[PRP] Flirting Gone Wrong or Right? (Stephan x Izaria)

[Lunadriel]

This is a private roleplay for Stephan-Oterma and Izaria Nova.



The day stuck to Stephan-Oterma like a thick blanket. Even with this white coat of his, the sun still warmed him to an uncomfortable degree. One couldn't help but seek shade in this type of weather. That is what Stephan had in mind as he headed over towards a huge grove of ancient oak trees, looming over the field which he came.

The trees offered dappled shade, that painted shadowy ink blobs over him. The areas of light that filtered through the trees, danced across his hide as a slight breeze rustled the leaves above. Stephan didn't venture far into the grove. He stood watching others in the area, with his back to the forest.

As he began to cool, he started cleaning the sweat off his coat, and preening his hair and feathers.  

[Lady Argentum Draconis]

If it was hot out on the plains, it was worse under he heavy foliage of the oak trees. The heat seemed to press upon everything as the density of the trees didn't allow for even a breath of a breeze.

Izaria was regretting her decision to not more closely follow the river that flowed down from Flock territory down to the sea. When she'd been following the banks along the river there at least had been air circulation and a coolness to the air. Travel hadn't been the easiest though as she was constantly having to compensate for washed out sections and mud. While she wasn't overly vain, no one wanted mud caked in their tail and claws. It was just such a bother. She'd also nearly lost her claw ring that was on her back talon a few times which had ultimately decided her to cut away from the river and travel more towards the plains that were south of Flock holdings. Here she was told was prime territory for capturing a male.

Izaria sighed and picked her way through another bramble. Whiles she was under no obligation to capture a male, she felt it was something she ought to do. Many of her new found sisters had after all and while she had sampled the wares of a few whistle stallions none had really struck her as someone she had to have as hers.

She tossed her head as she felt a branch snag her mane and felt it let go much sooner than she'd expected causing her to loose her balance slightly and stumble out from under the trees into what turned out to be the edge of the forest. She huffed and tossed her head again to fix her mane unaware of the stallion standing a short distance away.  

[Lunadriel]

Stephan heard someone coming, and turned to see a mare catch in a branch. Not meaning to, he watched her for a moment, before clearing his throat. She didn't notice him there, and he didn't want to startle her, and have her further tangle her silvery hair in the branch.

"May I help you with that?" he gestured towards her and the branch. He walked closer before she could answer. Paying attention to the direction the hair was wrapped, he gingerly tugged at the branch, turning it in attempts to loosen the hair. Turning the branch to uncoil her hair. This close, he could smell her hair, with his teeth grabbing the twiggy branch. It smelled of the warm sun, and something more exotic.  

[Lady Argentum Draconis]

"Huh? Oh! Ah...thank you." she stood still as she felt the branch being released from it's confines, not realizing it had still been there. Suddenly her loss of balance and the resulting issues made a lot more sense. "Trees, am I right?" she turned to see who her benefactor was and her jaw nearly hit the ground. Here she was on a great quest to capture a male and the first person she encountered was a male. A handsome one at that if she was going to be honest. His coloring reminded her a bit of twilight, purple sky, darkening to night, perhaps with a hint of dawn. His wings! Oh, his wings were lovely things. She'd always been fond of wings and often regretted her lack of them. Her father had had them and one of her only memories of him was standing watching the rain fall one evening as he held one over her head.

She shelved the memory and then finished her appraisal noting that the stallion had claws, like her own. Well! That was certainly interesting.

Izaria swallowed and then managed to collect herself, reviewing her options. She hadn't brought a net that some preferred when on the prowl for a male and that left her with charm and perhaps bribery. While she was tempted to start with the second, the first was probably a better idea. She cleared her throat and lowered her voice a few octaves like she remembered her mother doing when she wanted to sound seductive. "Well hello there~" what came out was not at all seductive or particularly appealing as her voice pitched upwards at the end into her normal range. "What's your name, sexy thing?" she said tossing her head in what she thought was a fetching manor.  

[Lunadriel]

"Very welcome madam! Happy to be of service." The beautiful mare before him had in fact had a part of the branch still in her hair! That head whip of hers had pulled off part of the tree that it was ready to let go of, brittle and old. No matter! It wouldn't flaw her hair any longer. Trees, am I right? Stephan chuckled in his mind at this comment, but didn't miss a beat. "Yeah, trees are quite grabby. No living thing should grab a lady without her permission!" he said in jest. Even though it was very true. Stephan had nothing but respect for mares.

