[ AW ] soak in the stars

There was something about this male, something different. Maybe it was because it did not come from her parents - but he was an outsider, different entirely. She was intrigued by him, mystified even. Her eyes watched him carefully, and she sniffed the scent on his coat. It was different, but not unpleasant. He smelled like a very beautiful place in the woods would smell like. She smiled to him, and even though his words were sharp and not always the nicest sentiment. With his latest comment, her ears lay flat against her head, but still, he gave his name to her. If she was so annoying, why did he give her that? Now she knew who he was. She stopped for a moment, but then proceeded to follow after him. Her tail wagged behind her as she followed him like a shadow. "Rafael is a very nice name..." she said in a much softer tone. She was excited still, but she wanted to make sure that she did not harm his ears again. "Are you named after someone? Like your dad or something?" She wanted to know more about him, hoped that he would be open to sharing with her - especially if they were both being kind to one another. She didn't know where he was going and really, she didn't even care. She knew how to get back home and would be sure to make the trek back before her mother or father started to really worry about her. "Dream a little dream of me..." @Rafael

He listened to her bumbling, her voice becoming no less bothersome on the ears but not enough for him to try to drive her off. He couldn’t say he shared the same sentiment that his name was nice in any way, finding it a bit of a mouthful to say. He’d prefer it be a single syllable without any hard notes to it. It wasn’t so easy to think of one, knowing most names to carry a hard lull of a tongue that could make it sound anything but unpleasant. He had to admit her name wasn’t so bad, even with its multiple syllables that he could count clearly. “Sora… is as soft as a feather and autumnal breeze,” he tried to return the compliment, though he wasn’t sure if she would take it that way and he was prepared for her to shriek in his ear like the banshees of timeless tales, ruining any good mood he might have right now.

“No,” he answered with a release of a breath, finding her being a little nosy with some desire to jump into his familial history. Though, now he could only wonder why he was named such a thing. Did Rafael hold any importance to his parents? Blast this girl making his mind swarm with thoughts that never bothered him before. Maybe it would be better if she wasn’t near him so she wouldn’t ruin his train of thought, causing him to cast her a wayward glance that failed to look anything like the glare he wanted to illustrate to her, but his brow remained smooth and his expression as placid as ever.

Stopping, he turned on his paw and pressed his crown into hers if she didn’t move away, his tail giving a few small thrashes. “Why?” It was a simple question with little to no outward context, though he didn’t think he needed to give any as he looked down into her cinnamon eyes. If she was worth keeping in his company, she wouldn’t need anything more.

manip + code: clae

The way that Rafael spoke to her, it only made her more intrigued with him. Being the outsider. Were all outsiders like this? Or was it only boys? She had even more questions than when she had started, and still she found herself wanting to bother the poor boy more and more. She wanted to know everything he would allow her to know. He complimented her, and deemed a new nickname she had never been called before. Her family was pretty kin to the name of "Raya", and so they called her it more times than she could count. She supposed that Rafael had a nickname as well, but not wanting to ask or assume just yet, she started to craft just what kind of nicknames you could make from Rafael. There was obviously Raf, maybe even Rafa, which was very close to Raya. Or, she could call him Fael, but it sounded too closely to fail, and that was not a very nice thing to call someone. Hearing this new name, as well as the compliments that paired with is perfectly, Soraya could not help but to wag her tail. Her cheeks burned on her face, but luckily her coat was already a beautiful burnt auburn color and would hide any coloration changes. "Thank you..." she said with a soft smile upon her features, though he was not looking at her. When she questioned if he had been named after someone, his answer was rather pointed and for a while, she thought maybe he was sad about that? Soraya wasn't named after anyone and it really didn't matter where she in fact got her name from, but when Rafael had spoken about her name - she found she liked it even more. Abruptly, he stopped his course of travel and spun to press his head firmly against hers. Her tail stopped, and she breathed softly. His single question, single word sentence had thrown her off. Why did she ask that? Why did it matter? "Umm..." she could not tell him the why really. Was she being too nosey? "Rafael is a very strong, firm name, I could definitely see your name as someone in the army. It is interesting to know where our parents picked our names from.... don't you think?" Her voice hesitated at the last of her question, almost faltering to a whisper. She did not want to force emotions or thoughts onto the boy, but she was truly curious. Were not all curious as she? "Do... you have.... any siblings?" Not wanting to be too nosey again, she divulged her family tree with ease. "I have tons of them myself, some from my litter, some from before - and soon, some from after. Though, I am not really looking forward to them.." She was rambling again. Her eyes locked onto Rafael's eyes. She let out a gasp. "You-your eyes..." She continued to stare, trying to find the right words, "are the most beautiful pair of eyes I have ever seen." "Dream a little dream of me..." @Rafael

The thanks would cause an ear to flick but not much more in terms of acknowledgement, though inwardly he held an ounce of astonishment she didn’t do anything on the lines of overreacting and making him want to bash his own skull in. Maybe she wasn’t so bad. His thoughts kept swimming back and forth between the two options. Was she annoying? Was she tolerable? She was definitely annoying the first few minutes but now he couldn’t confidently say one way or another. She made him think which was irritating but he also liked thinking so it couldn’t be that bad. She was like a bird that sang the same song, eventually it would either be easy to fall into the serenade or it would drive one mad. Only time would continue to tell which direction she might lead.

