Xian Xiao
Elementalist
Xian stood quietly beside her, staring at the enormous eggs curled safely beneath the sleeping creature's coils while the distant sounds of the others echoed through the pens around them. Even at thirteen, she carried herself with that same guarded stillness she would have years later, though here it was thinner somehow, less practiced. Easier to interrupt.
Her eyes tracked slowly across the massive creature resting around the clutch, taking in the rise and fall of its breathing, the faint twitch of whiskers, the sheer scale of it.
"…An affectionate flying tank," she murmured thoughtfully. "That feels dangerous." There was a pause before the corner of her mouth twitched upward just slightly. "…I like it."
She folded her arms loosely as she kept watching the eggs, her expression quieter now, more openly curious than she usually allowed herself to be around people. Around Noriko, it happened sometimes without her noticing.
"It's weird," Xian admitted after a moment. "Back on Coruscant, everything always felt loud. Crowded. Like people were building over the world instead of living with it." Her gaze drifted toward the distant gardens and the open sky beyond the high paths. "But here…" She hesitated briefly, trying to explain something she didn't entirely have words for yet. "Everything feels alive on purpose."
Not wild. Not chaotic. Connected.
She looked back toward Noriko then, and some of the tension usually sitting behind her eyes softened by simple fascination.
"So they really bond to one person?" she asked. "Like permanently?" Her attention shifted back toward the eggs almost immediately afterward, curiosity overtaking caution for once. "…How do you even know which one is yours?"
Noriko Ike
Her eyes tracked slowly across the massive creature resting around the clutch, taking in the rise and fall of its breathing, the faint twitch of whiskers, the sheer scale of it.
"…An affectionate flying tank," she murmured thoughtfully. "That feels dangerous." There was a pause before the corner of her mouth twitched upward just slightly. "…I like it."
She folded her arms loosely as she kept watching the eggs, her expression quieter now, more openly curious than she usually allowed herself to be around people. Around Noriko, it happened sometimes without her noticing.
"It's weird," Xian admitted after a moment. "Back on Coruscant, everything always felt loud. Crowded. Like people were building over the world instead of living with it." Her gaze drifted toward the distant gardens and the open sky beyond the high paths. "But here…" She hesitated briefly, trying to explain something she didn't entirely have words for yet. "Everything feels alive on purpose."
Not wild. Not chaotic. Connected.
She looked back toward Noriko then, and some of the tension usually sitting behind her eyes softened by simple fascination.
"So they really bond to one person?" she asked. "Like permanently?" Her attention shifted back toward the eggs almost immediately afterward, curiosity overtaking caution for once. "…How do you even know which one is yours?"
Noriko Ike
