Completed A Snowball's Chance in Riverfall

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Summer, Day 70, 513 AV

Jorin was glad to see that Kirsi seemed to be learning the basics of floating. He was fully intending to let go of her back very, very slowly, until she was floating on her back on her own. He figured that simply getting to that step was a big step forward for her in terms of learning how to swim. Still, he never got to that stage. As he was speaking to her, he felt a jolt. He couldn't quite describe the emotion, but it was not particularly pleasant. He did not have much time to think about it when Kirsi scrambled to stand while shouting a warning - "Jorin, watch out!" - as an osprey swooped in and landed hard in the water nearby, splashing Jorin with seawater.

"Hey!" Jorin cried out involuntarily, and immediately regretted it as he got a mouthful of salt spray. As he was busy turning his head away from Kirsi and spitting out the saltiness, he heard and felt rather than saw the osprey leave the water. He did not, however, expect to get hit in the head by one of its wings as it flew by. Jorin winced; that had rather hurt. And for some reason he couldn't explain, he had the distinct feeling it had done that on purpose.

When the osprey landed nearby, Jorin got a closer look at it and ... Rinya? It had to be Rinya! He could never mistake that plumage, same chocolate brown feathering he'd seen that day at Rookery Park. Same brilliant white crown. Same golden eyes ... the same eyes he'd thought about earlier. More to the point, he could feel stirrings of emotions from her, and - uh oh.

Jorin felt sweat start to trickle down his back. Rinya was upset. She was very upset. For the life of him, Jorin couldn't understand why. What had he done? Why was Rinya mad? Was it because he hadn't contacted her after ... after they had talked at the amphitheater? Jorin's mind began to cloud with panic. He'd wanted to contact her, but he had no idea what to say. Jorin remembered, as his cheeks reddened from the recollection, how he'd paced his room, trying desperately to come up with some excuse for meeting her, each one more threadbare then the next. Eventually, he'd just given up.

Then Rinya screeched, a clearly annoyed sound. Kirsi had covered her ears from the noise. When it ended, Rinya had fluffed out her feathers and started preening. Jorin furrowed his brow, clearing his throat which had suddenly gone very dry. He couldn't explain it, but for whatever reason he suddenly felt very guilty, even though he had no idea what he might have done wrong. Flashing Kirsi a sheepish grin, he checked to make sure she hadn't injured herself with her sudden change in position, before turning to Rinya.

"... Rinya?" he asked, tentatively. He didn't know if she wanted her Kelvic identity revealed yet; but, well, she didn't have to change if she didn't want to. Besides, that impressive dive earlier rather gave away that she wasn't a normal osprey, since why would an osprey dive where there wasn't any fish?

Turning back to Kirsi, he gave her a helpless look. He wanted to continue helping her to swim, but it just felt so awkward to do it in Rinya's presence. Jorin scratched the back of his head. The silence was deafening. Someone had to say something.

"Rinya, this ... this is Kirsi Winterflame. Kirsi, this is Rinya ..." Jorin tried pathetically. Oh this was not going well. He sounded like a complete idiot. Jorin had no idea if Rinya even wanted it known that he was her bondmate, so he took what he thought would be the safer route and kept his mouth shut.

"Umm ... I was teaching Kirsi how to swim," Jorin tried, giving Rinya a smile. That usually worked to calm her down. "Would you like to join us?"

[Rinya]

Day 70, Season Summer, 513 AV

Rinya wanted to feel happy about Jorin’s guilt, she really did. But as he fretted—however briefly—over the girl he had taken to the water with, she felt another flair of heat in chest. Nope that previous anger mixed with something else was back. As she looked the girl over Rinya realized she was much smaller than either of them. But there was something off about her, and even if Rinya didn’t want to admit it… it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. If nothing else the fact that Jorin was comfortable with this girl should have brought an ease to Rinya’s mind, but it only made it worse.

To top it all off, Jorin was being sweet. As if she should really expect any less. Even when she yelled at him he rarely changed moods with her, and she had yet to see him angry period. Rinya tried to ignore the welling guilt of her own; she had kind of knocked him in the head hard with her wing. Rinya continued to eye the girl critically though as Jorin err… tried to introduce them. He seemed reluctant to say much, she could feel that. But for some reason his confusion to her actions made her feel a little better. For a moment she considered changing and apologizing, but there wasn’t much point. Rinya wasn’t quite to that point of guilt just yet. She leaned back over and started to preen her feathers again.

