T E A L I T A

ooc|| Gin's not going to like this encounter too much...the fool. I would give anything to meet Tia...maybe...
And you'll find something worth Tay's time.
-whispers- I heard she plays with barbies. =3

Only a fool would continue to travel to places that displeased him. Yes, only fools were stupid enough to willing place themselves in predicaments in which they were unhappy. But Gin Evalith didn't consider himself to be a fool.

...What a fool.

This happened to be the second time he followed the advice of a drunkard. At least it was a different man. It was just too bad that Gin was the same person to follow the directions out to some godforsaken water pile. What was it with old men and their water piles? Did they not realize that water wasn't man's best friend? No, indeed it wasn't. Water was a fickle thing that changed its mood about as much as a woman. And that was exactly why he hated running into it. Gin wasn't at all partial to women. Hated them, actually. The only thing they were good for was: making trouble, making you mad, making a mess, and making babies.

And he found nothing good in the list above. Well, he wanted to see a nymph. And only the gods knew how much he wanted it to be a mute or something so he wouldn't have to hear her talk. Or him. Him talk. Taking a hold on a tree, he lowered himself to the ground and positioned himself on the bank of the river nicely. The wait wouldn't be that long. The old man said it was appearing a lot lately. Not that the creatures were rare...

Besides, it would become one of the many things he could boast about, but, eh, I disgress. He tried to hide the disgust on his face, but only succeeded in looking pained. No one was looking anyways.



ooc|| Sorry it's so short, I couldn't think of what to put. My replies should be longer. I should take rembling lessons from Twisteh. >____>;;

What was it with Tealitans around here?

Firstly, none of them seemed to swim. Or, at least, if they could, they made their excuses and then hurried off. Oh, it was alright to take in her cyan skin, but not to just spend a bit of time with her? After all, the nymphs, though not rare, did not surface as often as Tia, and usually frowned on her light hearted activities around other races. None of them would play with her as they had done as children; what was this growing up, they kept urging her to do?

And, for another thing, they all seemed so... boring. No interesting lives, no enthralling stories, nothing to captivate Tia. Again, it was a one way situation: they could be awed by her, but would not share their own worldly news and share their awe?

Hmph.

The list of her annoyance with the Tealitans at the time being went on, but I shan't bore you with the jumbled up thoughts of a bubbly naiad. Instead, let us leave her thoughts, and jump to her actions, as she sat upon a branch of a tree, lazily reclining against the trunk and swinging on leg over the bough, the other one draw up in an upside 'v' shape. A few moments ago, Asuka had been talking to her in earnest, sharing the gossip from Aeria; then, another dryad had beckoned her, and the two had slipped into the trees, leaving Tia above the river, bored out of her skull.

Her eyes closed, she took in the birdsong around her, a smile lifting at the corners of her mouth as she leant back against the tree trunk, inhaling the tangy scent of sap that the dryads always seemed to leave behind. With the water gently babbling over stones below, and the hum of the winter birds around her, Tia found herself lulled by the peaceful, winter's afternoon, her body cooling gently since she had last emerged herself in the water and warmed herself. Her eyes fluttering, she slipped off the branch, her mind drifting off into a sleep.

With a large splash, Tia found herself waking suddenly as she sank deeper into the river. Frustrated, she inhaled through the gills on her neck, her webbed feet scissoring the water as she kicked herself up. Feeling that a few acrobatics were called for, for there was nothing better she loved than gymnastics, she propelled herself out of the water, her arms pinned to her sides to keep her streamline. With a final push, she shot out of the water, her head arching back as her spine followed suit, her body arcing above the water, her arms snapping above her head to part the water before her head and torso entered with a splash, her feet kicking as she dragged herself down.

Sighing breathlessly, she leisurely swam to the surface of the river, raising herself up onto the surface of the water, where she wrung her vibrant hair out, shaking the damp rat tails over her shoulder. Running a hand over her neck, as was a lasting habit of hers, she turned, and gave a little squeak of surprise; her concentration interrupted, she dropped like a stone back into the water.

