[Port of Avanthal] Testing the Coolwater (Cheshire)

[Viktor]

Date: 60th day of Fall, 510 A.V. Viktor rubbed his eyes in an attempt to rejuvenate his slowly sinking eyelids. He hadn't gone this long without moving in, honestly he couldn't remember. He was sitting behind a pile of crates containing what smelled suspiciously like spiced fish mixed with some other smell he couldn't quite identify. That was why he had chosen the spot though, when you were 'following' someone who's sense of smell rivaled your own it helped to mask your own scent with something much stroger. Let's face it, you're stalking her his mind pointed out. No, she isn't even the one I am following! his conscience fired back. He shook his head to clear the imagined argument, obviously boredom was getting to him. But it raised a pair of legitiment points. The whole reason he was hiding behind the fragrant stack in the middle of the port was because he had been following Fianna and Coren. And while the subject of todays expedition was indeed the kelvic half of the pair, he was actually trying to get a moment alone with Coren. If there as one secret Viktor guarded more fiercely than even the city he was sworn to protect, it was that he had a thing for Fianna. He had even come close to acting upon those feelings once. And then he had to show up... Fianna had chosen Coren as her bondmate which in all honesty didn't necessarily mean their relationship involved romance under normal circumstances. But Viktor's parents were been a bonded pair and soon after a married one, so that all but ruined his chances, at least in his own mind. But with the Departure festival right around the corner it was now or never for him. He didn't hate Coren, quite the opposite. the man was a valued member of the Icewatch and a fun guy to be around, so it was no wonder she was drawn to him. Even though his hopes had been dashed, there was still that little part that kept nagging at him to try anyway. In the worst case he would at least know the truth, which while at first it would hurt, it was better than the uncertainty. So now here he was, sitting behind a stack of increasingly delicious smelling fish, waiting for a moment when the two seperated, which would be a small miracle in itself, to be able to finally confront Coren and the truth. "I reeeeally need a better way to spend my free time." He muttered under his breath. The light snow that had been falling steadily throughout the day seemed to be letting up, although the gathering clouds made it feel like the calm before a storm.

[Cheshire]

It was a little past lunch and Coren and his bondmate Fianna were walking back to the docks from the Luminary Commons. Coren had eaten his fill in venison and vegetable stew while Fianna eaten a plate of fish. As the two walked through the city he turned to his female companion. "Fi, someday you should really try to switch to elk or seal like the other bears. Someday a guy is going to want to talk to you and you are going to scare him off with your fish breath." He smiled at Fianna and she retorted by sticking her tongue out at him. "Any man who I belong with will not care what my breath smells like. He will like me or me." She scampered up ahead with her nose jokingly in the air. Coren laughed and walked after her. She would not go to far without him. He could have sworn at times she was not a polar bear but just a very large white dog due to how loyal she was to him. Once they closer to the docks Fianna slowed down and began to walk backwards, looking at Coren. "So Coren, who are you asking to the Departure." Coren shrugged and continued to walk. He had always had a bit of a thing going for Jedara but she was happily married. At one point he had considered asking Fianna to go with him but that would be like asking his sister. There were no romantic feelings between the two. They were more like a brother and sister separated by race. Coren chuckled and made a motion to Fianna for her to turn around. "You are not the most graceful girl and if you walk around backwards this close to the port you will fall in the water and who is going to have to fish your bear butt out?" He joking jabbed at his partner often. They were luckier than most bondmates in Icewatch. They were extremely close. "Don't worry about it Vantha man, I'm a bear. I'll be fine in a little bit of water." Coren smiled but then a sound caught his attention. He did not have as good of hearing as his partner so it surprised him that he heard the noise and she didn't. He did not know what it was so he looked toward Fianna. "Fi, head to the docks, I'll be there in a few minutes. I left my gloves at the Commons." Fianna nodded and ran off toward the water. Coren calmed a bit. No matter what made the noise Fianna would be safe. After a few chimes of looking around Coren finally found himself by some boxes. They reeked of fish but they were the only place he had not checked. He looked behind them to see a man crouched so he could not be seen. Immediately Coren recognized him as one of the Icewatch bears Viktor. He looked down at the bear and smiled. "Are you stalking my partner and I Viktor? I'm sure you have some duties you should be tending to." He was sure that the bear posed no threat but he was in a joking mood thanks to Fianna and he was going to watch the man squirm a bit.

