They both stood underneath the thriving apple tree, snouts pointed up towards the juicy fruits that had been caressed by the Sun and now were sweetly blushing. The chaser was probably looking at each and every one of them to pick out the prettiest one while the pink runner wondered how he’ll reach to the one that the lovely lady beside him picks out.
“There, the big one right there!”
She cheerfully almost shouts once the perfect apple catches her eye. This one indeed stood out from the others, inviting the Vayron admiring it.
“Uhh… okay, give me a moment to try figuring out how to get to it…”
The pink runner takes few steps closer to the tree and looks up again, wondering if he’ll make it when standing on hind limbs.
“You might damage it when jumping up… I have another idea. Let me try reaching it from your back.”
The chaser walks beside the pink fella, looking at him with encouraging smile. The other has no other choice but to agree with the lady’s idea, even though that didn’t sound like the best to him. He blinks couple times, then shrugs and lies down. Once he feels her finding the secure sitting position he slowly stands up. This however makes her slightly lose the balance so out of instinct she uses her fluffy tail to gain it back.
“Little bit higher, almost there…”
She reaches up as much as she can to gently try taking the beautiful apple down. This doesn’t work out since her companion doesn’t fulfill the request, instead he’s busy shaking his head for some odd reason while snorting.
“Agnulus, little bit more up please?”
“Yes, second, I first need to get your tail off my face before I sneeze…”
Looks like Confetti’s pretty tail had landed exactly on Agnulus’es snout, first covering his vision and now tickling his nostrils. Poor fella had to do his best to get it off quickly before the sneeze would shake off the chaser from his back.
“Oh, my apologies!”
Holding onto his back she tries to glance over her shoulder and move the tail away. Neither of them notice how another light-colored blind Vayron happens to pass by as she was heading for the festival grounds but hearing strange fuss on her left she had to stop, ears curiously pointed towards the source while trying to figure out what could’ve gone on over there.
Sit back and relax, he said. We’ll make it there in time, he said.
Sure, no doubt that the pink Vayron gave his all to keep that promise he gave to the busy lady. Earlier that day Confetti received a message that her cakes need to be there earlier than planned so those two had to move at the speed of the wind. Instead of ordering special carriage to fit all these cakes Agnulus managed to find one nearby. He hadn’t tried to pull one before but first time for everything, like he said. After getting a pretty blanket to make the ride comfortable for the lady he managed to connect everything somewhat right and took off.
He loved this feeling.
He was important, he had a mission. He had to run.
He started to feel like a true greyhound racing on the road, determined to make it there in time. The adrenaline kept pumping in the beats of his heart, wind whistled by as he cut through it. He dived into all this, forgetting the rest.
Hence he didn’t notice how 4 vays were crossing the road, thank heavens he didn’t run them over as the dark one was able to stop the light one before stepping in the danger zone. Looks like he also shouted something after them, which Agnulus couldn’t hear, of course, but Confetti sure got a bite of the colorful remarks. Squeezing the cake box against her chest she tried to shout to Agnulus to slow down a bit but a small rock on the road gave the carriage a decent bump to toss it up in the air a bit with its contents. That view shocked the blue vay behind them while the last of them didn’t seem to be surprised at all.
Luckily she, the blanket and precious cakes managed to land back down safely. Agnulus kept going and going, he suddenly had unlimited energy reservoirs in his muscles as the thought of impressing the lady gave him even more motivation to keep going.
The lady herself, however, wasn’t sure what to do – hold onto the blanket with all her nails or try again to put some sense back into the driver’s mind. What she did for sure was making a mental note to install some seat belts for the next time and prepare some magic to fix the cakes that probably weren’t enjoying this wild ride either.
Agnulus was ecstatic when he found out about the fair. The loopy eared vay enjoyed a good party, and if he had a tail, it would be wagging furiously as he wandered through the fair.
The striped vayron got himself a double heaping of cotton candy, of course in pink, before going further in to see what there was to do. It was all so overwhelming that he had to take a few moments to get his bearings; the colors, the sights, the sounds, the smells, even the air had a taste of elation somehow!
