[Tsiyone]

Being a courier was quite possibly the worst part of serving a shrine lord's adviser. It was even worse than bath duty, surprisingly. At least with that you knew where you were headed, with being a courier it could take days, weeks even, to locate your intended individual. Especially if they didn't inform your master that they had moved. Or if they traveled a lot. Or if they were dodging you by going to goddamn Nirim!

If you somehow managed to finish quickly you essentially got a few days off, but if you didn't, and you took longer than anticipated, you could end up wasting away trying to deliver it. Currently Tsiyone was searching for a... Sanya ibn Heraiz, She supposedly live in a small village along the river Cora, however when Tsiyone had finally gotten there he discovered that she had, in fact, gone to Nirim for some reason or another. Apparently some people were better at predicting their shrine lord summons than other were.

Now Tsiyone was in New Alexandria, at the end of spring, hunting for a taxi that he could sneak onto without getting himself killed. His current target was a beautiful dark-purple asiati dragon. Tsiyone was standing behind a cart pretending to look at the silk scarves the man was selling as he eyed the beast's tail. Snagging a taxi ride was dangerous, and highly illegal, business. He'd have to run up and grab the beast just as she began to teleport. Hopefully he wouldn't get caught, as he was pretty sure that taxi-nabbing was a criminal offense in Nirim. They were very picky there from what he'd been told. Still, Tsiyone couldn't afford the trip, so what else was he supposed to do? He needed to deliver this blasted message.

“Are you going to buy anything?” the owner of the cart said. He was a large, imposingly muscular man. “Uhm, oh, uh... no...” Tsiyone quickly mumbled as he shuffled away towards a bench. Hopefullly it would be close enough to catch the dragon.

Piper's Boutique ≈ DaFont ≈ Selphie's World ≈ Aethereality

[Kiel]

Kiel spent a lot of his "not running around or pestering Zeph" time, when his friends were too busy to keep him busy, watching the Nirim taxis come and go. Like, he was too poor to afford the ride he wanted to take every time he saw a dragon coming in or going out, but just watching them was totally worth it, man.

Like, they didn't even do much, you know? Poofing to Nirim wasn't that big of a deal to the dragons, who basically just had to sit there while people climbed on and then teleport without even getting up. Of course, if the people hiring them actually wanted to go someplace in Nirim, the dragons were more likely to take off here before 'porting so they didn't crowd the lines on the other side, but a lot of it really was just watching them sit there. Which was totally awesome, man!

“Dude, I can't wait, I can't wait!” The guy who'd been sat on a bench nearby eating an ice cream totally didn't know what he couldn't wait for, but he looked at Kiel like he was waiting for the end of the world or something, and tossed his ice cream in the trash can next to him before it was even half finished just so he could get away faster. “Wah! Wah! What a waste, man.” He mourned over the ice cream with an exaggerated expression of grief, which only earned him another odd look from a smartly dressed kid who looked like his shoes cost more than Kiel earned in a month. “Poor ice cream, man, for sers.”

And then a really weird smell wafted Kiel's way, and he wrinkled his nose in distaste as he turned his face up, sniffing out the source. Like, he didn't think ice cream went off that fast, you know, but his arm pits were totally clean, man. Well, like, okay, he was a bit sweaty 'cause he totally ran all the way here, but he didn't smell that bad. “Dude, what the heck is that?”

But if the lamp post had a clue, it wasn't going to spill it any time soon, you know?

[Tsiyone]

Dragons didn't seem to be in too high of demand today. At least not high enough that the taxi closest to Tsiyone had moved... like... at all since Tsiyone had started watching it. The half-breed was pretty sure at this point that he was watching a female. At least, it didn't look male. Males didn't have this vibrant of coloring, did they? Or was it the other way around? Regardless of fact, Tsiyone had decidedly begun referring to the beast as a 'she' in his mind at the very least. He was terrible with animals, though (and people too, but that was beside the point), so who could be really sure?

Not long after he'd sat down, on the bench, though, the guy standing over by the other end spoke up.

“Dude, what the heck is that?”

Tsiyone almost decked the kid then and there. As it was, he clenched his jaw and his fists simultaneously and bit back a biting remark. Well, he kept himself from saying it in Elysian, at least. “Die in exile!” he spat in Zanaryan. It was a harsh curse to use, but a fairly common one to use against a non-Zanaryan who couldn't be offended for the simple fact that they probably couldn't understand what it meant. Tsiyone used it fairly frequently since, honestly, he was sick and tired of being told that he smelled bad.

“Maybe it's you,” Tsi mocked as he began to try and fiddle with the water in a small puddle on the ground, moving his hand this way and that as a way to focus his ability.

Piper's Boutique ≈ DaFont ≈ Selphie's World ≈ Aethereality

[Kiel]

“Me? Wah? Wah!”