Flushing scarlet, she considered waiting underwater until the man left; after a while treading water below the surface, she knew she could not - what if this was a new playmate she had found? Slowly, and this time more gracefully, she swam back to the surface again, and pushed herself out of the water, sitting cross legged on its surface as though it were frozen, about two paces before the man, her head tipped on one side, her eyes blinking at him, intrigued.

ooc; haha. tay is such a barbie girl xD

and please don't do that. we may all die from the purple prose overload.

-grin- jk twist.

This post has been edited by Rialle Raeva on Jan 17 2007, 09:19 PM

ooc|| ...She seems like Dictator Barbie.
But, seriously, who makes a pregnant barbie? >___>;;
I dun mind reading all the reading it invovles.

Well, there was a jolt to his system. The drunken [explicit] was right after all. Nymphs. Fascinating creatures, even if the one before him was a woman. At least she didn't speak. Always a plus. Mute women were the only women he could stand, but the author's getting off topic already.

The first thing he did, when she appeared on the surface of the water was stand up. Eh, more like jump up. The commotion his one movement made could've been heard by everyone within a one mile radius. It wasn't that she surprised him or anything, he firmly believed. He was going to stand anyways, even if there seemed no reason to.

Right.

There wasn't much to say about her. Gin pretty much blocked all of her features out, starting from the color of her hair to the color of her skin to the color of her eyes. Nothing filtered into his mind. Course not. For if the information did register, then Gin would've found himself feeling feelings that were no longer right things to feel. Attraction? Pah! Only weak men felt such a thing. Lust? Pah-lease, the man's heart was as cold as stone. Infatuation? Couldn't tell you about that one. The word wasn't even in his vocabulary.

So, basically, he could've been staring at a stone wall for all the attention he paid her. Though, one thing was bugging him. Could the darned creature speak? Shrugging, he decided to say something.

"What in tarnation are you? Sitting on water like sumthin' unnartural?"



ooc|| I've never had a block this big until now. DD::

This post has been edited by Sanctuary on Jan 17 2007, 09:54 PM

ooc;; Hey, how come /you're/ allowed to say I ramble? xD
Sicari goes 'round to Tay's house with his dolls too, and they play Barbie and Ken together. :S
You better be jk. >> << >> << >>
Love y'all.
And that's not block. Believe me. That is /not/ block. [nodnod]
Yet.

yeah, yeah, i'll delete this laaater. <<

As she had resurfaced, she saw that the man who had been sitting when she had entered the water was now standing, and staring, rather rudely, at her. Shrugging the matter off (though not literally), she decided that this man must approve of staring, and so decided to take him in, as though she was viewing a pig at market.

Him being fairly tall, she had to tip her head right back to take him in, a trait that was already against him; she envied disliked particularly tall people, but, never one to instantly prejudice, she scanned her eyes over him again.

Brown as she was blue, he seemed to favour that colour, as he was garbed heavily in the shade. Rather drab, she thought; even the dryads had more sense of colour, and they were supposed to be the brown obsessed ones. His head looked like someone had spun it around, with the fuzz on the top of his head looking like stubble, and his beard looking like some erratic hairstyle.

Ooh, she would love to have a beard. She wondered what they were like - itchy? Warm? Attractive? Maybe she should think about growing one herself...

"What in tarnation are you? Sitting on water like sumthin' unnartural?"

A small snort escaped her as he dared to suggest that she, a being of nature, was unnatural. Instead, she turned it against him, the glint in her eye a hint of mischief, her lips teased into a cheeky grin. "Wha' in Eortha are you? Walkin' 'round so sloooowly lek a twee beastie."

A giggle warming her throat, she stood up on the water, the surface rising up slightly so it brought her up to his level, and smiled warmly. Her antics with water were not as skilful as those wonderful Magi, and she could only move what already existed a round a bit - nothing as creative as the sorcerers, who could create water in their palms.

"I'm a nymph, ain't I? An' I'm 'bout the least unnatural bein' you'll see," added she, her voice slightly haughty at the insult he had delivered her.

ooc|| I can say you ramble because it means I'm talking badly about you. Not you, me. Besides, I like it. I've told you that, Twist. =D
-would laugh at the sight of Sicari playing with pregnant barbie...-
And dun scare me with the word "yet"! DD::

"Wha' in Eortha are you? Walkin' 'round so sloooowly lek a twee beastie."