Seeing a sign that spoke of fair preparations, he had to poke his head into the tent to see what it was all about. Costume pieces and face paint? Hair brushes and accessories lined up? Aww man this sounded fun! The blue rosette male that was helping out inside gestured him in, holding up a paintbrush that was dripping bright green paint.
Not that the runner had any hair to speak of, nor a tail, but looking around, he saw someone who fit the bill just nicely.
He was much smaller than the duveteux tobiano puller, but that didn’t stop him from running up to the larger male with a smile on his face.
“Come on! You’ll be perfect with all that fur!”
With that he butt his head lightly against the other male’s side to push him in the direction of the tent. The paintbrush that the rosette runner inside held was quickly replaced with a comb, he clearly held the same ideas that Agnulus had!
***
“H-hey! I’m not really one for er… whatever this is.” The deep blue tobiano stammered as he looked around. The Vayron’s pale colored eyes scanned the tent, overwhelmed by the amount of costumes and various products there. The scientist didn’t really see the point in all the fuss with clothing and fashion. Afterall, the time he spent worrying about that he could spend researching.
Not only that, but anyone who knew Jericho would describe him as rather awkward and not exactly comfortable with social interaction. “I’m really just here to see all the new things the fair has to offer.” He replied, stepping towards the tent exit nervously.
***
Agnulus only laughed at the other male’s response. “Nonsense! You’re here aren’t you? How else are you supposed to see what there is in store if you don’t experience it?”
Grabbing a bundle of hair ties, the pink male tossed it to the rosette male, who introduced himself as Pants. Pants set to work separating the strands into even sections for braiding, leaving the more intricate work for more delicate hands. Humanoid hands and arcanists set to work playing with the longer furred male’s hair, putting cute little braids in his tail and mane, while Agnulus himself searched the tent for accessories.
“Hmm…” He kept glancing at pieces and looking back at the other male, tossing them aside before grabbing another. He tossed a half mask with feathers up to the male’s face, then brought it down and replaced it with a cloak and a colorful collar of ribbons. Agnulus himself took the mask, along with a beaded chestpiece. He then dragged a few lines of paint down his chin, and looked over at his new companion. He also put a flashy hat on Pant’s head, who only smiled at the gesture.
“What do you think, too much?”
***
Jericho seemed quite overwhelmed by the whole situation as he looked at a nearby mirror. “Erm… yeah… a bit.” He said awkwardly, secretly wondering how he could get himself out of this situation. The deep blue Vayron shook out his fluffy fur, quite embarrassed by the whole situation. Pants seemed a bit offended by this declaration as he looked the Vayron up and down.
“Nonsense! I think this looks perfect!” He insisted.
“I mean it's a bit uhm… attention grabbing.” The fluffy tobiano responded politely, seemingly nervous that he would insult the friese Vayron. However, Jericho was a rather minimal Vayron when it came to things such as fashion. Not only that, but he was quite unused to such confrontational conversations. He much preferred to quietly go about his business.
***
“Ahh, a quiet man I see. Well, if that’s the case, a little bit more of a comfortable attire that doesn’t stand out…” Agnulus turned to go dig through accessories again while Pants took the liberties of making sure that Jericho’s hair wasn’t as extravagant as it could have been, taking out some of the extra braids on the longer fur, and sticking just to a contemporary style.
The pink runner ended up snagging a cute bowtie and hat, and a few ribbons to thread through the braids in blues to match the puller’s colors. Standing back to admire how he looked, Pants added one last finishing touch, a little gold star of face paint on his cheek, something tiny and festive without being over the top.
“Better then?”
***
Jericho was still a bit unsure about this new look, but now the soft spoken Vayron really didn’t want to offend them. Afterall, they had tried to make him a look that he liked. “Uh… yes. Yes! Much better.” He replied, looking himself up and down in the mirror. Even if he wasn’t one for fashion, he did have to admit that it was much more subtle and complimented his colors. The Vayron supposed that maybe he should lean into his new look, after all the fair was always a chance to try new things and get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
***
“Good! Now, let’s get you out there and enjoy the fair!” The blue rosette runner pushed him towards the tent opening, with Agnulus right behind.
“If you even want, I’ll do most of the games and you can just watch. You seem to be the more studious kind of reo. Take all the notes you want and maybe if you get brave, you can join me!”
