A Kick To The Shins Perhaps? {Zi/Korvin Day 3}

[Akira]

Talian sighed as she walked past the Gather stalls. She had only recently bought enough food to fill her firelizard’s hungry bellies, and that of Princess and herself too. Now she was just looking for something to do. She still hadn’t found a way to teach Princess her name, but she was sure something would come along to give her the inspiration she needed to come up with a brilliant idea. Or maybe she would find someone among the stalls that could help her. Of that she was severely skeptical though. How could anyone help her teach her canine its name when she herself couldn’t even talk? Again what made her a very good secret keeper was proving to be more of a curse than a blessing. Oh well, she couldn’t change the facts, so she just had to figure a way around them.

Ruby snorted at the sour turn Hers’ mind had taken. How could Talian be upset when she was around? Talian reached up and gently stroked the garnet female that was resting on her head. Chef crooned in her ear from where he was perched on her shoulder with his tail wrapped around her neck. She used her other hand to stroke him as well, though he was more interested with all of the new smells wafting through the air. There were so many smells that he wanted to investigate, but he didn’t want to leave His alone with that annoying sister of his. She just had to be the center of attention, and he didn’t like it. So it made him very happy when Talian started stroking him, though he hadn’t registered that she had started with Ruby first. All the while Princess remained oblivious.

[Zirin]

Korvin yawned and stretched out, enjoying the shade of a rather large tree outside the gather area. He couldn't understand how the Weyrfolk could handle being in that cramped crowd for so long, just thinking about it made his skin crawl. Too many people, too little space, that he had managed to spend a good chunk of the day wandering the stalls was a testiment of his own bravery. Now though, now it was time to do a little relaxing with Gray.

The silvery furred canine was curled up by his side, enjoying the scratch of her master's hand on her back. She felt her master begin to relax and the hand slowed to a stop as he started to drift to sleep. He trusted Gray, even if she wasn't as good a guard dog as Boar, but the old male just wasn't up to it yet.

Gray perked up as the scent of another dog reached her, and upon noticing a puppy passing nearby she barked quietly, her tail wagging in excitement. Korvin grumbled, blinking and eye open to investigate and upon seeing only a little girl, closed his eyes again.

[Akira]

Talian looked down at Princess when she felt the female jump by her side. That’s when she noticed the other dog and person, and wondered if she could go visit the other doggy. She slowly started walking towards the strange man and his dog, Princess eagerly bouncing around at her side. Her mother had been right in saying that she needed to keep the young pup on a rope. It had been obvious from the moment she had first started walking around with her puppy that she liked to meet new people. She wasn’t sure how the other dog, or man, would react to such an energetic new dog approaching them. She knew that if she could talk, Princess would be much better behaved since she would have clear instructions to go by, but since she couldn’t actually communicate with her pet, things were a bit complicated.

Ruby wasn’t sure if she actually liked all these strange people getting so close to Hers, and even hissed at the ones she thought were too close to the young girl, and even the ones that didn’t give her enough attention. At first she didn’t even realized that they were approaching someone entirely new, and even a new canine to boot. But it didn’t take long for this attention hungry firelizard to realize that there was someone not giving her the attention she deserved, and once again she hissed loudly at the man. Chef on the other hand had been trying to “sample” every single person that had passed by them, and drew quite a few strange looks mind you. He chittered curiously as he watched as His brought them ever closer to this strange new pink thing that he surly must “sample”.

[Zirin]

Gray hadn't expected the newcomers to actually come closer. With a light yelped she bounded over Korvin's lap, effectively waking him up as she tried to hide behind him. She kept her gaze on the approaching strangers, curious as to who they were, but not brave enough to actually investigate.

Korvin shot up in surprise at the weight of his female canine on his lap. "Shards y'stupid mutt!" He growled, pushing the dog away from him before looking over to see what was distressing her. Oh, it was the girl child he had seen. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why a child would want to come in his direction at all, unless she was following the pup. He gave the small dog a once over, analysing its build before shrugging and leaning back against the tree, figuring the pup would investigate Gray then leave them alone again.