Well didn't the little...thing have an attitude. It was a simple question. Just a simple question to find out, at least, one of two things: if she could speak and what she was. There was no need for her to go and call him a "slow beast". Heck, there was no need for her to call him a "beast" in the first place. Gin was, in fact, a human, the most common and normal thing that walks on two legs. Andandand...he didn't have blue hair. Now that was unnatural.

Blue. How did hair even get blue?

Just as she was commenting silently on his attire, he hadn't missed hers. Blue...was everything she owned blue? The hair was blue; the top was blue. The stone set in her stomach was practically blue (he couldn't really tell from where he was standing).

Now, Gin was doing pretty alright so far. That fact that the woman had strangely colored hair and could sit on water didn't bother him as much as what she did next. Water...water was lifting her up. The stupid pile of water was acting as if it was being controlled, but the woman before him didn't seem to be a water mage. Surely such an arrogant fool as a mage would reveal her identity in a flash? Didn't all magic users wish to be known?

"I'm a nymph, ain't I? An' I'm 'bout the least unnatural bein' you'll see."

Oh, so the girl was the nymph. A rather cheeky one too. The old man he paid five copper pieces to actually led him someplace usual. No sudden death waiting for him here like last time. Nope. Just some weird water nymph acting a darned fool. Moving a hand absently to his pockets, he decided he should probably say something. There was no need to give her a reason to call him any other names.

"It's funny how women can't decide what they are or how they look without someone else's opinion. You think'd they'd do something with the brain sitting uselessly in their heads.

"And, I'm guessing I'll wander around here and see something more different than a wench with blue locks, standing on water?"

This post has been edited by Sanctuary on Jan 18 2007, 08:12 PM

ooc;

You have no idea how hard I laughed. I scared my parents, in the floor below, I was that... erratic with my laughing.

ooc||

Really hard.......?

I have creative genius! *YAY*

I make people laugh *YAY*

You're sometimes scary! *YAY*

Wait...WHO'S TALKING THROUGH ME AGAIN!?

Oh...never mind. That was just me calling you weird, Skye. =3

Well, that high - literally - and mighty - was he mighty? She didn't know - man didn't seemed to impressed by her capers. She was only teasing him, by calling him a beastie; after all, he had called her, a creature of nature, unnatural.

"It's funny how women can't decide what they are or how they look without someone else's opinion. You think'd they'd do something with the brain sitting uselessly in their heads."

Some people could be... such social rejects. Who on Tealita insulted a woman by calling her idiotic right in front of her? A fool, that's who.

"And, I'm guessing I'll wander around here and see something more different than a wench with blue locks, standing on water?"

Well, if he thought he was going to see an oread's cave, or swim to the bottom of the ocean with her, then he was muchly mistaken. She would not show him a pebble of her realm, and would certainly not be saving him if he fell in.

Jerk.

She was just about to disappear back into the water, when she paused; so, they had made a bad start. But... what if he turned out to be really nice? She could see it now, the two of them, exploring the caves, discovering new things together, her ability to breathe underwater meaning she could give them both air, meaning they could go to whatever depth they wanted to! She wouldn't be restricted to her pompous cousins, but swim with a human, and share her knowledge. What if he knew of fantastic places to swim as well? Oh, this could be so... fantastic!

Poor, naive Tia.

"Don' git much diff'runt than me, like," she joked, trying to turn around the cascade of insults he had thrown at her. "An' in case ye were wun-during, like, well, our brains be thinking up lots of stuff. Ye can't really know all 'bout the rivers o' the land, wivout doin' summat with yer brain, can ye?"

Could you? ...Damn, if you could, she was going to look mighty stupid. Let's hope that Gin would agree, or else pushing him in was looking mighty tempting. She was much more than a wench with blue hair; she was a vindictive wench with blue hair. Hey, she wasn't that unlike her cousins, the sirens.

This post has been edited by Rialle Raeva on Jan 18 2007, 09:06 PM

"Naive Tia" was dead on, if she thought Gin was up for anything that included swimming with her. No diving, no stone collecting, no flipping around llike an imbecile. Nothing, nada, zip. He was opposed to doing anything with her or anyone else of her gender. Now, what she could do was find him something to eat. All his stupid thoughts was making the man hungry.

Although, he didn't voice the thought aloud for the fact that the woman was about to leave him. Yes! He had seena nymph, resisted her ungodly nature, and...