His brow scrunched when she started to give a reason for her question, not particularly asking why about that but he would listen nonetheless to what she had to say about it. The mention of the army soured his thoughts on her, now starting to wonder if she was actually of Mainlander blood as he was. “Never, the army is for mindless ants that can’t walk their own path,” he actually growled a little bit at the thought, knowing how his family hurt itself by being on both sides of the government quarrels. His own uncle, he never met, his mother and he couldn’t forgive the dreaded beast even if his mother might have, though he couldn’t truly tell. It wasn’t like he ever asked her outright how she felt.

His face softened a little at her query about if it was interesting where a name came from. “Only because you have me curious now,” he replied bluntly. A gentleness met his eyes at the mention of siblings. “Two brothers,” it was clear in his normally monotone voice that they meant so much to him as it filled with a bit of warmth. His siblings were his everything no matter how frustrating they were at times.

That warmth faded when she complimented him again, this time about his eyes instead of his name. One ear turned sideways as he stared at her for a long few seconds, letting out a grunt. “You’re weird, poppy eyes,” he would finally say, drawing away from her as he started to walk toward where he had last witnessed his family. He imagined his parents would be growing worried soon enough, but he didn’t run off quite yet either. Allowing her a little more time with him before he might vanish from these lands until school starts and so too his next chapter.

manip + code: clae

He had a very strong prejudice against the army. Her parents would be happy if she shared the same sentiment as Rafael. But honestly, she was curious. She didn't want to join the army, but she did want to know their ways of beating others up. If she could hone on those skills, then she could protect her family, like her father had tried to do. She wanted to do it better than he did. When she asked of his family, she was actually shocked to get an actual response. Something switched up in him. "That is very cool, what are their names?" She was curious, always curious. She might have been pushing a line in the sand between the two of them, but really she had no notion of that. Too far was not something Soraya ever thought about. Her parents had always encouraged her to ask questions and learn new things. "I have a crazy sibling story... if you are interested..?" Her eyes locked onto him, waiting to see what he would agree to or not. Was it really his business to know about the family drama they had all endured? Probably not. But he was just a boy, someone she may never see again. It felt good to talk about it to someone who didn't know anything about it. Talking about it was pointless with the family, as they were all feeling the same hurt. "My siblings are: twins Summit and Journey, then Fern of that first litter. My litter was of myself, Piper and Daisy. Then the newest ones... well we don't know how many there will be or what they will be called.. I sure hope my parents decide to stop after that. It's just too many names to try and remember!" She gave a playful smile to him. Being called "weird" was a new thing for her. She had never been called it. "What... what do you mean by that?" she asked as she followed after him. "Do you mean poppies like the flowers? They are so pretty." If he was still being hostile, she couldn't tell. She was just happy to be spending time with Rafael. He seemed like a rather nice boy, very intriguing to her and somewhat still a mystery. His coat coloration was unlike anything he had ever seen and his eyes were the most stunning shade of blue. She had only ever seen eyes of green or red hues. What other eye colors were out in the world? She had to know. "Have you ever seen eyes like mine? Does your family share your eyes?" She had a plethora of questions just bubbling to the surface of her mind. She would probably follow him until he stopped her, as she really didn't want to go anywhere. "Dream a little dream of me..." @Rafael

The more she swarmed him with questions, the more his tolerance was starting to run dry, starting to get overwhelmed with how much this girl expected him to talk to humor her. Where he did love his brother, talking about them to Soraya didn’t seem all that important or useful for him to play along with. Still, with a sigh, he didn’t see the harm in providing her with the most trivial of answers. “Jericho and Nico,” and he glanced around half expecting at least one of them to appear and do an introduction of their own but not a single hair from either would manifest to save him from having to talk further.

At least she seemed to be focusing more on her own family history than his, listening to her but not exactly catering to make it appear so as his focus was more on the beaches below and the edges of the stone ledges. It seemed she loved talking just to hear herself talk but he had to admit that he also hoped her parents stopped conceiving more, especially if they were all so vocal as this one. Two brothers were enough for him, let alone five others and more on the way. No such thoughts would enter the air, not wanting to encourage her to tell him more of her tales. Though he was sure she would go on and on if he didn’t try to stop her lips from flapping.

