A Quiet Night (Private)

If the NightWing land was usually quiet, tonight was even more so. Most of them were at the celebration, but there was still a few guards and scouts left behind in case another tribe decided to attack and take over the palace. Oreo had decided to stay, mostly because he wasn't to found of big settings with loud dragons and lots of food. He would probably sit quietly throughout the whole thing, keeping track of Oculus and watching all of the other dragons. Luckily there were enough eager guards to stand around at the celebration that he was actually allowed to leave.

Inside the palace was almost to quiet, seeming as if it was abandon. Oreo has spent his time outside after the first few minutes in the palace, walking around in the cool night with only the stars to keep him company. Sometimes he could hear footsteps of other dragons, almost hoping it was someone he could talk to. It was embarrassing. To think that a Royal Guard, one that was supposed to be fearless and terrifying, could actually be lonely. Even if he hated the thought of it, it was true.

Maybe another tribe would attack before he had to admit to someone he was feeling lonely. Or, maybe, someone would come along and have a nice chat with him. The chances of the later were highly unlikely, but not impossible.

(Omg, I'm so sorry for the crappy opening ;-; )

((It's okay, I used to be a super cringey roleplayer ))

Alistair wasn't much of a big fan of festivities. Too many people... All staring... Judging... What was the point anyway? Why stuff your face with food other dragons prepared when you could have a sense of pride once you hunted for yourself? Alistair wasn't all that hungry anyway. She ate a few hours before the party, and she felt if she took one mouthful of prey she'd get fat. That wouldn't really be good for her social status, if she had any. Most of the NightWings in the Tribe were well-fed, lean and slender with hidden muscles rippling under their pelts, but Ali hadn't really heard of a fat one. Man, would that be embarrassing.

Alistair strode around the palace instead, listening to the sound of merry drakes and dragonesses at their pow-wow. She flattened her ears slightly, and broke into a trot. Walks didn't seem so peaceful when chatter you wouldn't want to hear swam into your ears. Alistair sauntered on, her claws making 'tap, tap, tap' on the floor of the great palace. She wondered if she would run across a Royal Guardsman around here.

Maybe it was time to go back inside.

Oreo made his way back into the palace, hearing slight conversations and talons echo around the halls. Maybe it was the sound of talons that drew him in the direction, or just that he came to it by random chance, but eventually as he walked he came across another dragon. He froze for a second in surprise before continuing to walk forward, wondering if he should just walk by her. No, he should say something. "Hello. Skip the celebration too?" He was still wearing his flashy gold armor, but he was trying to seem friendly.

(Omg I can't rp today ;.; )

(There there smol baby :< )

Alistair's ears perked up as she saw a dragon approached. She couldn't tell much about his pelt since he was wearing glossy golden armor (which caught her eye), but by the sound of his voice he was male. Alistair smiled at him and dipped her head in respect. "Yeah. Not in the mood." She took a seat on the floor and swept her long tail over her paws. "On shift?" She was a Tracker in the ranks, and she was often off shift at night.

((See? My post was short for some reason ;-; ))

Oreo chuckled "I wasn't in the mood either. Not to fond of big gatherings." A moment after she sat he decided to sit too, letting his tail rest away from his body. "I guess you could say I'm on shift, although not really. I'm just kind of helping the other guards with their patrolling." The male wondered if he had ever seen this dragoness before, and what she was doing around here if she was off shift. She could be back at her den sleeping instead of staying up. "So, what is your name? I'm Oreo, Royal Guard."

Royal guard, eh? That explained the armor, which looked intimidating at first, but now that she looked at it with new non-suspicious eyes, she saw that it was rather impressive. She also found the white markings on his face interesting. They stood out brilliantly against his ebony-black scales. Alistair realized his pelt was much like hers: astounding colors against the blackness similar to midnight. "I'm Alistair," Ali replied to him, her shoulders relaxing as she got comfortable. "A tracker. Nice to meet you." She allowed herself to purr.

((Idk if my post is long or not, cuz I'm on my phone.. hopefully it's sufficient)

The Royal Guard allowed himself to smile. This was nice having a decent conversation with another dragon, without them thinking he was some kind of murder machine or having to worry about Oculus. Well, he was still worried about him, but he didn't have to be with him at the moment. "Nice to meet you too, Alistair." She had a nice name, one that complimented her black scales and green eyes. He mentally paused. Did he just examine her? What NightWing didn't have at least one dark scale? He swept his tail around, mimicking her as he curled it around his legs. "So, how are you doing tonight?" he asked her, hoping maybe they could have a decent conversation.

