Aries smirked. A spar, that's what he wanted to hear.

"You're on." He said coolly. Aries lowered his magnificent horns, then swung them to the side. He wanted to show them off. Eythan liked big horns, right?

"But um.." He continued, glancing down at little Eli. "You want to take him home first?" He flicked his head in the gemling's direction. He'd spar with Eythan right here, right now, but Aries didn't want to crush the poor kid. That would be very unheroic.

"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: @Eythan // OOC:

Eythan liked big horns, and he could not lie.

But, first, yes, his son. His newborn child. His spawn. Odd. "Ah, good point," the gryphon chirped, ears flicking back. He had to be a responsible father now, and that meant making sure that his child was out of the way before he got into a fist fight behind the proverbial Denny's trash can.

He lowered his head, snatching Eli up by the scruff with ease and twisting his neck so that the little lad was atop his back. Prime real estate. "Hold on, kid," Eythan whispered conspiratorially, already being a poor paternal figure, and charged forward at Aries without much warning other than his lowered head and bared gemstone horns. Let's see who's skull was harder and flatter, huh?

@Eli @Aries

Aries eyes sparkled warmly as watch Eythan carefully scoop up his child. He always wondered what it would be like to have little gemlings of his own. Would they look up to him? He sure hoped so. He's such a good parent. Aries thought. He kind of envied Eythan. The gryphon seemed so gentle with his child, something Aries wasn't sure he could replicate. Ah, reminds me of all those times me and Leon--

"WHAT THE--?!"

Suddenly, the crazy hybrid rushed him, with the kid still on his back! Aries had no time to dodge. Astraea's Antlers! He caught me off guard! Before he could leap out of the way, Eythan's horns connected with his shoulder, making him stumble back.

Aries winced as his leg twisted uncomfortably. Eythan more devious than he realized. Fighting him on this uneven ground, with a delicate gemling on his back; no doubt that was to throw him off. "Oh, that was dirty!" He exclaimed.

Clever ruse, he like a challenge, but still, he did fear for the kid's safety. Ok, maybe he's not such a good parent.

"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: @Eythan // OOC:

Using Eli as a hostage hadn't been intentional, but Eythan wasn't going to pass it up: the kid was having one heck of a time, shouting and woo-weeing! the whole time. Mookaite smashed into a bony shoulder a little too solidly, and the gryphon felt a bit bad. The ram stumbled sideways, likely due to his gimp leg.

Maybe this wasn't the greatest idea.

Not here, at least.

"Life's a dirty game," he chirped, shifting to the side so as to push Aries out of the cramped chambers and unintentionally quoting the Wire, "you gotta play dirty to win it!" Eythan lurched forth, intending to butt up against the ram's chest and entirely missing. "Sorry 'bout your leg, homie--- watch your step, there's some bones behind ya."

@Aries

ELI
I CAN GO THE DISTANCE

Suddenly, Eli found himself on the back of his father. The pup, stumbled for a bit but encouraged by Eythan's words of wisdom. Quickly, he found purchase in the gryphon's scruff. With a big grin on his face and his tongue lolling, Eli barked. "Fight!"

Oh look, his first word.

"WOOO-WEEEEE!" He hollered. Bubbly giggles of joy erupted from the happy little gemling. He was more or less unaware of what the adults were doing or how much danger he could be in if he fell, but this ride was really really fun!

"Ha! You're damn right, I wasn't complaining," He grinned. "In fact, I love a good challenge!" Aries dodged out of the way with swift leap and countered, lightly catching Eythan's hip with his horns. He made sure to go easy, only giving the gryphon soft shove, one that could send him stumbling back over the bones like he did.

"But seriously," Aries continued, using his thick skull like a shield. "What about the kid? You sure he'll be alright up there? If I hurt him it'll haunt me for the rest of my life." He was on guard now, his horns a barrier between him and Eythan. Hopefully the gryphon knew what he was doing, and Eli wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.

"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: @Eythan // OOC:

Eythan was most certainly sent stumbling back a few paces by Aries's horns, and found them standing as an imposing barrier between himself and the ram. His son had found purchase in his scruff (thankfully, otherwise there might be claws slicing through his skin now) and was having just a grand 'ol time. As such, the gryphon wasn't concerned. "He'll be fine, trust me," Eythan scoffed, eyes glinting mischievously, "I've got the greatest spatial awareness in the caves, Daredevil!"

As only a brief warning, his tail fanned out and he took a running leap at his sparring partner, leaping at the last moment with a swell of wings to --- get this --- casually punch Aries between the shoulders. It was a fairly light one given he could just stomp down on him, but this was a friendly bit of fighting. Besides, Eythan didn't particularly want to do anything too sudden and jarring, lest he throw his poor kid right off of himself.

This was meant to be fun, not dangerous.

@Aries

ELI
I CAN GO THE DISTANCE

Eythan must have jinxed him, or, more likely, Eli's front claws weren't entirely cat-like. Sure, he could rotate his wrists, but they had the vice grip of a baby chihuahua. Eli squealed as he slid off his father's coat in mid-flight, still grinning like an absolute madman.

It seemed as though Aries' warning was about too come true. Eli would break his fragile baby bird bones on well.. bones!

Then, a gust of wind hit and the little gemling opened his wings and soared. Up, and up, over their heads, and through the chambers the wind carried him. Only a few hours old, and he was already gliding like a pro-- well, that was an understatement. It was more like paper airplane-- or as the gembounds would recognize it-- a big leaf folded into an aerodynamic shape.

In laymen's term's, he had no control, and was headed straight for a wall.

@Eythan

"If you say so." Aries sighed. He kept his guard trained on Eythan, matching his movements as to not give him an opening. Then that sly gryphon did something unexpected. Well, actually it was expected, it just didn't click with Aries that he would use his wings. Once again, Eythan caught him off guard.

The ram braced himself to be kicked down into the bones, but was pleasantly surprised by a light tap between his shoulders. "Ooh! Nice move!" He graciously complimented. If it had been a real fight, that would have definitely screwed his leg. He was cringing internally though. That was a massive oversight he shouldn't have let slide, especially in front of Eythan. Aargh! I'm out of practice! It had been cycles since he did actual sparring against someone other than a rock. It was good thing he found a partner who could keep him on his toes.

But not this time!

Suddenly, a squeal from above grabbed his attention. It was Eythan son, and he was gliding away! Someone had to stop him before he crashed! Unfortunately that wasn't Aries. "OH! WOAH! HEY!." He cried out, bounding after Eli only to stumble on bones and fall face first.

"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: @Eythan // OOC: