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It is Midnight. Or perhaps it is not Midnight, but the night sky is still dark, the air still cold, and the streets of the city emtpy. Paws are soft over the cool stone of the pavement, green eyes shift through the night without fear, or even much interest. It is late, and some people would rather be in bed at this time of the day. Some people also have the sense to go to bed when tired. Not this dog, apparently. Duriel’s steps continue, looking for the red door that would let her into her daughter’s home for the evening, but jeez, everything in the city looks the same. A ‘quick trip’ to visit her youngest pup had turned into all day, and though she knew that Shale, or perhaps Allegro himself, might be after her soon, this dog was determined to find the place. If only she were better at cities. If only it weren’t so late and no one about to ask for directions. If only she were not too stubborn to ask for directions earlier. If only. If only.The shadows of three Jaders elongate the street from a distance, strutting through the night with the city asleep. Two break off to one side, bounding as they find something more interesting to catch their attention, while the lightest of the pair and least likely to blend into the darkness steps quietly into the nearest lamp light and sits with a sigh. Really… Sorcha is left behind and looks after her friends before distraction finds her attention drifting. She seems to admire the quiet shops and homes, the stars above, and the two moons still rising. And the unfamiliar Jader. What? Duriel is spotted and she slips out from the light (not that it helps her hide) and strides forward cautiously, not caring to call back to her adopted siblings. “Lost something?“ she calls when she is close, aware she is not inconspicuous.Duriel stops when she sees the pale figure approach, lifting her muzzle to the breeze, she sniffs, posture falling into a naturally defensive position, and the tired slowly leaving her. Though there is not yet anything hostile about the striped dog, she is assertive, all the airs of one not yet willing to admit that she is out of her element here. “Pardon? I’m not sure that is any of your business, Miss.” Polite, professional, but wary. Duriel’s eyes shift back toward where the other two shadows broke away. “Looking for something?” Hopefully not trouble. One against three would not be, though Duriel has full confidence in her ability to fight. Still, the pale slip of a Jader does not strike Duriel as much of a threat apart from being unknown.Sorcha approaches with her tail raised, but not in a highly aggressive position. She isn’t going to be meek and innocent that late at night and being away from her friends. Just enough to be polite herself. There’s a twitch of the tail at the defensive reply. Instead of closing the distance she slowly moves to one side, giving Duriel access to an escape if the striped Jader feels necessary and trapped. Of course, it may go straight to the other duo but who knew right then. “They may be looking for something. I’m just enjoying the cool night breeze and the scents from the past day. Plenty to occupy the time, don’t you think?” she adds with a friendly flick of her ears. No fighting here, but Duriel may notice that she’s slowly padding her way full circle to study the other Jader at all angles if allowed.Duriel’s feet remain planted, though she does see the angle of the pastel jader, she does not move. Look all you want, Duriel is sure she can take an attack from any angle, just try it. She’s daring. . .wait, slow down. Too tired for this, and this new Jader didn’t seem want trouble. Perhaps. Still, one ear remains angled toward where the other two dogs had gone, “Plenty of time to do it before dawn, Miss, but I’m afraid you are not the company I was looking for tonight.” Oops, she was looking for someone, though she hadn’t meant to let that slip. Duriel’s weight shifts slightly, eyes darting between Sorcha and the shadows of her freinds. Drat. Duriel was feeling trapped, but still, her head was yelling to keep it cool. Just a nice chat, keep it nice, then move on, and find the bakery an-wait, “Do you happen to be from around here?” Maybe, maybe these three were nice folks out for a walk in the middle of the night? And might have directions?When Sorcha is not quite behind Duriel, a little off to the side and still within line of sight, she moves into a pounce-- no, wait, play bow. No, not that either. She streeetches herself, butt up and tail stretched out still further. Maybe just testing the poor striped and lost Jader. She then reverses the posture, all languid and relaxed. “Are you sure I can’t be the company you’re looking tonight? I’m bored and my friends have left me to be stupid pups.” Nevermind that she is the youngest of the trio. Just to emphasize her point there is a loud yowl from around the side of a shop and home and a dark streak goes zooming by after a loud crash. A howl of laughter follows it and a disgruntled voice that can barely be heard, “It was not a sausage.