2020-04-12 - Surveying the Land for House and Home

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Surveying the Land (For House and Home)

Summary: Chiffon and Calwa wander the lands outside the city with thoughts of looking for a place to build a home more suitable to their sizes and shapes.



Who: Chiffon, Calwa
When: April 12th, 2020
Where: Outside the City


Calwa-icon.gifChiffon-icon.gif

The information contained within this log is to be considered information gained Out of Character (OOC).
This information may not be used as In Character (IC) knowledge or in roleplay unless it has been learned in-game or permission has been granted by the parties involved.

Questions should be directed to staff.


Halfway between Civilization and Nowhere. Unfortunately, nature seems to have missed the memo here? Still, there's a quiet to it, a real Quiet that's good for pacing and getting away from urban noise. Paws on dirt and ears to the wind. Chiffon draws a careful breath, pacing off of paved stone and swishes his tail. "Not exactly the marshes...." He mumbles. "Not a lot of competition for real estate this far out though... hrmm. What's your wishlist?" He glances back at the other candletail, smiling softly. "The library might take some effort."

Following behind is Calwa, always happy to get some open air about even if he adores the complexities of cities, whose pawsteps leave a dusty-swirled trail just beside that of Chiffon's wake. "The library? No, ha. I mean, reading is wonderful, but it's just a personal interest. A hobby." Padding smoothly up beside the other Sanuye, Calwa brushes cheek, neck, shoulder, and tail against in affection before turning to look away and about. "Something with some open space is nice. W,we shouldn't get too far outside the city, though." A light stammer reveals some discomfort in how shifting and how broken things get too far out. He doesn't understand it, yet, so it's very spooky. "Maybe something with different levels? A place to lounge and examine the stars at night?" A simulated sky, yes, but Calwa is unaware of the facts. It appears as real as any view of the cosmos from Gaia.

Whatever Calwa knows of this place, Chiffon probably knows even less. Even if he's.. well, that's just how he manages. "A bookshelf? Even that might be a little difficult." He turns his paw over, flexing toes, imagining trying to do even woodcarving. "Probably not this far out, but it's.... easier to see here. You think we'd be able to see something elevated poking up around the city." He turns to the cityline and tilts his head. "... might need to go for a proper romp and cover some ground. Find you the perfect observatory. I'll get a nice sunning rock..."

The larger Sanuye paces over and brushes his cheek against Calwa's shoulder. "How are your legs today?"

"A sunning rock. Hah. Maybe a nice chunk of claystone." Like from the Valley of the Fallen Star. Pausing and taking a moment to rest on his haunches, a tip of the head passes a studious gaze back toward the direction of the heart of Mabase. At that angle and position, his mane stands out quite a bit. Distracted, the contact against his shoulder is a mild surprise; Calwa turns his head to rub his chin and nose along Chiffon's noggin before parting with a lick.

"Oh, hello again. They're okay. I'm okay. I'm almost back up to weight again." Kah is skinny by natural build, but he was looking much worse previously. "Don't want to gain too much. People might mistake me for you," he jokes even if some people do already think they 'look the same'. That's people for you.

Chiffon chuckles. He might think that Calwa should be used to it by now, but those little jumps are just adorable. He snuffles a bit, and engages in a bit of nuzzle-rumble, chasing with a lick before he shares the sit. "Oh, whatever would you do then? You're going to need a few more beef bowls to hit my size." He wags a paw good-naturedly; still, there's a much greater ease to him now that Kah is no longer in danger--health or otherwise immediate.

"... if we're so lucky for that. At this point I'll take 'safe' and 'smells nice.' Good earth for digging maybe..." He says, stretching out. "We just gotta look. And... keep looking."

"Digging. You mant to dig out a cave or underground den?" Calwa is used to living in suspended huts on the sides of a butte with steep sides high off the ground. But, at the same time, he's also used to the inside of the butte, throughout the natural and crafted Buga caverns. He's not opposed to the idea of being underground, but he'd likely prefer something with positive verticality instead. "We can do that. If you want." If they're just spitballing ideas, why not plan for both? Calwa's tail creeps over to settle against and slightly drape over Chiffon's.

