough on her, let alone some of the other winglets that were coping alongside her, and they had people to guide them. They had men and women and simourv who knew about all this and understood. They had hands to push them in the right direction and they had that path lit up nice and bright for them already. K’ean didn’t have that. K’huna, Ts’kal, Ro’za – Ros’n. None of them had what they of the Alpha class had. “Well, I find that very impressive.” She complimented with a hooded gaze and silk in her tone, tipping her chin up as she twirled her fork around and took the bite of food between her teeth, chewing slowly. If she hadn’t already made the decision before, it was now concrete in her brain. She wanted this man, and she got what she wanted. Always.[/ul][/size]

[Fox]

As he watched her eyebrows rise in surprise, K'ean realised that his refusal to give her his old name might have been interpreted as an insult. He had not meant it that way; he had, perhaps, answered without thinking as thoroughly as he should have, but ultimately he had not meant to offend her. It would be quite a loss to drive away such an interesting and attractive conversational partner, though K'ean was loathe to admit to noticing the latter. Pretty women were not rare, especially for a man like the redrider who had reasonably loose standards for what he would have considered pretty. If asked, he would just as quickly and honestly have said that the cook he had snagged breakfast from, with her laugh-lines and jovial smile, was just as pretty as the little slip of a serving-girl that had gotten him a cup of water. But 'pretty' and 'attractive' were two very different categories for him, and he would not admit aloud that T'ia belonged very firmly to the second, much smaller category of people. And what's more, she had spirit; despite his rudeness in shooting down her query about his name, she had taken him up on the offer to guess. Even if her first guess was quite far off the mark. "No. Not Kor." He refuted briefly, shooting her a softer, more apologetic look, as if asking pardon for his earlier shortness. He had not meant it, truly. In fact, K'ean rather felt like giving her a hint. "It's rather plain. Two syllables. The second letter is an 'a'."

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he took a bite of vegetable, blue eyes narrowing briefly in appreciation of the joke. K'ean rather highly doubted that it was as easy as she claimed it to be; he had been a hunter himself, after all, and had butchered his fair share of animals over the years. "That difficult?" He asked, only half-joking. He had never really liked animals himself, beyond what was normal. K'ean had neither wanted nor needed a pet, and therefore had been able to disassociate himself reasonably well with the butchering of game he had trapped and killed. It was one reason that the redrider had such respect for farmers, actually, especially those who bred animals for meat. K'ean did not want to know what it felt like to raise an animal and then have to look into its eyes before you killed it.

K'ean didn't really know what had happened to turn the conversation on to such a serious path, nor did he know why T'ia's attitude had, quite suddenly, changed. Her compliment garnered a flush from him, faint though it was, because it really had been a question of survival. There had been nothing really impressive about it. "Not impressive." He countered solemnly, mentally ordering the heat to drain from his cheeks. "There were a lot of stupid mistakes and careless injuries and we were lucky to all make it out in one piece." Truly, the man did not like discussing the time that he had spent in the mountains with the other twenty-three riders. If some of them wanted to tell the new winglets how things had happened and how they had discovered this tip and that little trick, that was fine by him, but K'ean did not wish to. His view was that the Alpha Winglets, with any luck, would not have to go through what the first riders did, and there was no use dwelling on past mistakes. They could change things, they really could; T'ia and Ri'ley and R'ths and the grayrider I'dou. He looked forward to seeing them all grow.

[Cy]

[/b] She questioned, tipping her chin up and smirking. Being difficult was a simple thing to be, anyone could do it, but being difficult and still charming – that was there the talent lie and she aimed for such a thing now. She stuck to technicalities, sought to wrangle more hints out of him, but she watched him with warm brown eyes and her lips stuck in that wicked smile. No matter the answer, she chuckled and tilted her head, hands still laced together in a steeple as she rested fingertips against the line of her jaw. “Is it… Kaaaaa-leeeean?” She dragged it out, her gaze searching his face for any shift of expression that might be a sign of a wrong move on her part so she could abruptly change the path that she was on, but she managed to get through the whole of her guess and she finished with a small wince tugging questioningly at the edges of her features.

