Completed [Sanctuary] Building a Better Birdhouse (Dust)

[Vanator]

Vanator was not sure why he proposed they play the game. He had not played Truth or Dare for years, not since he and Kavala used to play it as adolescents. Maybe it was just the comfort he had fallen into in the company of the unassuming Kelvic that reminded him of those days. He figured every teenager had played the game, but Kelvics were different. They aged so fast. His twins were born less than two years ago, and they were already the equivalent of human teenagers. He felt a bit sad, that their childhood was so short. Not that they were anything less compared to human kids. It was just something he was getting used to.

The Drykas smild and nodded at her comments. "Yes, I suppose they are just questions, but they are questions about the other person. Some...truth you would like to know about them." Measuring the location of the first corner post with the marked cord, Vanator dug a mark in the dirt with his dagger.

"Dare."

Dust caught Van off guard. As curious as the raven-girl was, he was sure she would go for a question. As he thought of a dare, The man started to wonder. Dares were usually devised to challenge one's will to break social norms or rules. Kelvics seemed to have little knowledge or use for such. Its one of the things that made them so wonderful to be around. He looked up again at the spirited blond woman sitting on the low roof, shielding his eyes from the sun. He would start with an easy one.

"Alright, stand up there on the roof and sing a song, loud enough so I can hear it!"

[Dust]

Dust gave him a sidelong glance -- she still didn't understand what he was getting at. On the other hand, she was confident it didn't matter anyway. A question was a question, a dare was a dare. Good enough to play by. She watched him make marks in the dirt, kicking her feet back and forth while she waited for his reply. The Kelvic cast a grin down at Vanator as he looked up, her expression expectant -- and then bobbed her head as he supplied the dare. "Okay!" Dust scrambled up to her feet, standing near the edge of the roof without any particular unease. She was sure to plant her feet and not move about any more than necessary; while the drop didn't worry her, she wasn't foolish. Then she took a moment to think. Dust had heard quite a few songs with the caravans, or the sailors of that one ship. She even had some poetry Kavala recited to choose from, if she could remember it... that was close to a song... Wait. A song had another possible interpretation, and Dust liked that one better. The young woman stifled her grin, which took some doing, and tipped her head back, eyes closing as she worked to remember. There had been a little grassland bird back in the spring, all drab and brown, practically invisible in the grasses but which could be heard for what seemed like miles... di-twee-oo-di-twee-oo-di-twee-di -- No, that wasn't quite right; Dust paused, and repeated the phrase, attempting to fix the wrong note. di-twee-oo-di-twee-oo-di-ti-di-ooo -- She elided through what should rightly have been a more complex trill, and kept going. -- dit-dit-chi-chi-chi-do-twee-twee -- Dust paused again, second-guessing whether that phrase had been from the same bird... yeah, she was pretty sure. Which meant she could run through the whole thing now: di-twee-oo-di-twee-oo - di-ti-di-ooo - dit-dit-chi-chi-chi-do-twee-twee And since Dust wasn't worried one bit who in or around Sanctuary might hear her, trial and error or no, she continued on to whistle through several repeats -- just as loud as she could.

[Vanator]

By the look on Dust's face, Vanator was not sure she got the gist of the game, but when he supplied the dare, the Kelvic did not hesitate for a moment, the grin that seemed ever present cast down at him with enthusiasm. Van dropped his work, anxious to see how the unusual woman would fulfill his dare. Dust scrambled to her feet with a certain amount of grace, as if standing on the edge of the roof was not unfamiliar. The Drykas folded his arms over his bare chest, smiling as the Kelvic seemed to be selecting the right tune. Her smug concealment of a grin was not lost to the Denusk, intriguing him even more.

To the Drykas' surprise, what came forth from the woman were not lyrics, at least not in the language of men. Dust pursed her lips and a loud, melodic whistle came forth. She seemed to test the tune a couple times, before falling into the repeated chant of the grassland bird. Watching the lovely young Kelvic, clad in nothing but his shirt, standing on the chicken house and belting out a songbird song, Vanator had to clap his hands in joy.

"A Crimson Jay!" He spoke up to her once she finished her song, his face beaming. "I grew up listening to that song!" The sound, which he had not heard since before his Zith captivity, brought back warm memories. He laughed happily. "Very well done, Dust! I didn't expect that."

Vanator picked up the line again, marking out the next corner towards the front, measuring from the corner he marked and also with the front corner of the chicken house as a guide. As he crouched on the ground, Van looked up at Dust. "Do you want to continue to play? If you do, since you did so well on your dare...I will give you the choice whether you want to ask a question or give me a dare."