The striped male was excited to have some sort of company at least, of course, he was good with others in general, often making friends wherever he went. But now, with the puller at his side, he had a goal, show the male how to have fun!
Haki had finally ditched the sparkle brat. Good riddance. He had found his loopy eared friend again and they had gone for a race. Haki had taken it upon himself to slip away unnoticed, or so he thought.
It didn't take him long to notice the drow elf from before standing in front of him, arms crossed and pouting. What in the hell did she want? That meant her companion couldn't be far, and twisting his head around, he saw the glowing eyed freak in conversation with a striped pink male. What was up with stripes and tabby and pink lately? Anyway, the dark vay seemed to have found a new friend, so why waste elf bugging him?
He snarled at her and walked past, where she proceeded to grab his ear and yank, a painful thing. She had quickly ducked out of the way when he turned to bite her, which got the dark vay's attention, golden accessories bobbing as he approached with his new pink runner friend in tow.
Great. That's all she seemed to have wanted, was for him to not slip away. He wasn't good company so he had no clue why, but he suspected with the grin on her face, she was going to try to drag him into another pointless activity. And considering they were near the racetrack he had ditched the sparkling male at, and the fact they had found another runner to talk to ... Haki wasn't dumb, and he easily put two and two together.
Haki was a puller, and while the older male might be more of an even match for him since he seemed to be getting slower as the day wore on, the other male they had attracted was young and fit - he looked like he ran on a regular basis. Great. The elf just wanted to watch him lose.
***
Agnulus was more than happy to flirt from fair activity to game to competition to what have you. He had been having loads of fun, meeting new people, breaking them out of their shells or playing games with the most rambunctious of them all. Recently he ran across an older runner named Shaa, and his elven companion, proving that the fair was for those of all ages, not just the young.
As Lissana dragged over a rather grumpy sandstone colored puller, Agnulus had to laugh. It seemed he wasn't the only one trying to break people out of their shells.
"Come on guys, the starting line is over here!" He spoke, unable to keep the excitement from his voice. The elf dashed to catch up with him, leaving the other two males to fall behind.
The pink male led the way, excited to get going. Against this bunch, he was likely to win, but he just enjoyed the run either way. He reflected on a time when he was dashing to make sure things get delivered on time with a confetti chaser. It made him chuckle.
Haki was reluctant to join them but lined up anyway, Agnulus half suspected he might try to make a run for it as soon as they left him behind. But that didn't matter once the starting whistle blew, and they were off! Dirt was kicked up from their paws.
What Agnulus didn't expect was his biggest competition being the two legged companion. The elf was agile and graceful, and quite fast! Now here's some fun! He kicked up his paws even more, determined to pour on the speed and push himself to victory! He hadn't raced against any humanoids before, and this was going to be loads of fun!
***
Shaa was happy that Lissana was having fun. It made everything worthwhile. He could push himself to run a race - he was old but he wasn't helpless, and still did everything unaided, including chasing down prey.
The larger puller seemed determined to not come in last, so Shaa played around with his speed, making it seem like he was pulling ahead, only for the puller to overtake him. It kept that glint in his blue eyes that told Shaa he was still invested, exactly what Shaa wanted.
Up ahead, Agnulus and Lissana were neck and neck, and the elf was clearly giving the runner a hard time. People tended to underestimate her, and she kept pace with Shaa when they hunted. He never knew where her speed came from, she was so small and her legs so short. But she practically floated over the ground, her feet barely making any trace of their passing, unlike the vay's larger paws that left prints and dirt everywhere.
Through their bond he cheered her on, which only seemed to push her to go faster. When they reached the end, the pink runner had barely won by a few pawsteps, which was an impressive feat. Lissana didn't seem bothered in the slightest that she didn't win, and she shared laughter with Agnulus, as Haki and Shaa crossed the line not far behind, the puller having barely beat Shaa.
Haki finally managed to slip away while the other three congratulated each other, he was clearly done with them all and there was no real reason to make him stick around. That was fine with Shaa, who invited Agnulus to do something else with them next. The runner agreed, and Lissana was overjoyed to have made yet another friend. As long as she was happy, Shaa was happy. He shuffled their little group off the track so the next group could go, as they discussed what to do next.
