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Post by Lucca on Jan 25, 2010 23:01:40 GMT -5
Arkady's tail began its hesitant wag again. They were going to find Laika...and these two other children were going to help! He even felt a bit of fondness for Connall at the thought of him assisting in this little search. He nodded to Castiel. "Yeah, she couldn't have gone too far...she was right next to me at lunch!" he stated, tail wagging a bit more insistently. With a plan of action and a bit of encouragement, he felt far better about the situation. It was still hours before dark. They'd find her before then.
He looked over at Connall too...he knew the boy could probably tell that Arkady wasn't overly fond of him, but he was trying to be nice at least, so he felt that counted for something. If only he'd wash his fur...of course, Arkady had no way of knowing that the boy's fur was always like that no matter what. That may have changed his opinion...slightly.
"Good idea Connall," he said, nodding his encouragement, and then, he was off, settling into a brisk trot behind the human girl so that he wouldn't lose the other two...and so his large puppy feet wouldn't send him sprawling.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Jan 27, 2010 17:28:09 GMT -5
Castiel lead the way to the garden, happily skipping as they went. "So what's your sister like?" She asked, twirling around to look at the boy as she walked backwards. "I mean, is she nice? I know you said she looks like you but...."
The girl's eyes wandered up to watching the boy trailing behind. Why was he so far away? Didn't he like them? A frown briefly crossed her face before she returned her attention to Solandrian.
Conall trailed behind them, still keeping his distance. It was impossible to miss that the other boy was uncomfortable with him, and Castiel seemed oblivious to the idea of dislike. He just watched curiously as the girl spun around to walk backwards. At this rate she was probably going to walk into a wall or someone.
But he was curios to know a bit more. Not like he socialized that often so he barely knew half the other children in the palace. Maybe if he was more like Castiel....?
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Post by Lucca on Jan 28, 2010 10:02:23 GMT -5
Out of habit, Arkady found himself absentmindedly matching the pace of the little girl as she skipped, though it was a bit difficult when he had four large paws and she had two dainty feet. His tail set a slow rhythm, happy to be on their way toward finding his sister. If this didn't work, maybe they should check the bed room, in case Laika had went to lay down for a nap after the meal and just...forgot to tell him. Ohh, he didn't like this whole situation...but he tried to just focus on Castiel and her cheerful demeanor.
"Yeah, she's nice," he confirmed, smiling. "She's uh, a lot more friendly than me, usually." His tail wagged, and he turned to peek at the boy trailing behind them. He felt sort of bad that he was so far back...sure, he didn't want the dirty kid brushing up against him, but that didn't mean he had to leave an entire room's worth of distance between them! He opened his mouth to tell him so, then closed it, unsure of what he would even say. He concentrated on sniffing instead, though it was hard to pick much else out under the heavy scent of roses and other flowers, especially this close to the gardens. Well, that and the smell of Connall, which was also strong, and unfortunately not as pleasant.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Jan 30, 2010 23:49:56 GMT -5
"Well you seem pretty friendly!" Castiel said cheerfully as she twirled around again. They were almost at the garden and she didn't want to trip over the stairs or anything. "Is there any place you guys like to play? She might be there if we can't find her in the garden. There are a lot of places int he palace...."
She trailed off so she could skip the small step. She looked back at the boys when she had safely landed. "You know Conall, we won't bite you. Or at least I won't bite you if you get a little closer."
She had no problem being friendly. Conall was worried about the boy though. He didn't want to get too close if he was just going to get insulted. Shifting awkwardly on his feet he drew a bit closer. The smell of roses was a nice cover up for his scent most of the time. "Ah, sorry," he said as he drew a bit closer. Still leaving a considerable gap between him and the Solandrian.
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Post by Lucca on Jan 31, 2010 0:34:12 GMT -5
Arkady blinked at the unexpected comment from the cheerful girl. She really thought he was friendly? He felt heat rise to his cheeks, a deep blush that may or may not be visible through his thick fur. No one had ever...told him that before. Most other kids just thought he was weird, or quiet, or awkward...so that was what he accepted to be the truth about himself. His tail beat a slow wag behind him as he attempted the stairs.
"Well...uh...we go to the kitchens sometimes, to see if we can get uh, a snack..." He frowned in thought. Usually, they didn't stray too many different places on their own...not that he could recall right now, anyway. "Then there's that other room...uh, the one that's big and--YIPE!" Arkady let out a confused yip as his shy, halting sentences were cut off by his paws getting a bit ahead of him on the stairs. He soon found himself on the ground, again, lying in a furry heap on the floor. With a quiet groan, Arkady pushing himself to his paws again, hoping no one would laugh at him...how embarrassing. He was usually a lot more careful than that...
