no dogs allowed [Killy!]

[Cy]

[/I] before they’d settled him with something as easy as simply filling up the water buckets in each of the pens. It was a hassle having to lug pails from the pond to each bucket, the process genuinely beginning to bring an ache to his shoulders, but it wasn’t fixing fences and it wasn’t cleaning up crap – so he’d finally lowered his complaints down to only the standard under-his-breath grumbling. At the same time, he flirted shamelessly with the other boys stuck doing the dirty work, all giggles and smirks and bold innuendos. There was only one that he made a pointed effort to ignore and avoid: Mashiro, his own roommate.

From the start of work until the very end, he behaved as if the albino did not exist. He didn’t speak to him, didn’t glance his way, and, if anything was said to him, he promptly discarded it as if he’d heard nothing at all. As far as the others had to know, he had no connection with the pale man beyond their shared quarters. It wasn’t an especially difficult thing to do either. He’d ignored a lot of people in his short lifetime. Men that didn’t want to admit to being anything other than straight, men with partners or even wives, women that were taking more of an interest than he was comfortable with, and so much more. Some albino freak wasn’t anything new and he pulled it off, in his opinion, beautifully. And in the back of his head, he liked to entertain the thought that it was bothering the older man completely.

He was one of the first to finish his work, a job that was decidedly half-assed and sure to need to be fixed later on in the day, but he paid such matters little mind and he was slipping out of the area before anyone could blink twice. Heading back to his room with the hopes of grabbing a change of clothes before heading off to the bathing area so he could scrub the stench of animal off his skin, he was brought to an understandable halt as a handsome face caught his eye. Really, the lad wasn’t all that handsome, but he was cute. He was also shorter than he usually liked them, but he had a broad chest and distinct muscles in his arms; there was strength in the short thing and it was amusing, something to be entertained.

And he did. He entertained it with enthusiasm and charm, laughing and teasing, until it became apparent that the short thing lacked a bit of sense. Embry wasn’t the brightest of individuals, he knew this, so he had to figure if he was saying someone wasn’t smart – then it was a bad case and something to be aborted immediately. Fortunately, catching a pale glimpse in the corner of his eye, he was reminded of the perfect excuse and he was untangling himself from the impromptu company as smoothly as he could manage.

He released a breath of relief as he marched off towards the candidate barracks, idly watching the back of the man moving ahead of him. Chewing at the inside corner of his lip, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure the short thing had departed and then he skimmed the immediate area to make sure no one was around. Once in the clear, he picked up the pace until he was skipping along and bringing himself right beside his roommate, bright grin on his face as if he was truly happy to see the albino and hadn’t just been ignoring him for the better part of some hours. “Why, helloooooo there. What’re you doin’?” He questioned, tipping his chin up as he glanced up to the man, arms swinging in time with his stride.[/ul][/size]

[Kilnarak]

Chores were a necessary evil. Mashiro had spent the morning stoically hauling lumber to the animal enclosures so that he might repair some recent damage that had been done to them. One of the cows had kicked in a section of the fence, startled by one of the Eyrie's giant birds. He didn't particularly mind the hard work - of course, there were things that he would rather be doing, but what must be done must be done. He had left Yukimori earlier that morning, having seen that the hound was fed and exercised before leaving her curled happily in an old cast off blanket. She had loved the ragged piece of cloth since she was a squalling pup and had seemed perfectly content to rest while her master went about his work. He had left her at that - it was a first, as usually she was energetic enough to accompany him. But if the dog wanted to sleep, he would let her sleep.

Truly, the albino didn't think particularly much on being ostracized and avoided either. His peers didn't speak to him, save when necessary, and he fell into the same pattern - only speaking out when it was necessary, his words curt but polite enough. He was used to being treated as if he had some sort of plague, as if his pallid appearance might be catching - perhaps he was a touch disappointed, but he couldn't really begrudge any of them for it. And perhaps he was a touch more disappointed, irked even, that his roommate of the past week or so was completely ignoring him - but it wasn't as though he truly needed the foppish boy's help with his work (when he thought on it, and he did briefly, he doubted that the boy would be able to even pull his weight in lumber given the difficulty he seemed to have with water).