Stephan couldn't believe what he saw now. She was clearly checking him out! He held still, and pretended not to notice her note of his wings and coat. Instead, he took the opportunity to give her a good look over in return. His smile kinks up to the left, and is framed by slightly raised eyebrows. Clearly, she is touched by the spirits of the night sky, not unlike himself, but much more true to the deep velvety blue of the late evening sky. Stunning! Her hair like the stars glimmer shinning down over her diamond blue eyes. "Hmm." he gave a very small hum of approval. The feathers on her backside, completing her look with an exotic touch. She is quite the jewel.

After the brief but observant exchange of glances, the blue velvet mare changed her voice. Stephan quirked his head to the side a little, but didn't loose his smile. He looked down at the ground, and to the side. Now he felt awkward too. He tried not to show it, and tried to retain his cool, but then, her next words came on so strong and thick, his smile now covered his whole face. AND, he is blushing. "Oh, oh wow. Hi. Umm. I'm Stephan-Oterma. Lady. Ma'am. Umm, Miss." He clears his throat. Trying to keep up the conversation and answer her question, but not able to keep eye contact, he leans up against the tree and says: "And what's your name....hot-- momma.." he clears his throat again, half choking out the last part, looking at her again, then awkwardly looking back at the tree he leaned against. Stephan adjusted himself against the tree, as the bark poked into his shoulder. Nothing is casual about his stance.

The light of the day pushed further and further into the tree line. Soon, the two would be standing in full sun. Even though fall is here, this had been an unusually warm season. Add the current situation, and Stephan is suddenly starting to sweat! Wow is it hot in these woods!  

[Lady Argentum Draconis]

She realized after a moment that as much as she'd been appraising him he had been doing the same to her. She tried not to blush, but a faint purplish tint crept up to her cheeks under the blue of her coat. Well fair was fair she supposed.

She watched him react to her flirting attempt and wasn't sure if it had been successful or if he was trying not to laugh at her. She held her breath her entire body a little tense and ready to flee if he started to laugh at her. She wasn't sure she could handle it. To her surprise though she realized that he was blushing the color showing clearly on his white coat. Or it was anger...no, he was still smiling, and he looked flustered? He moved to lean against a tree and...there was nothing natural about his posture, even she could tell that. The fact he couldn't keep eye contact was a good clue in. What did it mean though? He could still be toying with her.

She bristled slightly as he called her "momma," she was no one's mother, until she realized that he had meant it in some sort of lewd context and she took a moment to cool her temper "I am Izaria Nova." she said what she thought was a much better attempt at a seductive voice. She took a breath in attempt to do a breathy seductive voice. "It's a pleasure, Stephan-Oterma." she made to sway closer and nearly tripped over her own claws, managing to catch herself and toss her head up which showed off the light blue swirl of color on her neck. Her stance also showed off her foreleg with the cuff around the upper portion of her thigh.

She hesitated for a moment trying to think of what she should say next and all that came to mind was, "You from around here?"

Lunadriel

 

[Lunadriel]

Stephan felt incredibly awkward. He felt at any moment, he might scare the lady away. Much of his summer had been spent alone, in the mountains exploring. He had met a dragon soquili and his family. There he had learned much, but really wasn't accustomed to flirting. This, he had not learned. Not that he was completely unlearned on the subject, but it had been a while. It wasn't something he was accustomed to at this degree. Though he was intelligent, and normally good at talking.

As it got cooler in the mountains, Stephan had returned to the flat lands. His coat was not built for the snow of the mount. Here, the cold had not yet reached. As Stephan stood there leaning against the tree, a cool breeze rustled through the trees. It helped to ground him, and calm his mind. Trying his best to stop blushing.

Izaria Nova. A beautiful name to match the lady with her feathers, ornate jewelry, and now silver tongue. Her voice much less awkward, with a velvety touch. Stephan is surprised as she sways closer to him, and near flips her hair in his face. He does NOT dare laugh, not even at himself. The situation is not comical to him. Though later, he will look back at the way things took place, and might have a laugh then!

Stephan didn't know what to say next either. He is relieved to hear Izaria Nova speak first.

"I am not from around here, though I lived here once before, when I was young." he smiled at her, relaxing even more with the normalcy of the conversation. He tried again to be suave, without the shock from before. "What is a beautiful lady such as yourself doing here? I'd like to think you're not from around here either?" he said as he looked at her anklet. "That's very pretty." he resisted the urge to add 'like you'. As that would be too much, trying to balance how hard he flirted back to this gorgeous mare that seemed interested in him at the moment.

