PM to join Didn't See You There (Fehn)

[Atticus Leslie]

4th of Summer, 515

It was very early morning, then, and Atticus sat in the lobby of the Solar Wind apartments, his journal in hand, as of norm, checking over his past theories that now seemed so absolutely ridiculous. Often he sat against walls or on tables instead of on chairs or beds, and this is how he found himself now, just sitting cross-legged against a wall. The patrons and the staff didn’t much seem to mind, and Atticus wouldn’t care if they did. In any case, he had not yet been asked to leave, so he hadn’t.

He giggled quietly at the pages inked with his scrappy, unpracticed writing. It really was comedy at his finest. Like how he thought that stars may be a reflection of lights from the ground against a physical sky, and the existence of Leth and Syna were to ensure that said physical sky was good-looking. It was ridiculous.

Or a few pages later, where he looked upon old entries and remembered that he used to support the thought that this ground was the center of all things. This was fine. He could see how he could overlook some details with that one, but he had concluded at a younger age that all things didn’t revolve around this ground, but around Lhavit. As in the city. Just downright silly.

As he giggled at his own ramblings, he picked up his book in his hand and absentmindedly outstretched his legs and crossed them, obstructing the path a bit, but it was a slow day and he didn’t think much of it. What could possibly happen?

Atticus relaxed back further, tilting his head back on the wall, and placed his journal, open now to a map of the Lhavit sky from last Autumn, over his eyes, and went down for a blissful nap.

[Fehn]

Fehn

The lobby of the Solar Wind Apartments was beginning to get busy in the early hours of the morning. Fehn awoke early, knowing he had somewhere to be. He told himself that he'd take his rosy finch Tea to the pet store to find someone who knew a little more about the health of birds than he. The slight bit of anxiety he felt from the appointment got him out of bed before his usual time.

Tea seemed to be doing relatively well. It didn't seem distressed living in Fehn's room. The bird even began to sly around in short intervals, getting itself from the floor to the window ledge, or from its cage to the bed. Still, Fehn wanted someone to have a look at Tea, just to make sure there wasn't anything else he could be doing for it. Even though he was unsure where to find a bird expert in Lhavit, Fehn thought that the pet store would be a good start.

As the Inartan carried Tea's small cage in his right hand, he made his way through the lobby. He whistled a slow tune from Wind Reach to both ease his mind and calm Tea as they traveled past all the strangers. The familiar sound of the soft melody encouraged Tea to flutter around its cage a bit less and to be less noisy. The high-pitched chirps the bird produced tended to draw unwanted attention to Fehn and the bird. Tea didn't like strangers fawning over him and Fehn didn't like it when Tea was upset.

The careful cadence of Fehn's whistling came to a jarring halt as he careless tripped over an object on the floor. He gripped Tea's cage tight as he fell to the floor. He braced himself what little he could with his left arm while trying to keep Tea's cage from taking any impact. Unfortunately, he failed.

Fehn heard the distinct sounds of the cage clattering against the floor and a little bird inside it confused and afraid. Crying out in alarm, he quickly picked himself off of the ground to check on Tea. The bird squawked and fluttered around its cage in a panic. From what Fehn could tell, the bird was uninjured, just startled.

In those few seconds Fehn's emotions changed from shock to relief, and then from relief to anger. How could he have been so careless? He whirled around and found what he had tripped on.

Lying there against the wall was a teenage boy, stretched across the floor absentmindedly. He was obviously sleeping, but after Fehn's tumble he was stirred awake, likely due to the sudden commotion.

“What are you doing there!” Fehn snapped. “You can really hurt someone by lying in the middle of the floor.” Fehn clenched his fists, trying to calm his flaring temper. He might not have been so angry, but he was afraid that he might have injured Tea. He considered kicking the boy, but instead waited for a reaction.

[Atticus Leslie]

Atticus had just settled into rest. He had had a few rough nights as of late, and this was just nice. The traffic in the lobby was slow, and Atticus had figured he tucked himself in a corner far enough away from where one might walk as to avoid any trouble. But, apparently, the Leslie child had been wrong.

As he had just closed his eyes, he felt a jolt at his legs and immediately threw himself from the floor and against the wall, the book closed across his eyes fell to the floor quietly, the sound easily overshadowed by the noise of the poor man Atticus had tripped.

He avoided looking at the damage, at least until his book was back in his hands. He averted his eyes of the ruckus as he bent over, picked up his journal, and pressed it against his chest shyly as he witnessed the destruction he’d wrought.

“I… I’m so sorry… Is there anything I can do?” The lad whimpered, probably a bit too quiet, as the noise from the poor bird that dropped with the man’s belongings seemed to drown him out.

Atticus shrank to three inches tall against the large stone wall behind him, clutching onto his journal for dear life, his back and heels flat against the stone behemoth behind him, his eyes, wide with fear and surprise, on the man before him, who was shaking with anger.

“What are you doing there!? The man yelled, shaking with anger. “You can really hurt someone by lying in the middle of the floor!

Atticus was beside himself. He couldn’t quite recall many times when he had brought out such anger in people. He shook his head, offering another apology. “I… I’m so sorry, I um… Can I help you? Can I make it up to you?”

[Fehn]

Fehn

After Fehn had yelled at the boy whose legs he tripped in, he stood in a silent rage for a moment. The boy however, was quick to apologize. He wasn't just startled, he was terrified by Fehn's anger. He remained on the floor, wide-eyed and afraid. He repeated his apologies and asked Fehn if there was anything he could do to make up for his careless mistake. If the boy was feigning his reaction, then he was a good actor.

Fehn inspected the boy. He was fairly average looking for the most part. Based on his height alone, Fehn might have mistaken him for a man. It was hard to tell from the boys positioning on the floor, but if he was standing he'd most likely be much taller than Fehn. Even so, the tell tale signs of a teenager were clear.. His body structure suggested that he still had some growing to do and he had some spots of acne that are common with teens. On his head was a raggedy mop of hair, a contrast to Fehn's own well kept, clean, straight hair.

The two boys looked at one another for a long moment, one fiery with anger and one cold with fear. They were both slightly shaking. The deadlock was broken only when Fehn looked away.

Fehn looked back to Tea to see how the frightened bird was doing. It was still fluttering wildly in its cage, but it was a little less flustered than before. Fehn bit his lip and then let out a sigh.

“It's okay,” he said to the boy grudgingly. As quick as Fehn's temper was, it wouldn't be enough to keep him angry at a person so scared and pathetic. Besides, it's not like it was entirely his fault.

Turning again to the birdcage, Fehn considered the boy's question. Remembering his struggle carrying the thing, he thought of a compromise that may suit him.

“Well... what if you helped me carry my bird to the pet store?” Fehn asked. “I have injured my hand and carrying the cage is not an easy task.” He looked down shamefully as he said this. It was a huge understatement. An injury implies that it can be healed, but Fehn's left hand was beyond repair. Carrying the birdcage to the pet store with one functioning hand wasn't impossible, though it would cause some strain to the muscles of a man Fehn's size. Normally he wouldn't trust a stranger with his pet, yet seeing how to boy reacted to his anger, Fehn knew the boy would be careful.