honey sweet / joining

[emil]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; padding: 10px; height: auto; overflow: auto;"][div style="width: 400px; padding: 0px; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"]the canine had been traveling for some time to finally reach the town on the sea; he'd heard from far away that the views were absolutely beautiful, and the people were friendly and had their own shops. they had beautiful mountains, and while he was certainly no fan of heights, he would risk it all just to get a good shot. maybe he could even set up shop and sell photos! "ah," he hummed out, coming over a rise. "wouldn't that be nice?"

ahead of him were large gates nestled within a tall fence. somewhat of a disappointment that he couldn't just waltz on in, but he supposed it was good to take safety precautions. at least he could rest assured that it was (probably, mostly) safe here. prompto dropped his rump to the grass and lifted his camera, snapping a quick shot of the gates, before he moved closer. he hoped these guys weren't the "shoot on sight" type; from what he heard they were just a town of peaceful merchants, but you could never tell for sure, right?

a golden paw lifted and slapped a bit weakly at the enormous doors. "helloooo?" he waited a moment, craning his head up to peer at the top. "anyone home? i'm friendly, i swear!"

[MATUAH]

[align=center][div style="0px; width:450px; height:auto; text-align: justify; font-size: 8pt; line-height:13px; color:whitesmoke;"]Roaming was something he found himself doing despite knowing he needed to get some sleep in soon. It was a little relaxing even if he didn’t know this place or these lands and being able to roam in the cover of darkness settled him a bit. But he was ever mindful of the fact that daemons existed in this world just as they had existed in his previous one before he managed to bring back the dawn. Still from what he had managed to gather from his meager and short time in this place they seemed like a peaceful people. Nestled against the sea and formed to circulate with trade and mercantilism. Although he was more worried about Tanglewood’s own and the fact that they had to abandon their own home because of the mere fact that there had become a daemon infestation. They were everywhere like little cockroaches and the more that seemed to be dealt with the more that seemed to appear. Even despite the dawn coming they lingered like eyesores and there had been nothing he could do about it. They had had to leave.

Pitch colored paws moved at a slow pace and he had been about to make his way back to the village by the sea after taking note of much of the landscape. Though he had not yet been able to get up to the mountain he would try again some other time when his body wasn’t plagued with such exhaustion that he felt like he was about to collapse at any moment. His head was held up, blackish blue eyes flicking along he treeline when he heard a sudden loud voice. It caused him to suddenly flinch and his body lowered as he turned to look in that direction. The gate. A low breath escaped him and he sighed almost bitterly before he started to make his way toward it. ”Sheesh, could he be any louder.....” Words mumbled underneath his breath as he finally got the gate to open up at the behest of one of the Sunhaveners who had been keeping watch. The darkened Amur leopard allowed his gaze to land upon the other with a glazing of pain shifting through his gaze before he breathed out harshly. ”Yeah, a lot of them. What do you need, friendly?”

[emil]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; padding: 10px; height: auto; overflow: auto;"][div style="width: 400px; padding: 0px; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"]roaming was a hobby for him; a majority of his life had been spent on the move, never quite having a set-in-stone place to stay. he moved with nomads for a few months, then had gotten word of this beautiful town on the ocean, and immediately knew it was where he had to go. he wasn't sure if he would stay long, he never could be somewhere for long before he began to get antsy. he hoped he would at least be able to settle for a while.

prompto's ears perked up as the gates pushed open; the canine took a few big steps back to avoid smacking his face into them. bright blue eyes settled on the leopard as his face appeared, and for a moment, he simply stared. the guy would make a great muse for his photography with a face like that. for a moment he thought about whipping out his camera, but that would be weird. would it? probably. maybe later he could bother him for a photoshoot.

"uhhhhh," he drawled out, before finally the other's words processed in his mind. "oh! right, uh, i was looking for a place to stay. sunhaven, right? i heard this place has some of the best views." the golden boy rambled to the other. it took him a moment to catch the rather tired expression he held, so he shut his mouth to prevent further babbling. he cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly then thrust out a paw. that's what you did when you meet someone new, right? sheez, he wasn't good at this. a sheepish smile lifted to his lips. "prompto argentum."

[MATUAH]

[align=center][div style="0px; width:450px; height:auto; text-align: justify; font-size: 8pt; line-height:13px; color:whitesmoke;"]For a moment he had zoned out, attempting to see past the other and to assure that this was no trap or anything. He couldn't be too careful in his condition but after a moment his blackish blue gaze slide back to the canine and he found himself flinching just a bit. Was he....staring? His eyes flicked down at his legs, shifting a little because he'd never actively had anyone stare at him before which he didn't now how to respond to. His jaws tightened a bit as he tensed slightly before he pushed himself to just relax. It wasn't nothing but staring and it didn't mean anything. It was fine and he could at least perhaps appreciate that someone was staring at him he guessed. But the reasons behind the stare evaded him even as he managed to lift his gaze back up to look at the canine. "Uh..." He had began to see if he could snap the other out of it but it seemed he didn't need to as the canine finally began to talk once more and in a rambling rush no less. He had the urge to tell him to slow down but it appeared that he would just have to wait this one out. Seemed this was normal for the canine so he gave him his ears, pulling them forward instead of reflexively holding them at the sides.

