What a surprise!

[Anonymous]

Thaylias blinked, watched him for a few moments and yet had no idea what he was talking about when he finally found his equilibrium. She tilted her head and realized, with Kael's help, how much she had been missing. She felt ashamed to not have taken notice to everything nearby, the weather, the sheer beauty, the bright side to where they were. So, in response she smiled and let the emerald eyes of her's fall shuttered, relaxing and laughing as he expressed himself in loud outbursts.

Kael was insane. In the best way possible. She couldn't help being thankful to him, but she didn't say anything. She just relaxed and let her mind wander, feel each breath of the wind and feel each thread of light. The rough bark beneath her, the course texture and designs, and each distant melody of the birds. The untamed beauty, the tranquility, everything she admired. And she had missed alot of those precious moments, she knew. But at least she was finally reminded, right?

"It's lovely," she breathed softly, barely audible as she spaced, willingly falling into an abyss of thoughts.

She explored the vast exspanse of her mind, danced in fields of words and dreams and sang a solo made specifically for her. She breathed in gently, her chest lifting and falling as she exhaled, and she made sure she felt every thing. From the air to the sun, to the branch supporting her, the intensity or the serenity inside. She felt, for once, as if she was totally balance. Thaylias, for the moment, had found her absolute equilibrium.

[Anonymous]

Kael let his call fall silentand slwly let his arms dop back to his sides. He was gazing at Thaylias with an odd expression on his face. She looked so.. happy. Just happy, without being hysterical, or hyper. Like she was at peace with the world.her expression calmed him.

It seemed that at that moment, time did that wonky thing where it slowed down, again. The air felt like sugar syrup, and the birds songs had quieted to nearly nothing. It certainly was an odd sensation, Kael though dimly in some back part of him mind. The rest of it had apparently been struck done, in accordance with the rest of the stupor the world seemed to be going through.

Slowly, carefully, as if he wasn't even moving, he leaned forward. Closer.. he could nearly touch Thaylias now. Another moment, and--

He fell. Hard. And literally. The odd moment didssapeared, and he felt himself slipping. When he reached out to grab for a handhold, though, all he got was leaves. Addmittedly, he panicked. A lot.

*BAM*

"Gods DAMNED!" he half-yelled, half wheezed. He had landed on his back, and it hurt worse than being run over by a cart (reasoned by experience).

"Ow..." he whimpered, after another minute.

[Anonymous]

Thaylias had been oblivious to everyone - including Kael. She had not been aware that he had been quite close, and that alone signified how peaceful she was. She had let her guard down, to experiance the beauty and how life was supposed to be. To her, this was like life back home. She could sit for hours outside, just sit and day dream without having to worry about war or crime. It had been so secluded, so shy and hidden. As if it had been waiting to be explored, or discovered.. And Thay guessed it was still hidden beneath those precious groves, behind the forests and caves, in the tangle of life. The thought made a soft, feathery sensation travel down her spine.

Then WHAM! Her eyes flickered open, enlarging past normal display as her pupils dilated and she looked around. No Kael. Uh-oh! Why did she let go of him? She sighed, and almost afraid, she peered down from her perch. As soon as she saw him, she was instantly worried. She was sincerely hoping he hadn't hurt himself... badly. Like fracture a rib or break anything. That would be very painful indeed.

Thay pushed herself from the branch and focused intently on her landing, her sandaled feet touching the ground, feeling a painful shock crawl through her legs before it was totally painless, disappearing through the earth nearly up to her knees. Not that she was a show - she just wanted to have better luck than Kael in landing. I mean, if you could avoid getting hurt, than do it, right?

Usually, she didn't even show this much of her power... To anyone. But with her lack of social contact she was a bit eager. And she had to test the boundaries of her new ability. It was easy to do it alone, but it was fun to do it with people around...

Her attention fell to the fallen Kael. She worriedly moved over to him, stepping onto the earth and letting solidly rest. She knelt beside him, gazing him worriedly. She lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Can you feel everything?" She asked him, gazing at his position, trying to see if he landed awkwardly or if anything was twisted. A definite sign of something was broken.