Predictably, he saw right through her joking and the casual way that he called her on it provoked yet another chuckle from her, amused and pleased. If she was the right sort of girl, she might have even blushed because of it, but she wasn’t that sort of girl, so, as she ducked her head down, none of that red shade filled up her face. Only a great white smile as she looked back up to him. “Very difficult.” She conceded, laughter hanging pleasantly in her tone. Pressing her lips shut then, grin still stretched wide despite the movement, she tilted her head and glanced over him, a low hum of consideration curling in her throat. “I bet you know a thing or two of how it’s done. I’d ask you to help me out, but I’m not sure I can consider chopping up meat to be a fun date.” She teased, her mouth cracking into that open smile once more as she focused on his face, dark eyes glinting with mischief. Now it was her turn to only be half-joking.

She was quick to notice that, though she was not typically the sort of woman to blush, K’ean was the sort of man to do so. She praised him and a faint shade of pink filled up his cheeks, and oh how it pleased her to see. Now not only did she have to make it her goal to put him off every once in a while, she’d have to work on bringing a more vibrant blush to that pretty face of his. Her stare was heavy on him as he sought to dissuade her from finding their trials to be impressive, but it completely and utterly failed to do so, if not only for the sake of defying him. “I’d imagine that’s what’s meant to happen when working your way through something without training.” She returned, a small smirk lifting a corner of her mouth. Inclining her head forward, she held him still beneath her gaze and pointed to him with a fork. “Don’t argue with me.” She explained before chuckling and spearing another bite of food, crunching her teeth through a chunk of potato a moment later.[/ul][/size]

[Fox]

K’ean kept his bland mask up as the young woman across from him guessed again. His blue eyes danced, but his mouth remained quite firmly shut, though the smile curled at one corner gave the impression of his being a rather smug cat. No more hints. She could try her luck at Kah or Kay and figure it out from there, His name wasn’t that hard to guess, and the K-a had been a humongous concession anyway. Still, it was rather surprising that T’ia managed to get it on the first go. Throughout her long, drawn-out version of his name (K’ean was surprised at the way the sound of her voice curling warmly around the plain syllables gave him goosebumps) the redrider simply looked at her, not moving a muscle. After she finished and winced, he simply continued to watch her with his vaguely amused blue gaze, before tilting his head slightly to one side. ”Perhaps.” He said, the beginnings of a wicked grin making his lips twitch. So he wanted to keep her in suspense a little longer. What was wrong with that?

A date? It was a struggle not to let his eyebrows shoot into his hairline, and K’ean won out by a bare increment. The aforementioned brows did indeed twitch upwards, but it was no more than a twitch. Very suddenly, the redrider seemed to straighten a little bit as he shot T’ia a narrow, appraising look. So that was her game, was it? Quickly, he reviewed the past few minutes of conversation, seeing it with newly alert eyes before only coming to the conclusion that the hypothesis had been accepted. She was interested, perhaps? That wouldn’t be so bad. K’ean was at a bit of a loss as how to respond, though. He wasn’t all too experienced with the whole flirting business. ”I would gladly help if you wish.” He offered graciously, pausing for a moment before addressing the second part of her sentence more slowly. ”And if I may ask, what would you consider a fun date?” A slow smile, not the lopsided grin of before but a newer, more straight-forward version that was perhaps a bit suggestive with one eyebrow raised, spread across his face. He was woefully inexperienced at this, but honesty couldn’t hurt, he figured. And T’ia had seemed like quite the forward girl so far, and maybe he sort of kind of liked that about her.

As she pointed her fork at him, K’ean’s broadening grin split into a laugh, though it was short-lived before he sobered. With blue eyes still merry, he inclined his head gravely, as if he were addressing a distant noble lady rather than a friend and a winglet. ”I wouldn’t dream of it.” He said solemnly, though the grin that once again threatened to split his face in two put paid to that gravity. It was an outright lie, but one that the redrider didn’t feel in the least bothered by for once. He normally was quite straight-laced, and took pride in his honesty, but in all truth he rather enjoyed arguing with T’ia, if only because it was so good-natured and humorous. Reminded of his own food, K’ean managed to take two bites of food before a grumbling voice filtered into his head; one that had been mercifully silent up until now. If you are done making a fool of yourself, Mine.[/color] Seronaph began snippily. We do have places to be.[/color] For a moment, a frown creased K’ean’s forehead as he stared distractedly at a spot just over T’ia’s shoulder, eyes unfocused. Hold on for a sec, Seph. Just for a bit. Hmph. Hurry up.[/color][/size]

