{se} call and response

HARPER

Where her laugh is breathless, his is warm and hearty, cheeks pushing his eyes into squints at her enduring humor in face of the pain. “Are you a pirate lass then?” Or merely a dreamer of the planks and ropes? She’s still a young woman after all. Not that it means much in a place like Torchline.

Though she holds a magnificent brave face, he is too well-trained in examining micro-expressions to not see her fear even if she were to hide it better. There is no sense in prolonging the anticipation, and as such Harper’s hands gently find the appropriate places on front and back of her shoulder without exerting any pressure to give any sort of pain before the pop. Her trust is a weight on his shoulders that he bears proudly. “Take a deep breath for me sweetheart. Don’t tense up. I’m going to do it without telling you, so just listen to my voice and relax.” Waiting until she takes the breath, he begins to ramble. “I’ve always dreamed of sailing, though I enjoy flying on wings over the waves now too -” he immediately pops her shoulder back in with a quick, precise jolt of his hands. “- and it is just as beautiful.” Quickly removing his hands, he moves her hair behind her ear to check on her expression, worried blue eyes roving across her face. “See? All done. You did amazing.”

in the night you come to me because I'm the one who knows who you are

Oh, empty my heart

It was easy to be brave when surrounded by such warmth. Laughing came naturally to her, and humor had always been a good shield in the face of uncertainty. "Since I was little," Seren admitted, in a humbly bragging sort of way. "I used to look for pirates and mermaids on the beach, and my room was a dragon's lair, piled high with treasures I found along the way." Rocks and driftwood, painted stars on the walls and paper lanterns hung by a window open to the night sky. Was the room still the same, after she had left? Perhaps she should go see it again. Or maybe it was best left as it was in her memory.

Was it folly to be so relaxed in the hands of a stranger? As much as it was possibly to be relaxed while also sweating in dreadful anticipation... She was sure her father would not approve of the lacking caution. But Harper's voice was warm and steady, and the imagery he painted with his words was beautiful. A ship clipping through waves as a seagull spread its wings wide on a sunset breeze -

Pain. It crackled through her like lightning, like fire and ice and things indescribable. With no time to muster willpower or steel herself, it drew a scream from her, short and shrill. The tears that welled up in her eyes were an afterthought, and by the time she noticed them the agony was already fading. Soothed, and tucked away much like her hair. How could hands with so many scars be so gentle? Without thinking Seren leaned her cheek into the touch.

Meeting Harper's gaze, she tried a smile through the tears. "... thank you," she breathed, a little unsteady. "It feels much better already. What kind of bird are you? I thought of a Hel..." After the trouble he'd had with them at the skyport, who wouldn't.

I've got to make room for this feeling

SEREN

HARPER

It’s a reminder of her youth, and for a moment Harper wonders how old she is. Her wet eyes make him think younger, but her bravery older. “Did you ever find the pirates and mermaids?” He knows both exist in Torchline, but he hasn’t had the pleasure of meeting them himself. As a native, perhaps she has bested him in that regard.

The sound of her scream rends at his tender heart, and his brow is crinkled in consternation by time she is blinking away the pain. Harper hangs on tenterhooks for her response, trying not to vibrate out of his skin with worry even with the calm voice in his head telling him he did it right. When she speaks, it’s her voice instead of her gratitude that has the tense line of his shoulders relaxing and a relieved smile blossoming on his mouth. “Not quite,” he teases, and shuffled backwards in the sand to let the change come over him. He is much larger than a crow - nearly twice the size - with a sharp beak and eyes like rubies. Hopping onto her knee (and very careful of his sharp talons) he looks up at her. “Se-ren!” The croak is clearly not human, as is the cadence of her name, but he preens all the same in a proud ruffle of feathers.

in the night you come to me because I'm the one who knows who you are

Oh, empty my heart

"I saw a mermaid at the harbor, once. And I think my uncle is a pirate... but I don't have proof yet." Deep breaths. In, and out; her voice was growing steadier. A subtle flexing of the fingers told her that they were still attached to the rest of the body, and that it did not hurt to move them. Talking was a welcome distraction while she tested the mobility of her arm. This was on the whole a strange way to make friends, but Seren was not about to complain. Singing, spelunking, first aid and pirate stories; so far Harper was hitting every check box for a good time.