Kiel sniffed his armpits again, his head rearing back at the sweaty odour. “Well, like, kinda yeah. But not that bad, not that bad!” Lowering his arm to prove it, he glanced at the dude who'd made the suggestion. One look at the black wings and the horns - “Like, woah, dude! What'd you do? Get your horn bit off by a griffin or something? That's so cool, that's so cool! Hahahaha, can I see?”

Hopping forward, Kiel bent at the waist with his hand extended to prod at the Zanaryan's broken horn, his scatter-brain already coming up with, like, a dozen explanations for the missing bit. Animal bites, being dropped on his head as a baby, crashing into a mountain, crashing into an animal, even an accident with his water manip - “DUDE! That's so cool, hahahaha, do a trick, do a trick!” Phenny always did tricks for him, man, it was awesome.

[Tsiyone]

This kid wanted to be hurt. He had to. There was really no other way to think about it. Tsiyone didn't exactly look like the friendly type, did he? He really hoped not. As the childish... slit-eyed-person-thing reached his hand out, Tsiyone brought his hand that was being his focus point for the water up to knock it away and with it he brought not some, but all of the murky water from the puddle up into the air and towards the... Dairy? No... that wasn't right.

As the Vari - ah, yes! that was it - asked for a trick their hand's made contact as Tsiyone hit his away. As this happened, the water splashed onto the stranger with the oddly pink eyes in disgusting array, spraying this way and that as little flecks of water deflected off of him. Tsiyone barely repressed a smirk as he realized what had just happened. In doing so, his scowl grew deeper into a rather laughable expression that would be intimidating if it didn't look quite so much like a disgruntled teenager who had just had his COM taken away by his parents.

“Well, at least now we know it wasn't you.” Tsiyone mocked, losing control of his smirk for a moment.

Piper's Boutique ≈ DaFont ≈ Selphie's World ≈ Aethereality

((GM of Kiel with Emma's permission))

[Kiel]

Like, dude. Contrary to popular belief, being splashed with muddy water was totally “Awesome! Do it again, do it again, hahahahahaha!” The dude looked kinda like Kiel thought he looked when he was trying to pull a Zeph, more like a pouty kid than a glaring machine.

“But, like, how come you guys stink anyway, man, it sucks, it sucks! You must get, like, bullied all the time, you know? I hate that, you know? Like, this one time I went to town with my dad to take a herd of 'striders to market, you know, and, like, this guy was all "they're lame" and my dad was all "are not!" and the dude was all "are too!" and I was all "they're like the best 'striders in Dardanos, man!" and he was all "shut up, you runt" and I was all "grrr" and, like, hey, hey, are you going to Nirim?”

[Tsiyone]

“I.. wha- I-” Tsiyone stumbled over himself verbally as the boy-like person rambled inanely. He just never shut up, did he. Wait, Dardanos, that was the other main country here, right? Tsiyone himself had never been sent there on courier duty, but one of his co-servants had. Apparently not many Zanaryans decided to live there, and those that did were usually servants of Lord Ea. Stupid fire fingers.

“Ye-I mean no. Not really. Well, Yes. But no.” Tsiyone didn't really like lying. despite the whole being a petty thief thing, he really preferred to just be up front with people. If his job as a servant actually paid enough to live off of then he wouldn't do that. As it was he was about to steal a ride into Nirim at his soonest convenience - that would be an amalgamation of lying and stealing at the same time.

“I just- You ask a lot of questions.” Tsiyone suddenly snapped. He was growing very defensive now. Worse than that, he'd stopped watching the dragons. If he wasn't careflu he'd miss his opportunity to bust into Nirim without losing a wing and a horn. After all, he only had one horn left to lose.

Piper's Boutique ≈ DaFont ≈ Selphie's World ≈ Aethereality

[Kiel]

“Hahahaha, yeah man. Like, sorry, you know? But, like, if you're going to Nirim you gotta check out the dojos, okay? Except, like, I dunno if they'll let you in 'cause you're a Zan, man. Hahahahaha, that rhymes, it rhymes!”

Clapping the dude on the shoulder, Kiel pointed excitedly at a pale blue wyvern that appeared in a poof of smoke not ten feet away from where they were standing. “Dude, dude! Check it out, man, how awesome is that, right? Like, when I get my dragon I'm so gonna have a wyvern like that, you know? Or, like, maybe a asiata, you know, the ones with the beard? Like, there's a lot of wyverni in the family, yeah, I'ma go for the bearded ones with all the colours and, like, you know, the water breathing and stuff? Except they can't fly, which totally sucks, it sucks! I like flying on Slythe, it's cool, hahahaha.”

And then, as if he weren't courting a horn in the gut, Kiel clapped the dude on the shoulder again, bouncing on his toes and grinning like an idiot.

[Tsiyone]

The more that the stranger talked the more Tsiyone wondered if he could freeze the saliva in his mouth in order to stop his jaw from moving. Sadly, he was pretty sure he couldn't do that period, and that even if he did the strange boy would find some way to continue the odd convulsions his vocal chords were apparently experiencing. As the 'vari hemmed and hawed about how amazing and wonderful and racist the dragons were, Tsiyone got so wrapped up in his resisting the urge to punch him that he missed the sudden disappearance of the dragon he had been scoping out.