“ Sorcha finishes off her stretch and walk and then plops down to the side of Duriel. “We may be from around here. Who are you looking for?” Duriel is too on- edge. The movement has her spinning on a dime, ears laid back, and-Freezing. What? The half-grow dies in her throat, though eyes remain narrowed and pinned on the pale dog. The crash only has her jumping again, this time toward the sound, movements fast and-CHILL OUT! Dureil forces herself to step back, away from Sorcha and shake herself, “Pretty sure.” She was wound too tight for this! Okay, okay, head, please prove there is a brain in there when Allegro is not around. Please. Okay, “I’m looking for a bakery where a particular Jader lives.” Ears cock toward Sorcha in an attempt to get herself back under control, but control was never something Duriel has been good at. “It’s a Jader who travels with a Rune and does not speak.” Among other issues that Duriel would rather not share quite yet. If these folks did turn out to be ruffians, she did not want them targeting Fleur. It wouldn’t be targeting, it would be cruel, wrong, and generally Duriel didn’t like the idea of killing people. With a few exceptions, and Fleur counted as one of them.Sorcha’s tail wags slowly, first one way and then the other, completely amused by Duriel’s poor nerves and her reactions. She doesn’t laugh, though. That would be more of a Verkiri thing to do, as the snorting can still be heard in the distance. Poor Bart. Sorcha is not sad that Duriel doesn’t want to hang out with her. She can still try to change the Jader’s thoughts on that. “Bakery… bakery...” she muses, head tilting one way then the other in thought. “There’s this Jader with a flock of Runes but she lives with some embroiderer. The woman makes some pretty designs with so many colors.” There’s another long thoughtful pause. “Maybe more information is necessary. Or you can just wait until morning with us.” She lays down completely, head between her legs, happy puppy eye time. Don’t kill Sorcha, she’s sweet and nice and is just trying to get Duriel to relax a bit.Duriel’s ears again flick at the noise. Head shaking slightly, “Not a flock, just one. A rune marginally cleverer than most. Not that, such a thing is saying much. More info? This has Duriel tense again. No more info. No. Fluer was not like the rest of the family, neither Duriel’s nor Lily’s, and this might be a problem were her disabilities out. For now, Fleur lived a charmed, but careful life, one Duriel was determined to maintain. “Her name is Fleur and that Rune of her’s Klanen. The Bakery has red doors and trim.” However, Duriel is not the type to know it’s name. She shifts again at the offer to wait with company, but, there is a hesitation there. Fluer didn’t know she was visiting, but Shale and Allegro would worry did they not hear from her. “I am expected.” A lie. Sorta? She was Expected to Check in when arriving, so that sorta counts? Duriel is trying to relax, this dog didn’t seem what she’d assumed, but still, tired and lost does put on in a negative frame of mind.
~“I know a rune, funny thing too… But no Jader attached to it,” Sorcha says absentmindedly. She seems to think, really think this time, but really can’t seem to come up with a reply. Her head pops up though at the mention of the red door. “Oh!” Inspiration! “That sounds like a lovely door,” she says after a pause. Just before she can say anything else to try to entice Duriel to relax, have a sit, and enjoy the night with her, the laughing starts to become clearer and the other shadows emerge again. Perhaps realizing they left a sister behind. The snickering stops, Verkiri as well where she stands down the street and notices the other Jader with Sorcha. “Whatcha doing, Sor?” she calls out, not quite approaching. Bartholomaeus lifts his tail up high and head high and tries to look big but hesitates as well. “Just smelling the flowers,” Sorcha replies cheerfully. It seems to make the other two relax, and they keep their distance knowing the pastel lady can take care of herself.
~“Oh really?” The tone might imply that Duriel has a rather low opinion of runes. “It’s a nice enough door, I suppose.” And no sense when it came to arts and architecture. It is a nice door, she’s just never noticed. However, the talk does seem to relax the striped dog. She shakes herself again and almost looks like she might sit until the other two appear. Instantly, Duriel’s ears again cock toward them, wary and unsure, tone again proffessional, “Mind introducing your friends?” Her eyes slide over them, noting the color and . . . . where these family? Hmmm, perhaps not. . .but? Maybe? Eyes slide back to Sorcha, then back to the pair of new comers. No, not family, despite the color similarities.
~Unique doors aside, Sorcha may have words with her adopted family later though she tries not to show any hint of annoyance. She was finally making a breakthrough with this stranger! And they had to go and ruin it of course. Though she cannot stay angry at them for long. She stands up to full height, tail giving a lazy wag. “Verkiri is the overprotective one, Bartholomaeus--” “Valerian” comes the rumbled correction as said Jader approaches “is… that one.” It’s hard to really pretend they’re all nice when the others approach curiously, the latter giving a haughty sniff at the striped dog. Not interesting enough for him. “She’s looking for a red door,” Sorcha adds helpfully, trying to get back on track on being nice to Duriel. “And she’s lost.” Can we keep her? Verkiri flicks her tail at Duriel and circles Sorcha like a feline to give her a lick on the cheek. “We think we passed a red door maybe a kilometer away, maybe two. Can’t say for sure, I may need something to help my memory.” She is not sounding very certain on that. “And did you tell our lovely Sorcha here what your name is?” The darkest purple Jader eyes Duriel sharply with the question.
~Duriel watches the trio, careful again, shifting back into her defensive posture and marking down names as they come. Verkiri is studied, perhaps marked down as potentially the most dangerous. But. But. These three sure acted like family. Perhaps they were, in a way. And though Sorcha remains relaxed, Duriel will remain on edge. “Red Door. Red Trim. Bakery. Big sign.” That probably says ‘Bakery’, but Duriel is not the sort to notice things not immediately of interest to her. “There is a Jader that lives there that might require my attention. You may not remember the sight, but the whole street smells of bread.” At the question to her name, Duriel’s tail flicks, “She never asked.” And Duriel still probably wouldn’t have provided. Though . . .okay, she did give Fleur’s name, didn’t she? “Duriel. Wild Tiger. I’m of an estate a day’s run from here.” And would be missed should she not show up.
