[The Stone Garden] The Dilemma (Closed)

[Lucas Arias]

„Really“, Lucas told Xenalia. „I can help you find a mapmaker or at least a place that sells maps. And if worse comes to worst, I’ll draw you a map myself. I’m quite decent at drawing.“ He pointed at his things that had thus far not attracted a lot of attention. „I can even draw you if you like …“ he offered because he wanted to try and draw a real human being rather than some kind of fantasy creature for a change. He needed to be able to do that if ever wanted to leave Syliras for real and go and study at the university.

As Xenalia assured him that Yve could understand him, he looked at her doubtfully. He had never met an owl that could understand the human language, but then again Yve had looked like a human a moment ago, so maybe she was different from other owls when she was in her animal form. Thinking about it made his head hurt a little. „No, I’ve never met a Kelvic“, he admitted. „I mean, I might have accidentially passed one in the street while they were in human form, but they never revealed their secret identity to me. And I don’t believe you that I can’t learn it. I met this guy who knew Morphing once!“

As Xenalia confirmed his suspicions that Yve would be naked when she changed back, his eyes got as big as saucers, and he blushed. „Ummm … thanks for the warning“, he murmurred and blushed some more, even though he was kind of looking forward to that. Even though she was a weird Kelvic, Yve was pretty!

As Yve started preening, his eyes widened even more. For some reason that simple action freaked him out a little.

„Yes, I’m a squire“, he said to Shylar, glad for the distraction, although she sounded as if she was seriously tempted to criticize him for his behaviour. „What about it? Are you as quire as well? And I am setting an example. Just not a very good one. And it’s not as if I chose to be a squire. I’m just hitting training dummies with my sword all day long because my parents seem to think being a knight is the best thing in the world.“

He wasn’t sure if he considered Yve’s change beautiful. As far as he was concerned, it was weird. It took him a moment to register the other thing that Shylar had said. „You can change your form as well? Are you a morpher? Like that Hadrian guy? Do you two know each other?“

[Yve]

Shylar could change shape too? Yve was surprised to hear that any humans could change like her. She assumed that being human meant that they stayed human, and that was that. Sure they could still do all kinds of things, but she thought her kind were the shifters. That's what made them Kelvic. But she didn't know a single thing about magic, even though her kind were made with it and she could sometimes sense when it had touched others, so the surprise didn't linger. This was just another thing to add to the very small mental pile of what she knew about the world. Her thoughts wandered off again. Humans could do what they wanted with their bodies. She took a lot of pride in the idea that humans changing their natural shape to one of another animal made them seem envious of her kind. Maybe they were. It was wonderful to have two selves, and it had many advantages. Yve was very glad to know Shylar appreciated what she was. She liked the kind girl even more now. She was obviously sensible. The itch was gone now, so Yve twisted her head out from under her wing. Lucas could draw? He must have some patience, she thought. Or he was one of those people who claimed to draw well but were actually very bad. She'd met a pair of twins that were like that. They had offered to draw her in this form and claimed it would be like a reflection. Needless to say, either she looked like a vulture, or they had been fools. Lucas offering up his drawing skills to Xenalia, Yve thought, made it fair game for her to check out what he was working on anything at the moment. Plus he and Shylar were talking about knights, a business she knew nothing about, so it was time for her to find another distraction. She hadn't paid attention earlier to what Lucas had brought him; she wasn't much for snooping over someone's shoulder. Now though she was curious if he was really good or not. He probably wouldn't like her hopping across his lap, so she'd have to fly over the top of his head. She shuffled her feet apart with a sound of talons scraping the stone bench and stretched out her long wings. With a few good flaps Yve rose straight up then over the top of Lucas. The churned air from her wings ruffled the groups' hair and buffeted their faces lightly, then stilled as she landed quietly next to Lucas's materials and folded her wings back into place. She leaned over his page and peered at it. He was drawing a Kelvic? One so similar to her no less; a bird. She was a little flattered in a way. He must not have felt so harshly about her kind as he first made out, if he was willing to commit time to drawing one of them. But it was weird, did he try to make it look like he didn't like anything or anyone? His drawing was very good. At least he wasn't oblivious to his skills. It must be a challenge trying to capture the shift on a piece of paper. I wonder if Shylar can draw too, she thought absently as she studied the lines with great interest.

[Lucas Arias]

OOCSince it’s been three weeks, Yve and I will continue alone for now. Shylar and Xenalia, if you come back, send me a PM

As Yve stretched out her wings and flew over him Lucas eyes widened until they nearly threatened to drop out of their sockets. He had seen her change from human to owl, but to actually see her fly like a bird was even more amazing! He almost forget that she was a freak. Almost. He was still a little worried that she would relieve himself the moment she was right above his head, as birds often tended to do.

As she inspected his drawing, he looked a little irritated. He hadn’t given her permission to look at his things! He came a bit closer and narrowed his eyes as he studied her. „That’s another Kelvic“, he remarked. „A winged knight Kelvic. It would be awesome if the knights could fly and shoot arrows at their enemies from above, wouldn’t it?“ He felt it necessary to inform her that his Kelvic was not an ordinary Kelvic, but a very special and useful Kelvic.

