Birch froze guiltily as someone, an accented someone, slammed open the front door and abruptly shouted across the yard. She'd been expecting something of the sort, of course, since not many people would let her tromp around on their property unchallenged, but she hadn't been expecting... well, him. Birch glanced up, one eyebrow flicking up at the command; though she didn't speak the language, she knew an order when she heard one. He wasn't the handsome sort, but he had a competency about him that she found, surprisingly, rather appealing. Added with the tall, muscular frame and the dark brown eyes, Birch found herself off-balance in a way that hadn't happened in... ages. Which, of course, meant she had to put her grouchy face on. Birch set her fists on her hips, meeting him glare for glare.
"I'm getting my paperwork," she shot back. Her voice lowered to a tired mutter. "As if I didn't have enough to do today."
Rochambeau scampered up the man's front steps, apparently oblivious to the tension, with the quill still clamped between his teeth. He beamed at the man, doing a few circles around him before abruptly stopping to... smell his feet? Birch barely managed to stifle her embarrassed groan. Of all familiars, she had to get a nosey otter.
"You found one!" Ro squeaked, his words a little muffled. One of the papers, the assignments for guard duty from the previous week, had somehow managed to float up his front steps to land at his feet. Ro pounced at it, crumpling it rather horribly in the process. "Don't let it escape!"
Birch, grumbling, swooped up the last paper in his yard and stomped over to them, her green eyes more fatigued that actually angry. She stopped at the base of his steps, trying to keep her focus on the otter instead of the man.
"Roch, come here," Birch said, pinching the bridge of her nose in an effort to ward off the headache she felt brewing. The otter promptly ducked behind the man, gnawing on the quill so loudly Birch winced. With visible effort, she pulled herself back together.
"Sorry," she said finally, grudgingly. "I didn't mean to trespass, and I'm not normally so rude. It's my first week as a captain, or I'd've let the damn papers blow away." She blew out a long breath, not sure how the man would respond. He didn't look pleased to have her there, and would probably send her off before she got much more out of him, but... Torram would be incredibly displeased if she didn't at least introduce herself. "I'm your neighbor, Birch, and this is my familiar, Rochambeau!" Her voice took on a sharp edge, spotting her too-curious familiar slowly edging towards the man's front door. |