[se] looks normal

Now hold onto me pretty baby

Sent on a task by Psyche, Aviya was unassuming.

Her heels clicked along the stones of the walks as she made her way through the silk houses section of the city. A shadow cast over her from the parasol gently resting over her shoulder, protecting her creamy and pale skin from the harsh rays of the Longheat sun. While the city hadn't experienced the same kinds of heat as the other regions in Caido, since the second war there was a new proximity to the sun that Aviya's skin did not always agree with.

Stepping to the side, out of the way of some other passers by, Aviya's shockingly blue eyes shifted towards an alley. With a quarter turn, she stepped forward towards the alley. The transaction was simple and quick -- goods exchanged for money and such goods and money being stuffed away in placed where eyes wouldn't see. Then, Aviya stepped back out from the alleyway, and continued walking on.

If you want to fly

Lena

Lena, absorbed in her own task, paid no mind or heed to any transactions forming. She knew the Silk House area enough to be concerned about her own business and nothing more; trailing and passing by others with only the inclination of some goods, food, and other portions she required to make the notions she had in mind.

Mittens, restrained by a leash, opted to irritate or amuse nearby locals with a theatrical lifting of its head and rendering itself upside down multiple times; twisting and turning in abject boredom while the Caretaker bartered. Only once she’d made several transactions did the companion huff, and follow steadily towards a bench. “What about some nice herbal packets?” The woman mustered and hummed towards the snowball – at which it blew several raspberries towards another walking by, ignoring the statement.

little more like coming home

Now hold onto me pretty baby

Aviya twisted her parasol as she walked, looking as if in idle thought. But she never truly was. Her mind whirled and waged on with critical thoughts, mostly consumed around what she now carried home for her boss. She didn’t let anyone in on that, though, given the practiced softness of her face and the lackadaisical gait she sauntered onward with.

It was only when her eyes caught sight of the tiny snow-creature and its taunting spitting did Aviya stop. Her heels clicked together and her nose wrinkled as she looked down at the creature, her body a hard roadblock for its bond mate despite her short stature (made only slightly taller by her heeled shoes). ”What is that?”

If you want to fly

Lena

Settling down a bench to make her goods, Lena had no reason to avoid the woman sauntering by. She pulled on Mittens’ leash for a reminder of manners, and then thought nothing more of it – figuring the stranger would carry on, persist, and ignore. Humming a little under her breath once more, she snagged at her supplies, beginning to unfurl them one by one, grabbing the little bags of herbs.

She only raised her head when her companion had begun throwing its head up and down, and the voice rang out. A common question, based on who Mittens was and…certain actions taken, so she remained unbothered, permitting a warm smile. “An abominable snowball.”

little more like coming home

Now hold onto me pretty baby

Rigid and as tall as she could make herself, the woman with her scrunched nose couldn't take her eyes off the tiny snow creature. Even as the attuned spoke, Aviya didn't turn her crystal eyes away. There was something interesting in the thing, only increased by the fact that the woman on the bench had to keep it leashed.

Aviya clicked her tongue against her teeth, and rotated her parasol slightly. "Why do you have it?" Aviya asked, the disgust leaving her face as it softened slightly with curiosity. The woman tilted her head, ink-dark hair falling over her shoulder in a sleek cascade as her shockingly blue eyes scrutinized the companion.

If you want to fly

Lena

Beginning to place herbs within her satchel, she hummed under her breath again, a light little tune her mother had sung to all of them, an ease to the burdens, to the carried thoughts along her mind. She paid no heed to the woman attempting to feature herself as rigid, tall, imposing, or intimidating, unbothered by any such act.

Mittens rotated itself too in time with the parasol, though its head was separated and opted to go the other direction. Lena raised her gaze for a moment, watching her companion and trying not to laugh, before addressing the stranger. “It’s my companion. It bonded to me.”

little more like coming home

Now hold onto me pretty baby

The dark woman's scientist mind was whirling as her father's training took over. Keeping her legs together but crouching over her high heels, Aviya swirled the parasol again. "Did you capture it?" She asked, not taking her blue eyes off the abominable snow creature. How did it not melt? What herald's or god's power was keeping it together? Dark eyebrows began to press together and besmirch her stoney façade. It wasn't like the dragons she knew other accepted to be bonded to, her parents and several of her siblings included. Aviya herself had never been given such a creature, but she wasn't bound to the dragoons as a path of pursuing strength, like some said siblings.

"I want to touch it." The darkling declared, one almond-shaped, glitter-pained fingernail tapping against the shaft of her parasol.

If you want to fly

Lena

“Found it, actually,” Lena hummed, tying off bands along another bag before grabbing hold of one more and following the same pattern. It was light and meaningful work, not something she needed to be consumed within, a ritual and routine made for lands decimated in the recent disasters.

But the other woman’s inquiry gave her pause, enough to furrow her brow and raise her gaze back to her – solemn and serious through her kindness. “You shouldn’t,” and to emphasize the point, Mittens hissed again, feral and ridiculous. The warning to follow was light, but certain – similar aspects she’d deliver in the middle of the Celestine, surrounded by wounded or ill predators. “Unless you would like to lose a finger.”

little more like coming home

Now hold onto me pretty baby

Like any other companion, the daughter of night knew this was some miniature version of Rae and Frey’s doings. There was something like this, bigger and stronger and even more intriguing out somewhere in the wilds — her incredibly moving mind immediately though the mountains of the Draig, or even the highest reaches of the Fangs. Was his base memory snow, with Vi’s breath in its lungs? She couldn’t stop her speculating.

Aviya stayed crouched before the abominable snow creature even as it hissed and threatened, and a slow, long-drawn smile that resembled a crocodile more than anything else spreads across her features. ”Hmm.” She hummed, crystal eyes scrutinizing Mittens.

”Why this over a dragon?” She asked, head tilting enough to send another wave of raven hair over her shoulders.

If you want to fly

Lena

It would be quite a compelling sight – all those notions contorted in Aviya’s head – animals much larger and spirits far more broader than Mittens, thriving amidst the peaks, valleys, and wilds, guarding the Draig with their livelihoods – but it wouldn’t be Lena drifting out to find them.

While Mittens glared and snarled, the Caretaker finished another bag, starting again with great aplomb; the routines easy and the muscle memory permitting her to think in broader terms when the inquiry came.

She’d seen a great many wonderful dragons in her time – her sister’s, Sugar, Koa’s, Anju’s…but those patterns would never pertain to her. “I’m Attuned. I cannot bond with them.” No shame in it; she’d given herself over to Nature Frey ages before and would do again and again. “Will you be getting one?” She asked in return, thinking perhaps this was a goal of the woman.

little more like coming home

Now hold onto me pretty baby

”Oh.” Aviya said, somewhat surprised. ”That’s at least good.” A declaration, a signal. While abandoned had been allowed in the city now under Sohalia’s rule, Aviya did not entirely agree with it. While attunement was a pact with the old gods, there wasn’t as much favor for them in her eyes as much as her own.

”Perhaps. Maybe two. Maybe three.” Aviya said as she stood, her legs snapping straight and making her high heels click against the stone beneath her feet. ”Anyway,” Aviya said, finally turning her eyes towards Lena, ”I’ll let you get back to…that.” She scanned her eyes across the goods splayed about the woman, herbs and bags and twine.

Then with a gentle and quiet tsk of her tongue, the woman under the parasol left the Celestine caretaker.

FIN

If you want to fly