"Bit of both, I reckon." Chiffon shrugs. No reason they can't have their ups and their downs. If the earth is cooperative to begin with. "Grandpa's marsh had a lot of little tunnels. They're... handy." For various things. He looks out for a long while, leaning a little towards Calwa. His tail curls and brushes back up at the other candletail. "But we're more likely to find something closer to where you came from, out here." It doesn't sound like it bothers him any. He smiles over. "Probably will be a bit more... fixer-upper."

Calwa's brows tip outward as he leans in to put some of his weight against his sturdier companion. It's a bit of a sad expression, but he tries to hide it by being closer. As a courier, only one place his life has ever been home. Everything else was transitory, temporary, with no connection. The idea of building something is not the kind of thing he's very much used to thinking about at all. "You're probably right. I don't know how property ownership works around here. We may need to visit a, um, property surveyor? Don't cities have those? Isn't land...expensive?"

"That's assuming anyone owns... anything this close to the border. It seems like a bad idea." Chiffon rolls his shoulder back and laughs. "We can check with the city, but I think we're fine. Plus we're kind of in our own category..." He leans back, offering his support to his companion. "And for all we know, quite.. temporary."

"I don't understand how anything works around here. I...suppose I mean that as literally as I mean it figuratively. Everything is strange, but I'm glad you're here. Contact with you, you around, it's the only way I know I'm real anymore." A sideglance is passed to Chiffon along with a single pointed ear tipping back to lay flat. "I am real. Aren't I?" That's invitation to check, at least!

Chiffon peers back at the glance, the earnest question. He leans over, lazy-jawed and opening his mouf to lightly clamp on Cal's shoulder. There's a bit of slobber, mouthing, and a few slow 'omf, omf' noises. Then he pulls back, licks his face clean, and smiles. "Feels real to me," he says simply, before giving a feline stretch. "... we'll figure it out the same way everyone does. Lots'o learning. We had to figure out where we came from too..."

Calwa seems to pull away, not by distance by in light shift of weight where he sits, as Chiffon playfully nomfs his shoulder and leaves a damp spot. This turns into soft laughter and a playful swat from a forepaw. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Like usual. No use worrying too much about it right now. Would be nice to have a cozy private place to sleep at night. The librarian lives there, I think. Not many other four-leggers around, are there?" Not much for social example.

Chiffon takes the swat across the nose and just grins back in that unflinching way of his. "Hey, it's a rare treat for me. I'm going to enjoy all this propping-you-up until you know everything about anything and are telling me what to do all the time." He laughs and leans his head back, looking skyward. "Mm. More than usual for me. Less than I'd like. We find a nice place, maybe we can throw a tea party. Or a barbeque..."

"Just as long as people don't expect us to roast the meat over our combined tails," comments the smaller to the larger. "Though that does sound better than relying on...beef bowls." Pushing against the ground with his hindlegs, Calwa lifts to all fours and takes a few padded steps toward one of the sparse nearby buildings just for casual investigation. "But you know it'll come up in conversation, right?"

"Hah! That's right, you missed that part. There's... not bad hunting here and there." The larger rubs at his mane a bit, almost a little sheepish. "Never understood what the big deal about those were..." he murmurs before following after. A casual flick of his tail and he nods. "They're inescapable, aren't they.."

Calwa is a city-Sanuye more than anything else. His travels between locations don't really count too much since there are always civilized stops along the way after a good long run. "Hunt. I mean, I can... I can fight, if I have to, but I've never had to do much hunting." It's his turn to look a little sheepish. What a pair. "I guess I'll have to have you show me your secrets, wise huntmaster."