Crap.

She was turning back around.

Didn't women ever know when to leave? He obviously was not thrilled by her company which leads one to wonder why he paid to come find her....but men are fickle things and are easily as moody as women.

"Don' git much diff'runt than me, like, an' in case ye were wun-during, like, well, our brains be thinking up lots of stuff. Ye can't really know all 'bout the rivers o' the land, wivout doin' summat with yer brain, can ye?"

What the-? Gin was pretty sure he had just insulted her, and yet...she was tossing it off like she wasn't offended in the least. How. Dumb. Could. You. Get?

Pretty dumb, Gin began thinking as he decided to sit down. And no, the figure did not sit down because he was becoming interested in her. His legs were hurting, that's all. But...maybe that wasn't all. He didn't seem inclined to insult her again. There was no point in it, if she was going to react that way again. It'd be a foolish thing to do, and Gin was no fool. So he simply shrugged his shoulders at her question and began to examine her more carefully. A disgusted look was still evident on his face, but it was softer as he took in the sight.

Gin might see her refusal to leave, and offhand manner of brushing the vituperation away as though she had not registered it as insulting, as the actions of a moronic fool, Tia did not see herself that way. She did not think that the ability to forgive, even if it was so quickly, was the actions of a cretin; they were more likely to take offence, even if they had not understood that they had been verbally assaulted, and pouted and sulked. She's your typical follower of the age old saying, to err is human; to forgive is divine. And y'know, doesn't really hurt to try and be divine, now and again.

And so, when the orderly decided to seat himself, she decided to forgive again, and seated herself on the water again, her toes wriggling against the water surface, sending tiny circles of ripples lazily drifting to the bank. His expression softened, causing hers to warm considerable, as she said, in a chirpy manner, "I'm Tia, like," adding her usual ending of 'like' which irritated all those who didn't follow that annoying custom. Still, you can't blame accents and upbringing.

"You's in them Guilds, hey?" asked she, tipping her head on one side so that her blue hair cascaded down one shoulder, as a waterfall might do over a series of boulders and rocks; some of her hair, due to a mixture of static and it being damp, clung to her back and shoulders, something she was quite sure waterfalls didn't do. Running her palm over her face, she yawned gently, covering her mouth with her hand as she did so, grinning apologetically afterwards.

Beneath the small grassy overhang the bank created were two beady, black eyes, and a tiny, brown snout poking out through the water, clinging onto the little ledge below the miniature cliff. Tia threw her companion a brief look, a smile dancing on her lips, before returning her gaze to Gin. Takoda had, meanwhile, slipped underwater, for he had understood the look he had been shot: go away, I'm busy with friends.

Psh. Like his mistress had friends. None of the Walkers stayed to become Swimmers, not like the blue skinned Swimmers that met with his mistress sometimes. Even the Swimmers who were not Swimmers, but smelt of trees and of rocks did not stay long. The Walkers, and especially the Walkers who smelt of Flying, never liked swimming. His mistress existed on pleading, whinging, pouting, whining and flattery.

<insert vicious slapping of nasty rodent here>

There was absolutely nothing wrong with trying to be divine, unless it was for selfish reasons. In fact, most people would have admired someone like Tia for striving to better herself. The extra effort put into forgiving would not have gone unnoticed if it had been any other person sitting before her. Now, the man was looking at her with a condsierably nicer expression on his face than a few seconds ago which meant he must've appreciated her kindness to some degree. It also seemed to help that she wasn't yelling or throwing a hissy fit. All his nastiness got was a warm aura around the woman and a name. Her name to be specific.

Tia.

Very short. Then again, Gin didn't have room to talk. The introduction was warm, and even though the added word at the end of her statement wasn't well recieved, it didn't bother him much. His parents were no where near royals in they way that had spoken, so he did not grow up with high expectations in the speech department. Most of the people he stayed with had accents thicker than hers and habits considerably more annoying. Smiling slightly, he responded with his own name and an answer to the question she posed last. Seeing as she had done nothing wrong so far, Gin was willing to part with the information.

"Pleasure to meet you. Name's Gin," he said, his gaze turning to the direction Tia looked. He identified the thing on the mini cliff as a rat and then completed his statement. "I'm from the Magi Guild, and you?"

