Fitting in

SUMMARY Murder and Erakirak take a playful break while preparing for the High Hunt celebration, and Murder makes a new friend in the Aerie.

Erakirak is in the center of the Aerie, helping set up for the High Hunt celebration this week. Right now he is draping brightly-colored fabrics from the rooves of khazad buildings... unsurprisingly, given how consistently he has been taking opportunities to use his newly fledged wings. Show off!

Murder has slowly made her way up one of the larger outcroppings of rock, and settles down at the top. She lays back and watches the decorating for a time, waving up at Erakirak when it looks like he might see it.

Erakirak grins as Murder catches his eye and playfully swoops over her with a brightly-colored red-and-gold tapestry, attempting to drape it over her head.

The Gobber squeaks and laughs as the red fabric descends. But in her haste to avoid it, her footing slips, and instead she pulls the entire thing around her. Goblin burritos, anyone?

Laughing, Rak impulsively launches up into the air, clutching the tapestry in his talons, tangled Gobber and all.

Murder squeaks again as she's carried aloft, her feet kicking as she squirms to turn about, eventually poking her head out. "Eeee. Silly man!"

"Silly?!?" Rak squawks, mock-incredulously as they climb into the sky. "Me? I'm hurt!"

Murder giggles and squeaks again, obviously enjoying the ride. "I hope I am not distracting you from your decorating?"

"Oh, you totally are," Rak replies cheerfully. "And I keep getting scolded about how now that I'm a Fully Fledged Part Of The Aerie There Are Certain Appearances That Must Be Kept Up," he adds, and you can totally hear the Capital Letters in his voice. He shrugs. "Screw that. I'm having too much fun!" He continues to climb, now in a corkscrew pattern that starts twisting the fabric into a braid.

Murder stares at Erakirak a moment or two, and begins to giggle. "Oh sure, I'm responsible for all the lack of appearance keeping up, hmm?" She squirms a moment and looks at the fabric. "Erm. I'm kinda stuck! Not that I want to fall to my death, but..."

"Oh don't worry," Rak replies casually, "I'll catch you." He stops twisting the tapestry once it's fully twisted and hovers in place, letting it unwind with the gobber at the other end.

GAME: Murder rolls acrobatics: (13)+8: 21

"Whhaaaaataaareyoudoooooing?!", she calls out as the fabric begins to unwind, and she goes round and round and round. The Gobbo squeaks as she reaches the end of the fabric and manages to snag it with both hands. There are a few bounces before she settles down.

"Just taking you for a little spin," Rak quips, before power-diving to catch up with her as she starts to fall, handing her the other end of the tapestry. "You think this would make a good parachute?" he asks as he passes her.

Murder squeaks again as she's handed the other end, and begins to drop, and then move about as the tapestry billows out. "A parawhat?", she wonders as she wobbles back and forth, causing her to take an erratic path across the sky.

"A parachute!" Rak repeats. "It's like an upside-down basket Walkers can use to hold enough air to glide with," he explains as they plunge towards the ground.

Murder huffs and looks up at the tapestry. "I dunno, is it working well?"

Erakirak laughs, his wings tight against his sides as they plummet towards the rapidly approaching ground. "Not at all!'

Murder eyes him with WIDE eyes. "Well, ya gonna save me or do I gotta?", she says, sounding vaguely annoyed at the situation.

Erakirak continues to fall with her, seeming unbothered by it. "Say please!"

Murder eyes him again, and huffs, crossing her arms together which of course makes her fall faster. "Hmmph. Please."

GAME: Erakirak rolls fly: (6)+9: 15

Erakirak laughs delightedly and moves just the tips of his wings, keeping them pressed against him. Immediately his trajectory alters and he closes the distance between them... not smoothly, but functionally. One arm goes around her waist, the other snatches up the tapestry, and his wings snap out fully, turning their fall into a glide over the Aerie, which the other Egalrin mostly ignore. He banks around the Commons before landing them both back where he started, stealing a kiss, and returning to hanging the tapestry.

A blue-feathered older woman standing nearby clucks her beak. "He has been doing that ALL WEEK," she tells Murder with a tone at once fond and irritated.

Murder squeaks as he snags her up and then suddenly his wings deploy. She's laughing loudly by the time he's circling the Aerie. When he goes to steal a kiss, she clings to him a moment, to give him one back, and only then does she let go. The Gobbo eyes the lady Egalrin and smiles. "He's in high spirits, it's best to let him enjoy himself, yes?"

She nods good-naturedly. "I suppose. They're always like that at first, but they settle down after a little while. Which is good, or we'd have to strangle them in their sleep. You must be Murder, right? I'm Aika," she greets, extending a talon. "I've been away for a while, but I wouldn't miss the High Hunt!"

