[PRP] Hai gurl hai (Vittorio/Mirashi)

[Painted Moose]

It wasn't often that Vittorio was allowed to venture outside of the protective embrace of the ruins, but today was special. His father had seen fit to bring his son's to the their mother for a visit during the work day, and with a little craft, he'd managed to escape. All in all, it wasn't that hard, seeing as his father was new and had five boys to contend with, but Vittorio liked to think it was because of his mad skillz that he got away so often.

Not that he went far. Curious azure eyes bounced through the differing Artisans, and as he passed, he became even more entranced then he ever had been before. Everyone smelled so good! Well, some did, and they were the few he flocked to. Whatever it was, he knew in his heart he had to have it, no matter what it took.  

[Velveteen Angel]

Mirashi was focused on her craft, ignoring the people moving around her. Instead, she stared at her flowers with a look of pure concentration. She was one of the ones who wore no perfumes, though her scent was rich and floral, as she always melt like whatever perfume she was concocting that day. Putting on a different scent before making new ones could blend unpleasantly, so Mirashi simply didn't bother with wearing her own perfume unless she was attending something special. Which was rare. Very rare. In fact, she had never attended anything that forced her to wear perfume, but she would, if something ever happened that required it. Maybe.

Her job made her scent different every day, which was a good thing, she mused. No one could ever find her by scent at least.

She crushed the flower beneath her paw gently, rolling her paw over it to ease the juices out, rather than force them. Squished flowers smelt terrible, but those that were gently coerced out gave the most beautiful fragrance.

 

[Painted Moose]

Vittorio moved between the little groups and singular lions, vaguely registering little tidbits of information as he went. It was a white lioness that held his attention. The floral scent surrounding her taunted him to come closer, and he followed without resistance.

Of course, he just had to look manly while doing so.

The little white cub puffed out his chest and walked stiffly, his wobbly paws dancing over the sand. "You there." Vittorio nodded his head, his voice deep and obviously fake. "Why are you rolling your paw 'round like that? Do you need help?"

Damsel, check. Tough guy, check. Helping her out in a cool way, totally in the bag.  

[Velveteen Angel]

Mirashi barely recognised that someone was speaking to her, focused fully on the flowers before her. The petals were yielding their scents wonderfully when an odd sound reached her ears and they twitched. She paused her movements, and tilted her head, glancing to the side. She saw no one there, until she dropped her gaze, surprised to spot a cub standing there.

Mirashi had little interactions with youth, so the sudden appearance of a cub was...slightly concerning. The voice she had heard did not match the size either. It had sounded deeper, bigger. She glanced over the cub, expecting to see the boy's father talking to hear, but there was no one.

Just the cub.

Odd.

“Why am I rolling my paw?” She repeated, bemused by the question. Why? Wasn't it obvious? “I am gathering scents, that's why I roll my paw like this.” She raised the paw in question, revealing the squished flower that stuck partially to the rock. “I do not think you would be able to help me.” It was true. Most cubs were too impatient. It made them terrible perfumists. Perfume was about patience and being gentle.

Her gaze flicked back to her flowers, already dismissing the boy in favour of returning to her flowers.
 

[Painted Moose]

Her eyes looked like flowers. So bright and green, with little petals on top. It wasn't something that Vittorio found pleasing, it was much too girly, but on her it looked.....nice.

He wasn't used to speaking with adults other than his nannies and parents, so he kept his bravado going with extra force. The youngster stood proud, only barely wobbling on his paws. Obviously, it was working because she couldn't take her eyes off him. Females, he thought with an eye roll.

"Really?" For a moment, his real voice slipped. He hastily tried to recover. "Really?" Much better. Vittorio watched as she revealed the squished flower, his eyes soaking in as much information as possible. That is, until she challenged his manhood. The direct blow sent him reeling. Did she really....had she...?!

Vittorio plopped his bum next to her, took up his own stone and flower, then watched. He still didn't understand why she was doing something so stupid, but if she could do it, then he could too! He set his paw over the flower, the pressed. "See? I can do it." Had he only, but to look at the demolished flower slathered over the stone he would have said otherwise.  

[Velveteen Angel]

The boy's voice still confused Mirashi. It sounded far too deep for a cub, but perhaps he was merely born that way. Best not bring it up, she decided, always bad at social interactions and she'd hate to insult the cub and have some angry parents come squawking at her about hurting the boy's feelings or some such nonsense.

However, she was faintly surprised when she felt the sand near her move, and glanced over to see the young boy with his own stone and flower. She peered at him for a moment, before returning to her work, allowing him to watch her do so.

Well, he was enthusiastic, that much was obvious.

At his words, she glanced back, slightly exasperated already at the social interactions. She blinked at the broken flower on the rock, and shook her head. "See," she repeated back to him, inclining her head to the ruined flower, as if he had just proven her own point for her.

"It's not about crushing the flower, it's about gently drawing out it's scent," she said, unable to resist explaining. She had never been a fan of interacting with others, but she did love to talk about her word. "The force is only as much as a butterfly wing."

She paused. Hmm, did they have butterflies in the desert? She had been born a rogue, so she knew of the colourful bugs, but perhaps he did not. She grabbed one of her other flowers, larger than the one she was working on and the one he had crushed. It's petals, however, were very thin, and so they tore easily. She had to grab it by the stem so she could drop it in front of him, without a tear in the petals.