[Cy]

[/I] and she wanted him more with every new trait that he revealed. She wanted to dig at him, get her hands on him and work him until she was familiar with every single facet that was K’ean of Red Seronaph. “Perhaps? You are cruel, that’s really all you’re going to give me after all my hard work?” She teased in return, a hand moving to her chest as she inclined her head towards him, playing the part of affronted though the joyous smile that continued to paint itself over her features betrayed her act entirely. She narrowed her eyes, smile twitching into a smirk of her own. She moved her hand to point at him. “That is your name or else you’d just tell me no. Kalean.” She emphasized the name, tasting it along the shape of her tongue as she lifted her chin up and let her gaze drift over him as if searching to match the man up to the syllables.

She’d put him off once more and she was pleased. It was such a fun thing to do, pressing here and there until she could stumble upon something that knocked him from his nice little balanced place. He seemed the sort that was too often rigid, standing straight and solid in a way that she could only imagine to be tiresome after long stretches of time, and she saw it as a moral responsibility to push him from that particular place now and then. It could only do him some good, after all. The smile that curled luxuriously across her lips as she tilted her head against the steeple of her fingers was suggestive at best, her dark eyes upon him coy and pleased. “What would I consider a fun date?” She questioned slowly, pressing her lips together and glancing to the side thoughtfully. Lifting her chin up higher, she chuckled at a passing thought before returning her attentions to him, her features brightening as she purred her reply. “Dancing. Lots and lots of dancing and drinking and talking – and kissing. I love kissing.” Leaning forward slightly, she lowered her voice to conspiratorial volumes. “And if all of that is done well, the date would go back to someplace private where we can dance some more.” Once she felt sure he understood what form of horizontal tango she was referring to, she straightened back up in her seat and held her hands out, turning her head to the side. “Doesn’t that sound fun?” She exclaimed brightly, as if all that she’d said before was pure teasing and not at all the invitation that it could be.

He was a fun man and she chuckled at his grave nod. The way he humoured her with his own sense of playfulness was endearing. Meeting him weeks ago on the streets of Chydyn, she wouldn’t have imagined him to have a side like this, with suggestive smiles and merry eyes. Chewing her food, she watched him as he ate, her eyes twinkling with humour and her smile ringing of her contentment in his company, but suddenly he was no longer looking at her but at something behind her. He frowned, a shadow across his handsome features. Concerned and confused, she turned her head, holding her eyes to him for as long as she could before glancing over her shoulder, but nobody was there. They were quite alone in this small little mess hall. Uncertain amusement pulled at her full lips as she whipped her attentions back to him, eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?” She questioned, smile widening for a moment as she leaned just enough to get his gaze back on her.[/ul][/size]

[Fox]

He would not laugh. Despite the fact that he found her mock-affrontery absolutely charming, he would not laugh and betray himself. For of course she was right; Kalean had been his name, even if he no longer answered to it. A crooked smile lifted the corner of his mouth, but K'ean remained steadfast and silent. He merely tilted his head to one side in response to her accusation, lifting his shoulders in a non-chalant shrug. No affirmation was given, but neither was it the opposite. Perhaps he just wished to keep her in the dark for that much longer. Even if she had guessed it already. Instead, the redrider turned his attention to her next statement.

