Getting Oriented [Jenn]

[Shinigami]

Dark paws felt carefully ahead as Caejillius crept forward. He'd managed to find his way out of the Court not long ago, having finally learned his way around a little bit. Or at least, he knew how far he had to travel before bumping into something, turning and aligning himself with it, and then traveling forward before bumping into something else. Maybe eventually he'd be able to do all of that without the bumping part.

One experiment that he was currently trying was counting his steps as he walked along, though he figured that his rather hesitant pace probably couldn't really be counted as proper walking. Creeping, yes, but not walking. Then again, he didn't know just what he would bump into out here, and maybe discretion was the better part of valor, at least for now.

Instead, he listened carefully to everything that went on, his large ears - inherited from his mother, though greatly reduced in size - swivelling this way and that to catch every sound that they could. Footsteps made a certain sound, after all, and so did the rustling of grass, though he was still learning the outdoor sounds. So far he'd spent most of his young life in the Court with his siblings, his mother, and the Lady. Well, and the other people of the Court and Cast, of course.

[Jenn]

Tejid walked through the park alone, his parents having dropped him and his siblings off for some fun. He didn't really like most of their games. They were too noisy, and sometimes the others 'forgot' he couldn't speak. That was never fun. In fact, it was downright insulting and pissed him off to no end. But really, what could he do about it? Not much. He couldn't even call them out on it. Couldn't even whisper them out on it.

The amber bauble shone in the sunlight, mocking his silence with its brilliant glow. He stared at it in the waters of a small pond, then jerked away and resumed his walk. Had he been able, a small, pained sound would have emerged from his throat. But no, even his breathing was quiet. The Murdons could take their 'blessed' gems and shove them somewhere painful for all the good they'd done him.

Splashed black paws stepped through the grass, whisper-quiet but still audible. He walked to the top of a small mound and looked at the area around him. The pond, a small copse of trees, the maze far off to the side, a pair of humans strolling down a path, a pair of blue ears sticking straight up and swiveling...

...and attached to a blue body, no less. He drew back, one paw raised as if to walk away. He didn't really want to meet any strangers today, especially not other children. At least his siblings didn't make him feel as bad as they could. Strangers usually weren't so kind. Something about the way this unknown youngling sat, however, made him pause and watch. He was just sitting there, head slowly swaying to one side and then, equally slowly, back to the other. It was decidedly unusual.

Tejid: 1 / 15

[Shinigami]

The sound of paws through the grass - finally, he was figuring out what that sound was! - caught his attention, and he turned his head toward it. He'd done his best to avoid the humans that were in the park, but that wasn't hard, because they were so very loud that they were impossible to miss. Plus, they stank, and he idly wondered if humans always stank. If so, then he couldn't see why his mother liked to eat them so much, though the few times she'd brought meat home, it had always tasted so very wonderful. But still, that wasn't what he was trying to figure out! He must have inherited his scattered brain from his mother as well.

Lifting his head further, he breathed in deeply, scenting the air and trying to figure things out. Whoever it was smelled like a Euclides, that was for sure. Or at least, they smelled a lot like one, like all of the others that lived with the Lady. So he was fairly sure it was a Euclides. It couldn't be an Amuni, because he'd probably be dead by now if that was the case.

"Who's there?" he called out, head turning this way and that, as if he might spontaniously grow eyeballs with which to see things. Instead his head just sported a pair of sunken sockets, lids closed tightly over them, permanently hiding the aching emptiness away from the world. He wondered what the world itself looked like.

[Jenn]

The young Director watched in mounting curiosity as that head continued to sway, and then pinpointed unerringly in his direction. The surety of the motion, the absolute zeroing in without the other child even opening his eyes, sent a small shiver to ripple the fur down Tejid's back. How had he done that without looking?

More importantly... why was he bothering to ask who was there? Why didn't he just open his eyes? Or did he want a name instead? Well, that wasn't coming any time soon. Still, he didn't want to just leave. At least this prompted his curiosity, which was the whole point of the impromptu walk through the park. His options were continuing on his merry way and ignoring this strange youngling, going back to his siblings and playing one of their dumb games, or walking over and bumping noses.

So, he chose the latter. On quiet paws, he walked down the small grassy until he was right next to the other child, then gently touched his nose to the side of that dark muzzle, right on a yellow cheek.

Was it just him, or was there something... 'off' about that face?

Tejid: 2 / 15

[Shinigami]

Okay, so the other possibly-a-Euclides was approaching him. Caejilus waited patiently, though his eyebrows furrowed when he wasn't answered at all. Maybe whoever it was hadn't heard him? He was about to repeat his question when he realized how close the other had gotten to him, and both of his ears were fixed on the origin of the sound as best they could be. It was almost like the Euclides was right in front of him.

And then suddenly there was a muzzle touching his cheek, right below his eye, and he couldn't help jerking back a bit in surprise. At least he managed to choke down the unmanly yelp from escaping. That would have just been embarrassing. Finally he calmed himself down, "looking" in the direction that muzzle-poke had come from.

"Uhm...who are you? I'm blind, I can't see you," he finally said, confessing his little birth defect. "I don't have any eyes, you see. Or at least, I hope you see, because I certainly can't!" The last was a rather cheesy attempt at humor, though he had yet to develop anything approaching sophistication in that area.

[Jenn]

Tejid jerked back himself at the sudden movement, startled at how strong a reaction it was. A twitch would have been one thing, but a frantic near-spasm in the other direction? Well, if the other child had bothered opening his eyes, he would have reali-

-oh. No eyes. That explained a few things.

