Closed Roar! (Peyton)

[Jabari Dreamchaser]

- 17th of Summer, 513 AV -

Jabari wound his way through the empty stalls of The Fourth Day Market. Only yesterday, the area had been bustling with activity as vendors from the four quarters converged upon Celestial Square. Today though, a strange quiet occupied the space.

The teenager had been walking around the central area of Nyka for most of the morning, making note of what landmarks and alleyways he saw for future reference. Best to get to know the layout of the land if he planned to be here for any length of time. Finding an out of the way bench, Jabari sat, and considered his plans for the upcoming days. As options turned in his head, a grunt was heard in the distance.

Was it a grunt? A dying animal perhaps? A strange sound to be sure. Curiosity mixed with concern and the Chaser of Dreams stood, making his way towards the noise, squinting his eyes somewhat as if cutting back on one sense might improve another. Efforts to locate the source of the sounds led to an alley. Taking a breath to calm himself, Jabari moved forward into the narrow passage. He wasn't sure what exactly he could do if someone was being attacked, but he wasn't about to stand idly by.

He certainly didn't expect what he found.

[Peyton]

A rather short brown-haired man faces a wall, making the occasionally grunting noise. As Jabari moves closer, he can see that Peyton is holding a mirror in one hand, and his face is screwed up in what could be assumed as pain. Peyton lets out a low roar, and smiles cockily at the mirror. He does not notice Jabari, so enthused in what he is doing.

Peyton turns slightly, but with the mirror in front of his face still misses the teenager standing close by. He continues to make grunting noises, and then begins to shout threats at the mirror.

This practice would definitely help him through the selection process. If he can scare his opponent before they even start, it would help. He can definitely fight a scared person better than a confident one.

"I'll... I'll... I'll do something to you you won't forget! I'll smash you! Yeah, you're afraid now, huh, scared of your glass being broken!?"

Peyton laughs heartily and turns his back to Jabari once more, still very focused on his practice. Considering with tactics, he begins to stick his tongue out and bare his teeth at the mirror.

[Jabari Dreamchaser]

Amber eyes followed the actions of the stranger, as Jabari attempted to form a hypothesis as to the meaning of all this. What was this man with the chestnut colored hair up to? Who on Mizahar spends their day in an alley trying to intimidate a mirror? Limited skills of deduction solved the problem as best they could.

He must be an actor! Maybe not the best, but Jabari had to admire the determination to improve one's trade. Practice makes perfect, or at least, better than before. The Vantha waited until a pause in the rehearsal to speak, offering a polite cough to announce his presence.

"Ahem. Hello there. Are... are you working on your frightening face? I couldn't see much from here, but your err, growls caught my attention. So you must be doing something right."

Jabari wasn't a fan of lies, but he would rather avoid offending someone when he could. So he did his best to walk a line between honesty and courtesy. It was probably not the most convincing of encouragements, but he still tried. Unsure of how to continue such a random conversation, he mentioned his own experience with unnerving expressions.

"I have a sister who could always get me to do my chores just by staring."

As if to demonstrate, the teenager narrowed his eyes and scrunched up his face. In his mind, Jabari was a mirror image of the Konti who had so often spooked a younger version of himself into obedience. In reality, the Chaser of Dreams appeared rather constipated.

[Peyton]

Peyton pauses for a second upon hearing the man's cough and then spins around, pointing the mirror as if it were a sword. He wears his same screwed up face, attempting to scare the man away and looks like he is working on an especially hard problem.

Peyton stares at the man, ignoring his talk, with this expression before seeing the man screwing up his face and near closing his eyes. Peyton recoils quickly away from this strange boy, before shoving the mirror into his pocket.

"What are you doing? Are you ok, boy?"

Peyton steps forwards towards the boy, slight concern evident upon his face. The boy doesn't look like a Nykan, and so doing what a proper monk would do, he puts on his scary face, again. He ends up near imitating the boy opposite him. He growls beneath his breath.

"Get out of my alley."

[Jabari Dreamchaser]

With the man turned on Jabari and threatening him... a mirror at the ready, the son of The White Isle grew quite confused indeed. He did his best to work out the problem in his mind. Was this more performance art? Could it be that the stranger did not wish to drop his act? Or maybe Jabari had mistaken the Nykan's purpose in this alley entirely.

Not wanting to take any chances, the teenager held up his hands to demonstrate that he meant no harm and took two steps back.

"I'm fine. I just wanted to help you out with your umm, stage presence. I meant no offense."

He spoke the words sincerely, more out of decency than actual fear, though there was plenty of that being experienced as well.

"I'll leave you to it then."

There was a hint of disappointment in his tone as the Vantha lingered about.

[Peyton]

Stage presence? What was this teen on about, surely he understood what monks were and did, although he wasn't yet a monk... Sighing, and lowering the mirror, he removes his intimidation face and smiles.

"I'm training to be a monk. Practicing my 'scary face', and I'm certainly no actor! Although, how do you think I did? I can understand if it's not brilliant, but you certainly recoiled!"

Peyton pockets the mirror and looks inquisitively at the boy, wondering what he thought of the performance.

[/color]

[Peyton]

Stage presence? What was this teen on about, surely he understood what monks were and did, although he wasn't yet a monk... Sighing, and lowering the mirror, he removes his intimidation face and smiles.

"I'm training to be a monk. Practicing my 'scary face', and I'm certainly no actor! Although, how do you think I did? I can understand if it's not brilliant, but you certainly recoiled!"

Peyton pockets the mirror and looks inquisitively at the boy, wondering what he thought of the performance.

[Jabari Dreamchaser]

The Nykan monks, of course. It all made much more sense now. Jabari had noticed the robed figures moving about the streets of the city. The amount of respect and fear they were shown was not difficult to perceive. Things started to add up. This man aspired to join their ranks!

"I apologize for the confusion. I think I understand now. The monks are indeed quite imposing."

Jabari took a moment to consider the local in front of him.

"Well, you were certainly on the right track. Hmm, Maybe get your whole body involved in the process. Flex your muscles. Like..."

Another memory found Jabari. During the two week boat ride that brought him to Nyka, there had been a rather stoutly built second mate whose shouted orders were consistently accompanied by bulging biceps. Reflecting on the experience, Jabari attempted to recreate the threatening aura.

"All hands on deck! Your arses better be topside in five or I'll have you swimming with the fishes!"

Jabari was pretty sure the second mate sounded nothing like that, but he was usually too busy following orders to take notes. Raising his arms and flexing muscles yet to fully mature, the Chaser of Dreams could have easily come in second to last place in an intimidation contest... assuming the last place contestant withdrew.