Chiffon pauses a moment. There are... certain aspects of hunting that he wonders how Calwa will take to. Though he doesn't want to get caught up in a philosophical quandry of it while they're already digging around for a home. 'Sparse' about describes things that pop up in the radius of the city, usually either remnants or ramshackle structures. Things that last way longer than they should, and things meant to be abandoned quickly. "Oh, well.. we're going to be trading a lot of knowledges, I think, 'Master Calwa.'"

"Masters of our craft, big guy. I'm agile, mobile, and know a few things about first aid. And you...get hit a lot and eat even more." Calwa laughs and tries to slip out of range for any teasing retaliation. His tail bumps against Chiffon, likely, in this pulling aside to avoid a swat or a tackle and he tries to circle about in case chase is given.

"That about sums it up, doesn't it?" Chiffon laughs and nips in that direction. Sometimes the sound of teeth going *click* is almost as effective as a nip. The liondog sways a bit, watching Calwa circle while making a slow follow himself. Ears tilting, paws curling and stance deceptively lax. "So you're the agile one, hm?"

It's a game of keep-away, it would seem, rather than tag. Calwa's entire pattern of movement is to keep a slow circle just outside comfortable range. "Ahah ha. Eep, careful with those teeth. Biting is bad." And, as if to tease just a bit more, he adds, "Bad, bad Chiffon. No beef bowls." A crooked smile creeps onto his muzzle.

"How would you know? Maybe you just need to experience it." Chiff wiggles a bit more... waiting for the right moment, maybe just a step slightly different than the rest to set him off. "Think that's bad? I'll show you how bad I can be!" And with a wuff he's off, springing off his hindlegs and going into a short-range sprint. Though getting a clear angle is unlikely, if the lither Sanuye is sticking to circles and ready to bounce angles on him..

"No no no, that's okay, Chiff. I think I'll do better to not have to worry about i-eee!" Calwa was expected some retaliation. After all, that was the whole point of the game, but instead of immediately bolting forward instinct is to take a side-step first away from the charge. There's a little bit of a tangle of feet that turns into a scramble to get away -- a bit slow enough to give chiffon some advantage -- which just might wind up with an oncoming impact.

When you've been big this long, and you know the pitfalls, you know how to turn. It's not the stumble that gets it so much, but the pause from recovery that is enough to set Chiffon back on a straight line! It's actually a *careful* pounce more than a takedown one, not aimed at a sort spot or something to come disjointed... but it's definitely rough lion play. Proper pounce and tumble coming in full speed.

The smaller twists when contact is made in an attempt to not only get free, but to place him in more of a defensive position for the inevitable sideways fall and tumble. To an outside observer this might look like a truly epic battle between beasts! Flashes of claws and teeth, grappling and kicking; Calwa has as thick a hide as Chiffon. Both should be able to take some rough play although there are remarkably less free seconds amidst such a tangle for words between pawing and nipping and the whipping about of fire-tipped tails.

In the end, it is play, and everything is done with a knowledge of who can take what; and they would know how much they can handle. Chiffon is pushing it pretty far, not shying from letting push come to shove. The lug ofcuses on... holding on for the most part, keeping motion when it looks like he might be taken over and building up a crimson colored frenzy of rumbles, paws, and a little bit of laughter.

Chiffon's partner may be shy and quiet, but he can take a lot more punishment than he lets on. As such, pushing it a little bit could look a lot worse than it really is. Forelegs wrapped about in return, Calwa even tries to wrestle in position to twist and roll. He's more about speed, precision, and agility than strength and endurance, so Chiff's hold has a lot more advantage. Still, Kah can be a slippery devil to keep holding onto. Teeth aim to make contact along some shoulder in this maneuver so any playful laughter is muffled by Chiff-pelt and saliva.

It would hardly be fun to just try to *oomph* Calwa into the ground. Well, maybe once, but even for all his strenght there are still ways to squirm. Nibbling and gnawing that pinches but doesn't break hide.. occasionally the flurry broken with an impromptu bout of grooming. Not that it can make up for the mess they'll be in not too long.