The mention of swimming had her attention though. Rinya couldn’t help but wonder if they didn’t know how to swim, where were they going to start? After all when Rinya had landed in the water they hadn’t been swimming, but it was simple logic that escaped her really. Floating wasn’t swimming in her opinion. Either way, Rinya whistled a few times, crouching down on the rock a little almost as though she was going to take off again. The idea of joining them in the water was both appealing and… uncomfortable. Shifting now would just cause more trouble that it was worth probably.

Instead she let another annoyed whistle, much softer this time at least. She flapped her wings in Jorin’s direction in a motion of easy dismissal. Though she was more dismissing herself than anything else, her rising embarrassment from her current actions would leave her blushing and stuttering in a human form. It was bad enough she had no doubt he was going to be picking up on her guilt and embarrassment, so she shifted her attention and began chasing a crab of all things across the flat of the rock. Rinya was starting to realize she wasn’t so good at this whole bond and friendship thing.

[Kirsi Winterflame]

Timestamp: 70th of Summer, 513AV Judging the worst of the noise to be over, Kirsi stood up and lowered her hands from her ears. Puzzled, Kirsi watched Jorin's reaction. He seemed - guilty? Apologetic? Kirsi wasn't sure. But he was definitely uncomfortable. And the bird? Clearly it was not happy. Well, that makes two of us, she thought. It was more than a bit unnerving, being regarded so thoroughly by the bird; but Kirsi wasn't one to cower, and she matched the bird's golden gaze with her own. Through it all, Jorin had been stumbling over his words - unusual - and attempting to introduce them. Apparently he knew the bird. And the bird was irritated. And the bird had a name. Rinya. "Would you like to join us?" Kirsi's brow furrowed in consternation as she heard Jorin inviting the bi- Rinya to join them. Based on the little diving display of a few seconds ago, Kirsi wasn't entirely sure she wanted Rinya's company. It seemed Rinya wasn't thrilled with the idea, either. The whistling noise was back, though softer this time - as though whatever had irritated the bird initially was fading away. In fact, the bird's attention seemed to wander, as well, and Kirsi watched, mildly relieved, as Rinya began chasing a... Crab? across the rock. "Jorin," she began, then stopped. Kirsi wasn't entirely sure what she had wanted to say, or ask. And, if she were honest, Jorin looked nearly as baffled as she felt. The bird was behaving nothing like any bird she was familiar with - the sudden dive into the water near them and the ensuing racket had seemed all too intentional, not to mention the eerie focus with which she had stared at Kirsi. And birds didn't pick fights with humans for no apparent reason. Unless... Kirsi narrowed her eyes a bit and studied the bird with renewed interest. She was familiar with Kelvics; they were an integral part of the protection of Avanthal. Though those were bears, large ones, and not birds... Still, they were often in animal form performing very human-like actions. Jorin hadn't said, and Kirsi didn't want to pry, but she was very curious. Was this bird, this Rinya, Kelvic? Not knowing how, or even if she should pose the question, she suffered a very quick inner debate before committing herself. "Jorin," she turned quizzical eyes back to him, "Is that bird Kelvic?"

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Summer, Day 70, 513 AV

Jorin could feel waves of embarrassment and guilt from Rinya, though he was still all sorts of confused. Embarrassment he could understand; he'd be embarrassed too if he were a Kelvic and just splashed his bondmate for no apparent reason. Or perhaps she had a reason, but for the life of him he didn't know what it was.

Rinya had given a softer whistle in response to his attempt at introduction. Jorin's smile faded a bit. Why was Rinya being so difficult today? He understood that she was often rather nervous with and could be socially awkward around other humans but, from Jorin's perspective, the best way to fix that was to meet new people.

And Kirsi was nice! Even though they'd only met a few times, Jorin had seen her even temper when he'd accidentally bowled her over that time at the Knirin Gardens, and was sure she'd be able to soothe Rinya's ruffled feathers if only she had a chance.