Politeness, though rare in his case, it did come. For if he was some evil brute, then no one would bother to associate themselves with him, and that would do nothing to benefit him. It would however, leave him homeless and perhaps dead. Never a wonderful combo. He crossed his legs and leaned back against the tree. There seemed no reason to ruch the meeting, at least, for the moment.

Takoda could not speak the language of the Walkers. He could just about understand his mistress talking, but her commanders included the vocal tone and gestures he needed to show him fully what she wanted him to do. Too many Walkers had forgotten about the vital need to gesticulate, and just droned on in their monotonous manner. Of course, the rodent was slightly biased when it came to tone of voice; what he saw as monotonous was often not, but, being brought up by Tia wide vocal range, he considered subtle changes of voice as no change at all.

This bulky male was much like every other Walker he had come across: boring, boring, boring. And so, with the playful mind that echoed his mistress' so accurately, he had swam through the water, hugging to the bank that Gin was sitting on so that he would not notice, and slipped through the holes he had dug into the bank as his hiding spots. Time to see if this Walker was a Screamer.

"Pleasure to meet you. Name's Gin. I'm from the Magi Guild, and you?"

Wait, had she just hallucinated, or something? Puzzlement slipped over her face for a moment; had this Gin not been insulting her about five minutes previous? Or was that some strange, sap-sniffing induced dream...?

"Ranger, ain't I?" she replied, slightly cautiously, but still a cheerful as ever. "Yous one of 'em magic ones, then?" asked she curiously. Ohohoh what if he was one of those Water Magi? Then he could probably hold his breath for longer than most - or even breathe underwater! Deities, yes! Thenthenthen they could swim together. Oh, she knew this was a good day to be meeting new, potential friends.

"Ranger, ain't I?"

Ah, she was one of them tree-hugging sissies. There went Gin's opinion of her. If there was one Guild he disliked the most, it was probably the Rangers. No backbones, or so he thought. They might as well walk around with loin cloths and call themselves hippies for all the good they were. He wondered if any of the pacifists knew what a sword was. Very few if any. Weren't they all "fighting is bad"? Pah. Only idiots thought they could avoid the power that strength gave man. Not that...he thought Rangers were idiots or anything.

>_____>;;

Then...was that stupid rat her animal? Figures that the woman would choose a useless one when there were so many stronger ones to choose. Though, no creature was useful enough to be of any aid to him. His dislike of furry and scaly and feathery things was intense. He wasn't one to scream, but he'd more than likely try to kill it. So it was probably a good thing he couldn't see Takoda. For the moment, the rat was safe from his wrath. Gin watched as confusion fell on the nymph's face. Perhaps he should've continued to be nasty? Then she wouldn't have been surprised by the sudden change in his demeanor. But, ah, it was too late for that.

"Yous one of 'em magic ones, then?"

Magic ones? Not quite. Gin didn't exhibit control over the elements or anything fancy like that. No, maybe once the water or air obeyed him, but never fire or earth. The fickle things did not find it in their interest to do as he willed. Stupid elements.

"I am, but do not expect me to perform those parlor tricks of their's. I am the physical strength of the Magi."

Anyways, he didn't want to be caught with a dopey look of satisfaction when he- I don't know- set something on fire. It was a silly look to make, and he wanted no part in the silly-making. Besides, powers were for those who could not excel in anything physical.

This post has been edited by Sanctuary on Jan 20 2007, 09:35 PM

"I am, but do not expect me to perform those parlor tricks of their's. I am the physical strength of the Magi."

Well, that was no fun! What was the point of being a Magi if you couldn't perform... What had he called it? Parlour tricks? Hmph. That was just mean; physical strength wasn't nearly as entertaining as pretty tricks with fire and water and ice (though she leaned towards preferring the ice and water tricks, fire not really complimenting her aquatic nature). Physical strength was just... Well, it was all fighting, wasn't it? Punching, kicking and stabbing: what was amusing about that?

Still, she always had Kodie to help make this man into an entertainer.

The rat poked out from a hollow under a tree behind the Walker, his nose gently sniffing out the air, shaking his wet coat of the Wet and Damp he had picked up in his burrowing. Darting forwards, his tiny claws scratching the grass below him, he paused directly behind the Magic Walker, sitting upright as he surveyed the mountain of neutral cloth before him, wondering what was the best option. His nose scrunching up in thought, he tipped his furry head on one side, before making his choice.