"I think yer snake's broken," Korvin grumbled angrily as Ruby hissed at him, not knowing why he was being hissed at. He just wanted to sharding relax!

[Akira]

Talian stopped moving, and was glad that Princess had stopped by her side, equally surprised by the other dog’s sudden leap over its owner’s lap. She hadn’t known what to expect from the other dog, but she defiantly wasn’t expecting that. The poor child hadn’t met all that many canines in her short four turns of life, and the ones that she had met had never really paid her much mind. Then again, this time was different; she had a dog of her own now which made her wonder if that is what had made the older dog jump. Things seemed only to get worse from their though, since once the dog jumped over its owner, the man woke up and startled the poor child, and her dog. She jumped a little, effectively dislodging the two firelizards that had been resting on her.

Ruby squealed in surprise as she took to the air. Then she started hissing, growling, and grumbling angrily at what had caused Her’s to jump. She didn’t settle down until Talian grabbed her out of the air, and started stroking her and sending her calming feelings. The garnet female purred at Hers’, and climbed back onto the girl’s head where she held onto the child’s hair, hoping that this time, she wouldn’t be thrown flying. Chef on the other hand just flew over and landed on the man’s wrist where he set about “tasting” the man. He let the man’s taste float around his senses before spitting and flying back over to His. He landed on Talian’s left shoulder, and chittered at her all the while sending her pictures and feelings he had gotten from tasting the man, in general telling her that he was filthy but in a way “nice”.

Princess tilted her head at the other dog, and sniffed attentively at her. She didn’t understand what the problem was but hey, maybe this was a game! She play bowed at the other dog and yipped happily. It had been a little while since she had been able to play with her own sister, and she relished the chance to do so again. Talian on the other hand, wasn’t so happy about what was going on. She couldn’t talk to the stranger, which made things all the more awkward. She had Chef send the man a picture of him and a human chef, hoping that he would understand that was the firelizard’s name, she also had him send a picture of Ruby, and the gem she was named after, and did the same thing Princess. Whether this plan of her’s would work or not she didn’t know, but she was sure she would find out soon enough.

[Zirin]

Korvin jumped as one of the crazy winged snakes came over and started... was it licking him? He shook his wrist to get the thing off and was pelased to see it go back to the girl where it belonged. It was an interesting spectacle to see... one small girl trying to control three creatures that seemed to have no inkling of how to behave. Not that he could really compare them to Gray; no matter how much he had tried, he still couldn't get the female to react to intruders properly.

"Y'sharding mutt, stop cowardin' behind me." One mgiht not have thought Korvin would have the strength to actually drag the dog from behind him, but some how he did, shoving the large grey female towards the pup. He himself didn't want to deal with misbehaved pups, but Gray would hopefully keep it distracted enough to keep it away from him. Gray whined as she was shoved forward, tail held submissively at first before she took a tentative step towards the pup, her nose constantly working at picking up the other's scent. Could this pup be friendly? She hoped so!

"Wha' the! Y'keep yer shardin snakes outta my mind!" He barked at the girl, feeling completely invaded by the sudden images that he couldn't decipher. Why they had sent him those pictures were beyond Korvin, all he knew was that it was uncomfortable. He still didn't even really like Kosk having access to his mind, but at least he could trust her with the information she found there.

[Akira]

Talian wasn’t sure she really liked the way this man was treating his dog, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it though. So she just looked away from the dog, and focused on the man, wondering if he would understand what she had meant by sending him the pictures through Chef. Princess wagged her tail at the other dog as she was shoved forward, and whined a little at the older dog’s treatment. She hadn’t wanted to cause the other female trouble, and she wondered if she would be mad at her for it. But when she saw the older dog step towards her, her tail started to wag faster, effectively making her rum wag as well. She wasn’t sure if that meant the older dog would play with her or not, but hey, it was worth a shot wasn’t it? She yipped playfully at the older dog, hoping that that would get her into a playful mood. But if that didn’t work, well…then she was just gonna have to figure out some other way to get her to play.

