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Post by The Jenn on Feb 15, 2009 19:53:46 GMT -5
Valeny didn't notice any changes in his expression, too busy smoothing one of the flower's petals between two of her toes to look up until an entirely different voice sliced through the air like a razor. Her head snapped up and she nearly dropped the flower in surprise. That was the kind of voice she'd been trained to respond to as a Leveret. Her ears flicked back in a half-subservient gesture and she went back down on all fours, careful not to injure the flower in the process.
Another Highlander... and this one looked like a Doe. A young Doe, to be sure. Probably one born to the warren. And then she remembered Aleah discussing the siblings that had been born in his litter, and she wondered if this was his full-sister.
The snapping whine in the girl's voice made her ears go back even further. She wasn't one to cower, but she certainly made herself smaller. "My name is Valeny, Miss Aisha. I'm new to the warren as of a week ago."
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Post by Nako on Mar 2, 2009 22:13:20 GMT -5
Aisha's expression twisted into a sneer at the leveret, noting the typical prostration that was notable of leverets that took the position of their place of all fours. Generally Aisha was not one to lord over leverets; she never saw much need for it as a piece of property herself, but in her anger it was something of a appeasement to see such submission.
"A week ago? You've certainly been making yourself scarce. Have you been working at all?" Obviously not, if she'd been masquerading with her useless, handicapped brother.
"She has been working quite hard, if your bathing quarters is to be of any evidence."
Aisha did a double take. There was a certain.. tone of authority to the meek and subservient Aleah's voice that was completely uncharacteristic. "I beg your pardon?"
Aleah, standing stark and tense, had positioned himself to be partially between the two females. Blue eyes wide, ears positioned oddly back and outward with a conflict of aggression and submission, his gaze averted to the ground. "Valeny has proved to be a very industrious worker, Lady Aisha. I... hope that the Doe's bathing quarters will be more to your satisfaction."
Aisha though, was still staring at him oddly. What had this leveret demon done to her brother? Quickly, she smoothed down her fur in one swift shake of her pelt, clearing her throat before regarding the leveret again. "Valeny, huh?" She inquired, as if she hadn't really heard the name until her brother had spoken it.
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 2, 2009 22:27:55 GMT -5
Valeny's eyes flicked back and forth between the Doe and Aleah, her ears sinking lower and her paws curling in embarrassment into the soft dirt beneath them. This was no ordinary Doe doubting her work ethic. This was a Highland Doe. A beautiful Highland Doe. The daughter of her new Jack. The sister of her new friend. It made her want to sink into the floor as nothing else had the entire week. Someone like this girl had the power to take her spirit and beat it to a pulp if she so chose, which... apparently she did.
"Yes, Lady Aisha," she whispered in an uncharacteristically quiet tone. What was Aleah doing? Could he get away with this? The bonds of family may have been strong for them, but had they really been raised so closely with their different ranks that he could afford to speak up on her behalf?
He deflected the situation well, though. Maybe that was the kind of skill that came from truly belonging to a warren as its long-standing Leveret. He knew which buttons to push to diffuse some of the Doe's anger. Could he do that for all of the Does? For their Jack, to an extent? She wanted to learn... it seemed a very smart, prudent thing to know.
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Post by Nako on Mar 2, 2009 22:46:00 GMT -5
"Miss Aisha.. Lady Aisha.. You changed it. Why did you? Is it because -he- called me that? Which do you think is right? He might be wrong." Aisha continued to stare at the leveret with an even, unwavering stare. She might have continued this for an indeterminable amount of time had Aleah not spoken up again. "Valeny is very excited to be working in this warren. Being in a Highland warren is a great honor." The low tone had turned to a more frantic tone as he tried to keep himself between the two, but Aisha was inching closer, her claws protruding as she stretched them casually. "Please, Lady Aisha I beg you! She's not used to you!" Aisha turned her head so sharply that she was nose to nose with the male leveret. "Not used to me? What is there to be used to?" Aisha's low growl arched up to a petulant tone. :What, Aleah? That I'm a -Doe- "Aleah opened his mouth. It was obvious that whatever was on his tongue was something he was -not- supposed to say. His eyes narrowed and he let out a miserable sigh. "Lady Aisha... the Czar would not approve." Oh yes, the 'I'll tell Daddy' approach. Well, when one was a leveret you'd use whatever was in your arsenal to get by. Aisha drew in a sharp breath, as much from fear of the threat as it was anger. After a moment, she let it out in a snort before looking at the new leveret once more. "I may call upon you, Valeny. I hope your capacity for work is what Aleah boasts it to be." And with that, she stormed back into the warren with what was intact of her pride.
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 2, 2009 22:56:12 GMT -5
Valeny stared at the young Doe, aghast and uncertain as to how she might pacify her. She'd seen Does throw tantrums before - you couldn't live in a warren without seeing at least one - but they had never been directed at her! She couldn't force a word past the tightening in her throat fast enough and Aleah spoke up in her defense once again.
Even he sounded frazzled this time, and with a Doe in a full snit-fit, she could certainly understand why. The dynamic going on between the two of them was something she couldn't understand, even though she could see something beneath the surface. It was too murky and she didn't have the background on the people or the situation. Her ears moved to the most submissive position possible as the Doe turned her temper back in full once more, and then held very still as the girl stalked off. It seemed rhetorical, and she wasn't going to take her chances by speaking out of turn. Not after that. She was a good Leveret.
Or so she had thought. The trembling started not long after the other Highlander disappeared around the corner and she swallowed hard around the tightness that had become a lump in her throat.