Alistair tipped her head to the side, looking up at the ceiling for a second or two. She made 'hmm'ed, then looked back to Oreo. "Bored, is all. I couldn't sleep." For a second she wondered what it was like to be a member of the NightWing royal guard. Did her new friend find satisfaction in the duty he had settled for? Ali herself assumed it must be exciting. But of course everyone has their own opinions. "And you?" Alistair was suddenly curious. She didn't usually act like this... Often she was sassy, cold, all in all a b***h... What made her attitude change all of a sudden?

She wasn't entirely sure. Maybe it was something about Oreo. Perhaps she could sense serenity in his aura?

She seemed pretty satisfied for someone who couldn't sleep, other than the fact she was bored. Maybe it was a good thing he bumped into her so that she wasn't bored. "Well," he said, glancing around as if he was checking if someone was watching, "I guess you could say I'm intrigued that the NightWing kingdom could ever be so quiet. Other than that, I guess I'm not bored anymore." Oreo smiled again, showing a bit of his teeth. He felt kind of foolish saying that, possibly just because as a Royal Guard he wouldn't be saying things like that. Actually, he wouldn't be talking to her right now unless he had to tell her something that Oculus requested him to. It was kind of nice to just do what he wanted.

((Omg sorry for the long wait, I'm sure you know how my schedule is from The Beyond, heh...)

Alistair smiled in return, nodding slowly. "Agreed. Not good to be bored, now is it?" She took another moment to study him. She was still curious about how the life of a royal guard was. Not that she was interested, but Alistair was kind of a hypocrite; she didn't like dragons being nosy around her, but sometimes this dragoness was just too curious. But people can ask questions without being nosy, right? She decided to learn more about Dynamic Oreo in general before she jumped into the royal guard question. Besides, the inquiry alone wasn't the only thing that Alistair was curious about. She wanted to learn more about this new NightWing. His hobbies, what he likes to do, he's scared of... Might sound creepy at first, but this was an odd change for the NightWing dragoness as well. She was never this interested in learning about another dragon before! Maybe this is a good thing!

"Tell me about yourself, Oreo." Alistair's voice was docile, and her grin didn't fall. "Always good to meet someone new, yes?"

"Agreed," Oreo replied, finally starting to relax for once. It was nice to be able to have a conversation with another dragon that wasn't Oculus, or contained him yelling at the said Oculus. He was slightly surprised at her next question, although he quickly replaced the look with another smile. "It is always good to meet someone new, that is true," he started, thinking about what he would say. "I guess we can start at the beginning. My parents always had high expectations for me, and trained me to be obedient and strong before I ever became a trainee. Even with all of the prep work, it still took a couple of years to earn my position. I was probably just as surprised as my parents were proud when I got chosen to be a Royal Guard..." he paused, pondering for a second before adding, "Even with all of this, I still wonder how it would be like if I never got choosen." He chuckled a bit at his rambling, deciding that maybe she wanted a turn. "Well, I said a bit about myself, would you care to tell me something about you?"

Alistair listened with vast interest. When he mentioned his parents, her ears perked up in surprise. His family life seemed to be much like hers... Or at least used to be. At least his story didn't include things like, "my parents were murdered like rogues". Sad and cliche, Alistair knew, but that's basic life for Pyyria.

After Dynamic Oreo had spoken, Alistair wanted a turn and was pleased when it was offered to her. She wondered what to tell him and what not to tell him. Sideways and Jolt may be too personal to inform a friend of, especially when you met them a few minutes ago. She decided to tell him about her parents, like he did. And if their friendship blossomed and he opened to more information, so will she.

"I was born to a pair NightWing and FirreWing rogues," the Tracker began. One may not notice her mixed heritage usually when her scales are glossy black like now, but it will become noticeable when she becomes ignited. "They pushed me, like your parents did, taught me from right and wrong-- but decided most of my life decisions for me." She paused for a moment. "That's weird. I don't understand why they'd teach me all of that when I won't be able to choose, or at least practice choosing until I reached adulthood." She had turned grim during that 'speech', but then she cracked a tiny grin. "Seems like our hatchlinghoods were quite similar, yes?"

Oreo listened as she explained part of her childhood. FireWing and NightWing parents? That was interesting. You couldn't even tell she was part FireWing, she looked all NightWing. "I guess our childhoods were similar," he said with a small smile. The echos of other NightWings still wandered the halls, but none of them seemed close enough to worry about. "So you said you were born to rogues? How long have you been in the tribe then?" He asked, curious to know more about her if she'd let him.

((FYI, just because you're at school and I'm at school too, I won't be pressuring you to post. Not like I ever did (maybe in the Beyond, but I was kinda an idiot lol), but just saying. If you have other important posts than this one, more favorites, post to those first and take your time. ^-^)

Alistair was a little surprised at the kindness of this dragon. Most NightWings had this mysterious, dark, all-powerful aura about them-- or at least that's what they tried to make others think of them. Alistair thought for a moment if she was being stereotypical, but then she realized she was describing her own attitude around higher ranks. But... Dynamic Oreo is a higher rank, right...?