Plenty of dust gets kicked up from this tangle. Calwa's roll isn't as successful as it might otherwise be. While he might briefly force Chiffon into a barreling over, the bigger Sanuye is very adept at rolling with the force of things; Calwa winds up underneath the big guy right where he started...only a little bit more to the side. Hindlegs kick a bit, but the fierce play slows and leaves the smaller of the two doing little more than just holding on tightly.

Chiffon is almost still again now that he's on top! There have been a few of these moments, surely, between bursts of play and what might be mistaken for violence. Still, he's warm, cozy, and panting a little from the heat of it. He leans down and, smiling, bumps his nose against Calwa's while holding firm. "Heh. Pinned ya."

The notion of being pinned earns Chiffon a quick bit of wiggling from Calwa, although it doesn't last too long. Yup, he's stuck. Huffing a little, Calwa wraps his forelegs around the thicker build above him. "No fair. You're heavy." Cal has his own share of heat-reducing panting going on, too, but he's trapped underneath Mr. Furnace so it can't be helped. "Maybe the food truck jingle will sound nearby and save me from such a horrible fate."

"Mm? Oh, we really have to teach you how to deal with... heavier things if you're going to be following me hunting." Chiffon laughs and turns, pulling the pair onto their sides. still loosely tangled. He squints at the quip, and nips at Cal. "You keep poking at me like that, and I just might not share~"

There's a light grunt from Calwa at being repositioned into something more lazy. The big lug winds up with a face trying to bury itself against the ruff of his chest. Bump. "Chiff," he says muffledly. "Needing help grooming your whiskers of gravy doesn't count as sharing." The way Kah says the word 'gravy' is drawn out, at that, emphasizing the fact he's being silly even if his voice comes off a little flat.

"You say that, but you're always so eager to help, aren't you?" Chiff keeps a paw draped over, looking down as his smaller counterpart buries into his fur. Still catching his breath, tail a-flicker and stillness coming less than easy.

There comes a certain amount of pure rubbing of face against chest in slow circles before Calwa pulls his head back and reveals his face to the other once again. "Just because it isn't sharing doesn't mean you don't need help." Perhaps Cal's gaze is met and eyes become briefly locked; either way, Chiffon gets a demonstrative lick over the side of his muzzle. Each hair, each whisker, gets dragged along and preened into smooth damp order. "Gravy fiend."

Chiffon gives Calwa a deadpan look at this. "You realllly think that's what I like so much?" He wonders, eyebrows lifting with another laugh. He tilts his head and leaaans into the licking to return one. "I've been accused of many things, but that really takes the cake."

"Don't tell me you have cake with gravy, too," he pushes, far-reaching, then laughs at himself because it's just too stupid of a mental picture. At the very least Calwa is plenty relaxed and cozily chill. "I'm just teasing," he states, in case it wasn't already painfully obvious. "No, really. Hey, Chiff? You know I'm teasing, right? Honest."

Chiffon stares on a bit longer, letting the silence drag out before laughing and nuzzling his partner. "Yes, dear. I know." He manages, rolling a little more and resuming the sprawl. "... this is nice. I mean, it's actually TERRIBLE out here, but it's kind of nice to be here. ... probably not where we should put down though."

In his own lazy sprawl, Kah has a look around, too, then sighs a little. "I mean, you're not wrong. Maybe somebody has a rooftop penthouse they don't want anymore and we can just...move in. We'd ask first! But, you know... Y-you know." A slight twist has Calwa's hip against the ground while his chest turns to be exposed to the sky so he can peer at the strange world upside-down.

"I know." Chiffon likewise rolls over and stares up. At least it's not too windy or dusty to make the experience unpleasant. Fur will need cleaned later, but that's just a cost of going out. And they still have so much ground to explore. He sighs and stretches out, holding a few claws skyward before softly adding, "we're really not that good with doorknobs."