It took him some time to finish his work on the fence, but when he finally left the pens the enclosure was as good as new - nothing visible to show that it had even been broken, aside from a few fractured boards that had been set aside in the scrap heap. He was among the last to leave the pens, his fellow candidates already gone off to their own ends, and it was late enough in the day that he thought an early supper (or perhaps a late lunch) was in order. It would be good to get some food in his stomach, and then perhaps to rinse off the day's grime, before he returned to check on Yukimori. She would, certainly, want to go out when he returned and he would need to see to her supper as well eventually.

The pallid young man set an easy pace - not quite leisurely, but neither was it overly brisk - toward the kitchens, humming softly to himself, under his breath. For all that it had been hard work, it felt good to get it done, and the faint ache in his arms wasn't so bad. As he padded down the halls, he passed his roommate who seemed to be otherwise occupied with another stout young man. Mashiro didn't slow as he passed, and he didn't acknowledge either figure - his eyes turned ahead to intently watch his chosen path. It would be impolite to interrupt, and besides that, he doubted that he would be acknowledged either.

So he continued on, still humming quietly to himself, and was startled when he heard an odd gait of footsteps closing behind him. Ice-pale blue eyes glanced back over his shoulder, and a slight furrow formed between his snowy brows as he caught sight of the madly grinning boy who had drawn up beside him. "Hello," he answered, his tone neutral but polite enough. One of his brows quirked up slightly, and a faint frown tugged at the corners of his lips as he regarded Embry. He was suspicious - the boy took such great measures to avoid him, and now was all smiles and friendly chatter? "Walking," he answered curtly, the barest hint of dry sarcasm in his voice.

After a moment he shook his head slightly, brushing back a few stray tendrils of hair that had fallen into his face with the motion. His expression smoothed and he allowed a faint smile to curve his lips - friendly enough, really. "I was going to get dinner. And you? You seemed so raptly interested by your... friend..." He jerked his chin to indicate the young man Embry had just left.

[Cy]

[/I]. Of course.”[/b] He returned, letting his eyes drift ahead to briefly focus on the path they moved along as he pouted his lips in thought. “I suppose you’re technically talkin’ now as well.” He pointed out for the sake of being difficult, raising his eyebrows and returning his gaze back to the odd-looking man. Watching him brush hair from his face, he was momentarily distracted by the details of his roommate. White, white, more blinding white – he was just so weird.

He blinked as the man finally spoke, offering more than a pair of unwelcoming dry words, and he even caught the vague hint of a smile upon those lips. White lips. For a second, he entertained the impulsive and irrational thought that Mashiro was probably a very cold man to kiss. No reason why the albino should be any colder than any other human being, but he was just a very white man and white made Embry think of cold things. Like snow.

Abruptly, his eyebrows shot up as he glanced back over his shoulder, looking to the empty spot where he’d previously been standing in conversation with someone else – if talking to a rock could really be considered conversation to begin with – before returning his gaze back to his new companion, raising a hand up as if to stop the man before he became too convinced of the thought. “Okay, not my friend.” He corrected with a smile. After all, there was no way that he needed to be connected in such a way to any individual of such lacking intelligence. “If that’s who I think it is though, and I’m pretty sure it is, I’ve heard about him and he’s apparently like…” He trailed off, but he allowed his point to be made by bringing up his other hand to hold them both a grand set of inches apart, implying exaggerated and impressive measurements that any man would probably be highly proud of. With a smooth motion of his wrists, his palms were facing away from him as he tilted his head. “But he’s so stupid.” He confirmed, dropping his hands down so they could smack loudly against his sides and he was looking away, shaking his head and releasing a sigh of disappointment. “He can prob’ly barely handle the one he’s got, let alone two.” He clarified shamelessly.

After a small delay, the question mark began to form in his head and his green eyes carefully drifted to the side to study the southern region of his current companion. He hadn’t heard anything so exciting about the man, not that he’d thought to ask and his roommate didn’t really seem like the sort to be in positions where anybody could know that sort of thing. Would it be as white as the rest of him? Probably, it’d be pretty weird otherwise. Did it look the same? Did it work the same? These questions were going to plague him for the rest of the day. Fantastic. With a sudden harsh sigh, he narrowed his eyes and lifted them up to the man’s face, a more appropriate facet to be focusing on. “Like, straight to dinner? Not even takin’ a bath first? ‘Cause you’ve been hangin’ out with animals all day.” Of course, if he thought about it, Mashiro seemed to hang out with animals all the time, so he was probably used to the stink. Gross.