~The darkest of the trio is certainly the most dangerous, not that she shows it. She’s simply the most intense in the way she studies Duriel. “I’m a fan of the fish market instead,“ she says, then adds by way of apology: “Shame, dear, I couldn’t be more help.” And yet she did mention she saw a red door. She gives Sorcha a nuzzle and then skips away to follow after Bartholomaeus. “Catch up soon, love!” And she’s gone. They do not travel fast or far, always within hearing distance should their lighter sister need her. “Good to meet you Duriel. I think Bartholomaeus came from one of those.“ An estate, not necessarily in the same area. “Overrated!” calls back the feral Jader, regarding estates. “You’re far from home to be visiting someone. Did they need you to come by urgently?” Sorcha is still probing, and now that her family has given them space she starts another circle around, and finally moving the way they came to look at the doors.
~Duriel see the discrepancy, but her inability to fully read these three might simply be her inexperience as a guard. Or perhaps she never did have the knack for it that Shale and Allegro had. No matter, eyes will follow the two as they leave, before flitting back to Sorcha. She doesn’t appreciate the second circle, but as the direction changes, that traitor candle of hope sparks. Maybe this stranger did know the place? “No. I needed to see her urgently.” Or something like that. Being a protective mother is hard living so far away. And. . . and This one needed protecting. Duran and her eldest would be fine, but Fleur? Fleur was a worry. Conantly. Finally, Duriel’s feet will not let her stay still and she starts to pad after Sorcha, “You think you might have seen the place?” There is just a hint, perhaps, of desperation in that tone now that again they are alone. “I need to get there.”
~
Sorcha does not hurry along but neither does she walk slow as she prefers to do, enjoying the scenery. It’s a good pace once she realizes that Duriel is following. “You said you have to see her urgently, and who am I to really impose on that.” WHICH SHE WAS DOING THIS ENTIRE TIME. But that’s just details, testing out the other Jader and seeing if she could trust the wound up Duriel. Her tail waves behind her, perhaps rubbing up against the other Jader, perhaps just happy to enjoy a walk with someone new. “If Verkiri says it was a kilometer down the way we came, it probably is.” Still, that means that she has to trace the way that the came from. “Is she sick?” She is nosey about this Fleur.
~The tail does touch Duriel, but the striped Jader does little more than skid slightly away from it, surprised, but now searching the street for something that looked familiar. Duriel glances at Sorcha once, then again, eyes return to the world around them. The nice clip is far better than standing tense and double guessing herself. Much better in fact. “Thank you.” She means it. Lost was not on the agenda today. It really wasn’t. “There is nothing wrong with her.” Nothing. Really. She is fine. Absolutely fine and it is a point Duriel will fight anyone on. If she had the chance, of course. But there, not far up ahead, a very lean, small white form is silhouetted. There is almost a luminous quality to the stark white, however, as the pair get closer the unhealthy pink undertones are clear. Fleur stands perfectly still, no recognition in her until the breeze shifts and there is a yelp. Not a word, no, just a puppy-like yip and the albino Jader is running toward them in delight, a red door swinging open and sipping light onto the street behind her.
~The striped Jader may notice that her adopted siblings have not really left them. They shadow the pair walking away, retracing their steps as well and not really hiding about it. One goes to sniff a corner, the other stares after a serval on a roof. Either way, they still won’t completely leave Sorcha alone, just give her space when Sorcha did not want to follow after them. “It was easy to assume when you needed to get to her in the middle of the night,” Sorcha says in her most placating tone possible. “Hopefully she is awake-- oh.” She stops dead at the fellow pale Jader comes into view, at her puppy nature, and her tail wags in return. Someone new. The two shadows behind them still, perhaps waiting to see if it is an attack. Sorcha on the other hand takes a few steps back so that she is at least even with Duriel before Fleur starts running after them. “I guess it was closer than Verkiri thought!” So sad, lovely walk is over.
~If Duriel noticed, it is ignored, and the moment that Fleur is moving toward them, Duriel picks up pace. Thank goodness. Thank goodness. Of course, of course Fleur was awake. Fleur and Duriel meet and the smaller Jader is up and around her, delighted, tail wagging a mile a minute, and whimpering with a pup-like delight. Duriel says nothing, just turns as Fleur prances around, licking her cheek and looking her over. Thin, yes, small, yes, seemingly still near-sighted, yes, and of course, still deaf as a door. Fleur cannot speak, cannot hear, and if she is up at this time of night, one can assume that she is still too light sensitive to be out in the day. Not that it matters. Duriel is delighted to see her. “Sorcha. Please meet Fleur, one of my pups.” The words only come when Fleur’s greeting has concluded, and though the words are toward the pastel Jader, eyes never leave the albino. Duriel motions toward Sorcha, but doesn’t bother introducing her. Fleur rubs against Duriel affectionately, but her attention will turn at the motion. Ears perk, a mild shyness pushed aside for a curiosity as she approaches tail wagging and ears pricked friendly.
