Shape-Shifter: Tinar and Methiel's Story

After they'd arrived at the Aerd and spoken with a fellow Vuplyr named Noiku about their wishes-- well, after Tinar had spoken about his wishes, and made the suggestion that Methiel stand at one of the clutches, while she kept shyly quiet-- they'd been sent on their separate ways. Tinar was led away in an almost opposite direction by Noiku's big, black dragon, though Methiel wasn't concerned that she'd never find him again; she knew his mind well enough to track it down through the fairly simple upper levels of this place. Noiku himself, seemingly quite annoyed by the task, led Methiel down another corridor, silent and surly the whole time.

Finally, at a door, he stopped, and grunted, "In there. The women's candidate barracks." And, without another word, he stalked away, leaving Methiel to blink after him and wonder if he was that rude all the time, or if he simply had something against her, in specific... she wouldn't be surprised, honestly.

"Well, might as well make myself at home," she murmured to herself, hefting her small pack, and she opened the door without bothering to knock-- and stopped after doing so, realizing that the room beyond wasn't empty! Much to her embarrassment, there stood a young human woman wrapped only in a towel, her hair and body wet as if she'd just finished a bath.

"Oh," she said, looking away politely and turning her wide ears back in a fox's version of a blush. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize there was someone in here...."

"It's all right," the girl said with a nervous smile, clutching the towel around herself. "I just got here, myself. I'm Myrixi." The girl-- a Fleshshifter of some sort, by the magic-smell about her, Methiel thought as she moved into the room, shutting the door behind her-- bobbed a shallow little curtsey, which made Meth's tail swish with more embarrassment, but a little pleasure. At least it wasn't a poor welcome, no matter how the arrival had been!

"I'm Methiel," she answered warmly, smiling. "Are any of these beds still unclaimed?"

The girl, Myrixi, bobbed her head, looking briefly over the room-- which, now that Methiel did the same, looked pretty uninhabited. "All but this one," she replied, "I think I was the first to arrive... or something."

"Well, now you will not be alone," Methiel said, smiling and moving further into the room-- though not much further. She dropped her bag lightly onto the nearest bed to the door, the easiest one to reach and the one closest to the unsuffocating, if cold, skies outside, and dropped herself to sit beside it, taking in her solitary roommate's appearance with a glance. Myrixi had small, black eyes and shoulder-length, brown hair, currently plastered to her skull and olive-toned skin by excess water, as if she hadn't bothered to so much as dry off after leaving the tub. The thought of a bath was tempting, but making sure her roommate was comfortable with her took precedence.

The young lady blushed and rather hurriedly pulled on some clothes out from under her pillow-- it had to be hers, given she was supposed to be the only one here. Methiel wasn't sure whether to giggle or be embarrassed for the girl; she really didn't mind the lack of clothing-- Tinar was the same way, though Meth enjoyed the feel of fine fabrics on her fur-- but Myrixi either was nervous without them, or assumed she would be. Well, maybe some people would be. Methiel never claimed to be normal-- well, not to herself, anyway. Rather than giggling, though, she just hid a smile behind a dark-furred hand.

"No, I suppose not," Myrixi answered her comment as she slid the skirt on under the towel-- which, as she was still dripping wet, had to have been quite a feat. And not horribly comfortable, either.... "Did you just get here?"

"At the Aerd? Yes," Methiel nodded. "I was led in by a rather poor example of my kind-- I hope you got a nicer guide."

"Nice enough, I guess," Myrixi said with a shrug, tossing the now-unnecessary towel onto one of the posts at the foot of her bed. Something about that made the girl grimace, and Methiel blinked in mild surprise. Maybe not so nice, she thought, as Myrixi realized what expression her face had fallen into and-- rather like Methiel had a moment ago!-- hid it with a hand, as if the unpleasant face was embarrassing, in and of itself.

"Do you know," the girl tried again, "are all riders are so arrogant?"

"I haven't met very many, so I wouldn't know," Methiel admitted. "I hope not-- but," she added with a warm smile for Myrixi, "if you bond, I expect there will be at least one who is not." The compliment made Myrixi blush all over again, and Methiel suppressed the bubble of a giggle at the poor child. It certainly wouldn't win her points if she laughed at her, after all, and she wanted her stay to be as pleasant as possible, given that it would probably be a long one. Making sure her roommate wasn't going to scream at her or look down her nose at her would help that, she figured.

"Hey," Myrixi hurriedly said, with the charmingly desperate tone of one changing the subject, "have you seen the hatching chambers yet? I haven't-- we could go look together!"

"All right." The bath could wait. Besides, she's never seen dragon eggs before. It wasn't as if she expected she would end up bonding one; this was all Tinar's idea, since she obviously couldn't come on the Hunts with him. But still, it would be interesting. So, smiling, she rose, dusted off her own skirt-- her most expensive one, made entirely of layers of gauze; patches would hardly have impressed Noiku, and perhaps she would have been turned away on the spot-- and looked to Myrixi for guidance. "I hope you know where it is; I haven't seen much other than the passageway in."

"I know, I haven't been here very long, either," Myrixi said, taking a few steps towards Methiel and, consequently, the door. She shrugged and offered a tentative smile. "We can always ask someone."

"Then we'll just have to find someone nicer than a dragonrider," Methiel commented with a smile in return, and opened the door for her new roommate. This didn't seem like it would be too bad, not too bad at all. Even if she was forced to sleep apart from Tinar.