Seeming to almost dismiss them by flapping her wings, Rinya turned her attention to a crab. Jorin suppressed a grin. Really, Rinya? A crab? he thought amusedly. Jorin shrugged. There really wasn't a lot he could to to make Rinya like Kirsi. His introduction and offer, it seemed, had been rejected. Maybe Rinya would come around. He could only hope.

Turning back to Kirsi, he noticed that she was staring intently at Rinya, the colors in her eyes a kaleidoscope of shifting color. He knew each one was a different emotion, so she was cleary feeling several things at once. She seemed to come to a decision though, and asked him, "Jorin, is that bird Kelvic?"

Jorin's first reaction to being asked this question was to turn to Rinya, as though asking permission to reveal her Kelvic status. But Rinya seemed to be pointedly ignoring them, chasing her crab over the rock she'd alighted on. If she were in her human form, he could almost imagine her saying, "Nah, nah, nah, not listening!" Jorin sighed. Well, if she was not going to object...

"... yes," Jorin said finally. "Rinya is a Kelvic. She's normally much friendlier..." he sighed. At least she was with him. Did Kirsi do something wrong, something to anger her? Jorin thought back, trying to remember everything the two had done since they met a few chimes earlier.

Nope, he couldn't come up with anything they could've done that would warrant this kind of reaction. Jorin shook his head in an amused manner. Just because he could now feel Rinya's emotions through their bond did not make her moods any easier to understand. Jorin supposed that would just have to come with getting to know her better.

Turning his attention to Kirsi, still dripping from her last attempt at learning to float. Giving her a game smile, he said, "Umm, well, shall we continue?" He really did not see any other choice. If Rinya joined them then great but they certainly couldn't just stand around awkwardly all day. Well, actually they could, but that wouldn't accomplish anything other than make all three of them as uncomfortable as possible for several Bells straight.

Jorin kept sneaking peeks back at Rinya, trying to gauge her level of annoyance, as he lightly grasped Kirsi's hand, and put another on her back, like before. Giving Kirsi a steadying smile he assured her, "I promise I won't let go. Just lean back ... there ... I'll slowly remove my hand from your back until you're floating on your own. Once that happens, maybe we could move on to actual swimming!"

I hope, Jorin silently added.

[Rinya]

Day 70, Season Summer, 513 AV

While Rinya pointedly ignored the two, she was finding that the crab really wasn’t a good example of entertainment. In the end Rinya decided found the crab wasn’t worth the trouble of chasing it around, and after it attached itself to her tail feathers she grabbed onto it’s free pincher and yanked it off her… along with a tail feather or two. A twinge of pain shot up her back, but she bluntly ignored that too. If she could, she might have actually ignored the bond too at that moment, but that seemed like she was going a little too far.

The girl was clever Rinya would certainly give her that. At Jorin’s admission to Rinya’s status as Kelvic, she was tempted to throw the squirming crab under her feet at Jorin. She was not friendly towards anyone in particular. In fact the last time Rinya had even seen Jorin she had yelled at him. And now… well let’s face it she was the farthest thing from friendly. It was a familiar feeling however. It wasn’t the first time she had acted like this; just the reasoning over it was completely different. Hell she didn’t even have a reason, she just felt angry. And annoyed. This didn't seem to be changing either.

"Umm, well, shall we continue?"

Rinya left the crab to it’s’ fate. She had toyed with the idea of eating it, since the fish were frenzied today, but as Jorin took Kirsi’s hand she cocked her head to the side. And then he looked at her. Well… more like glanced. Inwardly wincing Rinya probably deserved that look. Like she was going to go nuts and take a dive at them again. Jealousy warred with guilt and—wait jealousy? Rinya felt like she got hit by lightning.

She had never really felt jealousy before. Moments of sadness mixed with envy maybe, but this was a red hot angry feeling. Well at least that explained why she was squirming and acting out, but what set it off was still a mystery to her. It alone couldn’t be Kirsi could it? Maybe it was just the idea of sharing Jorin with someone else? If that was the case why didn’t she get mad at Dust… or was that just because Rinya had just met Jorin? Ugh this was making her head ache. And it was easier to ignore than face head on. All she knew was she didn’t like Jorin’s hands on Kirsi so she assumed the feeling was actually more aimed at him than the girl… though technically she was jealous of the girl—she didn’t like that thought at all. So she was just fine pretending it wasn’t because of how she was starting to feel over… Pretending she was something she was good at.