He looked over to Connall, though, hoping to cover up his little moment with more...attempts at being friendly. "I don't bite either, promise," he said softly, feeling ill at the very thought of biting -that-. Ugh. Really, though, he didn't need the boy to be that far away...it was beginning to grate on him a bit, the uneven gap between the members of their little search party. His tail began waving a hesitant, encouraging little rhythm again.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Jan 31, 2010 2:34:48 GMT -5
Castiel jumped in surprise as the boy fell. She crouched down besides him after a few moments hesitation. "Are you all right?" she asked closely inspecting the boy. That's why she had focused on jumping rather than talking. If she did both she normally ended up with a face full of pavement.
Conall watched as the boy tumbled he was entirely to far away to do anything but watch with mild horror. He gave the boy a rather surprised look when he started talking. Well at least he was all right if he was talking like that. Though... they both seemed to be getting on his case about staying far away. But if he got closer they would probably complain of the smell or something.
But since they asked for it, there was no point in getting hurt feelings over it. He decided to take the steps carefully. Since if he fell there was a good chance someone or something would get impaled. "So, where in the garden should we start looking? It's pretty big."
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Post by Lucca on Jan 31, 2010 11:37:34 GMT -5
Arkady looked up at the girl with large, sad puppy eyes as she crouched near him. He was fine, bruised, but triumphant...er, well, mostly just embarrassed, really. "Fine," he mumbled, looking into those large, concerned human eyes so close to his. Impulsively, without really knowing why he did so, he leaned his neck toward Castiel and gave her hand a small lick...then blushed more, backing up a bit, mumbling something. He...didn't really know why he'd done that...he just...felt gratitude to the girl for her concern and her help...and he was fairly bad at expressing it.
Something in him eased a bit when Connall finally came closer...like the whole situation was more -right-, despite the Bog boy's wrongness, when they walked like this. At the question, though, he shuffled his feet a bit, unsure if he should let the other children in on 'their' secret places in the garden...him and Laika's. But he looked into Castiel's honest, friendly gaze again, and drew courage from it. "W-well...there's this one...little cave sort of thing made by the rosebushes...we go there sometimes. It's just a little off the--uh, the path."
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Post by Kari Muffin on Jan 31, 2010 20:00:26 GMT -5
It was a good thing that he wasn't hurt badly. The girl stood to her full height, no matter how small it was. She blinked when the boy started to hesitate quite a bit. She caught on rather quickly that it was a secret or something important to him. Castiel wasn't sure how to deal with it.
Daddy had told her not to play in the Rosebushes anymore because of all the cuts and scrapes she got.
Conall raised an eyebrow at the way the other boy was talking. For a moment he thought the Solandrian had hit his head. Of course when he started talking about rose bushes his expression changed. He wasn't about to fit into any crawl spaces anytime soon. "Why don't you go to that spot and look for her? We can search around here," Conall offered as a solution. Maybe that would make everyone less nervous.
Castiel nodded. "That sounds like a great idea."
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Post by Lucca on Jan 31, 2010 20:26:08 GMT -5
Arkady's ears went back, looking from one to the other of the children. He hoped they weren't upset with him...he just felt a little funny talking about all this stuff. He'd never really had too much other experience with other kids his age outside of his family, so this was all new to him, in some ways. But when Connall made a suggestion, he nodded, giving them both a smile to show his appreciation.
"Thanks...this will just take a second," he said, before turning and crouching close to the ground. He walked off, outside and fully into the garden. He forced himself not to look back as he crouched down and ducked into that space under the roses that was larger than it looked. Connall could probably even fit, though his back blades might get snagged a bit if he wasn't careful. He snuffled, trying to catch his sister's scent underneath the heavy, cloying perfume of the flowers.
Once in the middle of the bush, he sat up in the wide, cave-like area, and other than holding a few toys they'd stashed here...it was empty. He tried making a small, high pitched barking noise that his twin knew meant he was calling for her and her alone, but there was no response...even after he waited, still and quiet as a statue, for several minutes. Defeated, Arkady slunk back towards where he'd left the other two. The thorns didn't bother him at all, because they couldn't get through his thick fur.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Jan 31, 2010 22:47:23 GMT -5
Both of the children watched as the boy disappeared from sight. Neither of them seemed to be very sure where to look. The little girl wandered over to the nearest fountain, investigating what was around it. Of course it was clear that the girl wasn't anywhere it, so she went to investigate some of the bushes near by.
Conall had decided to investigate the surrounding garden for an sign of someone passing by. From the looks of it the gardener had just tended to everything. He sighed as he crouched besides one of the bushes and poked at one of the flowers.
His ears twitched along with the robin as he continued to investigate the flowers. He sniffed one of them, his nose wrinkling in surprise at the potency of the rose. They really did smell quite pretty.... his ears perked up when he heard the sound of the boy returning and Castiel. "Any luck?" he asked as he pretended he hadn't been investigating the flower.
Casitel shook her head and looked over at Arkady for a response.
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