Kao <3

I am thoroughly amused by this crowd, rofl.

Edit: PS, I sent you an MSN request the other day. Not sure if it went through, 'cause it did something weird.

http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa381/kaoori/christmas%20gifts/phaios.png

so glad you like her. ♥

Phai tilts her head slightly as Kaoori speaks, studying the tiny blue doe beside her with one eye. She'd been pleased to stumble upon a friend she hadn't seen in a while; it seemed the two were always just missing each other, these days. Despite Kaoori's suggestion, Phaios allows herself a small smile.
"I have lost many, Little Mother. To dwell upon them all is to live forever in tears." Her gaze drifts towards the littlest gravestone. "We can't forget - nor should we - but we can't let the world pass us by, either."
A brief pause.
"Your belly is round again."

Her brow lifts in surprise. Turning her head fully to take in the deer beside her, she inquires, "Twins? Isn't that uncommon for deer?" She'd never seen such a thing, but almost as soon as she's said it she finds herself reconsidering; in a world of giant bunnies, was anything really that unusual? The thought amuses her for a moment, as it often does.

"I suppose I haven't seen enough fawns born here, then. ...I didn't know you'd lived outside," she muses quietly. The brown and gray doe touches the tip of her snout to the top of Kaoori's head with a warm puff of air from her nose. "Don't fret. I'm sure you'll do fine."

Phai blinks. Somehow it was still odd to her to find creatures that had been... born. "I suppose you could say my Mother brought me here... But she created me in a place far away." Oh no. Yawns are contageous, Kaoori! Phai clamps her jaws shut, fighting the urge to spread them wide, herself.
"It's very different here... But not in a bad way."

Phai gives a quiet "Mm," in reply. 'I like it here.' Now there's something to ponder... Memories of home seemed dimmer compared to this forest. As often as she found herself homesick, it was hard to deny that this was becoming 'home,' too.
Lost in thought, it takes her a little while to notice Kaoori's nodded off. Finding her little companion conked out, the doe lays her own head on the grass with a distant smile. Ah well... She could be content as a pillow for a while. Even sleeping company was better than the hole she'd walked around with the past few days, and she was glad to have Kaoori there.

Her reply is simple, quiet against the backdrop of pattering rain. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Xetkal?"
She remembered him - though by an older name. He'd never come to her before, that she could recall - at least not while she was alone - and finding him beside her when she had glanced up to see who had tread so close was quite a surprise. It had taken a few moments, but she did recognize the stag.
"You've grown."

"Thane," she repeats, her expression somewhere between curious and amused. "Forgive me if I slip now and then."
Phai turns her gaze towards the river's source, watching the tears trickle down to join the water's shattered surface. How was she? There's a question that bears some contemplation. She'd been lost in saddened thought when he had found her, but now, with a distraction, her mood was improved somewhat. "Well enough. I get by from one day to the next." A sideways glance at the stag follows. "And you?"

Phai's ears angle toward the voice beside her. He certainly didn't sound... 'great.'
"Mm... But before and within are different things, aren't they," she remarks. Her gaze focuses again on the idol - or rather, this time, on the deer dancing immediately to one side of it. "It's easier to watch than to join in."
His next comment catches her off guard, but she finds herself grateful for it. "A mutual feeling." The doe had found few things she disliked more strongly than being alone in these past few weeks.

The brown-furred deer leans against the sturdy base of the tree, hardly batting an eye when Thane shakes himself and spatters an extra helping of droplets her way; she'd given up on the endeavour of keeping the burden of rain out of her pelt when she had settled down. His grin, however, does evoke a small, fleeting smile. Well, that was something.
"Hn."
Finding him wordless, she falls silent herself. A year in the Forest had taught her that these creatures often had a way of speaking without a need for such novelties as verbs and nouns. Resting side by side was more than enough, most days, and so she welcomed his inching sideways.

[I've actually got to head out - supposed to get up early tomorrow, oops~ So glad to see Thane, though! ♥]

Phai sighs, her gaze sweeping from the stag to the bull-headed... well, bull. "Occupational hazard, unfortunately," she replies with an attempt at lightheartedness. "Don't fret over it. You didn't cause any of it."