[ ooc | XD sometimes, Embry can make writing for him so awkward. ][/ul][/size]

[Kilnarak]

"Indeed, I suppose I am talking now as well," Mashiro returned, his tone holding a faint hint of amusement. His eyes were certainly icy, and while they glanced briefly to his roommate when he spoke, they turned away just as quickly. Perhaps it was a touch frustrating, but he didn't like to hold eye-contact - it felt too much like a challenge. Of course, if he were intending to make a challenge... But no, it was best to keep relations with his roommate smooth, tranquil - or at least, polite on his end, even if the younger boy seemed intent upon trying to be otherwise. And for all that the boy was... more than a bit annoying sometimes, particularly with his selective attention span, Mashiro didn't actually dislike him.

The pale man walked in silence for some moments after, glancing aside now and then as Embry's hands moved to illustrate his points. His expression fell into something a touch quizzical as the boy continued in illustrating his... not-friend's sizable measurements - he wondered if Embry was really saying that or if, perhaps, he was misinterpreting? But of course, then his roommate proved that yes, he was discussing a stranger's length and... bedroom practices. He lifted a snowy brow, watching the boy in puzzlement for a moment as he tried to formulate a response to this unwanted knowledge - watching, because Embry looked away, because he could get away with it. Really, what was one supposed to say to that? 'Oh, that's too bad. Such a waste of enormity on so dense a soul...'?

And then Embry was looking toward him again, and while his initial reaction was to look away, he couldn't help but realize his roommate was looking down. It took him a moment, despite the previous subject matter, to realize what Embry was doing; a flush rose to his cheeks - and he wasn't sure if he was embarrassed or offended - and he cleared his throat loudly, stopping abruptly to stare at Embry. It wasn't quite a glare, really, but he wasn't breaking eye-contact this time around either. "Are you really so interested?" he asked, his words clipped and curt, after the boy questioned bathing. Really, given that previous scrutiny, he couldn't think anything other than that that was Embry's intent in asking. His lip curled slightly a moment, but then his expression smoothed and he shook his head. "It's too early in the afternoon yet, everyone goes to the bathing pools now," he continued in a more neutral tone, not mentioning that he would not appreciate the inevitable stares he would garner - it wasn't everyday one saw a ghost in the baths, after all. And, really, while he did realize he likely smelled slightly of salt and sweat, it didn't seem so bad. He wrinkled his nose slightly, glancing away from Embry briefly, then back. "Is it really so bad? I was only fixing that fence - few enough livestock came near us..."

[Cy]

[/i] a question. Geez,"[/b] he muttered, holding a hand out and raising both of his eyebrows. His own words were stressed and condescending, moving to make the man perhaps feel silly for his confrontation. How had he been wronged? As far as Embry was concerned, he was entirely innocent and his companion was being short with him for absolutely no reason.

Though Mashiro's features smoothed out, Embry remained petulant and sensitive. He didn't feel it difficult to read in between the lines of the logic that the albino placed down against going to the bathing pools at such a time of day. Nope, he read that undertone just fine, and he did so aloud. "Yeah. If I looked like you, I wouldn't want a bunch of people staring at me either." He stated matter-of-factly, undeniably catty and yet, in his own twisted and wrong way, aiming for sympathy. He was a histrionic and greedy boy, so the idea that he could entertain the perspective of not wanting an audience was truly a feat in itself. And sure, maybe he was lashing out in childish retaliation for the snippy tone that he felt his roommate had worn against him unfairly. With the statement made, he lifted up to his toes just enough that he could spin and resume the walk forward, expecting the older man to follow him without question.

The idea that Mashiro was trying to justify the idea that hanging around animals all day did not necessarily result in a horrid stench clinging to him was... well, it was gross, for one. But it was strangely cute in the entirely naïve way of a little kid trying to comprehend something beyond themselves. With a smirk finally softening his features, he rolled his eyes and shook his head before glancing back to his counterpart. "Those animals live in that space. Like, all the time. That smell practically fills those pens up and it will totally cling. No matter what. You can't escape it." He explained, finding his own logic to be absolutely irrefutable. It made sense to him, after all. As such, it should very well make sense to the rest of the world! That's how these kinds of things worked.[/ul][/size]