[Amber]

[petiteaubergine]

[The amber glows upon the face of a frustrated young man. It's turned a few degrees, then a hand slips up and messes with with tangled strands of hair. His face shifts from side to side, eyes following the outline of his face. He's fascinated with the odd little mirror. Comfortable with the outcome of his quick-fix effort, he looks up towards the hole in the ceiling.]

Now, I will surely get up there this time!

[Alla spreads his midnight-blue wings and wobbles into the air. The room around him tilts, then shrinks as he ascends. The scrunched-up lines in his face soften into a smile. He's done it!

Then, without warning, he slips from view, crashing back down onto the floor with a yelp of surprise followed by a moan.]

Oh dear... this was my best garment. Oh no...

Comments

[evantuality]

"Aaaaah." When Evan realized that the young man was sincere, that hadn't just volleyed back a bit of top-tier sarcasm of his own, he had to do a double-take.

Only a few times had he been around people who were so obviously alien to sarcasm, and Evan had to admit it threw him. However, it did make his impression of this new young man fall into place a little more clearly.

He cleared his throat and inclined his head a bit. "I may have been exaggerating a bit. Although I suppose 'fantastic' is subjective. There are... well, we have food, shelter, beds, baths, and our wits and not much else." He sighed. Public bathing: he would never get used to it. He slipped his hand into his pocket, retrieving his shard again and unfolding his own moth-wings. "How about I just show you."

With a small spring of the knees he launched and, with a trick he'd learned only recently, hovered in polite wait for Alla to give his a try.

[petiteaubergine]

His eyebrows perked in opposite directions as Alla tried to gauge Evan's reactions. Thankfully, due to Alla's lack of an attention span, those thoughts quickly faded into the background of the conversation.

"That is all one needs to live, is it not? At least the tree is gracious enough to give us that much." At least, it didn't sound as if the tree kept them as prisoners, or slaves. Still, it would have been courteous to have been asked first before being kidnapped. He smiled, nodding at the other's offer. He was ready to explore, even if it meant spreading his wings again.

"A tour would be most helpful. Thank you. Please lead the way, Mr. Evan." Alla's navy wings fluttered apart, revealing the lighter pink hind-wings. He copied (or tried to copy) Even's lift-off. However, he was still rather wobbly, unsure of how to steer and also fearful of colliding with something.

[evantuality]

"You can just call me Evan," the young man offered. "Not many people who stand on ceremony inside a giant tree."

Evan had been at the tree long enough that flight did not fuss him anymore; he traced lazy little figure-eights with long beats of his broad wings, and watched Alla sort himself out.

"You've got the right idea," he called to the wobbly young man. "Try leaning the direction you want to go, it helps."

[petiteaubergine]

"Ah, yes..." Alla tapped a finger against his lips, considering the concept. Even the other servants, at home, kept him behind a wall of courtesy, and the many nobles, though they viewed him with contempt, did the same in their backhanded sort of way. He wasn't certain how to not stand on ceremony, or he supposed, in this world, fly on it? He had no experience of casual interaction, but more than a little observation watching people, which at least gave him ideas. Probably bad ones. Still, he thought he could do it.
"I understand, Evan," he said, a bit proud at just first-namedropping such a new acquaintance.

Meanwhile, Alla shook his muscles loose and aimed his torso toward the ceiling. He flailed his arms and legs as if he was swimming. The spasms transitioned to liquid motion as he fluttered higher. As he reached the opening, he gasped, fluttered lopsided, almost fell, but righted himself just in time. The 'door' was plenty big, but still he fussed over hitting something, as if scraping an edge would drop him down like a stone.