Well, he was correct in this place being Sunhaven that was for sure. Though he wasn't sure on some of the best views. He could say that he enjoyed the beach and the view of the view of the ocean when he had given himself a moment to actually go out there and look into it. Other than that he was at a loss for what really looked like what around here. "Um, yeah, I don't know about best views since I just got here. But I...guess?" His words ended in a question even though he was trying to appear as if he knew the area so he merely shrugged his shoulders a little bit because that was fine. Not like it was something to hide but it also made him feel a bit vulnerable to the folks that actually lived here and yet he found that he could make up for it sooner or later. When the paw was thrust at him for a moment he merely stared at the paw, lifting his own left hesitantly before the name was given and when he heard it his ears pulled all the way back against his skull. A shiver ran down his spine as if something had touched him and a small grimace pulled at his muzzle, almost barely noticeable. The ache in his skull had come on so suddenly and passed that he didn't have a chance to react with a more outward force and his paw connected with Prompto's as he exhaled. "Noctis...Caelum. I'm sure you can live here, though I came here from Tanglewood." He hurriedly breezed past his strange reaction, body slightly turning as he dropped his paw to look back at the gate stepping back to let the canine inside.

[emil]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; padding: 10px; height: auto; overflow: auto;"][div style="width: 400px; padding: 0px; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"]scenic views, beautiful shots of beautiful things; prompto sometimes wished his eyes could serve as cameras when his own didn't capture exactly what he wanted, and right now, he was wishing with every blink that he could take a picture of the leopard in front of him. his mind somewhat tuned out whatever he said. something about the views and guessing. whatever, his mind would register later. he was far too mesmerized with everything set out in front of him; this guy, the giant gates, this guy, the scenery behind him, this guy...

as the other's paw connected with his own, the canine felt a jolt pass through him, and the name falling from his lips nearly did the same. why, he wasn't exactly sure; maybe just having made some sort of physical contact with a pretty boy with a pretty name just... did that. maybe that happened to everyone when they got a crush on someone 5 seconds after meeting them. was it normal? prompto didn't know, he didn't know people well. but noctis caelum (gods, that name) seemed almost familiar. the name, he was sure, had passed him by before, but he couldn't quite place when. still, that was weird; a majority of his life, prom had been alone, only making contact with others when he happened to pass through little villages or the time he traveled with nomads. how could he possibly know him?

"have we met before?" prompto suddenly blurted, dropping his paw when they finally stopped shaking them. a breathy laugh escaped him. "weird question to ask, but i feel like i know you from somewhere. you travel a lot? lived in a little village at the edge of a mountain before, or maybe traveled with some nomadic groups?" he slowly rose and padded past the gates to sit on the other side, gazing over the landscape now revealed to him. down in the distance, he could see the town; brightly colored homes settled right atop the ocean, the setting sun casting its bright orange rays over the little buildings. the canine pulled his camera and snapped a shot, then turned back to look at noctis. "oh, and what's tanglewood like? and why are you here if you're from there? just a friendly little visit? 'tanglewood' sounds like you live in a bramble thicket or something." back to his rambling. upon catching himself once more, prompto simply grinned at the leopard.

[STEVE]

[align=center][div style="max-width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 1.4;letter-spacing:.1px"]So Steve could admit he wasn't the best with social cues. His whole life was pretty much indicative of a guy who wanted to make friends but couldn't quite get beyond the awkward introduction stage. However, he wasn't completely hopeless. He had an eye for details most of the time, thanks to his sketching hobby, and thus, when the small feline decided -and by decided he meant forced himself- to approach the pair of individuals he wasn't familiar with, he immediately felt on the periphery. More so than usual. Steve had been the third wheel a fair amount of times, which was what this felt like. Did he...introduce himself? Leave them be? If only sinking into the ground were an option- he'd definitely choose that one. The pale feline glanced at his paws, flexing his toes, wasting time before he had to decide. What was he doing? If he could take a beating from a few strangers willingly, he could have a conversation. Easy peasy.

He might prefer the beating.

"Welcome to Sunhaven, uh...didn't catch your name, sorry." He smiled a bit sheepishly, paw twitching. "I'm Steve. You staying too?" Hadn't heard that either, unfortunately. To keep from losing anything else the canine said, he better positioned himself, getting his good ear in a bit closer.

[Luciferr]

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CRYPTICWHISPER is an Angeli Divine, in the form of a 5ft Angeleon - he is of the exceedingly rare 'black Ichor' caste of which only a theorised handful exist [mine].
Currently he resides in Sunhaven and is considered 'fallen' by his divine brethren for his renegade status as their once ex-general. Aura and abilities are black-purple as is signature to black Ichor caste. Wears silver-black 'black star' armour & wields the Eclipse Sword.