Talian jumped again, but this time she was pretty much prepared for the man’s outburst. She sighed, and tried to think of another way to get the man to understand her, that’s when an idea hit her. She moved a couple steps closer to him, and put a hand over her mouth and shook her head. She hoped he would understand what she meant, but there was still the possibility that it wouldn’t. Ruby was still sitting firmly planted on Hers’ head, all the while staring unpleasantly at the man that was causing Her’s so much trouble. Chef on the other hand, was just staring at him, trying to figure out if he should be trusted or not. After all, from what he had tasted, the man wasn’t entire bad, but then again, he could be wrong though he highly doubted that possibility. He took off, and flew over to a low hanging branch that was hanging over the man’s head, and chattered at him softly from his perch.

[Zirin]

Though Korvin's treatment of Gray seemed harsh, it was actually quite tame. The shove hadn't harmed her any more than a gentle breeze really, and it had gotten her to stop cowering. Well, sort of. She looked horribly unsure of what to do, she had always been a follower, not a leader. She watched the pup warily for a bit before stepping the tiniest bit closer to sniff again. She yelped and jumped back a step as Princess ducked into a playing position, but after a moment the older female's tail began to wag and she barked curiously. Another bark and Gray was bounding away, stopping every few steps to look back at the pup and bark again in what could only be a request for tag.

Korvin grumbled as the girl seemed more adamant with approaching as each moment passed. Seriously, there must be something wrong with her to want to come closer. "What'dya want brat?" He finally barked out at her, still eyeing those crazy flying snakes like they were a threat. Normally a kid would have broken into tears or started yelling at him by now. Why wasn't this girl... oh?

"Ah I see. Y'can't talk? One of them lizard's got yer tongue er somethin'?" Was he supposed to care that she couldn't talk? Or did she actually need him for something. Well whatever, as long as she kept her pets and herself away from him he didn't care. He dipped his hat back over his eyes and leaned against the tree. Maybe if he ignored her she'd just go away? Kosk's not very nice... His white's sleepy voice reached him, though he shrugged in defiance of his little bonded. Soon he would have another one... soon...

[Akira]

Princess tilted her head at Grey’s actions, and wondered if she even knew how to play. But all doubts were wiped out of her mind when she started to wag her tail, and barked at her. She barked back at Grey playfully, and bounded after her happily. She playfully nipped at her as she started to catch up to her, but let’s face it, Princess was much smaller than the older dog, so it would take her a little longer to catch up, and Grey would easily be able to jump over her if she so wanted to. Either way the little pup was just glad to have someone running around and playing with her. Talian looked over and smiled as she watched her puppy playing with the older dog. She was silently hoping that the older female would be able to teach her puppy a thing or two as well.

Talian then turned her attention back to the man that was lying by the tree. She didn’t like him calling her a brat, but she knew that she was weyrbrat, and that was the technical term of her rank within the Weyr. She noticed the way he watched her firelizards, and a small smile appeared on her face. At least she knew she would be safe as long as Ruby and Chef were around. The way he was acting made her wonder if he had never had any experience with firelizards, but her thoughts were cut short when he spoke once again. She shook her head back and forth, trying to get him to realize that she wasn’t mute because of her lizards, so she had Chef send the man a picture of her as a baby, and she held her hand over her mouth again. Hopefully he would understand that meant she had been born this way.

[Zirin]

"Oh fer the love o'-" Korvin's hands shot up to cover his ears, as if that would stop the flit from being able to send him pictures. "Y'keep that thing outta my mind I said! Shards n' shells I hate this place." He didn't even have any idea what the images were supposed to mean. A picture of a baby... was she implying that he was being a big baby about this? The nerve! "Look girl, I don' want no trouble. I jus' wanna relax n' catch a few moments o' shuteye." He didn't speak mute... and he couldn't for the life of him figure out what she wanted from him.

