ORIGIN - a world that's our own

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Dread had settled deep within Attikias's core. A couple of days after Tahi-shei's interaction and the elf was pacing around his camp, his tail lashing and hands busy as he prepared for some sort of war.

He didn't even know what to expect. He hadn't been in a battle before, other than the spars and minor fights he'd had here and there. He had so many things to do before he left- his urns needed replacing, the roof still needed fixing, and-

And he needed to tell his children. He was putting that one off as he retrieved a piece of leather, turning it over in his hands. Dip was a blacksmith- could she make armor? He could make leather armor, which was what he was doing as he held his bone needle tightly. Part of him hated this. He could die, he could be leaving his family, he could be failing them. But, no, he needed to do this, to protect the other families of the caves.

Taking in a deep breath, Attikias stood over a table he had fashioned, cutting shapes through leather with his knife and threading thick straps through holes to tie them all together.

@Lyra

Action. Thought. "Speech."

aside from the raid, Lyra had not been doing very much. the failed gem revival aside, she'd been mostly sulking. walking around, discovering new things. she was bored, more than anything else. she woke up, felt sorry for herself, ate, walked around, found a cool looking rock or plant, and then went back to bed. she'd fallen into a routine that most would consider... sad. repetitive, lonely, and sad. she wasn't living for anybody or even herself anymore and to be honest it was kinda tiring. she didn't even LOOK like she'd been taking care of herself anymore, fur, feathers and scales a dirty, tangled mess. she was lucky her fur still somehow looked like it used to be white at all.

she padded through eridanus's thick ferns and bushes, stopping every now and then to sniff at a plant before moving on.

she flinched, fur and feathers raising in alarm at the sound of another gembound in the area. she had been mostly trying to avoid talking to people, but she supposed the worst thing to happen could be getting hurt. she could run just fine.

she carefully padded towards the nose, breathing heavy as she walked into the small clearing.

"H-hello..?" she spoke, voice barely above a whisper, strained from lack of use.

@Attikias

When Attikias turned to look at the impending being, he didn't have the most pleasant of faces. It was the expression of a troubled man that had graced him, forcing itself upon him and causing him to curl the corners of his lips down.

He quickly fixed that, but the split second would still have been visible to Lyra as she approached. With the frown removed and his muscles untensing, he turned. Right. A visitor. The elf took in a deep breath to reset himself.

"Hello," he responded, placing down the leather he was working on. He sounded a lot more cheerful than that first impression. "Welcome." There was a pause as he looked over Lyra. "You hungry?" Because you should always be kind of a stranger in your home, he guessed.

As long as they weren't destroying pots.

@Lyra

Action. Thought. "Speech."

She flinched, momentarily, at Attikias' reaction, but tried to calm her own nerves as it switched to something softer. probably just startled. she would be too, if she was honest.

she paused at the offer, taken aback. she wasn't very used to basic interaction, even less so with generous offers, but, as she heard her stomach give a low growl, she sighed with a nervous smile. "y-yeah, i guess.." she yipped.

the moved a little closer sniffing the air carefully, being sure not to touch anything. "um.. n-nice place..? i', Lyra, sorry... you?" she asked, sitting down a few feet away, and also away from anything fragile.

@Attikias

Attikias's smile grew, his eyes shutting briefly as Lyra slowly used her words. Now, he kind of felt bad for that first glance, but- he could make it up by being sweet, huh? Better to make this stranger comfortable. "Ah, sure, here-" He stepped closer, moving closer to the jugs that laid near the table. "Do you eat meat? I've got fruit if you don't."

He retrieved a few slips of dried, spiced jerky and approached more, not coming within distance to actually touch her just yet. An arm was reached out with the peace offering of food. "Ahh, thank you," he rumbled happily. "I'm Attikias. It's nice to meet you, Lyra." His head dipped to her.

"What brings you out this way?" It would be good to make some conversation and make this stranger comfortable as his eyes roamed over her to memorize what she looked like.

@Lyra

Action. Thought. "Speech."

Lyra blinked. she nervously padded forward, taking the jerkey in her jaws, backing away again to sit down with a thump. her eyes brightened as she chewed. "t-this is lovely, thank you!" she barked joyfully. it was the best thing shes tasted in cycles really.

she chewed, for a moment, before replying. "w-well, heh, im not sure myself. i... dont really do much nowadays, i think it was just i happened to run into your little.. camp? on chance? i dont really... have any specific purpose, right now. not that i could pinpoint, atleast." she said. she realized she'd said more than she had to and frowned. "s-sorry. you didn't wanna hear that." she apologized, finishing your jerky.

she paused. "so um... w-what are YOU doing out here? and, i guess, why are you being nice to me?" she asked, that old sneaking suspicion of everyone around her creeping up on her again. this guy seemed nice enough, but surely there was an ulterior motive? and if there was one, was it sinister or simply curious? she didn't deserve kindness, anyhow. why then?

@Attikias

Attikias smiled a bit more with the jerky being eaten. The proverbial olive branch has been accepted, and the elf's tail swayed with ease as Lyra seemed to be somewhat comforted.