Tia had not noticed her companion emerging from the ground, and did not know that he sat behind the orderly, for the rat had taken a path that kept him hidden behind Gin the entire time. And so, as a consequence, Tia had no idea what her rat was plotting, and was quite oblivious that the scene could become disastrous within heartbeats. Not that she cared what Takoda got up to nowadays; he was a free spirit, and had matured enough to learn that there was a limit on practical jokes.

The Walker's over-skin was hanging open at the back; that was the best option, he felt. The over-skin was like what his mistress wore, only it was brown, and bigger; its size was not a problem, more a blessing (though to Kodie alone). With agility, the rat scrambled quickly up the Walker's back, between the fleshy under-skin and the over-skin; he did not want to hurt the Walker, for the Walker may then hurt him, so he dug his claws into the over-skin, as he knew this did not hurt from his experience with his mistress.

And if a warm, furry presence scurrying about under his shirt didn't scare Gin, then that man was braver than both rat and nymph had first assumed.

This post has been edited by Rialle Raeva on Feb 11 2007, 06:34 PM

There was a lot of fun in avoiding parlor tricks. Well, fun for those who enjoyed punching the lights out of someone or liked the sight of blood. No, Gin didn't long to see someone bleeding on the ground, but that was not to say it didn't make him laugh. Especially drunks. They were a hoot. The stumbling and cursing all added to the delight fun of seeming them struggle to get up.

How Gin had gotten on to those thoughts, he wasn't sure. What he was sure of, though, was that something was shaking his shirt. Something fat and furry, he could tell as it passed over his back. His reaction was one of someone who was never surprised or irritated. His face kept the same almost grimace of dislike it held before, and his eyes gave away nothing of what was going on inside. What was going on inside? He was mad as haell! The animal crawling up his shirt was going to find itself skinned and chopped into a thousand pieces!

Had he been alone, the expression on his face would've changed from angry to scared to irritated to bored to freaking ticked off. The last one being a frequent visitor. And, had he been alone, Gin would've hopped up and commenced an array of attacks on his back, one consisting of slamming himself into a tree and cutting a thousand holes in his shirt. But, fortunately for Takoda, Gin wasn't alone, and it was even better that a woman was in his presence. It went against his pride to act a fool in front of foolish creatures.

But...he did have that knife. Gin leaned back against the tree once, hoping it'd get the fiend to stop, and then began to pull out a small knife on his person. Quite suddenly, though, his eyes flickered to the previous perched of the Ranger's rat. Empty. So, was the beast her's? Ah, it would do him no good to kill her companion, so he leaned forward again and tried to grab at the rat, keeping his knife out in case it happened he was mistaken.

"If you find it funny to set your rat on me, then you are mistaken. Call him back or he will not live to see another day," he placed the threatr carefully, but his shaking voice ruined any pretense of clam he had kept up. His own ears had heard the shaking of his notes and the desperation underlying his tone.

What a funny Walker. He didn't scream, or even seem to acknowledge the presence of the water rat, whom nudged the Walker's back with his short, rounded nose, his whiskers brushing against bare skin. Indeed, the Walker seemed only to continue to talk in his rumbling voice that made no sense to him; how was he to know that he was the topic of conversation, and his life was in danger? So the rat continued to scurry up underneath the overskin, delighted but bemused.

"You find it funny to set your rat on me, then you are mistaken. Call him back or he will not live to see another day."

And then, after the rumbling voice had finished speaking, Takoda heard the gentle voice of his Swimmer Mistress, and perked up. Mistress never usually spoke when he was busy scaring; she never had done before, so what did this mean? Wriggling up to the Walker's shoulder, he poked his blunt nose out of the collar of his shirt, his beady eyes fixed on Mistress, giving her a confused look. What was Mistress wanting? He saw her one of the fingers on her paw curve round, rolling towards her; she was beckoning him. Confusion now met irritation; he had not yet made the Walker scream, so why was he being called?