Gray yipped playfully, keeping just ahead of the pup as they ran around, eventually letting the pup catch up so the game could be reversed. She wagged her tail, giving the pup a few moments head start before running after.

[Akira]

Talian tilted her head to the side when the man spoke and covered his ears, which made her wonder if he was trying to block out the pictures that she had Chef send him. She didn’t understand how she was supposed to communicate with him if she couldn’t use her firelizards, and wondered if he would tell her of a way, but when all he did was complain she gave up hoping, and started glaring at him. She stomped over to him, and aimed a kick straight at the man’s shin. She put her hands on her hips, just as she had seen her mother doing when she was upset with someone, and glared at him. She pointed to Chef, and then at her throat, and had the firelizard once again send him a mental picture. This time though, it looked as though the white was actually talking, and he was sitting on her shoulder. She hopped that he would understand what she had meant, but didn’t keep her hopes up.

Princess barked and yipped happily when she finally caught up with Gray, and tagged her. She turned and started to scramble away as fast as she could away from the older female. Her tongue was hanging out of her mouth as she ran, and her tail wagged excitedly behind her. She chanced a look back at Gray, wondering if the older female was still chasing her, or if she had slipped away and could find a way to sneak around her. But when she saw the other dog in full pursuit she turned as quickly as she could, effectively tripping over her own two fore-paws. She yelped as she fell forward, and tucked her tail between her legs when she finally managed to scramble back onto her paws. That was definitely something she believed she could live without experiencing again.

[Zirin]

If anyone expected Korvin to help them, they were sorely mistaken. The man lived for himself, and himself alone. For all he cared the girl before him was just some lonely brat who didn't understand a hint when he gave one. Of course, it was nice not to have to deal with yelling from her, he could just close his eyes and pretend she wasn't there. Well, if it werent for her annoying lizards anyways. Happily unaware that she had drawn closer, Korvin couldn't help but yelp in surprise at the sudden impact of a foot on his shin.

"What the hell was that for?!" He exclaimed. The kick hadn't hurt really, already the slight pain was disappearing, but Korvin didn't take kindly to people touching him for any reason. Then, before he could truly react, her little monster was sending him images once more. "Ok fine! FINE! I git it! Yer li'l snake talks fer ya!" He huffed, rubbing at his shin angrily. "Am I s'posed to care?"

Gray slowed to a halt as the little pup fell, and it didn't take long before her nose was pressed gently against the Princess. She was using the opportunity to get a good idea of who the pup really was. She whined slightly in worry, scared that Princess had somehow hurt herself.

[Akira]

Talian nodded her head satisfactorily when she heard the man yelp. Served him right for being a bit meanie! If she could have yelled at him triumphantly she would have. She nodded her head again as if saying, “Duh, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, you twit!” I he didn’t understand the nod then he really was hopeless in her eyes. When he asked if he was supposed to care or not she just shrugged, she had always thought that it was common practice to be nice to those with a disability, but now she was starting to think otherwise. She pointed to her puppy, then to the man’s dog, hoping he would understand that she just wanted help teaching the poor pup its name. She even had Chef send him a picture of Princess and what she thought of as scribbles that she had seen written on scrolls.

What the scribbles meant Talian wasn’t sure, but hey, if it got her point across who cared? Princess, on the other hand, was already back to the way she had been before her little accident, and was playfully growling at the older female as she pressed her nose against her. In her mind she sounded intimidating, but let’s face it, she was a tiny pup that pretty much squeaked when she barked. So her growls weren’t very fierce either. But that didn’t stop the six month old pup from trying. She had her hackles raised as she faced Gray, hopping to scare the larger canine. The fact that she looked more like an over-grown poof ball than a canine didn’t leave much to be afraid of. But she didn’t care, she was having the time of her life and didn’t want all the fun to end.