Thay scanned over him and back to him, her glossy black braid falling over her left shoulder. The poor boy seemed to lack luck.. Severely.

[Anonymous]

Kael's eyes flickered open, but his vision was very blurry as he watched Thaylias jump down and land on her feet--- or maybe not. Very well, he would take that in stride, as soon as he could walk. And at the moment, lying on his back and being very much dazed and in pain was about the most he could stand. Not literally, of course.

Oh, now it appeared that Thaylias was speaking to him. After he had a few moments to process it, Kael understood the question. He checked it out, flexing his limbs and moving his neck a bit. He did this all slowly, and with much wincing and sharp intake of breath.

"Unfortunately," he said dryly, in response to her question. "I don't think anything's broken, but my ankle might be sprained, or something of the sort."

With another grimace, he pulled himself up by another, much smaller tree nearby that he had missed by a few scant inches. Testing his weight, he found his ankle was not sprained, only twisted a bit.

"There's a story to tell the grandchildren," said Kael grimly as he brushed dirt from his trousers. Then he looked at the tree in relation to his previous position on the ground.

"Then again, six inches to the right, and there would have been no grandchildren to tell the story to."

He combed his fingers through his hair, picking out stray leaves and clumps of dirt.

"Lovely," he muttered. "Just lovely."

[Anonymous]

Thaylias leaned back onto her heels of her sandals. She sighed, and gave a crooked, weak smile as she watched him test himself and slowly regain whatever ablance he had retained. He climbed to his feet and Thaylias could only watch, laughter nearly bubbling in her throat but she held it back. No, she wasn't as mean as to laugh at him. But at the situation. It was quite humorous, but in the same sense it wasn't. If he had known the immediate thoughts that had went through her head when she saw him on the ground, he would understand why she was a bit giddy.

"Could have been much worse.. A twisted ankle isn't too bad," she remarked calmly, pushing herself into a stand as she continued to watch him steadily.

"Need anything?" She asked him, a brow arching over a dazzling, forest emerald eye.

Thay didn't know if he wanted help, to rest, water, food.. or anything of the sort. She wasn't impatient to start anything - and it showed she would wait for as long as she would have to for him to get his bearings back. Falling from that height wasn't good for anyone.. And that little scare where he referred to as 'no grandchildren to tell', could take some few minutes for a person to recover from.

But still. It was kind of silly... In a comic-book-cartoon-no-one-gets-hurt type of way.. Not that really existed, but anyway. Moving along.. Now, was Kael going to pull any more dynamic stunts? XD He needed a safe bubble.. Then again, no need to rag on the poor guy. Everyone gets a bit klutzy, some days more then other. As long as he survived it, right?

[Anonymous]

Kael shook his head absently, still stretching out his muscles.

"Yeah, it really could have," he said in an attempt at a light voice, eyeing the branch on which they had been sitting. "A twisted ankle is nothing, compared to.." he trailed off abrubtly. "It's nothing."

He took a few cautious steps, faltering at first but quickly gaining confidence. Again he sat down, and finished ripping the part of this shirt that had torn. Now there was a gaping hole in the side of his shirt, but.. eh. If the woman's sensibilities were offended, he would somehow find cover. All the same, he glanced her way and muttered a pardon before doing so. Effeciently, he wrapped the ragged strip of fabric around his pained ankle, keeping the layers of cloth even. After about two minutes, he tied the ends and tucked it underneath the top layer.

Again, he stood, this time much more easily. He hobbled about in circles for a bit, trying still to balance out his weight. As he did so, he felt his other muscles pull and protest.

Oh, that's going to hurt in the morning, he thought, pushing his hair out of his face.

When Thay asked him if he needed anything, he shook his head.

"No, no, It's fine. Really, nothing you can do. I just have to" here, he winced slightly again, "walk it off."

[Anonymous]

Thay had been calmly watching him until he cut himself off abruptly, her eyes unintentionally narrowing for a split second, but she didn't push the matter. Her face softened and she sighed and glanced to the ground, staring at it in a stupor as if the earth beneath her sandals was the most interesting thing in the entire world. But, of course, it wasn't. There was just something about this ex-assassin she hated to stir.