No, not here. Not in front of her mentor, after he'd just stood up for her and shown more courage than she had! The shock of her first full confrontation with a Doe had left her speechless and shaking, however, and she couldn't imagine speaking. Not after that.
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Post by Nako on Mar 2, 2009 23:11:04 GMT -5
Aleah was holding so taught in one position that his hind legs trembled as the Doe finally stalked away. Swallowing thickly, he was finally able to emit a soft sigh as he allowed his body to relax. He and his sister used to be so close. Even with her bullying ways, they had always kept an understanding between the two of them.
Had, anyways. He couldn't understand her sudden anger toward Valeny.
A glance toward the female made a cold knot form in his stomach.. a knot that sunk so heavily that it brought his heart down with it. "Valeny..." The words escaped his lips in all but a whisper as he bent his legs to bring him down to her sunken down level, ears pinning back against his body as he realized just how very frightened she was. "Do not be afraid... Aisha is a... very aggressive Doe. She rarely means harm by it. I do not know what has upset her so badly." Keeping a 'coo' in his words, he touched her gently with his nose on the shoulder. It would be considered such a 'base' behavior by some, but when one's hands are equipped with sharp weapons, one had little choice.
"Are you alright?"
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 2, 2009 23:24:55 GMT -5
"Fine," Valeny whispered in a quiet breath, not trusting her voice to get out anything louder without quavering or trembling or something else that would make the absolute wrong impression on the senior Leveret she wished to impress.
This was not a good day. On the plus side, she made a friend and cleaned some bathrooms very well. On the minus side, she alienated said friend with her behavior, aggravated a Doe, took too long on her work, and felt as though she was going to start crying like a weak-willed little baby. She was stronger than this! She was.... she just had to prove it. And then he bumped her with his nose in a comforting gesture.
She had to show him she was better than this. Taking a hard swallow, she did her best to calm the shaking and work on smoothing out her breaths before darting to look back up at Aleah. He looked genuinely concerned. "I'm fine. I really am. I just..." her voice shook on the last word and she swallowed before trying again. "I've just never had a Doe angry at me before. What if she tells our Jack? What if he's angry with me?" That thought hadn't occurred to her until she'd said it and it made something in her stomach lurch in a dangerously unpleasant way. When it came right down to it, she was still very young.
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Post by Nako on Mar 2, 2009 23:39:53 GMT -5
Justified or not, the thought of being in trouble with a Jack was enough to make even Aleah's stomach twist into an uncomfortable bowtie. He couldn't let Valeny know this, of course. "She is under the Czar's rule just as we are. If there is anything he does not wish to hear about is petty arguments. She will no more go to him about this incident than I will." With the Doe's recent mood swings he could not entirely be sure of that... but he certainly wasn't going to tell Valeny that. If the hellfire came down upon anyone it would be him, and him alone.
"And.. I don't think she was angry with you. She was likely angry at me. She and I and my leveret sister were the only children in the warren. The only people we had to play with were each other. Those relationships.. they dissolve when we grow older. You know the order of things just as I do. She's just not fully matured yet. Balance will be returned when she matures.. and is traded." The finality of her fate was as painful as her presence.
He glanced back down at her trembling body. She was trying to collect herself. Even under the strain of Aisha's taunts, she was attempting to muster some semblance of strength. That in itself seemed far more commendable than him standing up to a younger sister, Doe or not. "Nothing bad will happen to you. If anything were to happen, I would take the responsibility." Crazy Aleah, talking male leveret suicide.
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 2, 2009 23:50:22 GMT -5
So their Jack didn't want to hear about petty arguments between the members of his warren? That was just fine with Valeny. She hadn't planned to become involved in any. It just sort of... happened. In a bad way. "I really hope that's all it is," she agreed with a candid statement and a fervent nod. "Whatever happens, I think I'm a target, though. Gonna have to suck it up and pull through it, huh? Like a Highlander." Like her old Highland nanny-Doe has always told her she should. A brief fit of panic was one thing, but you took what life gave you and dealt with it. That was the Highland way, in the old woman's eyes... and the Leveret way, in her charge's.
Her head snapped up a little harder as he said that, the trembling suddenly stopping as her expression changed from fear into a stare. "Oh. No. You. Wouldn't." The stare slowly morphed into a fierce glare as she righted herself, standing at her normal height and no longer cowering. "Oh no, you will not even think of taking responsibility for this. If something happens, it's my burden to bear, and I'll deal with it. If nothing happens, it doesn't matter anyway. Don't you baby me. I may be younger, and I may not know what I'm doing half the time, and I may have just looked like a total ninny right there, but I'm smart and capable and I'll get over it. You, sir, will not be forced to fight my battles for me again."
A small smile crept onto her face, confidence restoring itself after her snitty little speech. "Besides," she offered in a more playful tone, "somebody needs to clean up the pieces when they're done with me."
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Post by Nako on Mar 2, 2009 23:59:29 GMT -5
Aleah went from intense to startled as the female gave him a stern talking to, causing his ears to waver back a bit and give her a surprised look. He was used to gettingly rightly chastised by women so this didn't really bother him.. but goodness!
Her final statement and smile caused his own meek grin to return. For the love of long ears and fluffy cotton tails... she was amazing. "You are undoubtedly a Highlander, Valeny. By spirit alone you could be distinguished as such.
"And I'd best not -have- to pick up your pieces. I'm not about to lose what is promising to look like a good friendship be strewn about the warren... Goodness, it sounds so much more morbid when I say it." He shook his head in exasperation at himself. He surely sounded dense at times. His smile returned quickly enough though, genuine warmth in his tired eyes. "It's best I not baby you anyhow, I suppose. No one else will, I'm sure, especially not Heike!"
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