~Sorcha watches the reunion, not moving forward at all anymore. She can sense the two others behind her who were suddenly very curious at the pup too. Still, she wags her tail back and forth slowly, a bit uncertain, perhaps truly having thought the striped Jader was rushing to some sick one. This healthy and happy reunion is a bit more confusing. “Oh… Ooooooh,” she replies at the introduction. Pup! “No wonder you were urgent to see her.” Her tail wags harder, showing her enthusiasm to the paler Jader, head low as she approaches now. “She’s a cutie.” Who doesn’t like pups? Sorcha may be young, but she’s grown out of the stage. “It’s her puppy!” Verkiri stage-whispers loudly to her brother from the background, who is heard to give a very unenthusiastic “Hurrray. Can we move along now?”
~Fleur’s tail wags happily, sniffing Sorcha curiously, then without the social polite that Sorcha had displayed earlier, Fleur walks around the pastel jader, looking her over without holding back, sniffing, then when satisfied, dancing back to Duriel. Duriel nuzzles Fleur lightly, perhaps an encouragement, perhaps just relieved. Fleur whines softly, then turns and starts back toward the bakery, then stops, looking back at the pair. Another few steps and another stop. “Thank you. I. . .I owe you one, Sorcha.” Duriel starts to follow Fleur, but the white Jader doesn’t move, eyes on Sorcha. She slowly takes another few steps and looks to the bakery and back to Sorcha. Duriel hesitates, but there was no way to explain to Fleur that Sorcha was a stranger, not a friend Duriel brought along. “Do you mind. . . coming in for a bite before you go?” The question is half-embarrassed, and half hopeful. “She. . .she won’t understand if you just leave.” Eyes shift up, to where the other two are, “And. . .if your friends wanted a late dinner as well. . . . “
~Sorcha has nothing wrong with holding still (well, except for her wagging tail) as Fleur gives her a look around. Instead she actually may stand a little nicer, makes sure she cocks her head just right and prettily. Gotta show off her best side. Which is all sides. She attempts to give Fleur a soft sweep of the tip of her fluffy tail before she leaves. “It didn’t look like you were too far off at least,” she says, trying not to take ALL the credit. But she does seem to preen at the gratitude. “I’d love to stay!” Sorcha says, or tries to at least. Before she can finish her happy exclamation, Verkiri bounds forward followed by a reluctant Bartholomaeus. “I heard food!“ She tries to make herself look smaller in front of Fleur. “Big scary sis Verkiri here, I promise not to bite.” Yet still calls herself scary. Sorcha shoves her aside with a shoulder and moves forward with a bounce in her feet towards Duriel. Can’t have one without the others, it seems. Bartholomaeus is looking disdainfully at the bakery entrance, but he seems to still shuffle forward. He isn’t purposefully trying to be less intimidating to Fleur, he just doesn’t want to be there. Or anywhere.
~Fleur startles at the sudden appearance, though Duriel will back up a bit to make room for the newcomers. Fleur hadn’t known they were there and skitters back in alarm. Though there is no registering of Verkiri’s words, as Sorcha seems to treat her as a familiar, slowly, the pale dog will approach these new pair. They are scary, and for a dog who rarely meets anyone new, three in one night? Wow. Slowly, warily, she looks over them, tentatively stretching out to sniff at Verkiri before eyes shift to Bartholomaeus. Hmmm, though he will get another look over, and another sniff, these . . . protrusions from his back . .. . Slowly, Fleur skirts around him, lacking her mother’s trained step, and looks at the coral in greater detail, though not going as far as to touch them. Eyes shift to Verkiri again, though with the dark Jader’s easy demeanor, and seemingly friendliness, Fleur walks around Bartholomaeus and makes a soft whining noise, perhaps closest to confusion. Duriel watches this and again goes tense. These two were. . . .weird. . . . and though the offer was there, the condition was that they be nice to Fleur. If they caught that she was deaf or not, Duriel didn’t care. They must be civil. She glances at Sorcha, half checking that these friends of her’s would be good.
~Bartholomaeus does not growl, show teeth, or lash out. But he does seem to bristle and starts to turn his head to give a look before Sorcha smacks him with her tail. Behave. It’s the most the lavender Jader has shown as far as being assertive to her siblings. Verkiri is just ready for food already and knows to leave Sorcha to dealing with cranky old Fart. Bart. Not that he is that much older (and her being the eldest, actually). Sorcha turns back to Duriel with an almost apologetic expression. “We’d /all/ love to stay. And be nice, Bart,“ she has a sharp quality to her voice to the purple feral Jader, the name coming out more of an insult it seems this time. Instead of correcting her, Bartholomaeous drops his feathered tail down in defeat. Satisfied that he will behave (albeit reluctantly and probably mutter about the low standards he must suffer through), Sorcha approaches Fleur and gives a jerk of her head back in the direction of the red door, tail giving another friendly wag. Let’s go back inside, lead the way pup. And may as well put distance between her and Barty.