"Had somebody tell me to grip it with my teeth once. Nobody ever washes their hands. Some never take baths. Could you imagine?" Calwa sticks his tongue with a shudder. "It's awful. Like, I don't want to lick my butt, so why would I ever lick yours, fancy bipedal grabby-hands person. Eheheh." There's a beat, then... "We're not upside-down. We're just carrying the world on our backs. Together."

"If they'd just... lower them maybe." Chiffon frowns. "We can grab them kind of... it's just... rrr. What I wouldn't give for some of that fancy pants unicorn magic." Chiffon siiiighs~ and lets his head thump back against the ground. "... 'ss that what it is, hm? You think it'd feel heavier, hehe."

"Eh. It's not so bad..." comments Calwa as he tips his head just enough to pass a glance toward the other. Wait, what's that curl on his muzzle? What's he thinking? "...after getting used to being squished underneath you, Chiffy." So cheeky! "But, hey! At least it shows we can do anything if we work together?!"

"Haha. Make fun of it all you like. These thick shoulders will carry you everywhere you need to go." Chiff gives a satisfied wiggle, and then kicks out aimlessly with a sigh. "Yeah. Ready to take on the whole world and all that! ... can we find a darn hill or stack of rocks out here though."

"We'll just have to look harder." Rolling over to become rightside-up, Calwa hops up completely onto his feet and has a very very good shaking out. Mind the dust, Chiff! Cal then takes a quick moment to scratch the top of his head with his right hindpaw before one last shake. There. "For a moment there I wanted to take a nap with you, but a little shelter might be better for that."

"That we can do. And if you need to be taught a lesson every step of the way, well, we'll just nap somewhere a bit more... rustic." Chiffon takes his time righting himself, grooming his paws a bit and shaking off a second layer of dust. "Maybe a nice tree or something, for now."

"You make it sound like I'm a troublemaker or something," remarks Calwa just before yawning and having a good look around as if anything has possibly changed in the past five minutes (it could totally happen!). "Really, big guy, is this the face of a troublemaker to you?" He shows off his face with the sweetest cutest expression ever and after a few seconds abruptly makes a really goofy face, jaw open and tongue hanging out, eyes crossed. "Hllllllaaaaaaah."

Chiffon puts on his best Lion Grin of Steadily Implying and watches Calwa defend, guff, and contort. The end expression makes him laugh and slap his paw once, before bunting and brushing past him affectionately. "Mmhm. The kind that can get away with it. The worst kind."

"Chiiiff, careful. You might hurt my feelings." There is a mock-sniffle in there somewhere, but the silliness fades quickly enough as Calwa falls into step beside Chiffon. "Seriously, though, thanks. As always. You really do help me feel real."

"Heee. You've had your head a bit in too much meditation if you're doubting yourself this often." Chiffon noses at Calwa and rumbles. "But I'll remind you as many times as it takes! I know that ticklish spot above your tail, anyway..."

It's true. Calwa spends a lot of time meditating, one way or another. However, at mention of certain weakspots, the shy nature of the smaller male comes back out all of a sudden. His ears splay and become very warm and his walking posture seems to shrink just a bit. "...Chi- Chiff. I thought we came to an agreement and..."

"Hehe..." Chiffon gives the Sanuye a gentle check with his hips, sashaying on and tilting back his head. "Mmm. We sure did. Still, I might have to remind you now and then... which one of us is the real troublemaker." He winks and flicks his tail. "Race you past the bend?"

Kah gets so very close to whining in response to Mean Ol' Chiff and his Threats of Doom that when the notion of racing is brought up there's nearly an interruption to that question. Calwa takes off in speed. That's a false start! Not a word in his defense is spoken. There's just a soft toothy smile pasted on his muzz.

Chiffon keeps up that smile. Threats and all. Not like Calwa ever minded, right? He lets the smaller one have a few moments head start, before shaking his head, laughing, and bolting off after with a yowl. There's plenty of good space here, probably the best to run around Twisted in any... and when they've decided they're tired, they can just find a nice place to... stop. Rest. Soak in the sights.



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