[Dust]

Concluding her song as Vanator applauded, Dust grinned more broadly down at him, shoving back the blonde hair which was blown into her face with the hand not holding his waterskin. "I didn't think you did!" she declared. Expect that, that was. Clearly pleased with his response -- and her own wit -- the Kelvic dropped back down to sit on the roof's edge, plunking the waterskin down in her lap. She promptly took it back up again, of course, realizing she should drink something after all that whistling; after, it went back in her lap. Dust leaned forward to study the Drykas as he made his measurements in the dirt. "Sure," she chirped, giving a cheerful shrug of her shoulders; the difference between a 'game' of asking questions and Dust's usual manner was an academic one, entirely meaningless to her. If the 'game' meant he was certain to answer, so much the better! "So if you haven't made a building before, who made the others?" she asked, drumming her fingers on the edge of the chicken house's roof in indication. "And why are you building this one instead? Isn't it better to have people who know how to make buildings, make the buildings?" She didn't mean offense by the question; her curiosity was sincere. Dust swung her feet back and forth idly as she paused to wait for replies, then remembered one other thing he'd said, and edged in one more question. "Oh! -- do you have a tent here? 'Cause I didn't see any when I was out flying before!" The actual point of Truth or Dare obviously eluded Dust. As did the concept of asking one question, apparently!

[Vanator]

Stretching the measuring line out across what would be the front of the mews, Vanator took up the angled piece of metal and used it to square the corner, so he could mark the position for the third post. Dust's question or series of questions, caught him off guard. The Drykas realized that the kelvic woman was naturally inquisitive, a trait he should have expected from one with the heart of a raven. Neither did the man take offense, Dust's disarming friendliness and curiosity assured him she meant no ill will. Nodding, he paused to look up again at the girl in the roof.

"Well, Kavala and the others who live here built the others. I helped some. And it is a very good question, 'why would I be building this one?'" He stood again, stretching his back and arms. "I suppose sometimes the best way to learn how to do something is to just... do it. I have watched some of the other buildings going up. This one is small, so I decided to give it a start at least."

He paused a moment, giving the bright raven-girl another smile. Vanator did come to the realization that he did not need a game to facilitate a conversation with Dust. She was full of questions, and more than willing to answer them as well it seemed. But he did enjoy her song. In fact, Vanator simply enjoyed her company. The Kelvic was refreshing and made him smile a lot, something he did only rarely anymore. He had heard Kavala and others speak about the simple joy that seemed to surround Dust, and now he was beginning to see what they meant.

"Do you have plans? I am sure Kavala invited you to stay here." His sister had a special place in her heart for Kelvics. Maybe it was because of the abuse of Kelvics she had witnessed. Maybe it was just that they were fascinating. Vanator too, had his share of experiences with Dust's kind, most he looked back on with great fondness. Having fathered kelvics himself, he could hardly look at them as a separate 'kind' of people. Though that which made them different was still amazing to the Drykas.

[Dust]

She watched him mark out the corner more closely than she had before, finding the use of the metal to define its angle rather clever. So that's how they were all made so square! After watching for a bit more, Dust hopped off the chicken coop, landing on the cleared ground with a muted thwmp. She turned around to hang the waterskin back up on the nail sticking out of the coop's side, twisting her head around to look at Vanator as he stretched and spoke. "That makes sense," the Kelvic agreed, stepping out over the string and walking around behind the Drykas to stand on his other side. Or rather, crouch, as a moment later she sank down to look more closely at the string and metal, one hand braced lightly against the earth. It really was that simple. Plans, he asked, and the Kelvic leaned back, her weight shifting onto her heels. Her forehead creased as she considered this question -- plans? In the end, Dust could only shrug. Plans? "Not really. I'll be here until I run out of interesting things," she informed him, grinning up at the man. "Then I'll go somewhere else. That's how it usually is!" And at that moment, her interest was Van's work. Dust picked up the string and the square, not thinking to ask permission even though they weren't her tools, nor was this her task. She then padded out to about where the fourth corner should be, glancing between the first and third to check. Yes, looked about right. The Kelvic laid the string out on the ground, then the metal angle, arranging it in the way she had seen Vanator do. Only to realize she was distinctly short of tools to make marks in the dirt, what with the metal angle being needed to keep the string's shape... Oh well. Dust shrugged and stood back up, looking over to Van. He could do it. "Like that, right?"

