[The Stone Garden] The Dilemma (Closed)

[Lucas Arias]

Lucas looked at Yve strangely as he heard her words. Had she meant to be encouraging? Well, she had failed - spectacularly. „I’m not sure if I want to spend the next couple of years trying to become a successful and well respected knight“, he muttered. „I have better things to do with my precious time.“

He wanted to comment on her statement that she didn’t feel the need to have the other Kelvic as company, when he realized what else she had said. „You can talk to any bird?“ he asked incredulously. „Does that mean they all speak the same language? That’s awesome! I can’t speak with everybody! I only speak a bit of Arumenic and a tiny bit of Nari. Everybody insists I’m an Inarta bastard so I decided I might as well learn the language in order to be able to play my role better.“

Unfortunately her revelation that she didn’t eat worms, but mice and squirrels didn’t help. For a moment Lucas looked as if he was ready to throw up. „I don’t eat mice or squirrels. Or insects. That’s weird. And a bit disgusting. Do mice even taste good?“

Why did she want to meet his parents now? Did she want to marry him after all? Lucas inwardly cried for help. He really didn’t want to get married yet, and he had no idea how to get out of this situation without offending her either.

„I’m not sure“, he murmurred. „Do you want to? I don’t think my parents have ever talked to a Kelvic. Maybe they’ll get a heart attack. I don’t think there is a rule against … what is bonding anyway? Does it hurt?“

„You can stay in my roon“, he assured her. Despite the fact that certain things she said definitely freaked him out, he found her kind of fascinating and couldn’t bear the thought of her being stuck on a roof all night, even though an owl would probably mind it less than a human. „It can get really cold outside at night.“

[Yve]

"Mmhm," she hummed proudly, smiling toothily. "We can all talk to each other. Some are dumber than others though, and don't usually communicate with anyone else. I'll tell you about all the birds sometime, if you like." A pause to listen to him, then she continued, "What do you mean by an Inarta bastard?" Her brows knitted together in confusing, making her forehead crease. "Aren't bastards children that don't know their father?" This was getting confusing, she couldn't wrap her head around it. The thought of eating rodents obviously didn't go well in his mind. He looked at her kind of repulsed. Trying to ease his doubts she said, "It's not any different than you eating a cow. I can't eat those though, not in my other body anyway. You can't chew with a break. You have to swallow whole or rip the pieces apart. I can't taste much in that form either, and I've never eaten a raw squirrel or mouse in this body - haven't been able to catch one with my bare hands. I usually just hunt as an owl. It's not disgusting, I'll show you when I get the chance." Yve nodded sagely like that would solve all the issues. She shook her head slowly as Lucas asked if she wanted to meet his parents. Not in saying no, but more out of anxiety at the idea. "I don't know, that's up to you. They sound intimidating." And mean, she thought. "I don't want to give them a stroke or anything." She smiled again now. "Bonding doesn't hurt. You won't ever get lonely now that I'll be around, and I'll take care of you and help you when you need it." She looked at Lucas determinedly, hoping he didn't mind all that. "I guess that's how it can be explained. I'm not for sure myself, it's more of a feeling." Yve nodded again, then her excitement got the better of her. She bounded from her seat and turned to face him, standing on her toes in anticipation. She bobbed a little on her feet, much like she did when she was an owl. "Come on then! I want to see your room." Her eyes twinkled as she took hold his hand and tugged him from the bench, just allowing him enough time to grab his things before she pulled him off toward the street. She half pranced on her toes the whole time, like she wanted to run but was holding herself back. In her excitement Yve moved more like a bird than a human, gracefully but a little jerky in the legs, like she couldn't remember which body she was using. She kept looking back at Lucas like he'd disappear or run off, even though she knew he was back there because of her fingers were hooked on his hand. "Which way?" she asked when she suddenly realized she didn't even know what direction to go. Her cheeks flushed a little in embarrassment and she smiled coyly. She'd stopped, perched on her toes, and slackened her unconscious grip on her fingers. Yve had forgotten she was still holding onto him, and still hadn't realized yet. "Maybe you should lead instead," she added, awkwardly shy from her obvious mistake in assuming she knew where she was going. People milled around them, going about their unfinished business or heading home for the night. Long shadows had crept across the city, telling everyone it was dusk.

[Lucas Arias]

„I would like that“, Lucas replied. As far as he was concerned, learning more about the birds would be pretty interesting even if she claimed that some of them were dumb. Maybe he would even be able to talk to birds himself if he watched Yve long enough. That thought brought a smile to his face. All the other squires would envy him!

As she asked him about Inarta bastards, the smile disappeared from his face again quickly though, and he frowned. „I have red hair“, he stated. „Inarta usually have red hair, but neither my mother nor my father have red hair. So people sometimes imply that my mother cheated on my father, especially if they want to be mean to me. Don’t worry about it though. I’ve kind of gotten used to it.“

„So you swallow mice whole?“ Judging from the look on his face that revelation hadn’t exactly helped, although it had distratced him from the mildly depressing thoughts about Inarta bastards. Despite what he had said he had definitely not gotten used to it!