[Zirin]

Korvin stared at the girl in annoyance, the beginnings of a snarl on his lips as she acted all high and mighty for kicking him. Korvin wasn`t Weyrborn, or even Hold born for that matter; he had been raised in such a way that your worth was determined by your ability to provide for the family. No one person was treated specially for any reason, so in Korvin`s eyes, Talian was being unjustly rude to him, and he was treating her in a like manner. A though flickered through his mind briefly; why would a mute brat have a dog? The inability to speak commands, or rather praise, would cause training to be difficult. Not impossible, mind you; his own dogs had learned silent commands after the verbal ones... but the process of silent training had only occured after his canines were both voice trained.
　
Maybe that was why Talian was bothering him? Maybe she saw Gray and assumed he would somehow give her a hand with her rowdy mutt? It was a far fetched idea, but it did make the man calm down a bit. After all, he was quite fond of canines. He followed her points, quirking an eye as she did so. To Korvin, it looked like she was saying 'I want my dog to be like your dog'. Would a girl as young as her understand the idea of training though? Or was there more to it than that? He grumbled. perhaps if he tried to do what she wanted, she would leave him alone. Well, ignoring her had failed so helping was worth a shot.
　
"What'dya want? Trainin'?" It wasn't long before her flit was sending him images again, though this time the image baffled him completely. It looked like a drawn woman? "It's a... female?" Korvin guessed at the meaning behind the image. of course, he could tell the pup was female without the confirmation... but that seemed like a rather silly thing to tell him. Perhaps then she was trying to introduce her pup? "Am I s'posed t'guess her name? Lady?" It was unlikely that Korvin would guess the name properly; he didn't know much about fancy words like that. "If its her name yer tryin to get, yer a lost cause. Wha' point is a name y'can't say?"
　
He crossed his arms behind his head and tried to relax once more. "Y'ud be better off findin some sorta sound er somethin' t'call her with. Idiot."
　

[Akira]

Talian glared back at the man when she saw what appeared to be a snarl on the man’s face. If he wanted to be mean to her, then she was just gonna have to be mean in return. She was getting frustrated at his lack of understanding, and really felt like kicking him again. But she didn’t see how that would do much good at that point. Even though she had already kicked him once, and had felt good after doing so, she had been taught that kicking others wasn’t nice, and that she should never do such a thing. Oh well, can’t change what had happened in the past, no matter how recent. She relaxed a little, very little, when she noticed that he seemed to have calmed down. Did that mean he was going to help her? She was sure, but she had a feeling that it wouldn’t take her long to find out.

Talian nodded her head and the expression on her face clearly stated that that wasn’t what the picture had meant. She glared at the man when he told her that teaching her puppy the name she had picked out for her was a lost cause. She didn’t think it was, and she wasn’t about to let this arrogant man change her mind about that! Ruby hissed angrily at the man for two reasons. One reason was that he wasn’t giving her attention, and the other was that he was upsetting Her’s. But a firm hand on the garnet female’s back kept her in place on the young girl’s head. Chef was still sitting on the branch above Korvin’s head tilting his head back and forth as he sniffed at the strange man. He wasn’t sure if he liked the man or not, and so he chittered quietly to himself as he thought.

Talian didn’t care if she couldn’t say Princess’ name, she just felt like her canine needed a name that other people could recognize her by. And seeing as this man already had a trained canine, she figured that he would be able to teach her dog better than anyone she knew after all. She looked really hurt and offended when he had called her an idiot. And so she drew herself up as much as she possibly could, and looked as though she was getting ready to kick him again. If he wasn’t careful she’d run up and attempt to kick him in the shin once again. Ruby growled and flexed her claws as her quickly swirling eyes glared daggers at the man. If it weren’t for the fact that Talian was still holding on to her, she would have flown at him in an attempt to bite the man’s nose off.