It became even better when he scooted back and shifted. What was it with attuned and flaunting their other selves? She had yet to meet even one who did not change at the slightest urging, like it was a party trick.

"Look at you!" she breathed all the same, suitably impressed - and honestly a little intimidated - by the big, black bird. He came scooting up into her lap, and Seren's hands were already reaching out to stroke the shimmering plumage, bold with the animal where the man had made her timid. "You are beautiful. Would that I could fly too; imagine what fun we would have! But all I can do is this."

With a light tap of a finger on the Gore crow's beak, she sent a slight pulse of magic through herself. Light as a feather, she pushed off against the ground with a leg and drifted gently upwards, as though gravity no longer had a hold on her.

---

Seren is using this ~

Magic: Gravity Pulse | Can increase or decrease gravity within 5ft of her body. When used on herself she can jump higher/take larger bouncier, steps/etc, or root herself in place. Not effective against large structures like houses.
Type: Grey | Rank: Basic

I've got to make room for this feeling

SEREN

HARPER

“Proof? Is he refusing to tell you then?” It’s an amusing notion, that the man would make her cavort about trying to find answers instead of giving them plainly. Certainly one way to keep overeager children from bothering you to pieces. Though how this hunt has sustained her into young adulthood is a mystery.

She seems to blossom back into herself, emboldened by the fading ache of her shoulder. It will surely bruise - lurid and livid, a mark of her exploits - but at least the initial pain has passed, leaving Seren to return to being pleasant and delightful company. Not that she hadn’t been before of course, but the fraught nature of their union has thankfully resolved.

Harper has shifted so few times in the presence of others that it is a novelty unto itself to hear her crow (heh) her delight at his figure. The pressure of fingers on his plumage is a strange one, though not at all unpleasant. Harper preens, opening his wings slightly for her fingertips to explore. They flutter in full span when she begins to rise, startled by the smooth shift in gravity and movement of the knee beneath his talons. Staring down at the sand which moves farther away from them, Harper ruffles his feathers up in a doglike shake, fluffing to nearly twice his already impressive size. “Fly!” It croaks free from his throat in a delighted chirrup of sound, and though he’s reluctant to shift back his birdy vocals aren’t exactly conducive to real conversation.

Careful not to prick her with his nails, he soars off her leg and circles wide, landing in the sand at her floating side once more and smoothly shifting back to human form. “That’s still incredible. How far up can you go?” Perhaps she would only need a type of propulsion once in the air. Or he could tether them together and fly her around for an entirely new brand of shenanigans.

in the night you come to me because I'm the one who knows who you are

Oh, empty my heart

"Not exactly refusing. It's more that he claims not to be one, but I think he is hiding something," she replied, with a soft grin. "If I get proof, I can catch him in the act and he won't be able to deny it anymore." It was a game of sneak that had been ongoing since she was little - which was not that long ago, as Harper rightly noticed.

But playing with shifts and magic was far more interesting than explaining the intricacies of her age, and so Seren left the matter to the man's imagination for the time being. She busied herself with studying his crow plumage, until he pulled away and returned to his original form. A mischievous grin and a shrug was her reply to the admiration. "I haven't really tested the limits," Seren admitted. "Not too far, yet. And it's not so much flying as a very slow jump. I always fall back down again eventually." Case in point; she was already drifting back down towards the sand, until another light tap of the foot sent her drifting upwards once more. "It is more... like being under water? Not weightless, merely lighter."

Able to maintain her gravity pulse almost indefinitely, Seren kept drifting about for the fun of it, and watched Harper more closely. There was an openness to his ready smiles that pulled her in; like they were speaking the same language. "Do you have other shifts? Have you had this one long?" Her curiosity was a living thing, alive and well and not at all daunted by these strange circumstances.