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while Steve could say he had little social skills, Cryptic could be said to have dismal at his current point - stand-offish and wary at most, the Angeli was often at the very edge of any social events or simply not there at all.

it didn't help matters his paranoia still hadn't eased somewhat - though it helped tremendously that no soul yet had a hint of any of his pursuing kind, the renegade could actually sleep without one eye open at once for times at least.

the strangers - tanglers, from tanglewood - did not bother him, only if they bothered or caused trouble that the armoured Angel would have to deal with did he take notice otherwise it was much the same as with sunhaveners - polite company at best, outright avoiding most at worst - possibly he would ease past that at some point, anything in the infinite was possible.

so saying as he rounded an area to nearly bump into all three did he stop briefly - and then recognise, steve, tangler - he didn't know any of the refugees by name yet, keeping to himself as usual outside of running security here and there - and stranger - he inclined his head [b]"new joiner? or are you a  traveller?"[/s] sunhaven did get quite a few given the nature of the group - and he didn't find traces of tangler on the stranger so it ruled out 'refugee'

/rushed a lil b4 bed.

[align=center][glow=grey,2,300]THE SILVER SHADOW[/glow]

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[glow=purple,2,300]C R Y P T I C W H I S P E R[/glow]

[glow=purple,2,300]ALONE WITH THIS VISION, GO TELL THE WORLD, THAT I'M STILL ALIVE[/glow]

© ceilidh

[MATUAH]

[align=center][div style="0px; width:450px; height:auto; text-align: justify; font-size: 8pt; line-height:13px; color:whitesmoke;"]He felt like he was off his game. As if he was standing on uneven ground and if he moved so much as an inch he would lose his footing and fall into some dark pit that he couldn't crawl back out of. It was concerning to say the least and when he was asked if they had met before his eyes seemed to waver, a pinkish red taking over for a moment before it vanished. The ache in his head was back and he didn't understand where it was coming from or why but he needed to go lay down. But he was holding on to what was happening and and he didn't know how to respond. Truthfully he didn't want to sound weird or creepy or anything and he sighed with a frown pulling at his muzzle. "I want to say...yeah but I- I don't know." He couldn't be sure of something like that, not when he couldn't remember a lot of things and even now he felt like he did know him but he just couldn't... His thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone he didn't know come forward and begin to speak. Blackish blue eyes narrowing for just a moment as he deciphered how to answer Prompto's questions about Tanglewood. He hadn't been there long but he could surmise the reason why they were here. "It's more swampland than anything. We had to leave because the place was overran by daemons and I'm not sure why it has gotten so bad."

At least he wasn't sure as to why they hadn't tried to fight them off. Maybe they did try to fight them and things had gotten really really bad. Losing too many hunters put them at risk and he could see the reason for them having to retreat. Shaking his head the leopard would then settle himself and look over to the other two that had come forth and asked Prompto questions. They had already been answered once but they had not been here when the canine had spoken about what he was doing and why. Still he was more interested about the fact that he had a camera and he looked back the ocean view before a question popped up in his head. "You must like taking photos then. For documentation?"

[emil]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; padding: 10px; height: auto; overflow: auto;"][div style="width: 400px; padding: 0px; line-height: 14px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"]prompto could sympathize with steve; those awkward first stages of friendship, something he could never quite push past, especially as a young child. he remembered having someone like that back then. a person he wanted to be close to, but never could muster up the courage to approach.

over time, he had somewhat gotten over that. traveling, passing through small villages and moving with groups, it was a skill he needed to get through life. socializing was still something he was learning, but prompto knew how to put up a front. he was doing it now as two others joined he and noctis at the gate. golden ears perked upward at steve's initial question, asking his name. right. more introductions. he glanced briefly at the leopard, a small acknowledgement to his words, before looking again to steve.

"prompto," the retriever mix stated happily. "nice ta meet'cha." a grin graced his features, lopsided and bright, before blue eyes settled on crypticwhisper as he processed the other's words. "oh! yeah! i'd like to stay. is that okay?"

prompto's attention promptly returned to noctis as he spoke again. his eyes dropped down to his camera for a moment, then back to the other, and he smiled lightly. "more of a hobby. i've always wanted to go professional, though. you ever want a shoot, i'm your guy!" a somewhat indirect way of trying to get a picture of him, as he wasn't about to blurt out how photogenic he was and how good he would look with the sun's orange rays bathing him in light and reflecting off of those dark, mysterious eyes━

stop that.

he grinned. "anyways! uhh," the canine paused, bringing a paw up to rub sheepishly at a freckled cheek. "is any empty house free for taking? i think it'd be good for me to settle in for the night. haven't had a good rest for a while, y'know?"