"I wasn' settin' 'im on yous," Tia replied in an offended tone, and beckoned to Takoda as she saw his head peep out of Gin's shirt. The rat complied, and squirmed out of the shirt, half scampering, half falling into Gin's lap, his tiny claws snagging at cloth before he scurried over to the naiad. Tia expected him to stop before her on the bank, but instead he practically threw himself into the water to the left of her, diving instantly, still sulking at having his fun ruined.

Eyeing Gin with a hostile glance, blaming him for her companion's behaviour, she folded her arms, a scowl set onto her vivid cyan face. "Kodie's a free spirit, like. 'E does wot 'e wants, when 'e want it, don' 'e?" Her glower subsided slightly as she glanced down at the ripples Takoda had caused, watching them slowly disperse. "My sincerest apologies if 'e caused yous any 'arm, mister. But 'e was on'y playin' like, wasn' 'e? No need ter get all huffy." So as to counter any hypocrisy, Tia stopped scowling, and unfolded her arms, tipping her head to the side as she conveyed him with a sudden curiosity; she had never seen this calm, measured reaction from someone who had been assaulted by her rat, and though she was highly protective of him and didn't take kindly to threats, her acquisitive nature prevailed, and she was struck by a longing to know why Gin was so calm, yet so obviously angered.

Well, c'mon, it was just a joke, wasn't it?

ooc; shoot me D: i am so sorry for my procrastination -begs forgiveness-

ooc; Please don't expect anything matching your length.

"I wasn' settin' 'im on yous."

Oh, phooey, next she'd be saying that her hair wasn't blue ((he's been obsessing over it)) or that water was dry. Baloney, all of it. She had definitely set her rat on him in hopes of scaring him into...into doing something! Oh, she wasn't as tricksty as she thought. Tia had nothing on him. Gin could see something coming from a mile away and knew, without a doubt, that the fur-ball was all her idea. ALL her idea.

At least she called him off. Oh how his hands itched to chop the vermin in half! Just one flick of the wrist and some carving...the ants would be feasting, but, alas, Gin still had senses about him. It didn't seem polite to cut up a Ranger's companion. In fact, it didn't seem that practical either, what with them all lovey-dovey with animals. He didn't want to stir up some hidden blood lust or anything. Best to just hold it in.

"My sincerest apologies if 'e caused yous any 'arm, mister. But 'e was on'y playin' like, wasn' 'e? No need ter get all huffy."

Ah, what did women know? Absolutely nothing. As stated in a post somewhere else, there were only a few things women were good at. He didn't need some half-thought out lecture about how to handle an animal sneaking up his shirt. In fact, he didn't need the stupid look she was giving him as if the fault was in him. As if! Gin had no faults that anyone could accuse him of. None at all. If she wanted to know why he was so calm, it wasn't that hard to find out or explain. Composure was the key. And while Gin lacked the finer points of it, he could still hold himself together in situations that made him uncomfortable ((which is why he gets the nice title in the announcement box =D)). Sure his dislike of animals was strong, but it didn't mean he needed to let out a high-pitched scream and dance around like a fool. No siree.

"I can react in any way I please, Miss Tia. Keep your rat away from me or next time the biggest piece of him left will be an ear."

No need to let on that Gin couldn't actually do all that cutting before Tia would launch herself onto him, but the thought of being able to was nice.

It was the only thought that was nice. He was becoming irritated and bored. Was that all nymphs could do? Talk and play with rats? Three year old humans could do that too, but you didn't see Gin seeking their company. As a signal to Tia that the whole situation was becoming a bore, he began to get to his feet. Maybe it'd get her to do some tricks. Maybe a flip or two...

Ah. Didn't seem as though the Mage was reacting too well to her last comments. Tia didn't mind all that much; she had long since given up the notion that he might prove to be her new playmate. The only reason why she was still spending time with him because he fascinated her; truly, truly fascinated her. He was so arrogant, so unimpressed - he was like no-one she had ever encountered before, so she was damned if he was going to slip away before she found a why for everything he had done. Why was he so confident? What about her interested him to keep him there?

"I can react in any way I please, Miss Tia. Keep your rat away from me or next time the biggest piece of him left will be an ear."

Fascination gone, Tia rose at the same time that Gin did. He had threatened her rat before, but that was different; that was when Takoda had been rummaging inside his shirt. This warning did not come as a result of wanting the rat out of his shirt; he was threatening the water rat so that it did not happen again, and by admonishing Takoda before he had chance to repeat his actions, he had insulted her.