As the day was winding down to a close, Shaa was more that ready to go home. Lissana and their new friend Agnulus had started dragging him all over the place to do this or that, and he honestly was struggling to keep up with it all as he had no clue what they had done and what they hadn't at this point.
He was broken out of his thoughts with a loud crash not fat away. His companions would have had to been deaf not to hear it, and the three of them headed towards the source of the sound.
The cause was apparent. A large grey vayron with a huge pair of wings on her was struggling in a mess of poles and tent fabric and flags. With wings as big, if not bigger than her main body bulk, it was no wonder the friese had gotten tangled.
A vendor nearby was in near tears, trying not to cry in despair. His stall looked half crushed under the winged puller, and Shaa couldn't blame him. How clumsy could she be to run into all that?
Lissana was the opposite, her voice chattering in his mind about wow, what a special vay, it must be wonderful to fly!
He snorted and started to turn, intent on leaving them to their own devices, when Lissana rushed forward to help. Of course she would. The pink runner was right behind her, and Shaa knew he was resigned to helping. It didn't really bother him if they did or not, he was usually seen as a sharp edged individual, but he did hold a soft spot for those who could use his help. He was just tired.
***
Agnulus wasn't one to not help someone in need. Having the elf's help was even better, as her deft fingers were able to untangle and remove things far easier than fangs and claws could, and with less damage. It wasn't long before they had untangled the winged female, who thanked them profusely between apologies to the vendor.
"But my stall! What will I do now?" The vendor cried out in dispair, running his paws down his face.
"I can help!" The grey and white female tired to offer, but with cut off with a resounding no from the vendor.
"You're only going to make a mess of things!" He was clearly upset, and no one could really blame him. He did have his stall broken by an awkward vayron, even if unintentional.
She drooped her head and Agnulus knew he had to step in.
"Hello kind sir. My companions and I can help. And if the wonderful lady wishes to assist, we'll make sure she doesn't cause any more damage."
Shaa left to fetch some new boards to replace those that had broken, leaving Agnulus in charge.
"Thank you. I'm Bryidae." The collared female introduced herself with a smile.
"Agnulus. This is Lissana, and the one who just left is her companion Shaa." Lissana waved and
The trio started making a pile, sorting what was salvageable and what wasn't, until Shaa returned with supplies. Proving he was smarter than the average bear, he brought tools and nails, some drinks and snacks, and even found someone from the costume tent to put their face painting skills to use to paint what they would put together.
***
Bryidae was more than thrilled to have help, and to try to make things up to the vendor. She wasn't clumsy normally, but the fair was so packed with people and reoseans, and she tried to keep her wings up so no one bumped into them, potentially tearing through the membrane, or hurting themselves on the claws. That went so well as most things weren't built with overhead wings in mind. Sure tyrians made their way through the fair, but there were also floating things for them to access, and on the ground they crawled with their wings down. Plus they didn't have the claws to worry about on the ends of their wings.
She found herself making good friends with her new companions as they chattered endlessly while they worked. The glowing eyed male made sure they took plenty if breaks and kept hydrated, clearly doting on them like some father figure. Agnulus had a way of making everyone happy, even just looking at the flop eared pink male tended to make others smile.
While the vendor continued to be a bit crabby, he eventually started coming around to them, and helped with repairs. He was finally smiling and laughing as the stall came back together. And in her opinion, it was even better than before. The bright colors and intricate designs made it stand out, and Bryidae used her wings to hover, putting up a new painted banner that called attention from even further away than before.
There were cheers from the onlookers as the group contemplated a job well done. The vendor thanked them, giving them all a small prize from his shop, even Bryidae herself. Clearly he forgave her.
There was still one more thing to be done though. Turning to the elf, the winged vay spoke.
"I noticed how you keep looking at me and my wings. As my main savior, how would you like a ride?"
Shaa smiled as he translated and Lissana’s face lit up. She squealed and Bryidae didn't even need to kneel down for the lithe elf to jump on. The fair was a good place to have fun and make friends, and as she took to the skies, Bryidae was glad she could make someone happy.