~Fleur misses the whole interaction, but studies the odd growth on the big Jader until Sorcha draws her attention. At this, another glance will be tossed at the two newest guests and her tail wags. She turns, starting to trot back toward the place she called home. It is too late for her people to be up, but her being up at this time is normal. Though Duriel will not follow until Bartholomaeus and Verkiri start moving, Fleur is again at ease. Duriel’s eyes remain with these two, apparently Sorcha passed the test and got the trust with Fleur, but not these two. No. She will be watching. Muttering will be ignored. After all, Fleur couldn’t hear that. But Fleur could see. And she could feel. And it was these parts that Duriel cared about. “You are welcome to stay the night, though Fluer’s humans will be up early.” The bakery is lit dimly, lanterns low, but the big oven in back still warm for the day’s work. Fleur leads them back here to the kitchen and starts to pull out blankets. A creamy-pink feathered rune joins her, fluttering up and landing on the albino’s head as she prepares places for her new guests, food soon to come, but first, bed.
~Bartholomaeus does his best to remain still, properly chastised by Sorcha in the past for stepping out of line is the only thing keeping him from self consciously snapping. Sorcha is first to follow, not even noticing Duriel’s attention on her adopted family. The other two are certainly aware of it. Verkiri quickly bounds after, only after sizing up Duriel one last time and then giving her an understanding nod. She isn’t going to complain about a little overprotectiveness of their daughter. Sorcha wasn’t even blood related and she could be that way. Bartholomaeus, however, seems to want to hold Duriel’s gaze before slowly approaching. He isn’t going to the door, however, and instead straight to the striped Jader. Staare… “I appreciate the hospitality,” he says at last. “And for serving me and my family.” There. They’re family. Maybe not the best way to state it, but the prickly Jader sweeps forward regally without waiting for a response. Sorcha on the other hand, is doing her best to help Fleur arrange blanket nests for them.
~ The gaze is returned to both. Even. Border line hostile. This was her line in the sand. Though she has to look up to meet Bartholomaeus’s gaze, the striped jader does not move. “You may appreciate it. But it is not me you should be thanking.” The words will follow the big Jader, and only when he is a few steps ahead does Duriel follow. Her family was not all nice and sweet like Fleur. Perhaps it was Fleur’s deafness that kept her this way, but whatever the reason, Duriel didn’t care. The place is roomy enough to comfortably make five nests and when made, Fleur will vanish, only to reappear with a basket of rolls in his jaw. This will be put down and again she will vanish. Another basket of broken cookies and pastries appear, and finally, a few bowls of water. Not a full course meal, but there was not enough stew for all, nor was Fleur handy enough with her paws to provide wine. Still, as the last stragglers make it in, her tail is high, wagging cheerfully. She picks up a roll, trots up to Bartholomaeus and offers it to him, perhaps a roll would make him feel better about the weird things growing on his back?
~Maybe Fleur has it all figured out… those parasitic looking attachments are sucking out all the joy from Bartholomaeus. Or maybe he’s just a cranky git. He had ignored the comment from Duriel on who he should be thanking, but he will still do his best to be civil inside the stranger’s household. Especially if his sisters are enjoying themselves, having a good time, and having a good meal and warm bed. He just won’t say it. He does take the roll, eating gingerly and washing it down with a drink afterward. Verkiri and Sorcha are polar opposites from the mean big Jader. They are loud in their thanks to Fleur both verbally (even if she cannot hear them) and very much so by body language. Comfortable sprawls, beaming at the pup, and tails giving lazy happy movements. “This is all wonderful, and nice and comfortable, can’t see why we’ve been avoiding it all this time,” Sorcha says regarding the whole ‘home’ thing. “Well, I guess we cannot go traveling if we stayed somewhere.” Little ear droop to that thought. She was very fond of the outdoors. Her pink eyes search out for Duriel, tail patting the empty nest she kept near her. Saved a spot.
~They don’t need to say it when they are so clearly happy. Fleur is delighted, she doesn’t get to play host often, but that it is working out so well? Even better! She will vanish one last time to fetch a bottle of wine. This is presented. If they can open it, they can have it, however, she can’t. She is happy to refill both baskets before settling down herself in a nest between Virkiri’s and Duriel’s. Her little Rune peering out from between her ears at all the unfamiliar Jaders, but remains quiet and well behaved. Duriel will not sit and relax until after it is clear that Bartholomaeus isn’t going to do something unpredictable. She settles down next to Sorcha without question, taking some to eat as well. However, ears perk at her words, “So . . .you are not from around here? Where are you from?” No home? It sounded so foreign to Duriel, and somehow, in the back of her mind, she’d counted on seeing these three again.
~Verkiri is not one to turn down a challenge. She will take up that bottle of wine and uncork it with a quick twist of her teeth. She doesn’t have quite the sharp and long ones like Fleur but it works! Plus, determination helps. This is first offered to Duriel, perhaps not host but definitely the one responsible for allowing them to stay. Sorcha finally gives the rune a study, having been interested in them before. “Is it hungry too?” she asks curiously, leaving a roll in her basket and pushing it in that direction just in case. “Where /are/ we from, ‘Kiri?” Sorcha asks instead of replying Duriel’s question. The other has her mouth full, and instead of waiting she turns to regard the striped Jader and a cheerful smile. “We just keep moving, and they found me as a puppy… not much more than puppies themselves! I don’t really remember.” Home was the road, it seems. “She was a fuzzball abandoned in some barn,” Verkiri says at last. “Hard to resist those eyes thought.” Batholomaeus is there. But who wants to hear him? He’ll just eat silently.