Murder looks down at her feet shyly and she nods. "Yes, I am Murder. Nice to meet you, Aika." The Gobbo smiles brightly then and offers up her hand. "This will be my first high hunt."

"Oh, you're in for a treat, then! We put on _quite_ the show. And I hear this year they're inviting the other Irregulars from Alexandria city as well, as a thank-you for their help with the undead." Aika pauses and adds, with the air of someone awkwardly giving a compliment, "Of course, we're not thanking you and Erakirak, because you're not outsiders... you're part of the Aerie."

Murder stares at Aika for a moment, then her cheeks flush, and then the Gobbo rushes forward to hug the older woman, buring her face in feathers and clothing. "You don't know how nice it is to hear that. It helps make it feel like home."

"Well, child, what a thing to say!" Aika replies, returning a grandmotherly hug. "From everything I hear, this _is_ your home!" More seriously, she regards the Gobber. "Have you been having trouble fitting in? I know it can be difficult sometimes for Walkers, and I don't suppose that _he's_ much help right now," she continues, flicking a wing in Rak's direction, "with all of his cock-of-the-walk flying about."

Murder giggles and sniffles at the woman. "I have been out of place all my life, and I can say it is less worse here than other places, so that's a good thing. The people here seem to not be bothered by my presence. I just hope they don't bother Erakirak too much about it. And he's actually been a big help. We're always together, I don't feel alone or alienated."

"Well, that's good, then," Aika murmurs, patting Murder. "It's good for young lovers to spend a lot of time together. Decide if you can stand each other for the long haul, eh?" she adds with a wicked glint in her eye. "My first love, oh, he was a beautiful thing, but dumb as a bale of hay. I didn't mind at first, but sooner or later... well, you know."

Murder giggles at the pat, and nods. "And to get in lots of sex, right?", she wonders. Nodding, she rubs her chin. "My first love was a beautiful thing too. But, he didn't feel the same. I was quite bummed out by that. Erakirak is different, it's easy to see and feel that he loves me."

Aika laughs. "Oh yes! Though that part never gets old, I think. Though I'm only three hundred and twenty," she adds with a wink, "so I'll have to report back about that when I'm old!" More seriously, she nods approval. "Yes. It's obvious just to look at the boy. Oh you should have _heard_ him when you agreed to move in! From what I hear you were all he could talk about for weeks. Aodhakne nearly strangled him in self-defence!"

Murder blushes brightly and looks away. "I am sorry if he was a pest. I trust he wasn't plying people with the details? Or are you just speaking of his feelings for me?"

"Well, you'd have to ask her for the exact details... I wouldn't think to pry, of course!" Aika replies, with the wry grin of the unapologetic busybody. "But no, I doubt he was sharing anything _too_ risque." More seriously again, "he was just very happy, is all. And wanted to make sure you'd be treated well. You're our first goblin resident, you know!"

Murder cants her head to one side. "Am I? I did not know that. I thought there might be others, I mean, your people were very accepting. I figured there had to be others, and that they were good gobbos and behaved themselves."

Aika shakes her head. "No, I'm afraid not. We don't actually have too many Walkers living here, and most of those are khazadi. So it's nice to have new blood!"

"Walkers. A strange way to look at things, I think." She giggles and nods. "Well, I am happy to be the first, then, and hopefully not the last."

"I hope not, too!" Aika replies. About then, Rak lands nearby. "Should I be worried about the two of you trading notes? Aika is a known liar and troublemaker!" he says, clearly joking.

Murder whistles innocently when Erakirak lands, and she shakes her head, smiling sweetly. "Oh, we were just talking about the next right of passage for males in the Aerie."

Erakirak chuckles. "Oh? Is it fun?"

Murder shakes her head. "They remove his testicles.", the Gobbo says, solemnly. "Once his mate is pregnant."

Erakirak considers that for a moment, then nods solemnly. "All right, we can handle that. Aika, do you know if Keiko still has those contraceptive herbs in her supply?

Murder blinks. And then begins to giggle, and then cackle, leaning against Erakirak to laugh at length. Wiping away a tear or two, she pats him on the chest. "And that, my dear, is why I love you so."

Erakirak smiles, just barely keeping a straight face. "I'm nothing if not tactical, right?"

Murder jumps up and wraps her arms around him, clinging to the Egalrin. "It was a smart riposte to what I said. Bravo!"

Erakirak grins proudly, returning the hug. "So, will you be around for the High Hunt ceremony?" he asks eagerly.

Murder nods enthusiastically. "Yes, I wouldn't miss it!"

"Excellent! I'm pretty much done here, you wanna grab dinner?"