[Viktor]

Viktor was caught completely off guard by the sudden voice. He had managed to fall asleep while sitting on one of the crates. However, the sudden jolt sent him flying backwards off the crate and onto the hard wood of the docks with a loud thud and a muffled curse. He had only been out for a few chimes, at least tht was what the sky told him as he lay there on his back. He scrambled to his feet, rubbing his tail bone, which even without the tail, still hurt when it was hit. That was when he noticed Coren standing in front of him, staring at him. "Following you guys? Noooo. What would give you that idea?" He began with a nevrous laugh, trying desperately to come up with a believable excuse. "I'm on duty, I'm... Guarding these crates! Due to the recently increase in the theft of, spiced fish? I was assigned to hide behind these crates so, I could ambush the thieves when they struck! Annnd you two weren't told about it because... Uh, If you, knew about it, then the thieves would know. Wait, I'm not saying you are the thieves because if you knew then they would know, I mean that... If you knew, you wouldn't patrol the same way, so they would know something is up!" He finished, running a hand through his hair before rubbing the back of his neck, his embarressed smile not helping his case any. Still, he had been hoping to start the conversation on his own terms, so he hadn't prepared a 'just in case I get caught behind the crates' story yet. He had a sinking feeling that the fellow watchman wouldn't bite, especially since almost nothing happened in the docks without the pair knowing. Speaking of which, where was Fianna? Normally she was right by his side. Maybe things aren't going as bad as I thought

[Cheshire]

It was painfully obvious that the man was lying. Luckily Coren wasn't too worried about it. He knew Viktor and he knew that he had a reputation throughout Icewatch of being a bit of a joker. He held out his hand to help Viktor up. "Tell you what, I'll forget you were doing… whatever you were doing back there if you cut to the chase and tell me what you want." He knew that there were real reasons the man was hidden in the boxes. There was a very low crime rate in Avanthal. In all honesty who would want to start a ruckus in a city ruled by a goddess and filled with giant polar bears? In the distance Fianna was sitting on the edge of the port. Her feet were dangling off the edge of the dock. She had a sweet smile as she looked toward the horizon. She was a hard person to worry. She knew there was something up when Coren told her to go off to the port without him. She trusted him but she also knew he was a bit overprotective at times. It made her feel special. She had never really had a family. She was bred for the use of Icewatch. She found family in Coren though. She knew as long as she had him she would never be alone.

[Viktor]

Viktor was trapped in the very situation he had been hoping before, doubt washing over him like a frigid wave. He accepted the hand up, but only enough to get himself back on the box, his legs having taken the consistency of pudding. He took a deep defeated sigh and looked up at Coren. "Alright, I'll admit it, I was waiting for you guys. Actually, just you." The tension was painfully obvious in his voice, but he had to know. "Are you and Fianna together?" Then nervousness took total control, sending him into a flurry of words. "I mean, of course you two are together, you're her bondmate! What I meant was," There was a tangible hesitation, "Are you two, romanticly involved?" He shot up like a rocket, pacing the small area, to busy talking to wait for an answer. "Of course you are! What was I thinking, asking something like that. I shouldn't even be here, shouldn't have brought it up. How could I be such a petching idiot?" His voice was gradually rising in volume as nervousness was replaced by panic. "Sure, most bondmates don't wind up like that, or didn't, but mom and dad where on the watch and you can see what became of their bond!" He emphasized the word bond by motioning to himself. "So why would you two be any different? She is an amazing girl, and you aren't a bad guy. It's just..." He paused, trying to find the strength to continue, and once he did, his voice was hushed. "I've loved Fianna since we first met, although I could never work up the courage to tell her, well, almost never. There was one time that I finally worked myself up enough to go tell her the truth, that I wanted to be more than just friends. I ran into her in one of the halls of the barracks, she had been looking for me too. I remember, she was so excited, I almost thought, I did think that she felt the same way about me, that we had come for the same reason thanks to some crazy coincidence. It started off like you would expect, both of us talking at the same time; 'I've got something to tell you' 'You go first.' 'No, you go!'. After a laugh at the humor of the situation I insisted she went first, a decision I still hold as my greatest mistake." He winced at the pain that the memory brought up. "She was so excited because she had found her bondmate." A tinge of hate leaked into his voice. "I let my happiness for her show, and honestly, I was glad that she had found someone, but that was just a single snowflake in the blizzard of heartache that I was feeling." The memory overwhelmed him, anger driving his up to flat out shouting. "Why did I have to fall in love with her?!" He turned to face the Vantha with an accusatory finger. "And why did she have to find you?!" Just as quickly as it had set in however, the anger left him, his voice grew weak. "I hated you, I really did. I'm sure you could tell that I wasn't quite as excited about the whole mess when she introduced us." Another defeated sigh escaped his lips. "But once I got to know you, well, let's just say you are an extremely hard person to stay mad at." He slowly stood up, unable to make eye contact. "I still care about her, that much I can't deny. But at least she is with someone that makes her happy. That's all that matters right?" He extended a hand for a handshake akin to that between two people after a game, the loser admitting defeat to the victor to show no hard feelings. He finally managed to look up and give an embarrased smile. "I'm sorry for throwing all that at you, just, take good care of her."