~Duriel looks up at the rune. It knows she doesn't like it, but it was a gift from Allegro to Fleur and now the two were almost joined at the hip. Still, as the basket is moved forward, Fleur looks delighted. She lowers her head to it, and Klanen hops off to the basket edge to peck at the remaining roll. Fleur beams at Sorcha, lots of cool-points awarded. Duriel shakes her head at the offer of wine, but nods for Verkiri to go ahead. Duriel’s ears prick at this, a mild horror flickering through her. Perhaps there was a time she would have taken this news in stride, but as a mother now, the idea of abandoning a pup? No. Never. “Alone? In a Barn? What? Why? Surely you are not all orphaned or abandoned?” Please? Surely? It almost made Duriel want to up and coddle Fleur all the more.
~Don’t mind if she does! Verkiri is quick to take up the wine again, imbibing a little more than she should. She’s licking off the remains of crumbs and drink as she watches her little family settle. She’s the protector of the group, but Sorcha was probably more like the glue and mother. “Bart’s--” “Bartholomaeus if you /must/*grumble*” “--the oldest of us,” (**ignore Skee’s contradiction of Verkiri being the oldest beforehand, this seems to make more sense lol** ) Verkiri says as if that explains everything. Both her and Sorcha turn their eyes to the feral Jader as if waiting for him to provide the answer. “From some fancy smancy estate, right? With all the other hoity toity people.” This is definitely teasing and poking of the Feral Jader. “It was a big home, the world is larger. Unfortunately I had to go and find you,” he says with a disdainful sniff at Verkiri. “Fell out of a carriage. One of those mystics people or something. Couldn’t find them after that.” And that’s the most he has spoken all night in one go. He makes sure he gets passed the wine next in compensation. One run away aristocrat and two (sorta?) orphans.
~ Hmmm. Duriel might have grown up on the streets had Lani not given her to Allegro to raise, and since she had, Duriel had grown up in the lap of luxury. Now her own pups scattered to families, only Duran lived alone. She listens quietly, watching the three interact, and yes, they really are like siblings, aren’t they? “And are you happy with where you are?” It’s a general question to the lot of them, not willing to pick one out and pin them down to answer. “Is the world still wide enough where wandering is what you want to do? I’m sure each of you could find a home and family if you so choose.” Okay, maybe no one would want to take in a sern, scary thing like Batholomaeus, but the two females? Surely. If they wanted anyway, and were willing to leave their little family. “Does it never . . . .tire you? Having no place to call your own? No potential to learn to feel a place or it’s people? No possibility of a future?”
~Bartholomaeus is quick to reply to the question… questions. “No,” he says simply, then munches away on what remains of his dinner. Sorcha and Verkiri are different, at least, but the latter lets her sister have the spotlight. “We have each other, what more do we need?” she questions Duriel in turn with a happy smile to her siblings, yes even cranky-butt. “We’d be stuck indoors with a family and then how are we supposed to see the world? We stay around the same place for a bit, or come back and visit again. There’s plenty to learn out there and here when we come back!” Verkiri nods sagely and puts her head down with a yawn. “And sometimes we get free food and it’s awesome. Thank you,” she adds to Duriel and Fleur. The latter gets happy pricked ears, a smile, and a tail wag. “Why do you think living outdoors has no future?” Sorcha is honestly curious about the Jader’s opinion on this.
~“It’s not that it’s outside. It’s that you don’t stay in one place long enough to learn more than the nifty fact. You can’t learn more than that or make a connection to the people there. There is no settling down if you aren’t in a place long enough to make the friends to make a lasting relationship.” She shrugs slightly, “I did a lot of running away when I was younger, lot of wandering the countryside. But I didn’t start to make something of myself til I got my head together and decided what I wanted of a future.” She shifts, pulling one of her blankets over her back, “I like travel, I like seeing new things, but I like having people to go home to and tell about all I saw, to worry over me, and to miss me when I’m gone.” Not that Shale and Allegro are anything like these three are for each other, but it’s the idea. She has a home she knows she can always go back to. Something to lean on, no matter what. Sure, Fleur was not a great example, but she represented part of the family that Duriel had.
~Sorcha listens intently to it all, curled up as she is but facing Duriel. “What did you make of yourself?” she asks with genuine curiosity still, almost as if she is being pulled in to this lifestyle of having a settled family. Verkiri huffs, Bartholomaeus snorts and rolls his eyes, but there’s a look of concern as he regards his lavender sister from the corner of them. His feathered tail is wrapped up in front of him, and he’s slowly working out tangles and leaves that have been caught up in it. Must be pretty and presentable. “The only people I want to come home to are right here, and they just follow me wherever I go anyway.” She gives her siblings an affectionate look, but then looks to Duriel. “It is not as if we wouldn’t cross paths with friends met along the way, as we come around again. But it’s a large world, have a place to call home and eventually you have to turn around and return.” It makes sense in her head. And helps that her family is right there too, for now… siblings but not children.