Just like that, there was nothing but a plume of smoke where the dragon had once been.

“Would. You. Shut. UP!” Tsiyone said in rage, standing up and flaring his wings open to drive the point home. Tsiyone was one quick to anger over certain things, and this was apparently one of them. Even after all of these years he wasn't fully adjusted to the idea of small talk and people who chattered on and on without listening for the voice of those they were talking to just made his blood boil.

Speaking of boiling, Tsiyone didn't realize he could turn one of those little puddles into steam like that. Cool. Well, it was more like water vapor than steam, but the tiny cloud of haze that was fading into the air right by wear Tsiyone was standing looked... well, it looked rather cartoonish, honestly. But that was besides the point. It had to be intimidating. It just had to.

Piper's Boutique ≈ DaFont ≈ Selphie's World ≈ Aethereality

[Kiel]

Kiel looked up at the Zanaryan from where he'd landed, on his butt, in the middle of a puddle that was suspiciously warm. His jaw was totally trying to split off from his skull, man, for sers, but rather than the shock that was making his body freeze, his eyes and mouth were totally saying “Dude! That was so cool!!!”

Not only had the dude flashed his wings, a pair that would make even the haughtiest of Dracovari jealous (since, like, you know, dragon wings and all), but he'd totally turned the puddle Kiel was sitting in into, like, a wispy cloud that was wafting around Kiel's thighs and knees even as he gawped at the guy.

As Kiel scrambled to his feet, his grin overtaking his face, he pumped an arm into the air. “Dude! Hahahaha, do it again, do it again!”

[Tsiyone]

“I am not a performer here for your amusement!” Tsiyone raged as he thrust an accusing finger towards the stranger who was now scrambling to rise from the ground. “What were you raised in a cave?!”

“Hey!!” a kid a few yards away shouted in sudden response.

Right. Some people actually were raised in caves here. It was a common insult with Marid, and Tsiyone had heard it regularly whenever a servant didn't meet the abd-aali's desires. Tsiyone never really thought about how derrogatory that comment was towards Therians. Not until now, that is. Thankfully the individual who'd been offended was just a child, and her mother had silenced her shortly after as they disappeared into a shop that seemed to be selling various pieces of glass work.

The quick distraction had helped to alleviate some of the half-Zanaryan's rage, and his wings reflected such by slowly returning to their resting position. “IF you don't mind, I'm trying to catch a ride. I don't have time to be distracted by... by.... this.” Tsiyone said, a wave of his hand indicating that "this" was, in fact, referring to Kiel and his childish antics. Indeed, Tsiyone was already scoping out for another dragon that he could snatch a ride from. "Hum... maybe that orange one over there... he thought as he started to circle about the area where the taxis periodically appeared and disappeared from.

Piper's Boutique ≈ DaFont ≈ Selphie's World ≈ Aethereality

[Kiel]

“Awwwww,” Kiel pouted again, but smiled good-naturedly and then snickered at the kid's reproach.

With the Zanaryan's wings settled, Kiel found he could get closer and, totally oblivious to the "go away for Xanth's sake!" tone of the one-horned guy's voice, he hopped right up to the dude and tagged along with barely inches to spare between them - talking all the while.

“Hey, hey, if you wanna ride to Nirim, you gotta pick a friendly dragon, okay? Like, well, that's kinda never gonna happen, you know, but, like, this one time, before he had Nekokerfuffle, Tad totally tried to ride this huge, like, mean bad-ass - hey, hey, that one looks nice! - dragon that tried to eat him, you know? And, like, it took him for, like, ever to get Neko to quit biting him and being all "rawr"-y and stuff, you know?”

Grabbing the dude by the shoulder and yanking him around so he could follow Kiel's point to a large, scary-looking oriental that was blowing water bubbles out of its nostrils just for the heck of it, Kiel totally and unnecessarily explained that, “That's a bad one,” before shoving the dude the other way to show him a pretty pink wyvern. “She's hot, she's hot! Hahahahaha, for sers, man! But, like, see how she's totally not nomming on the kid that's poking her tail? She's good, she's good!”

And then, with barely a breath to spare, “Hey, hey, if you want, like, if you got enough dough, can I come be your guide?”

[Official NPC]

Unfortunately for Kiel, the "pretty pink wyvern's" patience had run out. Before the child's mother could reach him, he was lifted into the air and sent sailing a good twenty feet by the wyvern's pretty pink tail.

Fortunately for him, he landed in a cart full of straw.

[Kiel]

Kiel barely had the question out of his mouth before the wyvern he'd been touting as a 'good one' let loose with a tail whack that sent the pesky kid flying.

Stopping mid-step and mid-sentence, Kiel held up the finger he'd been about to point with and said, “Um.”