[Vanator]

Vanator eyed the developing layout as Dust approached and crouched next to him. The Drykas looked down look at her as she pondered his question, seeing the quandary in her features. At first, Van assumed she was considering the details of her plans. Then, when Dust replied with an unassuming smile, Van had to ask himself, what does a raven need with plans? He nodded with a smile at the woman clad only in his shirt. There was a bit of envy in the Drykas' harmless grin, imagining life without responsibilities or plans or expectations. But Vanator knew he would never be satisfied with such freedom. It was not fair, he thought again, to assume the raven-girl was beyond such things. She was Kelvic, and by design they are creatures meant to aid and assist and offer their skills to someone that becomes significant to them.

Dust took it upon herself to layout the last corner, much to Vanator's delight. "Perfect!" He responded, walking over to the spot, careful not to disturb the stretched measure line. He drew his dagger and knelt down to dig a mark for the last corner post. "Thanks, I don't mind having some help, if you want to."

Van turned and wandered around a bit until he found what he was looking for. Picking up a narrow shovel, he returned to the spot Dust had measured out. "Can you pick up the line and square, so I can start a hole?"

He considered Dust again. She was young, but it was always difficult to discern a Kelvic's age, since it varied by species. Van's mind wandered back to his thoughts on Kelvic nature, and wondered what the girl's experience had been.

As Vanator began to dig the post hole, he asked another question."Have you ever bonded with anyone?"

[Dust]

"Sure!" Dust replied, on the subject of helping. Especially as this process was all quite new to her. Though she 'knew' people built things, she had never thought about building -- structures were just there in her paradigm, the way trees and stones might be. Features of the landscape. Here, she could see how that landscape was made! And help with making it, too. So much the better. She watched him go looking for the shovel, then bent to pick up the other tools at his request. Dust stepped out of the way so he could start digging the hole, tilting her head and watching curiously. "I know the spots are for the corners. What goes in the holes?" she asked, moving around to stand in the center of the plot. After watching from there for a bit, the Kelvic dropped down to sit in the dirt, one leg folded and the other knee drawn up to her chest. When he spoke of bonding, she lifted her gaze from the hole being dug to look up at him. "Not yet," Dust said, more somberly than had been her cheerful wont with other queries. "I'm still looking. I haven't found the right person." She tipped her head, looking at Van thoughtfully as she collated his question with Kavala's earlier words. "Are there many bonds here? Kavala said there were lots of other Kelvics."

[Vanator]

Vanator drove the shovel into the dry dirt, breaking it up and began to dig out the post hole, creating a small pile of dirt next to them. A sheen of sweat formed on his torso as he toiled, evaporating almost immediately in the cool breeze blowing in from the sea. The Drykas looked down at Dust and replied. "Well, those big poles over there," he paused to point at a pile of wood, four thick square posts laid to one side, "...go in these holes. They will give us something to nail the frame for the floor and walls to." Van completed his answer by gesturing, describing invisible walls and flooring with his hands.

Setting again to his work, Vanator glanced at the Kelvic when he sensed a sobering of her spirit, an obvious reaction to his question of bonding. Her otherwise brilliant smile ebbed. The endeavor to 'find the right person' was not unique to Kelvics, but Vanator wondered if, to a kelvic, it felt the same as, say, feeling the need to find someone to love. Did Kelvics' suffer from the affliction of both?

Vanator shrugged as Dust posed her question about Sanctuary Kelvics, her countenance still pensive. "Many Kelvics have come and gone. Kav takes care of them and then they move on. We do have one that lives with us, Rhy, maybe she mentioned her to you. Rhy is a beautiful Luvanor, rather feisty. She recently bonded with our riding instructor Gianne." Van smiled "They are sweet together."

"Cadra and Larik are Kelvic, but they are too young, Kav and I will not let them bond until they are ready. Did I mention they were my children? Kavala actually helped their mother deliver them right here. That was before I knew of them."

[Dust]

Dust looked between the posts and the hole Vanator was beginning to dig, blue eyes glinting with interest as he gestured around the walls and floor which didn't exist yet. She could imagine them, though. After a few moments, she walked over to the four square lengths of wood, leaning down to study them closely... though whether from afar or up close, they looked like nothing more than the shaped wood they were. Not so interesting as all that. But it provided a welcome distraction from the bond the raven Kelvic didn't have yet. So too did Van's description of his Kelvic children. Also Rhy and Gianne, but more so the twins. "Kavala mentioned them!" Dust declared, straightening and looking back over at him. "Only that they were related to her, though. I didn't know they were yours. How old are they?" she asked curiously, without consideration for the possible rudeness of the question. Young could cover a lot of ages, especially as this was a human using the descriptor for Kelvics. Dust sat down on the small stack of posts -- more precisely, perched on the edge of the pile, folding her arms over her knees. "How old would you think is old enough?" That question is asked with equal, neutral, curiosity -- a solicitation of opinion, as distinct from a request for advice.