But if they were going to swim they might as well have someone who could… well swim. Giving a rough push off the rock, Rinya let herself hit the water head first. Letting the cool water seep into her feathers, she focused on the change. The pulling of muscles and bones before her head popped out of the water completely human. And naked. With the irritation she was still feeling she could easily enough forget that fact for now, though in the back of her mind she wondered if it was going to bother Jorin at all. Running her fingers through her drenched hair so it was out of her face, she crossed her arms over her chest for Jorin’s sake more than hers and leaned against the rock she had leapt off of almost as if she was in complete ease, something she was practiced at faking. She made sure the water kept everything below her belly button under the water too. But she made no move to get closer to the two.

”Floating is easy. Drowning is the hard part, very unpleasant way to die.” Stating the obvious… wow she was racking up the “friendly” points today wasn’t she… Rinya got the feeling maybe Jorin really did have her pegged all wrong.

OOCI love the “Nah, nah” part, it was totally what I was going for xD

[Kirsi Winterflame]

Timestamp: 70th of Summer, 513AV At Jorin's confirmation, Kirsi snuck another glance in Rinya's direction. She'd dealt mostly with the kelvic bears back home, and those only in limited (and mildly intimidating) scope. Under other circumstances, Kirsi would have been glad to meet a Kelvic that she could actually talk to. But this one seemed... Well, despite Jorin's claim, 'friendly' was not the first word that came to mind. But Rinya kept her distance, and Jorin seemed to want to continue their experiment. "I'll slowly remove my hand from your back until you're floating on your own. Once that happens, maybe we could move on to actual swimming!" "Sounds good to me," Kirsi agreed, faking a confidence she didn't really feel. Jorin took her hand once more, and she leaned back into the water, determined to ignore the presence of the irritated hawk nearby. Floating was one thing, and she had enjoyed it, but with the added unpredictability of Rinya - Kirsi found it difficult to relax and let herself enjoy the water. She half expected the bird to dive at them again; every shadow distracted her and she huffed in annoyance. Kirsi looked up at Jorin with a small, apologetic smile and took a deep breath. The air in her lungs lifted her a bit, made it easier to feel weightless in the ocean. Reclaiming some of her earlier joy, Kirsi closed her eyes and forced herself to concentrate on keeping her body afloat. Seconds later, her hard-won focus was completely destroyed as she heard another splash behind her. By the time Kirsi managed to regain her feet and turn around, the bird was gone and in its place was a woman. Rinya, Kirsi reminded herself, about the same time she realized the other girl was completely nude. Averting her eyes out of an ingrained politeness, Kirsi stood awkwardly with Jorin as the other girl spoke. ”Floating is easy. Drowning is the hard part, very unpleasant way to die.” What does that mean? Unconsciously she gripped Jorin's hand a bit tighter. First the angry dive, and now talking about drowning and death. Obviously Kirsi had made it on to this girl's bad side. Not one to be easily intimidated, Kirsi squared her shoulders and looked back at Rinya. "Hello, Rinya. Its a pleasure to meet you." There. It was quite literally the least she could do, but the niceties had been accomplished. And if it wasn't exactly a warm and friendly greeting, well - who could blame her?

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Summer, Day 70, 513 AV

Jorin had seen Rinya transform before, so when he heard the splash and saw Rinya rise from the water in human form, it did not faze him as much as he thought it would. She looked beautiful as ever, with water trickling down her hair and skin. He gave her a warm smile, but she just crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back against the rock she had been on. Jorin could still feel waves of emotions coming off of her.

Kirsi, meanwhile, had righted herself and was gripping his hand, and Jorin looked from Rinya to Kirsi and back again. He stifled a groan. "Oh we're just off to a fantastic start," he mumbled softly to himself.

It rather surprised him, really. He didn't usually go for sarcasm. Maybe it was Rinya's influence on him. He could still feel her, a roiling, angry feeling. And ... there was something else. She wasn't just angry, she was ... Jorin wasn't sure he wanted his mind to process the other emotion. Too much to deal with already. But he knew what it was.

It was the same thing he'd felt when he saw Farline kissing the lead actor, not a week after she'd turned him down. The same twisting in his gut, the same white-hot feeling in his head. He knew he had no right to feel that way, not really. He had no claim on her, she was a free agent. But it didn't change how he'd felt as he stormed home that night.