The art of conversation coming back to him, he added to the current topic, to keep things going. "I was doing a bit of exploring, to get a feel for the area. Looking for a place to lay my head at night, that feels like home. At least until I travel again. I think I like this area though, and might have to stay longer than intended." he said with a smirk, indicating that he had found something of interest. That interest of course, being his current company. Not that he knew her, but he did know that she was here, talking to him now.

Lady Argentum Draconis

 

[Lady Argentum Draconis]

Izaria nodded as he told her he'd lived her previously. "I see." Did that mean he was ex-Flock, a run away perhaps? Or had the sisterhood moved in after he'd already left the area. Either was likely, although she didn't think Stephen matched the description of any males that had left the Flock in the last few years. More likely that he'd moved before the sisterhood moved in and did not know of the Harpies in the mountains or he'd just managed to escape notice of any of them thus remaining uncaptured and very much free and available to her. Now that was a thought that she enjoyed very much. She just had to manage the capturing part...which seemed at this moment to be near impossible.

Although...he seemed to settle as they'd moved away from the inept flirty and Izaria herself felt slightly more at ease just listening to him talk. Perhaps there was hope yet.

She took a moment as he commented on her anklet and glanced down at it. "Thank you." she said, then added. "I made it. I'm a jeweler." she then looked back up at him and suddenly could envision him in a silver chain, a touch on the heavy side, with a huge setting of pink quartz in a rectangular square cut. Yes, that would suit him nicely, bring out his eyes, highlight the blue patch across his chest...she blinked and realized he was waiting for her to say more and that he had asked her questions. "Oh! Um...I...er..." she trailed off as she realized the very awkward answer of his first question. "I'm from up that way." She indicated a direction back towards the valley with a claw. "I live in the valley up that direction with...ah..." did other members admit they were Harpies? She really should of done more research on this whole travelling and mate capturing before she'd set out. "A group of very like minded individuals?" that was awkward. "I'm out here looking for ah...umm..." damn and other such words. She really was stuck.

"That sounds nice!" she said quickly to latch onto the new subject. "Exploring and all!" that could be problematic...what if one of the others found him. While they had just met, she rather liked this male and he was very attractive. What to do now?

Lunadriel

 

[Lunadriel]

Stephan realized leaning against the tree was ridiculous. He cleared his throat and straightened up, fluffing his wings and shoulders to shake off any debris.

"A jeweler you say? Fascinating! You must be clever and very skilled to make things like that. You live with other like minded individuals? Other...jewelers?" he sensed a little hesitance. She is probably playing it safe. He is a stranger after all. She doesn't disclose much more information than that. Stephan doesn't pressure her to say more than she's comfortable with.

Joining her in not knowing what to say or do next. He pauses, then has an idea! "Do you know of any good places in the area?" He asks with a push of his lips to one side. Both curious, and wanting to make the conversation last. "Perhaps this is too forward of me..." he says as he shifts and rubs his claw on his leg nervously. "...could you show me around?" The blushing returns. "That is, if you wouldn't mind. I'd so enjoy the company."

Lady Argentum Draconis

 

[Lady Argentum Draconis]

"I, well maybe a bit." She said deciding to take ownership of her skills. While it was often in her best interest to be modest about her goods, it didn't hurt once in awhile to talk oneself up, especially when there was competition afoot.

"Ah..." she puffed her cheeks and then exhaled. "Not exactly, no I mean there are a lot of other crafters and the like, like me but no not all jewelers. I'm a member of uh...er..." Izaria hesitated, she wasn't sure what the rules were about revealing herself as a harpy. Maybe there weren't any. She had to admit she'd sort of only half paid attention to the female who'd done her initiation as it were.

"I uh...I can do that!" she latched onto the new subject. Granted she didn't know many places around here specifically. She was slightly more familiar with the sights around the valley but she could wing it she supposed, and if any of her sisters happened to wander by...well she could always claim Stephen as her own and explain later and that would keep him out of someone else's talons. She'd worry about whether or not he wanted to be in hers or anyone's for that matter later. Right now keeping him to herself was the important thing. "I wouldn't mind showing you around at all. Anything you're partial to in particular? I might know a good spot or two." she hoped. "I would very much enjoy your company as well." that part was at least honest.

Lunadriel