When Valiel moved her hand, Phalakros lowered his down to her arm, gently holding it. His thumb started to tenderly rub her arm, though he didn’t seem aware of it. He considered her suggestion for a moment, then nodded.
“‘Tis a good idea, and worth a try. Yet, I still do not wish for you to get hurt. You are female, and one of the kindest women I have ever met,”he said.
Valiel smiled at him. "That's-… that's very sweet, Phalakros, but…" She shifted to the bear, scooting back from him as she did, towering over him at 15 feet tall. "I'll be just fine." She shifted back down, to her human form, the shape feeling a bit odd after the time as the Ahkrethian.
Phalakros smiled back for a moment. He then watched her. It was strange seeing her as a human again, since he’d already gotten used to her Ahkrethian form, but he didn’t say anything about it.
“‘Tis still a concern. A single female is priceless compared to any number of males. That is something all Ahkrethians are taught. Even simply dishonoring a woman is punishable by death, unless she is forgiving. I have no intentions of ever dishonoring you, despite mine… foul alternate,”he mentioned.
Something crossed his face, and Valiel immediately shifted back to the Ahkrethian form she'd been in. She hadn't likes the way he'd suddenly looked at her.
"I'm not worried about you dishonoring me. And I'm not priceless compared to you." The last bit came out softer. "We're the same, Phalakros, I value you."
Phalakros blinked, surprised that she’d morphed back into the Ahkrethian. Had he done something wrong? Had he looked at her in a bad way? If he had, he hadn’t meant to.
He stared, dumbfounded by her words. He wasn’t even sure how to reply. How could he reply to that? Ahkrethians, though they had a patriarchal tribal society, valued their women far more than their men. After all, a male was just the seed to the female’s eggs.
His reaction to her shift made her smile, just a little. "You respond best to this form, which makes sense. And it's not hard for me, so. Why not?"
Valiel smiled at him. He looked a bit confused by her statement of his value. "Listen, I know I'm probably crossing a million social cues and norms and your culture's values and things. But I have to be true to who I am, even if I wear someone else's skin." She held his gaze carefully. "Can you let me do that and help you at the same time?" Her voice was gentle, not a challenge, but an honest question.
Phalakros stared for a moment, still feeling that he’d done something wrong. But, the hint of a smile on her face, combined with her calming words, kept him mostly calm.
“I… It does make sense, yet… I do not wish to force you to stay in a single form if you do not wish to,”he said softly.
Phalakros nodded,“Yes. I am simply not used to such… ‘treatment’, I suppose. Many of the Ahkrethian women I have met tend to look at me, a Strangeling male, with disdain. Beyond the tradition that women are to be treasured, bloodline is also important in Ahkrethian culture. Strangelings are often looked down upon because of our ‘impure’ blood.”
The outright classism and racism in what he was saying briefly made Valiel's blood boil. This gentle creature had been overlooked and tossed aside, simply because he didn't fit their perfect notions?
She didn't realize she was frowning at him until she started to say something. She immediately fixed her face. "That's… I'm sorry, Phalakros. That's awful. And you're not forcing me to do anything."
She walked away a bit, getting used to moving in this form. "I do like trying new forms, and this is different. Consider it an experiment."
Phalakros quietly sighed when Valiel frowned. It made sense that she would be upset by his explanation. But, it was the way of Ahkrethians. Bloodline was everything.
“There is no need to apologize. Ahkrethians have always had a strict culture. And, I am truthfully more fortunate than many, simply because of mine proximity to Lucitius. Even though one of his many duties is to keep the Strangeling population at bay, he is truthfully quite tolerant of them, as long as they do not try to start a war, which… unfortunately, has happened a few times. He is also mated to a Strangeling, and he adores Synthia with every part of his being,”Phalakros mentioned.
He nodded, watching her and smiling a bit. He was glad he wasn’t forcing her to remain Ahkrethian. It would have greatly upset him if he had been. And, she also liked trying new forms, which soothed and fascinated him at the same time.
Valiel nodded at his explanation. "I'm glad to hear there are tolerant individuals amongst the leadership of your people." She kept walking, this time away from him. "We should be on our way. I have no goals for where we're going today, but if we stay in one spot, we're more likely to get ourselves in trouble." She smiled over her shoulder at him.
“Indeed.”
A sad look crossed his face breifly as Phalakros remembered all the hardship that Strangelings had caused, even after Lucitius had originally made it clear that he would tolerate them if they were peaceful. At the least, two prominent wars, and one major disaster, were caused, either fully or partly, by Strangelings, and all of it had permanent effects on the entire Ahkrethian race, including significant personal loss to Lucitius himself. Even Phalakros had felt the effects, both physically and mentally, and still did even now.
