People Watching

[Calico]

It was a warm, slow day in the Blue Pegasus guild hall. Kayoko was sleeping in for a change, so the late morning was rather boring. But Calico didn’t exactly like interacting with the guild members. Even Elrowan who was trying to win her over with food and overly obnoxious declarations. She supposed it was charming in a way, but she was still wary.

So to pass the time, she’d gotten dressed. She was wearing a knee length blue skirt which allowed her tail free movement as long as she didn’t raise it up high. She also wore a white, sleeveless blouse, with a teal jacket over that. The jacket was a light and thin weave so she didn’t overheat. She wasn’t wearing shoes, but did have white socks on.

She was laying on a section of the bar that wasn’t being used, watching people as they came and went. She was silent, not replying when addressed. This had been a common thing in the weeks since her joining. Kayoko had scolded her a couple times for it but she apparently didn’t care. Her head rested on one arm, both ears occasionally twitching. Her tail would move once in awhile as golden orbs scanned the area.

[Eidan]

Eidan flipped through the pages of his journal as he walked towards Blue Pegasus, wondering whether or not he should write a small entry. His birthday had already passed last week, and he hadn't done anything since then. However, was there much to even write about? No one handed him a gift, no one wished him happy birthday, nothing. It was just him on a small bench, admiring nature the entire day. Although he enjoyed solitude, and was rather uncomfortable around people, he was still human. Humans were social beings, no matter how much they tried to deny it. Even...even a small pat on the back would have been good for him.

The teen released a small sigh and stared dejectedly at the ground. He didn't have not have anyone, though. There was still his grandmother...but, she could barely remember who he was. Only on a few occasions did she reminisce about her "grandson" and how he was such a good boy. Not once did she recognize Eidan as that "good boy." Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks with his golden-orange eyes aimed towards a pair of large brown doors. Apparently, being caught up in your thoughts can really pass the time. It barely felt like five minutes passed before he reached his guild's doors.

Eidan took in a deep breath and then pushed open the double doors, revealing the guild hall and all who were within it. A few people turned to look at the entrance, wondering who came in, but looked away after noticing it was only Eid. The boy held his journal close to him as he walked into the building, and didn't stop until he reached an empty table. It was there he took his seat and unconsciously let his eyes wander around. Eventually, they landed on a girl with...cat ears. Eidan's eyes stayed fix on the girl for a few moments. His eyebrows slowly went up in confusion and surprise, but by then he was already looking away.

He didn't want to be caught staring...that would just be rude.

[Calico]

Calico was bored just sitting there. But there was nothing interesting going on that she could tell. And she was too lazy to go find something to. It was a perplexing problem that Calico often faced. Though, it was solved for her when the doors to the guild hall opened. Golden eyes shifted to a boy that looked about her age. She kind of liked how he looked, thought was more of a back of the mind kind of thought.

She watched him move, seeming to look rather sad when people looked away. In her opinion he should be happy. If people weren’t looking at him, they weren’t likely to turn around and stab him. Or otherwise harm him. She continued watching as he took his seat at the table, noting the book he carried with him. He hugged it like it was important to him.

Then he looked at her. Impassive gold orbs gazed back, but she couldn’t help but feel a little strange. He didn’t look at her in fear or anger as others had at first. Rather, he seemed unsure if what he was looking at was real. But then he looked away, and Calico’s mind clicked. He was shy! She could handle shy no problem.

So she sat up and pushed herself off the countertop, landing with a cat like grace. Then she padded over to him calmly, though hesitantly. Kayoko, and to a lesser extent Elrowan, had insisted she be part of the guild more. Well Elrowan did so in his own, insane way. And this boy was her own age… ish. That she knew of. And he was most likely part of the guild judging by how he just strolled in and sat down.

“Lonely boy looked like he wanted to say something to Calico. Calico greets attempting to be friendly,” Her voice turned monotone when she narrated what she said. She gave him a smile, trying to force herself to social on her own was harder than she thought. She’d have to forgive Kayoko. A little. Just a little. Her tail slowly moved back and forth, probably the only indication she gave that she was nervous. Her ears were turned, focusing on Eidan.

[Eidan]

His ears managed to pick up the sound of footsteps, and he looked up as a result. To his surprise, it was the girl with cat ears coming towards him. Did she notice him staring? At the thought, he became tense. Idiot. He shouldn't have done it in the first place. Eidan refused to make eye contact with the cat girl, being busy with his internal scoldings. However, he didn't miss her peculiar speech pattern. She was speaking in third person...which was definitely weird. Was that normal for some people though? He wasn't very sure. Finally, the teen glanced at Calico and could only feel slightly uncomfortable as he did so. After all, socializing wasn't his forte.