Suddenly he felt rather silly, creeping up on a blind person and touching him with no warning. Not like he could have given any warning beyond a touch, or perhaps a loud scuff in the dirt, but still. His ears went back, in uncertainty more than anything else, and he wondered how to answer. Or apologize. Or, hell, even communicate. He had a birth defect of his own, through a diety's cruel whim rather than the whims of fate and blood, but still. Their two... issues seemed rather incompatible.

With one paw, he made a few small rubs in the dirt, more so the other child could hear his movement than anything. Then he reached over and, deliberately blowing out a loud-ish breath from his nose, he touched it again to that same spot. A greeting. Or something.

Tejid: 3 / 15

[Shinigami]

So, why was this other might-be-a-Eucli- Oh, to hell with it. He'd call it a Euclides until someone told him otherwise. So, why was this Euclides rubbing the dirt, as if it was going to charge forward and attack him? He hoped that it didn't, because he still wasn't too steady on his feet all the time. And then there was a loud huff of air, and a touch at the same spot on his cheek as before. He tilted his head to the side in a bit of confusion, trying to figure out what was going on.

It was like the other Euclides was trying to communicate, but why he wasn't just talking, he didn't get- And then he did get it, his face lighting up with comprehension.

"You can't talk, can you?" he asked, his voice wondering. Would that be even worse, to not be able to talk? At least he'd be able to see, but to not have a voice...at least right now, it was really the only way he could communicate with the world. Well, there was always touch, like the way this other Euclides had greeted him. Hesitantly, he leaned forward as well, his shorter muzzle hopefully coming to rest on the other's cheek in imitation of the greeting.

That was, of course, the scene that Biriunshkae walked up upon; her brother and a strange gold-and-black pup(?) touching each other's cheeks with their noses, looking rather comfortable with each other. Or not, really, since they were both so nervous (or at least a little nervous) that it was funny. She coughed a bit to warn the pair of her presence, and then coughed for real this time, delicately spitting the gob of blood to the side.



She'd followed Caejilius out of the Lady's Court to keep an eye on him, because he obviously couldn't keep an eye on himself. For a few seconds she'd fallen behind, and now she came upon him and he was making a friend! Without her!

[Jenn]

Tejid watched that expression shift from puzzlement to sudden understanding, fast as a bolt of lightning. He nodded his head at the words, then stopped and felt foolish when he realized the other youngling wouldn't have any idea what he was doing. Non-verbal communication wouldn't do him any good when visuals were out of the question too. What was left to them? Touch, really.

He felt the brush of that nose on his ear and quickly raised his head so that it touched the 'right' spot, the same one he had touched, in acknowledgment. How much meaning really got through, he had no idea. He felt rather foolish sitting there, pressed nose-to-nose with someone he had only just met, and that feeling only compounded when he saw another blue and black form appear from off to the side. From the looks of them, they were obviously related.

Hastily moving away, he turned away with his ears back even further in embarrassment. What was he even doing here? He should go and find his siblings. For all that the blind youth seemed helpless, this other one might not be... and there could always be more. He turned and made as if to leave.

Tejid: 4 / 15

[Shinigami]

Well, as foolish as he might feel, he also felt strangely mollified. This was a sort of speaking that he couldn't really do with anyone else, because they all depended on being able to talk to him out loud. Since this Euclides couldn't - he wondered if it was a boy or a girl, and what its name was - it meant that he had to find other ways. And the nose/cheek touching was actually rather fun.

"Caejilius, what are you doing?" Biriunshkae asked, trotting up to the pair. She saw the stranger pull away, as if he was going to leave, and her ears - far smaller than her brother's - pinned themselves back against her head. "You don't have to leave, you know," she said, her voice almost exasperated. "I just have to keep an eye on my brother."

"I didn't ask you to come along, Iri! I can do just fine on my own!" Caejilius replied crossly, having identified which of his two sisters the voice belonged to. It had taken him far less time to differentiate those two than it did for him to figure out his brothers. All of his brothers. "And please, don't go. I'm Caejilius, and this is my sister, Biriunshkae. What's your name? Uh, I mean, uhm..." He turned his head over in his sister's general direction, almost sheepishly. "He can't talk, I don't think. If, maybe he spelled his name out on the ground, you could tell me? If you don't mind, that is." The last was addressed to the other Euclides, the gender pronoun chosen at the last second; he hoped he had gotten it right, and hadn't just called a girl "he" - that would probably lead to a beating, no matter how blind he was.

"I don't mind," Iri responded, rolling her eyes at her brother. She was usually the one he went to when he needed to "see" something, and couldn't.

_{Caejilius: 5/15
Biriunshkae: 2/15}

[Jenn]

Tejid took a few steps away before pausing and looking back at the pair of them. The blue femme - definitely a sister, he could tell by the attitude even if the voice and name didn't give it away - didn't seem all that threatening. Except, again, in the sister sort of way. One of his own sisters was a little bit pushy, for all that she was a Puppet, demanding in that roundabout and infuriatingly passive way of hers that he do something for her. It wasn't as though he could say no, now was it?

The blind pup's appeal felt quite different, but he couldn't refuse it in about the same way. It was just impossible to walk away after he went and asked like that, and he really didn't have anything else even remotely as entertaining as this conversation might prove to be. So long as it didn't degenerate into sneers and insults, he was fine.

With a slow nod of his elegantly pointed head, for the benefit of Iri, he walked back and found a clearer patch of earth where he could scratch out his name with one claw. His parents made sure he knew how to spell it, even if he couldn't say it. Thankfully they'd been kind in making it a short, easily-pronounced name rather than the mouthfuls some of the others had to work with.

T E J I D .

Tejid: 5 / 15