"Floating is easy. Drowning is the hard part, very unpleasant way to die." Was ... was Rinya threatening Kirsi? Jorin's mind reeled from the implications. There seemed to almost be hostility between the women, and Jorin found himself in the middle of it. Normally, when it was just the two of them, Rinya was easily approachable and often initiated interaction with him herself.

She was friendly and nice, perhaps a bit shy, and sure she’d yelled at him that one time but that seemed to be more frustration than anger. Besides, she had been right. Jorin had honestly no idea how to handle this side of her, though he supposed that, being her bondmate, he’d have to figure out some way eventually.

"Hello, Rinya. It’s a pleasure to meet you." Kirsi replied. Her tone didn’t seem to agree with her words. Kirsi didn’t sound pleased to meet Rinya at all. Despite the hot sun, Jorin felt a cold chill run down his spine. The air seemed to go down a few degrees. Jorin wasn’t looking at Kirsi’s eyes, but he wondered what color they were now.

Jorin just sent Rinya a pleading look. Please be nice, Jorin tried to say with his expression. The last thing he needed was the two women being angry at each other; he had to try to defuse this tense atmosphere, but for the life of him he had no idea how. For the moment, he decided to keep his mouth shut, and see what happened. Besides, it felt like every word out of his mouth just made everything worse.

[Rinya]

Day 70, Season Summer, 513 AV

Rinya was having a rough time keeping any sort of composure. It suddenly seemed like a very bad idea, shifting into her human form. Kirsi was staring at her like she still might attempt to throttle her—the thought hadn’t entirely left her mind either to be honest. Then Jorin… was he actually being sarcastic? Perhaps she wasn’t meant to hear that though. Taking a deep breath, Rinya began tapped her fingers against her upper arms. She doubted there was much she could actually do to remove the awkwardness, so instead she just went with it. It had been something she did often in Sylira, but she hadn’t found much use for her distant attitude in Riverfall until now.

"Hello, Rinya. It’s a pleasure to meet you."

Rinya couldn’t help but snort and roll her eyes. It was lie and all three of them knew it, but really Rinya got the distinct impression it was more for manners than anything else. And she wasn’t bothered by the idea in the least that Kirsi didn’t like her. Under different circumstances Rinya would probably enjoy Kirsi’s company.

”Yeah, I get that.” Smirking slightly, she shook her head and let out a heavy sigh. She knew she had it in her to be mean, but then Jorin was throwing her that look. Though she was completely confused by it. He certainly wanted something from her, but she wasn’t sure what. Petch it all she wasn’t good at reading people. In fact she really couldn’t read much of his emotions either. He was being so cautious, and it left her a little confused.

Glancing at their entwined hands, Rinya could feel her teeth clench almost painfully. Of all things she needed to learn this was one she would have liked to avoid. But realized belatedly, there was something more to the whole situation that was bothering her. The girl with the shifting eyes—she had heard of them before. She had never met a Vantha before. But… they were human and that was what was really bothering her. They were both human and she was not. Cocking her head to the side she had to admit, they oddly looked like they fit together.

Kirsi was roughly around Jorin’s age by the looks of it. Pursing her lips slightly Rinya shook her head and pushed herself off the rock with her hands. Her jealousy was ill fit in this kind of situation if she thought about it. She had never had to share before… even if the word share didn’t quite fit. Grumbling under her breath, she waded through the water towards the beach. It didn’t really matter what she thought. She couldn’t decipher what Jorin was thinking either, and at this rate she was just further alienating herself.

”Don’t drown.” Her tone came out harsh, but wasn’t actually aimed at either of them, more of a statement. She didn’t want to have to fish either of them out of the water if they got too caught up in trying to float. Rinya flopped into the sand on her back, glaring at the sky. Rinya didn’t fancy the idea of sticking around, but she really wasn’t mean spirited. Of the three of them apparently she was the only who could swim. Very basically but it was only because she rarely got the chance to do so. If she had to, she would save either one of them. Much to her own irritation once again.