He was stumped. He did not know how to respond. What was appropriate. Hah, that was assuming that her bald invitation was still only just on this side of appropriate. K'ean wasn't put off by it; rather, he appreciated her honesty, and her forthrightness. Indeed, he found it attractive. But it was plain from the uncertainty in his blue eyes and the ever-so-slight furrowing of his brow that K'ean had no idea how to continue. For lack of a better recourse, he opened his mouth. And shut it again. Took a breath. "It sounds... like a lot of fun." He trailed off, hating the fact that his uncertainty was right there in plain sight. Hastily, the man drew the shards of his self-possession back around himself, wondering when it had gone to pieces without him noticing it. He frowned in thought. Under other circumstances, perhaps K'ean might have sucked it up and invited her out, stumbling over his clumsily-phrased proposition. Under other circumstances, he would not be thinking so much into it. But she was a winglet and recently bonded, and the hatchling came first. A night of drinking and dancing and... certain other activities might be detrimental to the chick's growth. K'ean would not allow that. "But as a Winglet, you do realise that it would be... unwise to engage in erm... that." K'ean could have hit himself for that lacklustre ending. It would have been miles easier if it was anyone else he was speaking to. "Your chick-- Shovaph. She is still very young, and the bond too fragile still to be exposed to-... I'm sure K'huna will have advised you against drinking and such." Smooth. Very smooth. Heat was rising into his face. K'ean was almost grateful when he felt Seronaph's impatient nudge at the corner of his mind.

With a soft breath, the redrider willed the blush to subside as he replaced his fork on the tray, food still only half-finished, and curled his hands around the handles. Last few seconds not withstanding, K'ean was rather enjoying this conversation, and was reluctant to leave even though duty called. T'ia's query only made the task even more inescapable. A sigh blew its way past his lips as he smiled ruefully at her. "I have a shift soon. Seronaph was just reminding me in that sweet way of his that it's time and past we were off." With a roll of his eyes and another sigh just barely held in check, K'ean rose from the table, lifting his tray. Politely, he inclined his head in her direction. "It was nice talking to you, T'ia. See you around sometime, hmm?" And with that, he grinned at her, his slightly lopsided grin, and turned smartly on his heels to go and deliver his used tray. He was looking forward to future... conversations. Yes, indeed he was.

[Cy]

[/i] right. Her eyes narrowed on him, her lips quirking into a mock pout even as they tugged into a lopsided smirk, a plethora of playful emotions filling up her exotic features. But he dropped the subject and she made no move to pursue it further. After all, she well knew that she had it right. She had to have it right! Perhaps she'd insist on calling him by it until he conceded to confirm what she already knew for sure. She'd teach him to be so deliciously wicked. She could play this game too.

Reactions to the blunt and flirtatious things she could so crudely lay out were some of the best things in the world to witness, ranging from intrigued to disgusted – and K'ean seemed a terrific blend of all the good ones. He was put off, an expression that still proved so satisfying on him as he opened and closed his mouth. In a brief sparkle, she felt certain he enjoyed the sound of it. With a bit more work, she was convinced that she could encourage him to dance with her, to dance and drink and kiss themselves into private spaces. The way he pulled his composure over himself was a thing to witness, the way he squared up his shoulders and adjusted his eyes from the saucers they'd become, and it prompted a giggle from her. It was funny, fantastic and superb. She loved it. She loved stealing that composure from him and getting to watch it get put back together again, knowing that it was all her fault that it had been shattered in the first place. She had to wonder if K'ean had any idea how wonderfully he could stroke a girl's ego – or perhaps he just did so well for girls like her. As he sought to admonish her for her implications, fumbling and pausing, she lofted a single eyebrow and watched him, letting him work through the rest of what he had to say beneath her stare. And all she cared to notice was the blush filling up his cheeks once more. With a sigh of faux disappointment and a pout to match, she was tilting her head and looking back to her meal, slipping another chunk of meat on to the tines of her fork. “Well, that's too bad. I guess there will be no fun dates for me for a while.” She teased, lifting her eyes back to him.

It all came to an end too quickly. She'd been aware that a man of his status and authority surely had a many number of things to do in his day, but he'd provided a truly entertaining source of company. She liked him, she wanted him. But she could at least appreciate the way he seemed reluctant to tear himself away from her, or that's at least how she perceived it – and she liked the sound of it, so she'd believe it was so. With a warm smile, she offered a nod. “Oh, of course you will.” She assured with all the confidence that she usually oozed. And as he walked away to go about dumping his tray and getting to his shift, she carefully watched his retreat, shamelessly looking over his backside before looking back to her meal, bringing up a piece of meat to bite and chew. Yes, he would certainly be seeing her again, she'd make sure of it.[/ul][/size]