[PRP] Laying Waste (Fire in my Skin x Blood of Mine)

[Anhelisk]

Unbelievable. Just... simply unbelievable. Fire in my Skin's name was more than simply decorative, this evening– it was descriptive. How his family could take his cousin's word over his, how they could believe that he'd taken the plums picked for the hatching celebration– it was unbelievable.

He charged through the underbrush without any sense of reason, charging off with only the need to burn off his frustration.

If he couldn't find forgiveness, at least he could wear himself out.  

[Mika_Yumi]

This was a day for soothing. Blood of Mine wasn’t sure what it was about today, but she felt somehow out of balance. Lavender was her decided soother for today -- a soft scent to hang around her cave was a good start, at least. Besides, she probably needed a bit more as it was. It was not always something in high demand, but she had a feeling that it may be worthy of stashing in the coming days or weeks.

Finding lavender, however, could be somewhat tricky. It didn’t grow in the wettest areas of the swamp -- Blood of Mine had to find dryer earth, sometimes on the fringes of the swamp. She wasn’t sure she was ready for such a large journey as that, so for now she was taking a look at the few places closer to home where she just might find what she was looking for.

Luckily, she was fairly sure that she smelled something on the air. Blood of Mine altered her course slightly to follow the breezy path her nose was finding…  

[Anhelisk]

Flowers. There were flowers. So many of them, so strongly-scented, and so very, terribly aggravating. They were the perfect thing for Fire in my Skin to take his frustration out on– small, fragile things that would wilt away shortly anyways. He charged in, kicking his hooves and tearing up small chunks of earth, as he began on his rampage, set on trampling things until he felt a little better about his situation.  

[Mika_Yumi]

As the scent grew stronger, the doe was sure she had found a great area for not only lavender, but possibly a few other flowers as well. The soft smell of petals was creeping in at the edges. Unfortunately, as she came around the corner, Blood of Mine was met with the entirely unexpected scene of a buck running through the field, kicking and smashing and generally laying swift destruction to many of the field’s be-petaled inhabitants. Slightly stunned, she paused at the edge of the field and watched for a moment.

He seemed clearly upset -- to be fair, perhaps it didn’t take much to discern that, as Blood didn’t see many other reasons to lay waste to a field of otherwise pleasant things. She could imagine that somehow the kicking and destruction was helping -- or, at least, seemed to be for the moment; otherwise, why would he continue? As such, she wasn’t sure if she should intervene… For the moment, it seemed enough flowers might survive for her to still harvest a few. Then again, who knew how long he’d been at it, or how long he might continue… His radius might yet increase…

After a solid moment of watching and contemplating, Blood of Mine decided that perhaps intervening would spare enough of the flowers for her purposes and those of repopulation, while also allowing another outlet for him -- someone to talk to. She took a few steps forward and called out to him, and would have maneuvered to hopefully be more in his sightline if he’d had a consistent one; as it was, he was turning quite a bit, so she’d have to hope that her voice caught his attention.

“Excuse me! Do you intend to crush all the flowers before you’re through?” She waited for his attention before continuing, “Because if so, perhaps you should tell me now so I can begin my search for another field with lavender…”  

[Anhelisk]

Fire in my Skin turned, nostrils flaring, to face the doe addressing him. His tail lashed, and he shook his head at her question. "I– I can leave," he replied stiffly, looking down at his legs– darkened by mud and with strips and bits of plant wetly glued to them.

He scuffed a hoof against the ruined earth as he glowered at her, looking for all the world like a shamed foal. "I mean, one field's as good as the next...."  

[Mika_Yumi]

Blood of Mine let a small smile cross her face. “Is it? You seem particularly upset with this one.” Amusement danced in her eyes. She took a few steps forward, now that he was calm, and began to assess the damage. There were at least a few stalks of lavender that remained intact despite his tearing them down, that she could salvage for her purposes -- less damage done to the field.

“Perhaps you should stop for a moment and smell your work. You’ve done an excellent job of releasing the lavender into the air.” She settled back to watch him for a moment, “It’s supposed to be relaxing...” She was tempted to tuck one of the stalks into his his hair, but she wasn’t sure he was ready for such a gesture.  

[Anhelisk]

Ugh. How humiliating. Here he was, standing and feeling judged by this dainty, elegant slip of a thing– and knowing she'd done nothing wrong that he could tell her off for, given that he'd only just met her.

He took in a deep breath to respond, and stopped, nose twitching as he did as she asked, taking in the scent of the lavender. It was powerful, yes, but not overwhelming– not in the way that many flowers did– like lilies.