Fortunately, her smile comforted him somewhat. It reminded him of his encounter with Vidrio, and how kind the man was to him. That thought alone was enough to help him feel relaxed, although only slightly.
"D-did I?" he questioned in his normally soft tone, "I didn't notice..." Eidan then unconsciously pulled his journal even closer to his chest. It almost looked like some sort of life line for him. Actually, it was in a way, since he wrote down all his thoughts and what he felt into the journal. There were some pages that even held meaningful stories and sketches. He really didn't know what he'd do without it.

Eidan shifted anxiously in his seat and held his head down. He should probably introduce himself soon, since the girl sort of gave him her name already.
"...I'm E-E-Eid..." he stammered before taking in a deep breath, "Eidan." His cheeks became pink quickly afterwards. He couldn't even say his name properly without stuttering...

[Calico]

As expected he tried to dodge away from talking her without actually running. Well, that didn’t bother Calico any. She knew it took time for shy people to open up to new people. But he had seemed interested in her at any rate, so she wasn’t going to just leave. She couldn’t explain the interest she had in him. Though she was willing to chalk it up to the fact that he acted similar to Kayoko, so he was more comfortable to approach.

“Calico is Calico. Calico introduces herself properly,” Calico said and took the edges of her skirt and doing a courtsey. Blue Pegasus did have a refined image, and Calico had been taught that was a good way to greet people when you wanted them to not attack you. She noticed how he clung to the journal even tighter and stared at it curiously for a second.

“Eidan doesn’t have to worry. Calico reassures Eidan with a soothing voice,” Which wasn’t soothing when she narrated herself. But it was the effort that counted, right? She tried to keep smiling, though that was hard when she wasn’t happy. She wasn’t upset, but she was more curious than happy right then. “Calico doesn’t bite unless bitten first. Calico offered sincerely.”

“So… Calico begins uncertainly,” She stopped and blinked curiously at him. It occurred to her finally that she didn’t know what she had planned to talk about when she showed up. So now she was suddenly self conscious. “Uhm…. C-Calico saw how surprised Eidan looked and… Calico’s ears and tail are real. Calico says quietly as she trips over her own words.”

[Eidan]

"N-nice to meet you C-Calico..." he mumbled, wondering why she curtsied while introducing herself. He disregarded the thought, though, once he remembered how proper and "fancy" most Blue Pegasus mages were. He considered getting up to bow himself, but quickly threw that idea out the window. He'd most likely mess it up somehow, wouldn't he? So, Eidan remained in his seat and stayed quiet as Calico continued to talk. At her attempt to reassure him, he forced a tiny smile onto his lips, a bit happy she was trying to help him feel at ease. In fact, the way she narrated everything she said was kind of amusing...

Once Calico brought up her ears and tail being real, well, Eidan could only blink, feeling slightly astonished. He had never known it was possible for a human to have animal ears. From that, he could only question if somewhere in the world, there was someone with dogs ears. Or even mouse ears? ...Okay, maybe he was getting ridiculous.
"...You l-look like a small kitten..." he commented innocently with a less strained smile. But, Eidan immediately began to panic after registering what he just came out his mouth. "T-that's not a bad thing, though. Kittens are nice and...c-cuddly...? I mean...uh...I-I..." And just like that, Eidan returned to the comfort of silence.

Under his breath, he began to mumble incoherent words. If one were to listen closely, some of the words were similar to "stupid" or "idiot."

[Calico]

When the compliments came from Eidan, Calico felt her face go warm. Her initial reaction was a wide eyed, surprised stare as he looked away. His compliment stirred up feelings she couldn’t explain, and it confused her. Her tail swished back and forth as she continued staring and trying to piece things together. Before then, the only people to call her anything nice were Kayoko and the servants that worked for Kayoko’s family. And Calico was sure they only did so because they were told to.

Her ears focused on Eidan when he started whispering to himself. Unfortunately for him, she could hear what he was saying about himself. This made her frown as she placed her hands on her hips. How could someone so nice think so lowly of himself. Kayoko was simply afraid of other people. This was something else entirely. She didn’t know what it was, or how to deal with it, but she wasn’t about to let him beat himself up for complimenting her.

“Eidan isn’t stupid or bad, Calico scolds in a firm voice,” She said leaning forward slightly. Her gaze and tone softened as she looked to the side. Her usual stubborn side was starting to shine through even though she was still blushing. “C-calico can hear what Eidan is muttering. Calico wasn’t insulted until Eidan called Eidan bad things for being nice to Calico. Eidan should be proud to be nice. Calico chastises in a soft tone.”

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