He noticed Valiel walking off and he quickly stood and followed, humming in agreement with her words. Just before he caught up to her, Phalakros saw her smile and, for some strange reason, he blushed. He had no idea why, but he did. Quickly turning away, he chuckled in embarrassment. He only then realized that he was now beside Valiel, and his blush was still quite visible to her. He didn’t know what to do.
Valiel noticed his blush, and it was extremely endearing, but she spared him as much embarrassment as she could and ignored it for the time being. "I figured we'd walk. We could fly, but you can't speak in your bird form, and I like your voice, so."
She looked down at their feet as they walked. "How do you move so quietly?" she asked. At the moment, she was kind of stomping around, the feet to body ratio a little higher than she was used to. She was trying to mimic his movements in an attempt tp quiet down.
Phalakros turned to Valiel, surprised by her words. He didn’t mind either way if they walked or flew, but…
“You… like mine voice?”he blurted. He couldn’t help asking. He’d never thought his voice was of any significance.
Phalakros paused after Valiel asked how he could be so quiet. He then lifted a foot to show her what he meant as he explained.
“‘Tis something I was taught as a youngling. Keep your toes spread, and lift your claws slightly to keep them from touching the ground as you take a step. Also, put more weight on the front of your foot, and less on your heel. ‘Tis tricky, yet it quiets your steps without completely disturbing your balance,”he explained.
(If the foot description doesn’t make sense, that’s my bad. I literally just came up with it, lol)
(I think i understood it :) )
Valiel smiled at him. "I do like your voice, don't be so surprised, it's nice."
She tried to copy his steps, looking awkward and uncoordinated at first, before watching him a moment longer. Something clicked, and suddenly she was silent and graceful, the motion looking natural. "Think I got it."
(Lol, thumbs-up)
Phalakros blinked. He had never had his voice complimented before. After a moment, a shy smile crept onto his face.
“I am glad you like it,”he said.
Phalakros watched her patiently, and continued to show her the strategy until she seemed to pick it up. He then nodded, inwardly fascinated by how quickly she’d copied him. It had taken him years to figure out the correct balance… though, he had been a child at the time.
Valiel, like most Skin-changers, was a master mimic, and picked up the skill quickly. She was conscious of him watching her move, and did her best not to overdo it.
"Where would you like to go, if you had the choice?"
(‘Master mimic’, you say? I know a master mimic in my bunch, evil grin. And… I think I just inspired myself for another rp, lmao! Where it’s Valiel with my character De’Tearion. But, we don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. And, De’Tearion’s backstory is also way darker than Phalakros’, so yeah. It’s up to you though)
Phalakros was still fascinated for a moment, then he looked up when she asked him a question. He stared, not sure how to answer such a question, particularly since he’d traveled to many worlds already with Lucitius.
“I… do not know,”he replied.
(I gentled Valiel a little for this, since it didn't seem like that was Phalakros's vibe. My only thing is I don't really do explicit sexual content. So if he's dark without it being that flavor of dark, I'm down. Not against those themes being present, as long as they're not the meat and potatoes of the whole rp, know what I mean?)
Valiel smiled at him. "Personally, I've been heading south. The Hinterlands are always cold, and I've never been anyway tropical, so… want to just head that direction?"
(Thumbs-up. Yeah, I get that. And, to be honest, De’Tearion has a pinch of that in his backstory, but it’s more in the sense that he was a… helpless witness. I’m not sure how else to describe it, so I apologize. But, it’s just the one part, and it’s really never even mentioned unless the story/rp goes down that road, so yeah)
Phalakros listened, realizing that he was thinking of places too far out of reach. He actually wasn’t used to traveling on just one realm, which was one reason why he’d left to explore. And now, he had a good opportunity to get used to it.
“That is alright with me,”he replied, smiling back a bit.
(I should clarify. I'm fine with things in people's backstories. Even situations involving our characters, up to a point, can go that direction. I'm just not comfortable writing explicit stuff. That's all. You don't have to sugar coat things :) and what direction would you be looking for that rp to go?)
Valiel watched as he thought for a while. When he responded, her face brightened. She turned towards the sun, then made a right, and set off towards the South. "Perfect! I've heard the summer down there lasts year round, and I don't mis the snows yet." The Hinterlands were bitterly cold and inhospitable, similar to the people who lived there.
(Ah, okay. Makes sense. Okay, lol. I like being courteous, just in case. Um… not sure honestly, lmao! Probably similar to this rp, except De’Tearion is more like a wandering feral after losing his beloved [she runs him off], and probably close to losing his mind as well)