"It's no worries," he responded with a tilt of his head. He listened- didn't it seem that most people came across his camp as an accident? It's not that he didn't like it, of course- he quite liked meeting new people, but it always seemed to be that they had stories of their own.

He nodded encouragingly. "Camp, yeah." He settled down himself on an overturned log by the empty firepit, sitting on it backwards to face her. "Hey, it's fine. You don't need a reason to be here. 'S always nice to have visitors." His fingers intertwined over the rest of the jerky as he rested his arms over his knees.

He paused in turn as she did, thinking, before blurting out, "I live here." He shook his head and gave the smallest of laughs, resettling on his seat. "Sorry, uh- I live here with my family. Vivilene, Thalia, Asteri- they live with me, and I have a few kids out there who're doing their own things. Always figured it'd be good to stay still to have a place for them to return to." He took one of the strips he had in his hands and bit into it himself, chewing thoughtfully.

"It's nice to be nice," he said on the last point with a shrug. "But, y'know, no reason not to be nice. Not like it hurts me or you or anythin', y'know? Plus, uh- Vivilene'd be on me if I was an iota of mean to anyone, probably."

Attikias perked briefly and gestured off to the side. "Hey, uh, you want more jerky? Help yourself- there's some other foods in the jars-- try not to eat from the blue one, uhh, that has some alcohol in it. Trust me." He offered out the rest of the jerky to her if she didn't seem too interested in rummaging in his stores.

@Lyra

Action. Thought. "Speech."

she nodded, if not with a sad look in her eyes. "you sound very happy... your family sounds lovely, truly" she said, practically a whisper, but loud enough to hear.

"apologies if it seemed like i was accusing you of something, im... not quite used to people being nice to me anymore. i dont talk much to really anyone these days, since.." she paused. "since i lost my mother. i- i dont think shes dead.. hopefully.. just missing. sorry if im.. quick to assume, i guess" she apologized.

she nodded with a smile at the offer, chuckling slightly. "thank you, i'll be sure to avoid that one"

he played with her fingers for a moment, frowning at her claws. "i don't mean to be a sadsack on you, really.." she apologized once more.

@Attikias

The elf tilted his head as he watched her, folding one leg over the other knee and placing his hands on top. "There's always room to spare in it," he offered out with a warm laugh. It was a casual way of saying it, but he did mean it, truly- if she wanted to stay around here and join the Elenyas, then he absolutely wouldn't stop her.

His head cocked the other way as she apologized to him. "No! No, it's okay, I get it. A lot of people haven't had... Good experiences," he thought out loud, reaching a hand to touch Lyra's shoulder gently, if she didn't flinch away. "Azure- ah, my friend's roommate, she was the same way when I talked to her. Worried about, y'know, people being nice for no reason or anything." He shook his head. "I don't blame you. There's some nasty characters out there, but I've learned sometimes they're that way because they probably think that way too, right?"

He leaned his head back, staring up to the tress for a moment. He sighed very softly, inwardly, thinking, before leaning his head back to Lyra. "I promise you, you're fine. It's uh- hard to sort of stop thinking that way, I'm sure. But there's nothing wrong with being sadsack anyways."

The elf rolled his head back up to the leaves. He was thinking, it was obvious, his hands clasping together and fingers intertwining. "Do you think you'd want to stay around here, maybe? That way you don't have to worry about other people being mean to you. I don't really have anywhere else to go- I've got a chrysalis growing close by that I'm trying to watch over, and I wanna try to be there for it when it hatches." His dual-colored eyes glanced to Lyra, though not expectantly- just warmly, looking for her reaction, and careful. "You don't have to- not right away, or even ever, so uh- I just wanted to say that I'll be around if someone makes you not really sure about them and stuff. I could try talking if you're not comfortable with it? I know it sounds like a lot of trust to put into someone you met like, fifteen minutes ago, but I don't mind, really."

@Lyra
(in which attikias does nothing but talk)

Action. Thought. "Speech."

her ears perked up, shock evident on her features. "j-join... your family..? really?" he asked. not offended, or upset. her voice was just... surprised. and she couldn't help the terribly sad whimper that escaped her at the mere thought of having a family again. her mother? missing, and entirely her fault. her father? her brother? also missing. she did not know where they went. to be part of a family again would be amazing. she wiped a tear away, cycles and cycles worth of grief and self-anguish flooding over her and threatening to drown her. "t-that'd be.. lovely.. you have no idea how much the offer means to me." she sniffled with a smile, chuckling through her tears.

she nodded. "i suppose youre right.. heh.."

she chewed whatever remnants of the jerky were left between her teeth, just to taste anything other than terrible sadness, and paused as she listened to his offer.

"i-.." she began, trailing off. she smiled, wiping her eyes again. "that would be nice... thank you.." she barked in thanks.

she thought for a moment. "if theres any way i can repay you for your kindness.. let me know, aswell? inviting me into your home, your FAMILY, heh- feeding me? its the least i can do, right? something in return?"

@Attikias

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