"I don't feel very relaxed," he replied mutinously– he didn't owe her anything, and so he would be stubborn, and try to keep feeling offended. "Today sucks, everything sucks, these flowers suck, and just... rrrrgh!"

He lashed a leg out, tearing up a large chunk of loam and sending it flying harmlessly off to the side, where it landed with a quiet 'thud'– a far less satisfying noise when he knew someone was watching– and judging– him.  

[Mika_Yumi]

Blood of Mine kept a pleasant smile on her face, giggling just a bit. "Well, perhaps you're not in the right mind for it to have its proper effect." He was certainly being stubborn, but who was to say he didn't have every reason to be upset and take his time wallowing in the emotion. She certainly wasn't going to tell him to move on before he was ready.

So long as he was going to sit and stew, however, she figured she would take advantage of his steadiness for a moment -- even if he was still feisty enough to kick up a clod of dirt. For her own part, she resumed looking for suitable stalks of lavender already broken on the ground. Smaller ones she would turn to weave in her hair, and any bigger ones she would set aside to gather up before she left.

"If you feel so inclined, you're free to talk through your trouble while I gather some lavender. Otherwise, I won't be long and you can resume your stress-relief soon..."  

[Anhelisk]

"It's my family," the buck responded, not waiting for her to finish her sentence after she offered to listen to his problems. "My nephew had a clutch, and the babies hatched recently, and we'd gathered a feast... and then some of the food went missing. Plums. They're my favourite, but... but that's no reason to blame me for them going missing!" He kicked at the hole he'd torn into the ground, widening it by a little as another small shelf of dirt tore out, taking a few flattened plant-stems with it.

"But of course it had to be me. Because I'm greedy and thoughtless and selfish and can't be patient, right? Nobody even questioned Vents when she suggested it. It was probably her stupid dragons that spirited off with them."  

[Mika_Yumi]

Well, that didn't take much, did it? The doe wasn't sure if she was surprised at the influx of information, or not. He'd seemed so self-conscious before that she wasn't sure he'd be willing to open up -- but his emotions were running high, so perhaps it wasn't a surprise that he would take the outlet when offered.

She nodded as he spoke, both wanting to indicate that she was, indeed, listening, and also because -- well, she understood his frustration. She glanced at him, "I can see why you needed the escape." She would have said more, but she had a feeling he had plenty more to contribute about the issue, and she generally found that others did well when they could talk through their struggles as much on their own. She would probably contribute more later, but for now it seemed that venting would be good for him.  

[Anhelisk]

"There's always plenty for everybody. Yeah, I might not get my fill of them, but I'd get some and besides, there were so many that if I tried to eat them all I'd be sick for days." It was just... so frustrating! The buck sighed, shaking his head a little to chase out a particularly-nasty thought.

"So instead of trying to make an argument and turn it into a show, I just... I left. They're getting things set up, and they can just do things without the nasty plum-thief."  

[Mika_Yumi]

The doe offered a sympathetic smile when he shook his head. She could understand his frustration. His reasoning seemed sound. It was never a good feeling to have a group, particularly family, decide that you were at fault for something all at once -- even more so if you were innocent.

She nodded, "It sounds like you made a solid choice, a good decision for you. Hopefully they are thinking over their own part as well." She'd gathered a decent number of loose stalks of lavender and was now eyeing what was left on one side of the clearing. She stepped over and sniffed at what was intact.  

[Anhelisk]

The buck snorted. "They'd better be," he pouted. "Because I'm not going back until someone apologizes to me– and no, you don't count in this instance," he said, to make things abundantly clear.  

[Mika_Yumi]

Blood of Mine actually chuckled. She didn't mean to be insensitive, but she certainly wasn't going to try and right any wrongs she wasn't actually involved in. "I wouldn't hope so."

Turning back, she settled to look at him for a moment, "And what do you plan to do in the meantime?" He could kick more plants, of course, but she was hoping that perhaps the discussion had calmed that urge in him. Perhaps he could find something more productive to carry on with -- though, really, that was up to him, and she wouldn't fault him for wanting to continue to pout. But for her at least, she felt better when she did something about her troubles, so maybe the same could be true for him. It might be worth suggesting an alternative to pouting.  

[Anhelisk]

Her tone had a businesslike air to it– like his mother's. "Well, I don't know– but it sounds like you do," the buck challenged her quietly.

"I suppose you want help gathering that lavender, or something," he added, realizing that his tone of voice could have come across as resistant, or even hostile.

No, with how nice she'd been... and how pretty she was? With that, he'd be fine following her.