[Cheshire]

The flurry of words seemed to spill from the Kelvics mouth. It was a tad bit humorous but Coren held back. He could see that Viktor was nervous and he did not want to offend him. It warmed his heart to hear a man speak so fondly of Fianna. Although Fianna was beautiful she was a bit… interesting. She acted a little more like a bear than the other kelvics did. It was not exactly bad, it was more that it set her apart. Coren smiled at the fact that Viktor found an interest in her though. Love truly worked in mysterious ways. As Viktor recounted the day he had met Coren another smile found it's way to his lips. It had been blatantly obvious that Viktor had not liked him. A firm handshake that had almost crushed his hand had proved that. Coren was strong but it was nothing compared to Viktor's strength. The simple fact was that if Viktor had just asked sooner he would have seen the simple truth about Coren and Fianna. "Whoa whoa! Calm down there Viktor!" Coren smiled and looked over toward the docks. "Fianna is in now way in a relationship with me. For the love of Morwen, she is practically my sister." Coren knew that in that moment the conversation would take a drastic turn. He was a bit relived at that fact. He did not know how much longer he could nonchalantly listen to the bear's nervous ramblings. "You do know that Fianna would be overjoyed if you told her how you feel about her." Coren shot Viktor a sly look. "Of course if you ever hurt her or make her cry you will be out there in the waves…" Coren pointed out into the sea off in the distance. "I'm a Coolwater. I'll make sure you do not come back to land." Coren gave him a dark and serious look and then patted his back. "Anyways, I know you are a good man and I trust you. Let's go see that little she-bear."

[Viktor]

A funny thing happens when you set yourself up for disappointment, but you are proved wrong. Viktor was overjoyed, but unsure how to react. He had been plans for every situation, even if in some bizarre twist Coren had gotten violently offended, but this one. "Like a sister? How could I have not..." He laughed at himself, his own foolish fears. Overjoyed? Was there something else he had missed? His mind raced with the possibilities. At the surprisingly stern threat, he couldn't help but laugh more, despite look Coren gave him. "If I ever did anything to hurt her, you could find me waiting on the boat." This almost too good to be true, so he was going to make sure he didn't do anything stupid to mess things up. "Wait, see her now? I'm not ready, I mean, I don't know what to say..." He stuttered, nearly falling back into his self-conscious past before catching himself. "You know, it's that kind of attitude that got me into this mess in the first place. I'm not blowing it now." He stated confidently. Still, something had caught him off guard. "You said she would be overjoyed. Has she, said anything about me?" His curiosity got the best of him, although he still felt the need to mask his anxiety; "Not that I'm trying to pry or anything..." He feigned disinterest by allowing his gaze to wander elsewhere as he followed closely behind. His ears perked up however, or at least as perked as human ears can be.