The doe peers up at him with interest. "Always? Not quite, no - he's quite docile with certain deer. Others... not so much." Well, obviously. "And Thane has caused enough of his own problems with Gustiro, Gustiro's got a hot head, and I could have easily let them two go at it instead of inadvertently involving half the forest - and that's not even bringing the Wolf into it - if you really want to play the blame game. I doubt you intended anything to happen." Her tone is firm, but gentle. She looks him up and down. No, didn't seem the up-starter sort... "So relax."

"No, he's angry." He'd never charged at her before, but today had certainly changed that. She lets a long 'fffff' of air pass through her lips as she mulls over the question. "From what I recall, he was at odds with Gustiro over a young doe he fancied and who Gus acted as a guardian for. It was a long time ago, and she's since disappeared. And then there was his daughter, Eraline... Even though he was her father, Gus didn't much take to him being around her, I don't think. I haven't seen Thane much since he was a fawn, really, until the other day, so I'm missing pieces I'm sure." The doe's brow furrows as she studies the distant red bull again. "For a 'simple' creature, he's terribly complicated."

[Pfffft, it didn't say there was a new post and I totally missed it xD Sorry]

A grunt. "Yes, he is rather obvious about it, isn't he... I just wish he wouldn't tear himself up so much." If she had to watch him pass out for another week she'd... well, she didn't know what she'd do, really. But something!
Phaios listens to him mope about life's complications, studying him with an odd mixture of 'are you serious' and amusement. "Things don't seem so bad once you've been in Blackness." She doesn't bother to explain the statement, though.
Speaking freely? I suppose I am, she muses. "My name's Phai."

"Likewise, Vegas." A smile flickers across her lips. Nice? "Ahm... So I've been told. Thank you." It was wonderfully pleasant to hear after getting fussed and yelled at by so many others today.

Aaaaand one more track here too ♥

I am so honored you'd use my art as a signature. ._.'

"Hello my dear. Indeed, we've not met. You smell quite nice though."

"A pleasure to meet you, my dear Phaios.. A beautiful name." Rows of pointed teeth are displayed in a smile; not quite a sneer, nor quite a smug grin either. Although no eyes can be seen with the ivory-coloured mask obscuring his face, Walter's eyes are locked firmly upon the doe. "You dance well, I see. We should indulge ourselves like this more often, no?"

The flush doesn't go unnoticed and the grin grows even wider. "It would be an honour, dear, sweet Phaios." His slick voice lingers upon the last syllable of her name, almost as if savouring the sound. He pauses for a brief moment afterwards, letting his presence become more noticeable as he relaxes his weight to one side - in particular her side. "You may call me Walter. I'm sure our.. Friendship will develop more if we're on first-name terms.."

"I've been here since before the Birch Forest existed. I'm older than the stone there. Older than the first fawns." A chuckle escapes the stag at the personal amusement. How common it was for the younger deer to not know him. He did sleep often, after all. "Do not worry so much.. When you get to be my age, you'll realise it's impossible to know everyone. Myself? I tend to focus upon the ones that really matter.." He finished, and turned his head slowly, letting the light glimpse over the many scars upon his flesh. Cracks and chips were noticeable in the mask he wore, and it was very apparent that many of the spines of his large horns had broken away in years of combat.

It often amused the stag when the younger ones were unaware of things that had simply been the way of life for him. "For one who can remember who they were before coming here, that may be the case. I've been here as far back as my memories will reach. When there were also fewer of us here.. When I could remember every name.." A moment is taken to contemplate and the stag flicks an ear as a bee buzzes past. Names passed through his thoughts and for a moment the male seemed to let out a sigh of longing. It had felt like an age for him.

"The ones that matter are the ones that keep my interest." He eventually replied, giving his neck and thick mane a shake. "It's not often I meet someone who could dance as my beloved Ephra once did. Your grace alone caught my eye." And again another sigh left the stag, although less noticeable than the first.

A slow nod follows the doe's question. "She was special to many. I remember her when I was young here. We were always together. We would dance and play.. Shelter together, wander between the trees.. We took duties raising the new fawns when they came.." His tone lowers and becomes somewhat bitter shortly afterwards. "But good things can never last. She is gone now.. Gone and I don't know where she is." Refraining from further elaboration, Walter shook his head, causing the loose areas of the mask around his horns to rattle.

"It's easy to be alone in a crowd when you are shunned for your past deeds." With a turn of his head he gestured to the nearby Ename ruins and the many graves marking the unknown historical site. "One lies dead there because of me. A child."