He furrowed his brow as something occured to him, and then he just shrugged his shoulders, grabbed another piece of paper and started sketching her as she looked at his drawing. Freaky Kelvic or not, this was a rather interesting motive!

[Yve]

A winged knight? she thought. Yve supposed it would be useful to a human if they had wings like a bird. Flying, in her opinion, was one of the most wonderful things anyone could do. She didn't really care for the thought of wings being used as an advantage to kill in a battle, though. But Yve bobbed her head to agreement to his question. Humans won't ever have wings, so it doesn't matter, she thought. Anyway, the idea of them flying really did sound neat, and it'd be something she'd want to see. She noted the look on Lucas's face when he talked; obviously he was annoyed again, and it must be because something with the picture. Is he ever satisfied? she thought irritably. He was the one that had pointed out his drawing! He was such a confusing human. When he pulled out a fresh piece of paper and started sketching, she was surprised and for some reason felt suddenly shy, but flattered at the same time. She guessed she was the model, seeing as how he kept looking from her to the page. Yve had wanted Lucas to like her so this was hopefully a step in the right direction. She didn't want to discourage him, so she watched him as best she could without moving too noticeably, trying not to give away the fact that she wasn't even paying attention to the drawing of the knight anymore. In the back of her mind she was hoping vainly that all her feathers were in order and lying smooth.

[Lucas Arias]

Lucas looked very concentrated as he drew Yve. For once he didn’t insult her, he didn’t look at her strangely, he didn’t treat her like an inferior being, but was completely focused on his drawing. He had sketched the basic shape of the owl quickly enough. She had a beak, wings and legs, and the look on her face was just right, but he had a hard time drawing wings. He came a bit closer to her so that he could see them better, and then he nodded and went back to his drawing. Every time she moved even a little, he raised his hand, signalling her to hold still.

„I’m done!“ he finally announced. „You can move again!“ He smiled all over his face because he was so pleased with how the drawing had turned out. Of course it was still only in black and white – he didn’t have time to colour it now – but the owl in the drawing was recognizable as Yve as she looked at his other drawing. „Here, come, take a look!“ he told her and gestured for her to come closer. „What do you think of it?“

It was then that it occured to him that she couldn’t speak in her current form. He blushed a little. „Ummm, just nod your head if you like it and look at me as if you want to hurt me with your beak if you don’t“, he suggested. „You know, it’s a little weird to be talking to an owl. I mean, I know you are not a normal owl, but some part of me still feels as if I should question my sanity. I don’t normally talk to birds.“

[Yve]

Yve had struggled to stand still almost the entire time. She was a fidgety sort of thing, and sitting like a statue wasn't a skill of hers, so when Lucas was done, she relaxed noticeably as she moved to see the finished sketch. Jumping onto his knee and using it as a perch, she peered down at the drawing. In her excitement, her head swiveled to several extreme angles so she could see the picture any way possible. It did look a lot like her, which pleased her greatly. It had been worth the wait to see. As Lucas went on rambling about his sanity, she churred with laughter. He was a lot more likable at the moment. Yve decided she liked watching him draw; it seemed to make him a lot happier. She also liked when he smiled, and didn't roll his eyes rudely. Her head bobbed animated to show she liked the sketch, but she rather would have said so. Maybe I should change back? she thought. I can't communicate in this body. Lucas, though, probably wouldn't like her changing back right in front him, let alone on his leg. Humans were so over-reactive about nudity. Yve would have to ask Lucas why when she changed back. She turned her head around backwards, to look at him, then tilted it to the side. She couldn't tell him not to peek, so she decided it would just be his own fault if he saw. Turning back away, she opened her wings and flapped quickly, rising up off his knee. Instead of going right over the top of him again, she flew around, angling sharply to land on the pile of her clothes. Once settled, she shifted. An instant later she was human again. It was a lot colder without any clothes, so as goose flesh popped up on her skin, she quickly pulled her old shirt from the bottom of the clothing pile and slipped it on over her head. Getting fully dressed would take too long, and this shirt covered her to the knees anyway. Absently smoothing out her sleeves, she turned back to Lucas. "Now I can talk," she said happily. "I really do love the drawing too, by the way. You're a very good." She said this with a big smile, making her eyes crinkle at the corners.

[Lucas Arias]

Lucas‘ eyes widened as Yve jumped onto his knee, and he froze for a moment. He wasn’t used to birds, especially birds that turned into pretty girls, sitting on his knee. It was weird, and it made him a little uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to act. As he noticed how she moved her head around so that she could look at the drawing from all angles however, he couldn’t help but grin. It looked rather funny. He turned his drawing a little so that she could look at it better, and then he waited for her judgement.

As she made that weird sound, he frowned a little. Was she making fun of him? It sounded almost like laughter. Why was she laughing at him? He hadn’t said anything funny, had he? He wondered if he should say something, but since she seemed to like his drawing, he decided to keep his mouth shut and just be glad.

As she left his knee again, he looked at her questioningly. Was she going to turn back now? He couldn’t resist the urge to watch. He blushed so hard that his head resembled a gigantic tomato, and then he quickly turned away. After a few moments he risked another glance. Noticing that she was dressed again, he turned around and breathed a sigh of relief.

„Wow“, he murmurred somewhat lamely because he’d temporarily lost his ability to speak.

He cleared his throat.

„Are Kelvic always naked when they shift?“ he wanted to know, and then, realizing that this question might be a little inappropriate, he quickly changed the topic.

„Anyway, I’m glad that you like the drawing. You can keep it if you want. Or maybe I’ll colour it for you. Would you like that?“

[Yve]

He had taken that surprisingly well, Yve thought, but she had to struggle to keep from laughing at his face's color. She couldn't imagine it being any redder, and here she was not embarrassed at all. "Your face matches your hair," she commented. She couldn't help it, she had to tease him for it. It was actually very cute. Struggling with her mirth, she answered him. "Yes, we're normally naked when we shift. Unless we happen to get lucky and can somehow get dressed in our other body, and then change. But that's challenging, except for maybe a shirt. You can't really put pants on if you're a dog or a horse. Then when we change from this form," she motioned to herself, "we have to undress before we can shift, most of the time. I don't really have to, like you saw. I'm small in my other body, so there's not really a chance of getting strangled by my own clothes." Yve was glad for his curiosity. Her eyes lit up at the idea of keeping the sketch. "I'd keep it forever. I wouldn't let anything happen to it," she vowed. It was a little dramatic, but she was so excited over the gift. Leaning forward expectantly, she asked, "If you don't mind, I'd like to watch you color it. Do you have the things you need with you?" She peeked around him, looking at his book and papers.

[Lucas Arias]

As Yve informed him that his face matched his hair, Lucas looked completely shocked. He touched his face, and his head turned even redder for a moment, as if it was about to explode. He was suddenly very hot. He looked away from her because he didn’t want her to see him like that. It took him a moment to get his features halfway under control again. When he had calmed down sufficiently, he turned to face her again and glared at her. That glare clearly told her that he had not appreciated the comment. „At least they match“, he murmurred.

Her confirmation that Kelvic were indeed naked when they shifted was met with an incredulous look. „No, I suppose it’s hard for a dog to put on pants“, he agreed. „Doesn’t it bother you though?“ he wanted to know. „That you spend most of your life naked or half naked?“ Lucas rather liked occasionally being naked, but he had a problem with naked girls. No, it wasn’t really a problem. It was more like …

He shook his head. He probably shouldn’t be thinking about such things right now. He concentrated on the drawing. It was hard to say anything wrong where that was concerned. „I have some things with me“, he said and patted the bench besides him so that she would sit down next to him. He produced a brush and paints. He didn’t have a lot of colours here, but what he had would do. Fortunately owls were not the most colourful of animals. „I think this one matches the colors of your eyes“, he murmurred, and then he started painting.

A few minutes passed in silence as he worked. When Lucas was drawing, the rest of the world didn’t exist. Finally he put brush and paints away again and asked her, „What do you think? Does it resemble you?“

[Yve]

A giggled slipped out of Yve accidently as Lucas's head face turned even brighter. She quickly covered her mouth with both hands, muffling any more laughter that might creep out as he righted himself. When she got a glare, her cheeks flushed a little in shame. It wasn't a lasting feeling though, because she still found the whole thing funny. "I'm sorry," she said meekly through her fingers. "Really," she added, thinking he might not believe her. She wasn't lying, but amusement still danced in her eyes as she apologized, and she removed her hands from her face when she was sure she wouldn't giggle anymore. "It doesn't bother me at all," she replied to his question. "You have to agree that being naked it a lot more comfortable than wearing clothes. They can be itchy, and wedge up in places." She made a face at that thought. "My mother always said clothes were unnatural, and are only worn because humans and others," she waved her hand to sum up the others, "have false modesty." Yve smiled proudly, happy with herself for making a good point. "I wouldn't wear them at all if people didn't mind. But I don't want to get kicked out of town or something." Eagerly, she sat down to watch him paint. It was interesting to see the picture almost come to life. The more color, the more it looked like her, Yve thought. She glanced at Lucas several times as he worked. He looked very serious, but in a good way. He was obviously in deep concentration. She imagined she could blow in his ear and he'd be slow to react. When he was finished, she gingerly took the picture from him. She held it like it was a piece of thin glass; Yve was afraid if she was too casual in handling it, that it'd get ruined. She smiled happily as she examined it, making a sound of definite approval. The picture did look like her, and the expression on her portrait's face was her favorite part. Glancing at Lucas then back at the picture, Yve's heart gave a little flutter. The idea cropped up in her head seemingly out of nowhere. She'd pushed her brewing loneliness to the background when they'd first started talking, but for some reason it had wiggled its way back up into her thoughts. A lump formed in her throat and she could feel her cheeks start to get splotchy. Embarrassed, she swallowed a few times like that would get rid of the lump, but it did help the burning in her face. I'll just come out and stay it, she thought with forced nonchalance. But instead of sounding calm when she opened her mouth, Yve turned to Lucas and blurted, "Can I stay with you?"