As she informed him that it was not disgusting, he looked at her doubtfully. „Cows taste better“, he insisted. „Although I don’t swallow them whole. They are usually cut into small pieces so that you don’t even know that it was once a cow. Anyway, I’d love to see you hunt, but I’m not sure if I want to watch you swallow mice.“

He shuddered a bit.

„We can always visit my parents later on“, he decided. „Maybe they’ll eventually get less intimidating and less annoying, although I doubt it. And …“ He wanted to say that he doubted that she’d be able to take care of him when she was just a Kelvic and couldn’t use a weapon and couldn’t read, but that would be kind of mean, and as he had previously decided, he didn’t want to be mean anymore, at least not at the time being. So he just murmurred, „Thank you.“

He rolled his eyes as he watched – in her opinion she was a little too excited, and she moved kind of oddly – but he still allowed her to take his hand. „This way“, he informed her and pointed down the street. „And yes, maybe I should lead. By the way, if we run into the chaperones, you should claim you are another squire or something. Theoretically the dorm is only for squires. There are so many of us that the chaperones probably won’t be able to verify your claim.“

[Yve]

She bobbed her head, frowning at him. "Well, I have red hair also so they might as well call me an Inarta bastard too. But if they do I'll claw their eyes," she said nonchalantly, like scratching someone's face was no big deal. "Maybe you should go for their eyes too when they talk to you like that?" she offered. Her face was serious as she said this, and her brows furrowed as if she were truly considering the idea. "When someone doesn't know about something, they just shouldn't take about it." Then Yve smiled at him again, all ill thoughts of people gone. She had a one track mind and didn't bother with thinking about more than a single thing at a time. "You will enjoy watching me hunt, I know. I think it's wonderful. Birds are the best hunters, because we have the air." She wasn't being boastful, she actually thought this was a fact of life. "I will teach you sometime. Everyone should know how in my opinion," she added conversationally. "You don't have to watch me eat though, that's not an important part. I don't care to watch you eat either. Chewing is disgusting," Yve said bluntly. She didn't like the sound of teeth gnashing on meat or any food when she was human - she preferred to just eat with a beak. It was a lot less messy, and quick. "Does that mean I have to act different? Around the squires?" she asked tentatively. She didn't have the first idea of how to act like a squire. If all it took was claiming to be one, then she could do it, but she was doubtful that it would work. There had to be someone that wouldn't fall for it, surely. "Maybe I should change again and you could carry me in?" she supplied, then realized glumly, "Or are birds not allowed in either?" Yve sighed, quickening her steps to catch up as she'd lagged behind, getting distracted by her hyperactive worries. "I guess I'll just say I'm a squire, then, never mind all that."

[Lucas Arias]

„You are not an Inarta bastard“, Lucas replied matter of factedly. „You are a Kelvic.“ As she talked about clawing their eyes, he grinned. He didn’t think it was such a big deal either, at least where his enemies were concerned. They deserved everything! He looked at his fingers and wondered if he could claw somebody’s eyes out with them, and then he sighed. His nails were too short to be of any use in that matter.

„I’d appreciate it if you could do it“, he said. „You are much better equipped to claw people’s eyes. In return I could try to beat them up when they call you a dirty Kelvic“, he offered even though he had thought of her as a dirty Kelvic not so long ago. „How does that sound? We could help each other!“

While Yve was already thinking of something else again, Lucas was trying to decide which squire he wanted to beat up the most. He only stopped thinking of beating up his fellow squires and clawing their eyes out, when Yve mentioned teaching him hunting. That definitely caught his attention! „I’d love that!“ he told her.

„And you don’t have to act differently around the squires“, he said. „Only around the chaperones. Just start talking nonsense about duty and honor when older people show up, and you should be fine. Anyway, we are almost there.“

He looked around to see if there were any knights or chaperones paying close attention. Satisfied that nobody seemed to be wondering about Yve or him, he took her hand and pulled her along.

„The dorm’s actually not too bad“, he informed her as they walked in. „I mean, the squires are boring and get on my nerves, and I swear sometimes the meet they serve us definitely doesn’t come from cows or pigs, but the rooms are big, and the beds are really nice and soft.“

It was then that he suddenly stopped and looked very, very uncertain. „So, anyway … how does this bonding thing work? Is it like … magic?“ His eyes were very wide as he said the word ‚magic‘. Magic fascinated him, but unfortunately he wasn’t very good at it. He had tried to open a void once – and failed.

[Okara]

Grades and Awards   Lucas Arias Not graded due to needing your ledger updated for Spring 516 living expenses. Please update and resubmit for grading.   Yve Not graded due to inactivity. Please edit your post in your grade request to reflect that it has been graded. PM me with any questions.