"Run your claw along the petals," she told him. "If you can do that without leaving a cut, you'll know how little pressure you need to use on the flowers." She glanced back at her own flower. During her entire mini-rant about the pressure, she had continued to rock her paw, easing out the scent.
 

[Painted Moose]

Gentle wasn't in Vittorio's job description. He was out to prove himself as the fastest, most capable hunter in the pride, and with a word like 'gentle' attached to him, it simply wasn't going to happen. So, needless to say, the disgusted look on his face could only go so far to mirror the horror he felt inside.

"What's a butterfly?" He questioned, dropping his false voice in curiosity. He curled his nose, sneezing when the scent of flowers over powered him.

Vittorio's bright eyes trailed after her as she softly grasped another flower, this one intimidating him with it's frailness. Something about it reminded him of when his mother told him not to touch a piece of jewelry in case it would break. All he could do was to follow it with his head until it was placed before him.

When she spoke, he listened, and as steadily as he could, he followed through. With a shaky, but gentle claw he ran along the petal. He was going to do it, he could just- Cut. Instant rage face.

"This is stupid. How am I supposed to be able to run my claw over it without cutting it?"
 

[Velveteen Angel]

Mirashi winced. Ah, so butterflies didn't inhabit the desert. How disappointing. She wasn't overly fond of the bugs - they were bugs after all - but they had a certain prettiness at times. Oh well, the desert had very attractive flowers at least.

"It is a bug," she explained, half heartedly. The butterfly wasn't really the point of what she was talking about.

Seeing that he was going to try, she returned to her own flower, but paused when he spoke again, his annoyance obvious. She glanced over, smirking lightly at the cut in the petal.

"Gently," she answered, rolling her eyes. "Perhaps you are too young for this craft." She paused, eyeing him. "Shouldn't you be...with your parents or something?"



 

[Painted Moose]

Oooh. So it was something like a beetle. Vittorio just couldn't figure out why she was comparing something as delicate as this flower to a beetle. They were hard shelled, and very difficult to pop open, at least, to him. Maybe....Vittorio paled, slowly turning towards Miraishi. She couldn't be....no, he wouldn't believe it...His confidence dropped through the ground. A girl was stronger than he was.

His self-esteem already shot, he didn't rise to the roll of her eyes. She obviously knew more about the craft than she let on, and now that he knew of her impressive strength, he was much more apt to listen. Until that last bit.

Instantly he assumed a pose, and innerly accepted her challenge. "I'm old enought to apprentice." He told her blankly, even though it was a bold faced lie. He was close, but not quite there yet. "Besides, mother is an Artisan too so she's really close. My father's visiting her today, so here I am."

Then, he completely ignored her in favor of the flower. He was determined to get this right.  

[Velveteen Angel]

Painted Moose

At his insistance that his mother was nearby, Mirashi immediately scanned the area for any female that could possibly be his mother in order to command she take back her son and stop him destroying her flowers, but could not immediately spot one. She was bad at recognising family trees, so she hadn't much hope anyway.

She sighed and glanced back at the youth.

"Shouldn't you apprentice under your mother?" She suggested. Or rather, can't you go bother your mother? she wondered internally.

He was rather intently focused on the flower though, so she supposed at least he wasn't fooling around or joking. That would have simply irritated her beyond belief.


 

[Painted Moose]

Velveteen Angel

Vittorio paid her no attention as he tried to smoosh up another flower. This time, instead of crushing it, he was using less strength. While it would have been successful, the obvious tearing in the petals yielded little result.

"Boys apprentice with their dads," He stated bluntly, rolling his own eyes. "My dad's a wussy, though, so I don't want to. Not like my brothers." He frowned. They were all nerds, freaks and geeks; not like him. Someone had to be the big guy in the bunch.

When he had completely ruined yet another flower, Vittorio gave it one last try and much to his relief a little juice slipped out around his paw. "Look, look! I'm getting it!" He turned to the lioness, his eyes bright and excited.  

[Velveteen Angel]

Painted Moose

Well it did make sense that boys apprentice with their fathers, she supposed. She was still learning all about this 'pride stuff' and it was quite a lot to take in still. Not that she particularly cared. She knew enough not to break the rules, and that was all that mattered -she just wanted to do her craft and not get killed. Simple priorities, she mused, before refocusing on the hassle - ahh, cub - in front of her.

She frowned lightly. "You shouldn't call your dad that," she scolded, mildly irritated at his comment. "You may come to regret that comment! Your father is not going to be around forever and whilst he might not share your views, you should at least respect him and his ways."

Mirashi had always regretted not being more respectful to her father. Both her parents had passed away shortly after she had become an adult, as she and her siblings was their second litter, but it was still sad.

Glancing down at his flower, and the small speck of perfume on his paw, she offered the tiniest of smiles. "Now someday you might even get to cover the bottom of that gourd," she said, with mild sarcasm, and pointed to the small gourd that had been hollowed out and dried to create a container. It was about the size of the Vittorio's head.

She understood that he was trying to help. She wouldn't mind an apprentice some day, but she had a feeling that he would be more of a hindrance than a help. There was something about him that she just knew would frustrate her.

She eyed him as she continued to press the flowers, frowning at the mistakes he was making and doing her best to correct them...mostly by insulting him. That was how people learnt, wasn't it?

- fin-