PRP ~ Pre-Travel Woes [Kara and Aria <3]

[Karakal5]

The heavy horse frowned, sticking his hip out to the side as he stared down at the pool of water before him, inspecting his reflection thoroughly, his long furred ears pinned back in disatisfaction as he rested his large hands on his hips. He didn't consider himself a terribly vain man for the most part, but having just had one of the residents of the lake call him 'chubbs' had left him with a vague sort of paranioa which had successfully stalled his afternoon stroll.

The eel was probably just looking for bit of a rise out of him, just poking a bit of fun.. And damn him, it had worked! Now he was unsure of himself once again, and right before he was set to travel away to see a good friend of his for some work.. It was not a good time to have a bit of a crisis considering his line of work, but there wasn't much he could do about it at this point.. Well, aside stand and stare at himself most critically! His brow furrowed all the more, and he flicked his long thick tail in annoyance at himself.

"You are a terrible, vain creature, Beaumont, and you really do yourself no favours by paying attention to people like that Mer.." He grumbled to himself, talking himself down from his own neurosis. It really was stupid of him.. If he didn't look right, he wouldn't continually be bothered for work, and that should have spoken for itself, really!  

[Aria Starstone]

Alleena was walking quietly down the path, carrying a small book she'd borrowed from the Shop library. She was on her way to return it, and really was not expecting anyone to be on this path. She never saw anyone else use it when she went along it, so when she heard the voice of another, she froze for a moment, startled. Her first thought was 'small girl, along in woods... Strange male... he must be looking for trouble!' and then she realized, as what he actually SAID processed through, that this was... actually pretty unlikely.

She inched forwards a little, peering around the bend in the path, to see who and what was over there. When she spotted the man besides the pool, she looked him over, thoughtfully. He was certainly handsome enough. Perhaps that was why he was calling himself vain? She was curious as to this Mer... She doubted it was Mercutio, the only Mer she knew of, but it was possible. However, what could THAT man say that would offend this fellow? Mer was more likely to compliment him, though he'd been less effusive in compliments since he met that... Lemur, she thought it was. She couldn't keep track of everyone!

After a moment of thought, she nodded and stepped out. "Ummm... Hello? Are you alright there?" She figured it was safe, and perhaps she could put his mind at ease. She held her book in front of her, none the less, almost like a shield.  

[Karakal5]

Normally so very alert and in-tune with all the little noises going on around him, the heavy horse had been so pre-occupied with his own outward musings that he had not heard the small female coming along the path.. Or approach him.. Not until she had spoken to him, and the result was rather more dramatic than he would have liked upon meeting a stranger- his ears has flicked right up in shock and with a windmilling flail of his arms he had leapt up into the air to spin and stare at the source of the noise, his head tilted rather dramatically to the side, his eyes wide and mouth slightly open.
That's what he got for being a prey animal, no matter how large and fit he was!

It took him a moment to bring himself down from his adrenaline high, frozen in his strange semi-crouch while his eyes quickly roamed over the very rouge, winged female who was observing him rather meekly, and despite those rather fearsome looking wings, he came to the conclusion that it was unlikely that she was really some sort of lion trying to eat him and at last exhaled the breath that he had been holding.
"Oh my.." He chuckled out, rather sheepishly, his voice distinctly male even though it had a lighter lilt to it, "My apologies, miss.. One appears to have been terribly distracted by one's rather demanding inner monologue! What a fool I have made of myself, I am quite well however, merely distracted by a rather off-colour comment from an aquaintance of mine, I do hope I did not startle you equally?" He offered by means of an apology, approaching her with a rather embarassed smile and offering her one of his hands.  

[Aria Starstone]

When he leapt and spin, she jumped back, bumping into a tree slightly. She froze for a moment, book held even tighter to her, like it could, some how, protect her, her fox ears going flat to her head, her wings half flaring in reaction. She stared, pressed against the tree, then slowly relaxed, realizing she had startled him, and in his reaction, startled her. What a chain had been created by her innocent words! She stood still, breathing for a moment, and forcibly relaxed herself. Her wings lowered and pressed gently to her back, her ears went forwards again, and she even loosened her grip on her book, ever so slightly.

"My apologies, I did not realize you were so deep in your personal reverie. I did not mean to startle you, sir. Though I was startled, it was my own fault for causing you to nigh jump out of your own skin." She studied his hand for a moment, almost as if unsure why he offered it, then smiled a little, shyly, and shifted her book so she could shake his hand. As she did so, she murmured "What sort of off colour comment could have a fellow like you all lost in your personal monologue? And who is this Mer of which you spoke? I know a Mer, but somehow it seems unlikely the one I know would say anything to have anyone upset? He likes complimenting people, especially pretty men." That last bit, she said with complete innocence, unaware that it was a comment that could cause strange and possibly embarrassing responses.