Then why is Alistair acting this way? Maybe it was only the desire to pull off a good first impression. Maaaybe. But who knows?

"I think I've been here six months..," Alistair replied, furrowing her brow and squinting her eyes as she thought back. To Sideways, to Jolt... "And you?" She silently face-pawed as she realized that was a stupid question. Judging by what he's said so far, he's been here his whole life. "In the royal guard, I mean." Alistair stumbled as she corrected herself quickly.

Her question caught him slightly off guard, although it wasn't uncommon for a dragon to ask the same question back. He hadn't thought of how long he had been a royal guard before, but it had to have been sometime after Oculus became king and after he started the new ranks. "Mmm, I can barely remember. It was sometime after he made the new ranks though, but I can't remember exactly when that was." He glanced at her, wondering if he seemed stupid for not remembering. Usually he wouldn't care, but there was something different about this meeting. Maybe it was just the fact that it was just them and no one else was around, except for whoever else was wandering the NightWing territory.

No, this was just a normal meeting and a normal conversation. He just needed to get out more, talk to more dragons one on one. Then he wouldn't feel so weird talking to other dragons. But with his position it was hard to, and even if he wanted to quit he had a duty to do until he died or got demoted.

Alistair caught a silver-eyed glance from the fellow NightWing and was a bit confused by what she thought she saw. Was he nervous? He seemed anxious for a split second by the way he looked at her. Alistair wondered if she asked something that intruded on a sensitive topic. But his voice was just the same as it was before. So either the emotion Alistair detected in his eyes was a false reading, or the male was good at hiding his emotions.

Alistair decided not to be nosy for once. She was dwelling on too much, like reading an emotion in a dragon's eye that was probably nothing at all. This was just Alistair being regular ol' Ali: paranoid. Way to go.

"That's okay," Alistair said. "Time sure does fly by, huh?"

He mentally sighed, glad that if she did have a bad opinion on him not remembering when he became a guard she didn't show it. Normally, he wouldn't have cared what the others thought, and at the same time he would barely be talking to them. Even if he felt a little uncertain in this moment, he wanted to keep his composure up. Oreo had almost missed her comment, but it managed to go around in his head a bit before he lost it. "Time sure does fly. It might seem long for us, but when the sun starts to rise I'm sure some of the dragons at the party are going to feel like it had only just begun." He smiled, shaking his head a bit. As a NightWing, he could easily stay up all through the night hours, but he'd rather be asleep than in a party.

He glanced at her again, glossy black scales that would blend in with the night if the moon didn't disturb them. It was strange to think like that, and he tried to ignore it. "Have you been around the palace before? One of my favorite places is the garden." The guard wasn't sure of what all the dragoness had seen in her six months here, and if she hadn't seen around the place, then maybe he could show her.

Alistair chuckled lightly at his comment about the party, especially when dawn broke. She found it amusing because it was true. Time does fly by in months, but even more so when you're out in a party having fun with other dragons. She had been there before in her younger days in the NightWing Tribe, when she could stay for days at a festivity and when it was finally over she would feel she didn't get to soak up all the possible experiences. So, to put it short. . . Yes, Alistair knew exactly what Oreo meant. It was relatable, although these days Alistair would rather spend time by herself than with other dragons. "I know what you mean."

The Night Fury's ears perked up in interest when Dynamic Oreo inquiried about her going around the palace. She couldn't say that she had, and she never thought about it either. "It hasn't really crossed my mind," Ali admitted. "I'm sure the garden is just gorgeous, though." She grinned. She kind of liked plants, although she could easily burn them if she wanted to.

Oreo nodded. "The garden is nice because it's usually quiet and... peaceful. It's nice if you just want to get away." He smiled, staring almost dreamily at nothing. Back before he was an official royal guard he would visit the garden during his off time. The dragon finally realized what he was doing and snapped out of the relaxed look, frowning before looking back at the female and relaxing slightly. "Garden's this way." He said getting up and turning around, heading to the garden without turning to see if she was following. If anything he should be able to hear her steps.

If she had noticed, and it was rather easy to, his mood had changed. But he acted as if it never happened, and kept walking, fins down and ears laid back. Eventually they got to the garden, the moon shining bright. There was a lake in the middle, and plants from all around spread across the space. There were some from their land and some from lands further away. But he just sat down and looked away towards the ground. "Here it is." He practically huffed. If she looked, he was glaring at the ground as if it had just came up an offended him.