~“I am a protector. I am the mother of three, and I am apart of a team of four jaders who guard the Copperwrite estate.” This is said without pride, a simple fact, her identity, and all that she wants right now. “Home is not about having a place. It’s more than that. It’s the feeling of belonging, of not always needing to look in from the outside as a bystander, it’s participating. Contributing. And if you have that already, then I am happy for you. But .. . . even if I do spend times away, even if sometimes the feeling catches me and I chase the wind, I have a home to return to. I know it will always be there if I need it and folks who love me.” She leans over, licking Fleur’s cheek and earning a surprised meep from the Albino, but offering a smile to their company, “Travel is a wonderful thing, but I have not found it to be a permanent thing.”
~Sorcha looks at Fleur fondly at the mention of being a mother of three. “Well, that sounds like a very nice life as well.” Different paths, different lives. She uncurls from her position and streetches all out again on her side, almost playful as she bats in the direction of Duriel. “But! If you ever do tire, and get the urge to travel soon, maybe you could join us for a time. You’d be welcome and it wouldn’t be lonely!“ Welcomed? Bartholomaeus snorts from his preening, but Verkiri at least bobs her head on the ground. The girls would have to stick together. “Where are your other pups, if Fleur is here alone?” comes Sorcha’s next questioning, away from the wanderlust and where home is for each of them.
~Duriel hums softly to herself. No confirmation, but no denial that the offer is tempting. “My eldest lives with her mother, and Duran lives with my mother and brother.” Weird how that worked out. The job Duriel had once hoped for was the one that Lani was likely grooming Duran for. So unfair, but, at least Duriel knew they would each live well. “I live with an adopted family, but it was best that Fleur live in-city. I had some help finding this place, but it suits her.” Fleur and Allegro in the same house would have been too much work for the rest of them, though the mute and the deaf got along fine, it wasn’t okay with the talking-hearing part of the house. “I come visit when I can, I hear from Duran sometimes, and always know where to find them if I need to.” Though it had been a while since Duriel had seen Lily, she had full faith that she and thier eldest was doing fine.
~Sorcha listens earnestly to the striped dog’s life. It has mostly bored Bartholomaeus and Verkiri has already fallen into a post-dinner satisfied sleep with a bulging belly of food and wine. “You keep track of everyone and do the whole protecting business very well,” Sorcha compliments. She rolls back further onto her back, showing belly and all and still with very serious-face at Duriel. Nevermind that she is seeing everything upside down right now. “Must be nice to have such a good mother around like you,” she says almost wistfully. “I wouldn’t have my life any other way. Not sure what I’d do without my brother and sister, but...” Well, who wouldn’t want to have known their mother? If only their mother didn’t leave them in a barn. She lets that thought trail away. “You seemed really worried about Fleur but looks like she is in really great hands here.”
~A smile crawls over Duriel’s face as Sorcha flips over, but eyes shift to Fleur slowly, “I grew up without a mother, though I knew her. I didn’t want it to be like that for Fleur. Everyone Deserves to know they are loved and important. And I can only show that to Fleur.” And she tried. So hard. But distance made it hard, and sometimes, notes from runes didn’t sound quite right and she had to be sure. “I don’t know if parents are important, but knowing that one is loved is. It seems like you three have a good setup. You are very lucky to have eachother.” Fleur too is starting to drift away, curling into herself with her little rune at the crook of her neck. Duriel pulls a blanket up over Fleur before the albino is fully claimed by whatever silent dreams she had. “My mother left me with a family who could care for me. I am thankful for it, but I didn’t want my pups to ever question my affection for doing the same thing.”
~“Some find family later in life,” Sorcha states as she looks between Duriel and Fleur. Even though she had her makeshift family from the time she was a tiny puppy, she certainly still missed out on that mother and daughter bonding. She’s also still upside down, which makes every serious statement still somewhat amusing. “Loved, definitely.” Then she flips back over as quietly as she can, tangled in her blanket (she wanted to do that), and looks over at her drifting off siblings even as she cleans closer to the striped Jader to whisper, “Even Bartholomaeus. He may not look it but he’s quite loveable.” Said Jader seems to still be awake where he lays with his eyes closed, grumbling a bit. He probably heard that. Sorcha looks on fondly for a moment before full attention is given to the other awake dog. “Won’t life get boring, though? What do you do about that?”
~Duriel watches with a mild amusement and nods, “Later is fine, and I’m sure he could be. . .. most dogs are.” She shifts slightly in her own blankets, “Life is only boring if you let it get boring.” A mischievous, pup-like grin spreads across Duriel’s face, now willing to show that the stressors seem to be sleeping. “I am never bored, and never will be. Bored is a disease that I am immune to.” Duriel’s tail thumps beneath the blankets, head cocking toward Sorcha playfully, “Is Boredom something you fear?”