The water below her feet froze suddenly, an imperfect ellipse of ice keeping her standing; true, she could stand on water whilst it was liquid, but chilling the water kept her up even if she became so enraged she accidentally forgot to support herself, as well as adding drama to her stance. "Look 'ere, mister," she began, taking a step towards the bank, the water before her freezing before her foot went down; behind her, the ice which she had stepped off boiled with the fury that was filling Tia, steam rising off the surface.

"You don' threa'en my Kodie," continued she, her face contorted into a scowl of such depth that Tia would have been shocked had she caught sight of herself in the water; she never angered like so, but she had allowed rage to creep up on her, and it had her in his tight hold, and was not letting go. She was, quite literally, no longer in control. "You never, ever threa'en my Kodie."

Stepping off the icy platform onto the grassy bank, the water quickly melted behind her, bubbling and hissing as steam rose off it. Whilst aware that all she had were a few tricks designed to scare more to harm -- her abilities with the water only involved shifting the molecules around, nothing as powerful as the great Magi could perform -- she did not fear any weapons he might wield... at least, not yet. For the moment, her protection of her beloved friend came first. "An' if I catch you raisin' your swor' to 'im," she adding, her voice rising, her stance offencive as she stopped just before him. "I'll mek sure tha' wha'ever you do ter 'im, I'll unleash 'pon you tenfol'." Her voice dropped to a hushed warning as the water behind her gave a terrific splutter as the boiling reached its peak. The steam was rolling in from the river, turning the mist as Tia's anger subsided; her anger was cooling, and therefore so was the steam, turning it to low lying mist that surrounded their lower legs. The river slowly stopped bubbling, giving the odd splutter to remind Gin that it was only lying dormant, not extinct, as it settled down.

Blah blah blah...some sort of half-brained threats from some ditsy woman. First she went from almost pleasantly surveying him to yelling in some godforsaken tone. He watched silently as she rose from her sitting position. One little warning had set her off within seconds. But any ferocity her actions held was almost killed by her repetition of the same line. Over and over and over again. Only twice, actually, but she seemed to dronw on and on and on and on.

"You never, ever threa'en my Kodie."

The stupid vermin deserved whatever Gin had said, and he saw himself entirely in the right. No creature- especially one owned by some flea-bitten Ranger- was going to do as it pleased on his body. No scurrying, no climbing, no licking, no relieving themselves, no nothing. The man wouldn't stand it, and Tia wasn't going to change his mind or tone. His eyes watched in a detached way as the water below her feet froze as if she was a hag. Witch, same difference. But...they held a different look as the water began to boil from the heat of the nymph's anger. Slight fear bubbled. Not enough to make Gin repent, but enough to ask questions. How strong was her control over water? How far could he push her until she tried anything? It was one thing to fight someone. It was a whole other matter to fight someone that controlled a lick of magic. Besides, only monsters attacked women. Well...women who didn't strike them first in more than a slap...if only he could bend the rules, he thought, rubbing his cheek absently.

"An' if I catch you raisin' your swor' to 'im, I'll mek sure tha' wha'ever you do ter 'im, I'll unleash 'pon you tenfol'."

Now who's threatening who? For one who was so indignant about a threat to her rat she had some nerve to threaten someone of more importance. He was a human and therefore he deserved more respect than the bundle of fur who started the mess. What was the nymph's problem anyways? Did she want some sort of apology? Pah, ridiculous! There was no way in the world he would try to sooth some stranger's passionate anger.

"Then I apologize for speaking rashly and rudely. I phrased my dislike in the wrong way, but do not discard my warning, Tia, for even though my threat was improbable, it was not made in jest." Ah, so much for holding out. It was pure self-control that allowed him to get the words out. It hadn't been a proper apology, but she'd just have to deal with what she got.

He breathed and stroked the short strands of hair on his face, keeping his anger down. Let it simmer if it wished, but he would not NOT throw a fit and lower himself to her level. Spurting water. Oh, how the woman was infuriating him. How she tried his patience and pulled on his control. It wasn't in Gin's nature to take anything without complaint and fair warnings. Tia was only lucky.