She had a deep, powerful urge to know people's secrets, their past, know them inside and out. She couldn't puzzle it, she didn't know why but it was there and it took so much to restrain the soft-worded questions. The gentle prodding would be of no use. She abandoned the urgent, inward call and glanced to the sky for reassurance and back to Kael with a small smile.

"I see," was all she vaguely stated - no, she didnn't actually see, but she understood he didn't want to bring it to her or his attention.

Watching him continue, she didn't seem bothered by the skin revealed to her. She glanced away, perhaps for a moment, but she didn't take offense to it. He was the one with the hole in his shirt, not her, correct? And it wasn't as if it was a 'private' spot. And even so, she doubted Kael would show such a spot in this very public place.

All the small, minor winces he made she did not neglect to notice. But she could not help him so she only watched him hobble around. Her mind began to wonder as it so often did and her eyes darkened until they reached a fathomless pitch of green. And into the depths of her mind she fell, wondering about who knew what.

The world's calls were distant, far away talking and sounds. Somehow, someway, she conjured herself to wake. She blinked her eyes feverishly, reality settling back into place. She slowly tilted her head from each side to examine her surroundings a bit, as if she had never saw this place before and then back to Kael, her brows lifting as her arms clapsed behind her back. She rocked forward and lifted on her toes, lowering back down and rocking, slightly, frontwards and backwards.

"Well.. Uh... Hhe," she said, finding at a loss to say anything.

Her eyes narrowed as she caught a fast movement and turned to face it. A brow lifted as she examined a rather haggard, but fierece old man yelling at a young gentleman who seemed to ignore him walk away calmly. This place was... indeed, quite loud and interesting. And then some more prissy, high class ladies walked by, noses in the air as they snorted and quipped about them. Well!

[Anonymous]

Kael let his eyes close slowly for a moment, and he just listened. Listened to the bustling, yelling and haggling. Listened to the wind as it played in the upper branches of the trees far above him. Listened to his own heartbeat as it became steady again after his scare, steady and strong. One thing he could count on, for the time being at least. Hopefullly some god wouldn't decide to stop his life's clock anytime soon. Would mess up a few things.

He opened his eyes again, but let his lids drood lazily as if he was sleepy, though he was really anything but. Thaylias mumbled a few words, and they both stood (or leaned, in Kael's case) in awkward silence for a few moments. At that time, he just let the world go by. He, too, watched the people like visions at the edge of a fog. The women then walked by, equipped with parasols and their chin lifted so high they might fear walking into a beam of some sort. Kael turned and stuck his tongue out at them, just for the principal of the ting. They didn't see him, of course. Except for an older one on the end, who, to his amusement, turned her head and stuck her own turn out in reply. He laughed a bit and winked at her, but she just raised her head again and sniffed.

Kael watched them walking away, still laughing a bit. Then he turned back to Thay. Looking at her steadily, he thought a moment.

"Anything you wanted to do today? I'm sure me becoming an invalid wasn't on your to do list, but the gods do tend to have a sense of humour. But hey, if it puts too much of a crimp on your plans, then--" he made a motion like nocking a crossbow "--put me out of my misery and go on without me!" He knew he was rambling (just a bit), but ndind with a flurish, hand draped over his eyes and slumped against a tree. A few moments passed, and he opened one eye to peer at Thaylias.

[Anonymous]

Thaylias barely lifted an eyebrow at him and just let him be himself. She smiled now and again at his rather childish actions, even that of the lady's. He reminded her so much of her home - and she couldn't help but daydreaming again with thick beds of flowers and homes all around. Friendly people and playful children, but it was all very far away. Would they even except her as one of them anymore? She was no longer an animal shifter but a phaser. Something completely and utterly different.. Did they break the blood ties between them? She bit on her lip, having tried not to think of that very notion.

Her emerald eyes lifted and fluttered over towards Kael. She listened to his question and laughed with his dramatic displays. He knew how to cheer her up - even if he didn't quite know it. Thay decided that she wanted to be closer to this sort of comfort - she was compelled to move towards him.. And with his eyes closed like that, it gave her enough time to cross the space between them.