~There is a thump from Sorcha’s tail, trapped within the blankets, before she realizes that she won’t be able to move it much. She’ll live with it. Her face is showing just how amused she is over Duriel’s confidence in being bored-proof. “No one can be immune to being bored. You’ve got to grow bored sometimes,” she says a soft giggle at the thought, trying to be considerate in the sleeping dogs around them. “And yes I hate boredom. Not that I can’t find something to do, though. Even if I just go outside, there’s the sounds of the night to listen to or if you find yourself in a field alone during the day, there are so many things to occupy your mind. Enjoy the smell of the flowers, all the different shades they come in, or follow a bug as it travels its way. So little, they don’t go far, but that’s the whole world to them.” She is wistful as she thinks of the world around her, plenty to keep her mind. It’s hard to think she’s fearful of being bored when she easily finds herself occupied with something. Or someone.
~These are not quite the things that Duriel does to keep herself from the wretched boredom, but she understand them. A slight nod and her smile grows, “Tell me, do puddles ever call to be splashed in, leaf piles ever whisper to be scattered? Do you ever want nothing more than to chase the wind, and run, and run, until the ends of land is found so that you can only stare out at a sea that you cannot swim through?” These are the sort of things that grab at Duriel’s mind, and it is these sorts of things that keep her from the evil of boredom. Still, her smile softens slightly, glancing at Fleur. These were not the sort of things she could always share with her pup, though she might want to. The wind was sometimes an over-stimulation to the albino, and her frail form would not let her swim. Though, this is what Shale was for, right? Though many of the things Duriel loved could not be shared with her daughter, they could be shared with her adoptive
Brother.
~“Do you stare at the way the sky is reflective in the puddle before jumping in it? Do you listen and watch as the leaves rustle in their pile or drift without care from the trees?” Sorcha challenges back, but her grin is wide. “Then I jump in them.” First appreciate the art of nature, then have fun. But she does seem to sigh wistfully at running with the wind, taking a glance at the outdoors past her siblings at the thought. While patient being indoors and enjoying company, it always calls to her too. “Do you at least have others to travel with or when you do, do you do it alone?” She seems genuinely concerned about that, giving her siblings a look as if they would disappear if she looked away. “I don’t think I’d be able to do any of that alone,” she admits. She looks back on to Duriel and Fleur, as if she does expect the two of them to be doing all that calls Duriel together.
~“No, not really.” Duriel isn’t quite that sophisticated. Rather than appreciate the beauty, she is the sort to want the experience, the feeling, the exhilaration and excitement. To feel to the fullest, see the most, and taste life itself. Still, her grin grows as Sorcha speaks. At the question she shrugs, “Usually alone. Sometimes Shale comes, or sometimes my blood-brother, Clifford. But usually it is alone. The boys slow me down, and often add their opinions a little too loudly to be ignored.” Her head cocks to follow Sorcha’s gaze to Fleur, “I can’t risk my pups, and my brothers both have their own agendas. It’s not something I push on others, but it is something I tell them before I go.” Eyes shift back to Sorcha, “It’s something that I know I can do, it’s something I indulge in sometimes, but travel is something that I could not live by. I have a job now, and a family who need me.” Sometimes, granted, Lani took care of Duran just fine, as did Lily. So, really, it was just the little albino.
~Sorcha shakes her head a little sadly at Duriel’s lack of experiencing the outdoors fully. So much lost potential! It’s the traveling alone that makes her folded ears perk then fall back sadly. “Don’t you get lonely in your travels when it’s like that, alone? I know how the world calls out to one’s blood, needing to get out there. Maybe I’d be stuck indoors and getting spoiled if it wasn’t for Verkiri and Bart.” The nickname gets a sleepy rumble, ever vigilant that feral. “I wouldn’t call it a risk, though. It’s nice to be able to give them the experience.” She looks on sadly at Fleur now. Sad that she won’t travel with friends, with her mother, but the look is quick to pass at how peaceful the albino pup looks. She gives a wide yawn, putting her head back down onto her foreleg. “How long has it been since you’ve had the call to go out?” It’s a sleepy thought directed to Duriel alone, no more bringing her pups into it.
~Duriel watches Fleur, watching the younger jader breath, the little wing-twitching of her rune, and shrugs slightly, “No, not lonely. I do not /need/ others, they are just nice to have. And. . . well, I suppose the reason I like to travel in the first place. It gets me out of the known, and I meet new folks.” She glances over at the sleeping jaders and smile, “But I can see the advantages of having someone around. It must be nice.” Eyes turn back to the sleepy Sorcha, and Duriel leans over, pulling Sorcha’s blankets around her again from her flopping over, “But I’m sure you three have had a long day. I shouldn’t keep you up much longer.”
~Sorcha lets out another yawn, this one jaw breaking, tongue-lolling. “Still can travel with us. We will stick around the city a little longer, though.” At least Sorcha is hoping so. The trio seem to stick around a bit before moving on when the wild calls, or when they are chased out. “You will have fun with us, promise,” she adds just in case it needed a bit more enticing. She doesn’t lift her head, but there is a sleepy thump of the tail when the blankets are adjusted around her. “Thank you, Duriel.” And the pastel girl is out without another thought. It is only then that Bartholomaeus, feigning sleep this entire time, finally lifts his head to regard his sisters. He gives Duriel a lingering look, curls himself up into a ball, and sleeps.
~