I've got to make room for this feeling

SEREN

HARPER

"Well if you ever need a partner in crime to help catch him in the act..." Harper trails off with a cheery grin, gesturing at himself dramatically with both hands and striking a pose. He has no idea that the man she is so thoroughly investigating is Sunjata, but that information would only encourage him if he knew. The man needs a little more cheer in his life, and Harper is nothing if not a walking can of laughing gas.

Her explanation makes more than enough sense to Harper as a modern-century man. "It's like you can reverse your gravitation, at least temporarily. Or perhaps your density? Either way that's incredible," he nearly gushes, happy to compliment her talents and magic the same way she'd cooed over his plumage. As she continues to float, he experimentally pushed at her hip as if to send her floating on a river away from him, wondering if she would ride the momentum eternally like a ball thrown in space.

"No, only the one now, and not for very long. Safrin Attuned me just this season. I was an acrobat as a child, it wasn't a surprise to me to end up with wings." A nostalgic smile curls on his lips, sadness pulling at his blue eyes. A shame he hadn't ended up the bird his mother had nicknamed him for, but he thinks she'd be happy all the same to see him fly.

in the night you come to me because I'm the one who knows who you are

Oh, empty my heart

Her answering grin was as wide as it was mischievous, delighted to find someone who didn't just laugh at her. "That would be great!" she beamed, wriggling with excitement. "Do you know Sunjata? He's my dad's best friend and father to my sister Kamaria. Oh, and Governor, I suppose." Clearly that was his least important relation, and the girl dropped the title like it was hardly worth noting. "Since I live in Stormbreak now it's difficult to keep track of what he does, but I'm sure there's somethign going on. He used to spend way too much time at the Slagveld to just be training, for example."

She was about to set off on a rant on all the things the Flood had done that supported her theory, but then Harper nudged at her, and with a gasp of mock affront Seren was sent drifting slowly away - not only drifting but twisting too. "Nooo, catch me!" she laughed, tumbling about as she hastily reached for something to grab hold on. Flipping upside down was not ideal while wearing this kind of light summer dress. "You were an acrobat? Can you do a backflip!?" It was the only trick that came to mind; Seren was busy trying to right herself without actually letting go of the magic. Plopping down into the sand even from this relative height would be uncomfortable.

I've got to make room for this feeling

SEREN

HARPER

The mischief in her grin is like flint to dry tinder, sparking and catching on his own impish face. “Oh I certainly do, which makes this even easier!” How Sunjata would have time to be a pirate is beyond him, but logic doesn’t have a place here in their games. “I won’t be moving to Stormbreak for some time, if at all. I’ll be your eyes in the sky,” is promised with a roguish wink and a gleaming smile, the wordplay intentional now that she’d seen his animal form.

As she floats away his laughter broadens and deepens into his chest, but he obligingly scrambles in the sand to snag at her, careful to keep his hands in appropriate areas as one goes around her back and the other stabilizes her spin at the knees until she’s in a floating approximation of a bridal carry. “Don’t worry I’ve got you!” He gently pulls at her until she is floating horizontal anew, slowly withdrawing his arms in a way not unlike having set up a house of cards and waiting with bated breath to see if it will topple. “Oh absolutely, that’s hardly even a challenge!” Brightly said, Harper immediately backs up to turn parallel to Seren, executing a simple backflip that sends sand spraying. He wiggles his hands at her, grin slightly preening at the chance to show off - ever the performer. “Tada! Though I’m sure with your magic you could learn it yourself in minutes. Bit of cheating never hurt anyone.”

in the night you come to me because I'm the one who knows who you are

Oh, empty my heart

It was a promise then, and Seren was only too happy to entrust this mystery to her newest friend. That he knew Sunjata helped immensely - though when he dropped the name of the city in the south, she quite promptly forgot all about uncles and pirates.

"You're moving to Stormbreak?" There was honest delight to the question; a friend was coming to stay, not going away. What a remarkably good piece of news that was. Seren hovered quite still in the air, her royal recline perfect and steady - until she suddenly dropped the magic and landed easily on her feet, undoing all of Harper's hard work. "That's great! I still don't know a lot of people... it would be so much better to actually know someone outside the Dragoons. I'm not a very good soldier, I think... we can't seem to find much to talk about." She was trying hard though. To become hopelessly reckless kind, bound to a dragon's pride and boundless daring. It fit her energy levels, if nothing else.