[Kirsi Winterflame]

Timestamp: 70th of Summer, 513AV "Don't drown." As a parting shot, Kirsi thought it was impressive. Rinya had managed to convey anger and impatience and hostility very thoroughly with just two words. She wasn't at all sure, however, that she and Jorin would be able to resume swimming - or floating. Still, she was relieved that Rinya had chosen to head toward the beach, and she watched with narrowed brown eyes as the other woman made her way to the sand. Kirsi had been completely caught off guard by the Kelvic woman's sudden appearance and attitude. She hadn't had much experience with conflict quite literally dropping out of the sky on her. It wasn't that she was afraid of confrontation, just that she preferred hers to be a little less confusing. She'd found it was much easier to stand your ground when you knew what you were fighting over. And judging by his reaction, Jorin had been as surprised by the encounter as she had been. Oh! Jorin. Kirsi hadn't even realized she still had a tight grip on his hand. "Sorry," she apologized, releasing him with a tight smile. "I guess I got a bit carried away." Irritation and adrenaline slowly faded away, leaving bemused questions in their place. "Jorin - do you have any idea what just happened here? I have never," Kirsi stressed the word, "never met anyone who took such an instant dislike to me. Although," the admission caused a slight flush to creep over her cheeks, "I wasn't that nice, either, I suppose." Petch it all - she didn't give me a chance to be nice, Kirsi thought. It was a shame, really. She had started the day feeling a bit lonely, and then instead of making a new friend she managed to further irritate a perfect stranger. Not one of her more shining moments, even if she felt her temper was entirely warranted. There were probably reasons for Rinya's attitude, even if Kirsi had no idea what they could be. She hoped Jorin could enlighten her; she would hate to think she had made an enemy of someone Jorin was close to. It would definitely put a damper on their own budding friendship.

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Summer, Day 70, 513 AV

Rinya had walked off, after shooting one last quip about not drowning. Jorin watched her retreating behind ... back, her retreating back, while trying to clear his head from the muddled mess it had become. As he tried to process the emotions he'd felt coming from her, he thought he might have an idea why she was so angry. He didn't want to think about it, not because he didn't care for her, but because it would make this entire encounter so very awkward if it were true.

Petch it. It was true. He couldn't mistake that emotion, since he'd felt it so keenly himself in the past. If she was jealous ... but of what?

He looked down at their hands - ah. He could see how that could have upset Rinya. Even though it was purely to balance Kirsi and make sure she didn't float off, he could see how it might be misinterpreted. But they were bonded, not married. Was Rinya afraid that he'd break the bond just to be with Kirsi? But that was absurd! Kirsi wasn't even Kelvic! Or was it something else?

Regardless, Kirsi had released him, and was asking him something.

"Jorin," Kirsi was saying, "do you have any idea what just happened here? I have never, never met anyone who took such an instant dislike to me. Although, I wasn't that nice, either, I suppose."

Jorin gave her a small smile. He hated lying, so he settled for a half-truth. "I think I may, although I could be wrong. I'm sure she doesn't hate you specifically ... well, I'm pretty sure anyway. Would ... would you hang on a chime?"

Jorin sprinted off to where Rinya was laying, glaring balefully at the sky. Jorin sat down beside her. Gods, she looked so beautiful lying there in the bright summer sun. Beautiful ... and untouchable. He could still feel her emotions, like an angry thundercloud. Jorin took a deep breath, and coughed a few times to clear his throat.

"Rinya, I know you're upset," he tried. "I can feel it through our bond, and even if I couldn't, it's written all over your face. Kirsi is just a friend ... I'd met her before I met you, actually, when I'd crashed into her at Knirin Gardens."

Jorin sighed. Rinya didn't seem to be getting any less angry. "Please don't be angry Rinya. Won't you at least come talk to her?" he begged. Suddenly thinking of something, he exclaimed, "Oh! Do you know how to swim? Maybe you could teach us ... please?"

Jorin's hand crept up and clasped Rinya's as he made his plea. In truth, if Rinya refused, he'd probably end up apologizing to Kirsi, and then head off. He really didn't want to deal with an angry Rinya, and more to the point, he did not like being the reason for her being upset.

Something he'd done set her off. Was it as simple as holding Kirsi's hand? Would holding the hand of any woman besides Rinya set her off ...? Jorin fervently hoped not. That would make social interaction rather difficult in the future.

He turned and gave Rinya a warm smile. "Could you at least do it for me?" he asked, trying to look her in the eye.