Thay did so in a matter of seconds, leaning against the tree and pressing the back of her head to the tree and turning it slightly to see him out of the corner of her dazzling dark eyes. Hmm, he was an invalid, eh? She smirked and let her eyes roll slightly, keeping a small piece of information to herself.

"Doesn't bother me at all m'dear. Anyway! If i left you hear you'd give everyone a headache and I wanted have any comic relief around, now would I?" She responded, it all good natured and more of a joke then anything.

[Anonymous]

Kael grinned a bit at her.

"I'm sure they'd eventually put me in the stockades. Or at the very least leave me bound and gagged. I'm just irrisistable like that." He winked lewdly at her, then laughed. He seemed to be easily amused today. "However, I am glad to be your jester. Do I get one of those hats with the tassels and the bells?" He looked hopefully at her. "'Cause I've always wanted one of those."

There was another lapse in conversation, and Kael looked about, noticing random things. The twitch of a squirrel's tail, an obtrusively orange flower, the way a tree root looked much like the chin of one of his old schoolmasters.

Suddenly, he turned and plucked off a leaf that had fallen into Thaylias's hair; however, a few strands of it caught on it, and when he tried to shake it loose, it only further tangled. After a rather confused moment where his fingers were briefly caught, he managed to extract the offending leaf, and toss it to the ground beside him. Awkwardly, he smoothedout the spot on her hair where it had been, then looked at her sheepisly, like a child caught doing something he probably shouldn't.

"Sorry," he said, shrugging one shoulder. "It...was there," he finished lamely, then looked away.

[Anonymous]

Thaylias couldn't help but to grin at him, laughing softly at him, mimicking "I'm sorry, but no" at the whole jester had idea. She relaxed a bit, letting the gap in the conversation grow further, and further, relaxed and uncaring. She didn't really care, it just didn't bother her. It was kind of nice, to feel like you didn't have to talk, but a little odd to just let it stretch out and lean against a tree. It almost made you feel out of place - but she rapidly grew accustomed with her position against the rough tree trunk.

Until she felt fingers on her head, emerald eyes rolling over to look at him, a brow raising but not moving as she watched his expressions. She couldn't very well see what he was doing. Thay tried to resist but she gave him an odd look, wondering what the hell he was doing until she saw him toss a leaf. She blinked when the poor guy tried to smooth out her hair. It was okay - just a little weird in the sense it wasn't something she got every day. Or once a week, or month.. Or year. Heh. At least he tried, and she appreciated the gesture.

Suddenly, she found herself rather amused by it and smirked, a brow lifted as she muffled a soft giggle.

"It was nice of you ^_^," Thay grinned, almost as lamely as he spoke.

[Anonymous]

Kael looked back to her and grinned. It was off-center, as it usually was, but it was easily given. The leaf thing was an impulse; small things such as that seemed to bother him often. He was just glad she didn't think him crazy. Well... she probably did, but not for that, at least. A short, soft laugh was his reply to her giggle after a moment. He turned a bit to get a better glimpse of her, and thier eyes locked. Searching her gaze, he thought he saw maybe a bit of content, of comfort. He was glad. When they had first met, she had been constantly on her guard, defensive against him. His grin softened, evened out slightly, though it was still a bit crooked.

"What are you thinking?" he asked suddenly, turning back to his previous stance, his back pressed against the tree trunk. "Right now." He paused.

"Ehrm, I mean.. you don't have to answer.. if you really don't want to," he bumbled, thinking he might have overstepped a line.

Waiting for her reply, if any, he scuffed his foot in the dirt, making an odd, spiraling design at his feet. He fancied it looked a bit like a dragon. After a moment of contemplating it, a few wisps of flame were added by its mouth, and it was given large, skeletal wings. Definately a dragon.

[Anonymous]

When he shifted, his blue eyes searched her emerald gaze. She found herself falling into his gaze, as she had not so long ago. Almost mesmerized by his lovely blue eyes. And that grin - she found it cute, and comforting. But after he asked that out-of-the-blue question he pressed his back against the trunk and she was left staring into nothing. She felt oddly out of place and she glanced at the ground to quickly collect herself. And in that time, he managed to make up for it, even though he didn't have too.