As soon as Dynamic Oreo's back turned to her, a fit of bewilderment settled onto Alistair's conscience. She could tell that his attitude suddenly changed, but she was puzzled why that was so. Not even a minute ago she was hearing great things about this garden. . . Don't get her wrong, the garden was absolutely stunning, but what happened to Oreo? Did something change? Was it something Alistair had said?

The female only pricked her ears up, intrigued. She padded after the NightWing and sat next to him in the garden. There were plants that Alistair never saw before, which she marvelled at in silence. Sweet smells of delicate flowers reached her nostrils, and the Night Fury inhaled deeply.

"It's lovely. . ." After choosing her dialogue with care, Alistair wrapped her tail tightly around her paws and studied Oreo, frowning. "So. . . What's the matter? I can tell something just changed. . ."

Oreo continued to look away from the stunning garden, silently mad or annoyed at himself. His ears slightly flattened more when she sat next to him, although he wasn't mad at her. When she asked her question he glanced at her slightly, sighing and looking towards the direction where the festival would be. "It's not you, if you thought that," he stated, "It's... it's more me..." the dragon said, almost feeling foolish about reacting the way he did. Oreo had been disappointed in himself spacing out for that brief second.

"It's nothing," he said, flashing a fake smile in her direction. He walked over to a plant, trying to change the conversation. "This one's from the Skywing territory. I wonder how they managed to get it without alerting any guards... or maybe they didn't." His face furrowed into a concentrated look as if he was trying to figure it out in his head, but he already knew the stories about all of the plants. The guard wondered if the female was putting him more off guard than usual, but he denied that idea.

The female NightWing pricked up her ears at the Royal Guard's response. He seemed to be rather. . . private about his thoughts and what could possibly have bothered him. Don't get me wrong, Alistair was rather curious and concerned, despite this dragon being new to her. Yet at the same time, she didn't want to pry and squeeze it out of him. She supposed that Dynamic Oreo would just come to her at his own time if he wanted to have a chat. The dark-scaled dragon returned the smile, although hers wasn't fake, yet it wasn't genuine either. Obviously she wasn't happy about this change of mood, but she wasn't angry or disappointed in Oreo or anything. She still wondered what was going on in that black and white head of his.

Shaking her head to clear her mind of any worries, Alistair stood up and trotted after Oreo. She smiled at the plant. It was a rather cute shrub.
"So pretty," she commented. Then she swivelled her head towards her current companion. "Did you ever go to get a plant for this garden?"

Oreo was slightly happy that his 'plan' worked. He was sure that she was still wondering what was up with his mood, but at least she didn't pry anymore. Instead, she surprised him again with her next question. He chuckled, looking around at the plants. "No, I haven't, but I wonder what plants are still out there." He paused for a second before smirking, looking at her. "Maybe we could go find one sometime."

Oreo didn't really realize what he was saying until it came out. He definitely didn't have any experience finding plants, transporting them, whatever. And another time? It was highly unlikely that he was going to have more free time in the future. But the last thing, the fact that he had practically asked if she wanted to spend more time with him. From this realization he could feel his face heating up, but he kept his demeanor cool. What was his brain doing to him?

It was needless to say that Alistair was surprised, because the expression was plain as day on her face. Her silver eyes slightly widened, and her whole frill stood up. She was, for one, flattered. This male had asked if she wanted to spend time with him again, and the Night Fury couldn't lie. She enjoyed Dynamic Oreo's company so far, and wouldn't want to reject his request. She was sure he didn't mean it like a date. . . Maybe he was boyfriend material, but it was too soon to tell, wasn't it?

"S- Sure," Ali spoke, suddenly shunning her stutter. With a jolt she realized she was nervous. Why would she be? She was comfy with Oreo before, so why was she freaking out right now?

Ugh. Sometimes the NightWing never even understood herself.

"Sounds good." She smiled slightly. She couldn't deny. She was looking forward to the mighty hunt for shrubs.

She had realized what he hadn't exactly meant to say, or she was just surprised at what he had said. No, that was the same thing. He flattened his ears, keeping an awkward smile on his face. Gods, now he was really making a fool out of his rank. He watched her, staying as still as possible. Then, she surprised him again.

The female had said yes. Not exactly, but 'sure' was still a positive. If she had taken any longer he might have passed out from holding his breath, and he let out a glad sigh, closing his eyes. Who knew if they ever would have seen each other again if he had never asked. Oreo opened his eyes and looked at her- really looked. Her black scales shined in the moonlight, and her eyes, so big. Her smile, nervous and kind. And even though he wanted to bath in her simple beauty, he still bashed himself for thinking in that way. He was a Royal Guard, friends would end up getting in the way. They could be used against him, and when the time comes, he'd end up saving the leader over them.

His smile faltered. This wasn't good for either of them. He had to get away. "I think it's time for me to go, I need to catch up on sleep." He said, turning and bounding off before she could stop him.