As he backflipped, she whistled in appreciation, and made a move to clap her hands in ovation. There was immediate regret from that, though; her arm sent a lance of pain shooting through the shoulder, reminding her quite firmly that it had been dislocated a moment ago. Wincing, Seren clutched the arm against her chest. Handstands and summersaults would probably not be good idea. "I'd love to learn, but... maybe not today," she lamented, smiling even as she sucked in breath through gritted teeth.

I've got to make room for this feeling

SEREN

HARPER

“Well, Safrin wants me here,” he hedges slowly. “But Frey wants Phoebe in Stormbreak. I haven’t heard from her in some time, too.” Worry crests over his face, teeth biting at his lip as he stares off over her shoulder. He has only just gotten her back, and he fears he may have lost her again already. And that now it is just him, alone, once more. “But even if I stay, the skyboats make visiting much easier.” He returns the smile to his face, expertly pushing those dark thoughts back into their bottles.

“A soldier? Well, there are many ways to be a soldier, maybe you haven’t found the right shape to take just yet.” His smile doesn’t give away the strain of the thought, the history he has with the idea of being melded into mettle and might. “But if you ever want training, I know many styles. I’m sure we can find one that suits you. The lifestyle itself, well, ehhh…” Harper wiggles his hand in a so-so gesture, amused. Seren wouldn’t be able to force that part.

Seeing her wince, Harper immediately trots to her side, frown pulling at his face as he tenderly reaches to inspect her arm anew. “We have plenty of time. But maybe we should go find a healer, just for some pain medicine? Or magic, that would probably be best.” Physically she would heal at a normal pace, shoulder properly set, but she didn’t deserve to be in pain either.

in the night you come to me because I'm the one who knows who you are

Oh, empty my heart

Sensitive to the changes in other people's moods, Seren cocked her head aside and gazed up at Harper. Understanding made her eyes warm; she knew what it was like to be torn between two people, and wanting to be in both places at once.
"What do you want?" she asked, voice as soft as the question was pointed. "But you are right, skyboats do make things easier. Sometimes I think it is a little too convenient... one can so easily become wrapped up in too many things at the same time." Work or play, family or friends, stretching herself thin to be everywhere at once - until something had to give. Harper was probably better at tempering his desires than she was, of course; Seren wanted to do everything right away.

"Either way... if that's an offer to teach me, I would be happy to accept." She made to poke him playfully with the hale elbow, quietly delighted that he would suggest it. Even if her messed up shoulder forced the timing into the future, she was still looking forward to it.

"I'm okay, really. I just forgot that it might hurt." A little sheepish, Seren nevertheless allowed Harper to inspect the arm. His touch was light and careful, and the ache was already fading again. "I can see a healer when I get back home." It was a brave attempt; the journey to Stormbreak would take half a day, if the winds were good.

I've got to make room for this feeling

SEREN

HARPER

Harper smiles indulgently down at her, his own empathy nothing to scoff at but far better honed. "I don't have much of an opinion yet. I'm a bit of a free spirit." It's spoken smoothly, with confidence and sincerity, but privately Harper is also scared that if he goes to Stormbreak he will find it empty of the person he seeks. And then he will be left to figure out a path instead of walking one beside Phoebe.

"I've taught plenty young acrobats, I'm sure you will be a perfect student as soon as you're healed up." Though most started much younger to develop flexibility and limberness, Seren's magic alone would ensure she could learn by a day's end. Especially with how cheerful she seemed at the prospect. Passion could go a long way.

Turning to gaze at the blocked entrance of the tunnel, Harper hums contemplatively. "Well lets get you some food and a sling before you make the journey then, okay?" And he cheerily launches into his acrobatic exploits as a child, tugging her along back towards town to make sure she would be fed and content before the long travel home.

- FIN

in the night you come to me because I'm the one who knows who you are