Such a charmer.

Thay gave a soft laugh and remained in her position, the bark against her back familiar to her. She leaned back her head, a brow lifted slightly. She could lie, tell him the truth, or absolutely refuse. But what fun would she be if she lied or refused? Might as well tell him.

"Oh, hmm.. Alot of things. Mostly about you," she said, a hint of mischief lifting her voice.

Thaylias felt as if she should make him think, if she could, but what would be absolutely great if she made him nervous, or paranoid. Then again - she wasn't sure if Kael would be. But nonetheless, she didn't take it back. And she had been telling the truth. She didn't fancy lying, so she told him. But she didn't say specifically what about him.

[Anonymous]

Kael had just begun to etch out triangular ridges on his 'dragon's' back when Thaylias's reply registered in his brain. In response, his leg froze, jerking and making an awkward line in the dust. He hadn't really expected her to reply at all, his question was just idle thought about, well, thinking. And he definitely didn't expect her reply to involve him. Most unexpected.

"Oh, that's nice to hear," he said, trying to keep his voice sounding normal. He succeeded, too. Barely. "Really helps the ole' ego."

He laughed a bit, but to his ears it sounded dull and lame. Now he was just confused. Well, he probably shouldn't be. It's was Thaylias's will to think of what she wished. Still.. someone said they were thinking about you, one cannot help but to dwell. Right? Of course. Human nature, it was. And if it's not, well, it should be, or at least Kael thought so. Absently, he scuffed at his little dusty drawing, his mind wandering.

[Anonymous]

She could not bring herself to suppress the smile that slowly cast itself over her lips at hearing his laugh. She didn't change position or do a thing, just calmly lean there. Oh? Did he have a problem with her thinking about him? It wasn't bad, her mind just scruntinizing his behaviour and summing him up, coming to numerous conclusions.

"I think it should," she insisted, in response to his comment.

Thay languidly stretched her legs and her body. Turning and twisting, leaning her head against the trunk and gazing at the passerbys. Such an assortment, ranging in height, weight, and clothing style. Some pretended to be tough when they were basic softies, which Thay could pick out a few. Some were truly tough, jerks to the core and Thaylias could also pick them out. It was funny how some carried the same nose or body type as another person, sharing attributes. It seemed to fall short, like their was only so much difference before people began to share characteristics. At least that's what it looked like for those who were humans or in human form. For all the others they seemed so different and new and Thay was happy to take them in.

[Anonymous]

Kael opened his mouth to respond, then simply closed it again. It was a mark of wisdom to be silent. That, and he really couldn't think of anything to say (for once). He took little notice now of his surroundings, lost in idle daydreams. His eyelids lowered lazily until they were only half open; but his eyes still swept what was visible of the horizon, as if they were looking for something.

"You know," he said slowly, still gazing absently in front of him. "I really don't mind."

He was, of course, talking about her thinking of him. He didn't clarify, though, he figured Thay would know what he was talking about. If she didn't, it would probably just be put down to his randomness.

[Anonymous]

Thaylias pushed with her foot away from the tree and gazed up it's length, staring at the bark if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Which, of course, it wasn't at all. It was a plain old tree, and the only thing that seemed to make it interesting was the fact Kael fell from it. Oh, and that it had been here how long, a true witness to  everything, watching the village and all the passerbys. A bit remarkable, or boring even. Sometimes her mind wandered like that, and her eyes dropped to the earth, taking everything in like she should have done before.

Her emerald gaze flickered to Kael and she grinned at his response, only shrugging. She rested her hands on her hips, just standing their for a moment before moving out of some people's way. But something caught her attention... It was loud and in the distance, like a deep growl from the heavens. She lifted her eyes and examined the sky. Ah, the clouds were writhing and dark. Thay doubted she needed to say it, especially when she saw a flash of lightning yellow.

"Eh.. hm. Storm. Fun. How ya doin'?" She glanced at Kael, obviously meaning his foot.

What fun it'd be to stay by trees during a storm, eh? No, not really..