“That’s not a very riveting story,” he would finally say, feeling like there wasn’t much of a story there at all, not realizing that that was just set up for much more of a tale than he would ever anticipate.

His tail would give a small twitch at more questions surfacing and he couldn’t help but roll his eyes as his head slumped in mild defeat that he’d never be free. Drawing in a breath, he held it for a moment until he felt a touch dizzy. “Strange and yes,” he answered her two questions at once to get them out of the way. If she was to assume he meant her eyes were pretty because she viewed poppies as pretty, then he saw no qualms with that. It was simply two observations that lined up and perhaps he did see them as pretty too. He would simply shake his head at her question about if he’s seen eyes like hers before. “They are all shades of blue,” he sighed once more and then stopped to gently shoosh his pale paw against her lips so she couldn’t speak any further questions. “Aren’t you tired from talking.... sooooo much?”

manip + code: clae

"Oh wow...." she said about the names of his brothers. She didn't really have a thought to go along with the words that came from her lips. It just kind of slipped out. None of her family members had names like that. She wanted to ask more, but it seemed that even though he liked his brothers, it was a fleeting topic of conversation. She supposed his other family would not be something he would wish to discuss. Because why didn't he just sputter on about them before? She gave a subtle nod for herself, affirming the words that were rolling in her mind. When he said that her story was not a very good one, she got a slight smirk at the corner of her maw. So he wanted a "riveting" story? "Not good enough huh? Well have I got a story for you! You will be so shocked when I finish it!" Her tail was now wagging with the idea that she would have something that was actually interesting to someone else. "I was born in a litter of three, BUT one of my sisters disappeared... Some of my family says she was eaten by a bear, others think someone took her... But do you want to know what really happened?" She looked around them, making sure that none of her family members had mysteriously appeared out of thin air to hear the words she was about to speak. She had not spoken to anyone about this. She would never say anything to any of her family members, because truth be told - she was fibbing. It was a little fib, but enough to make the story even more enthralling. "The fae took her." The serious look on her face stuck as she waited to see what sort of reaction she would get from Rafael. Would this interest him? They spoke a little more of his family's eyes, then he placed a paw on her mouth - silencing her. Poppy-colored eyes stared at the blue eyes behind the paw. Instead of uttering anymore words, she simply shook her head gently from side to side, his paw still on her mouth. "Dream a little dream of me..." @Rafael

“Nicodemus,” he would clarify after a second, feeling it wrong to not give the full name of his one brother that he was closest to. Such a nickname wasn’t needed to be used by a girl that didn’t even know the boy, it should be reserved for those more intimate within his own mind out of some odd sense of feeling special to be allowed to say it so freely. Though what were the chances this girl would ever meet his brothers for it to matter at all? Slim unless they appeared now. There was a chance he would never see the girl again after this encounter unless she followed him all the way home like a lost pet.

A brow would arch when she seemed to take what he said as a full challenge, which wasn’t quite what he meant to happen, but curiosity of what story would prevent her from trying to stop the inevitable. His gaze would slowly drift to her as she spoke of her siblings all the more, anticipating something about some fireflies at this point based on what she was searching for earlier when he first stumbled upon her. His lips twitched as the story shifted drastically, though his prediction was still on the table in a way. Maybe firefly could be a nickname for this sister of hers and that’s the real reason why she was looking for “fireflies”. Though swiftly any belief in that as she started to act a little strange, as if someone was stalking them to the point he glanced around for a moment. The climax, however, would make any feeling of his skin crawling vanish and instead his face soured like a lemon.

“Fae? Really?” he said in the most discouraging voice that his young voice could muster, like a disappointed parent. “Couldn’t you come up with something a little more unique than fairy tales? You’re no better than my parents and their banshee story they have about how they met. It was probably their stomachs, if it isn’t just a story to make me not fear running off,” he snorted, genuinely showing anger along his brow. It was all such nonsense. It was rare so much expression found its way onto his visage, clearly losing his last bit of patience with this girl.

All the while, he was surprised she was staying quiet once he set his paw on her mouth, half expecting her to bite him to get it off. No, she was just staring at him expectantly and it caused his ears and tail to twitch a few times before his expression went back to normal. All girls were weird, he concluded. Not just his mom and grandma. All of them. They said the strangest things full of fantasies and he didn’t know how to cope with any of it. “I should really lend you some books so you grow some intelligence instead of being like the other... irrational dreamers,” he huffed, dropping his paw from her before turning tail to walk off without waiting for her this time to follow.

-rafael attempts to exit without trying too hard lol-

manip + code: clae