[Cheshire]

A smile graced Coren's lips. "Yeah, when else would we go see her?" He was fully aware of how nervous the Kelvic was. He wanted to see if he would stick through a little teasing to be with Fianna though. Besides, any man in a relationship with his partner was going to be teased by him. It was inevitable. As Fianna's brotherly figure he had to give any man who had an interest in Fianna a hard time. At first it seemed as though Viktor was going to get scared and back out. It made Coren a bit disheartened to see. Viktor came through though and all though he was scared he agreed to go to the docks. The bear was a curious man as well as a good listener. Fianna might have been a bit upset if she knew Coren had let on about their occasional talks about Viktor. A girl never forgets her puppy love or in this case cub love. While Coren and Fianna got to know each other the talks of Viktor had become less frequent. The workload of the Port had gotten to be a bit much at times. "I'm not going to talk for her. I'm sure as a childhood friend of hers you would know how much she dislikes people talking for her." A smirk was shot in Viktor's direction. "Although, you could always ask her yourself. Where better to hear it than from the girl's mouth herself?" Coren motioned to Viktor to follow and the two walked toward the port. "I'm sure you know how excitable she is so do not be surprised if she pounces on you. I swear at times I think she was supposed to be a cat." Toward the center of the Port Fianna sat in her regular stoop watching as people walked by and swinging her legs from the side of the dock. She had a childish air about her that did not seem to go away even now that she was endowed with such a lofty position in Icewatch. Her eyes were pointed down to her arm and she sat there tracing her Gnosis mark with her finger. It was a nervous habit she had picked up over the years. Coren nudged Viktor and smiled. "Your she-bear awaits."

[Viktor]

Viktor was glad Coren had insisted on going to see Fianna now, he had missed his last chance thanks to timing, and he wasn't eager to let it give a repeat performance. "You enjoy watching me squirm, is that it? Well I'm not going to let you get pull any more strings." He said with a cocky grin, throwing a little arrogance into his stride. The fact that she still hated people speaking for him was actually relieving, at least she hadn't changed too much. "Hey, you never know, people change. I certainly did, at least when it comes to people. Still, It's good to know somethings never change." He fired the smirk right back, "Although I'm half tempted to drop a few vague hints that you may have said more than you really did. Nothing quite lifts my spirits like watching her thoroughly whoop on someone. Actually, now that I think about it, back then, that someone was generally me. Nobody can say she was the only student that could beat me hand to hand. She never let me live it down either." He laughed at the memory of a younger Viktor sprawled out on his back, one hand over what would soon become a black eye, the other lifting himself up off the ground. He had gotten reckless and Fi had exploited it by sending him down with a well placed punch. The whole time he was getting up he was laughing. Come on, one more round! It was that same determination that was driving him now. Coren mentioned something about her pouncing. "I'm sure I can handle her." He paused for a moment, reconsidering his choice of words. "But if I'm not back within ten chimes, send in the rest of the watch." He teased as they reached the dock where Fianna was seated. Here it was, the moment of truth. He could feel his heart climbing up his throat. There is no petching way I'm backing down this time... He held a finger to his lips to make sure Coren wouldn't make a sound before he began sneaking up behind the 'she-bear'. There was no way to tell whether or she had noticed him. Once he was close enough he poked her in the back suddenly, more intent on trying to finally get the drop on her. "Guess who!"

[Cheshire]

It was good that Viktor had experience with Fianna. She tended to be a bit overactive a times. Coren gave Viktor a pat on the back and then nodded. "Yeah, just a little. I just have to make sure that you are worth being around Fianna." Coren knew Viktor would be fine. He had known her before Coren. He almost hoped that Fianna would want to keep Viktor around. Coren was enjoying messing with the bear. "So you are the one she always beat up? Wow, I'm glad I've never seen her in too bad of a fight then. She is quite the fighter, or are you just a cuddle bear?" A joking look was shot in Viktor's direction. "I'm just messing with you. Go avenge your unrequited love." Coren gave Viktor a light push on the back and sat down on the boxes. There was no way he was going to walk away. This scene would be too hilarious to miss. Meanwhile, Fianna was at the port staring over the edge of the dock at a fish. She was hungry and she knew she would be stuck at the port for a while. She stuck her tounge out and glared at the fish. She was not too good at fishing in her human form but she did not like turning into a bear at the docks. There were too many newcomers that she might scare. She was just about to paw at the water when two hands blocked her vision. Her heart raced and in a flash of light there was a large polar bear in her place. She whipped who ever blocked her vision into the water and growled in anger. She glared down at the water and huffed in annoyance. The fish was gone...