Table Six (Private: Azriba/Soriel)

(Private for Azriel and Soba)

Soba sat in the same table as Azriel, not noticing him until now, he glanced over to him and smiled slightly, feeling incredibly nervous about this as he never really talked to anyone. He felt a pang of embarrassment stab him as he found he couldn't have anything to talk about, he had been staring at Azriel for a few minutes wide-eyed.

A dark figure slightly taller than Azriel approached the two he was in the midst of beginning a conversation with, offering warm greetings... They were clearly acquainted, which wasn't a surprise, since the King would after all have a duty to know those he ruled over. Azriel he barely acknowledged, and amusement flitted across his face. Either he was doing a very good job of not giving off the air of a high ranker, or he was simply insignificant. However, before he had a chance to say anything, a resonance rang out across the room, the result of Oculus's tail against the fountain. Gray gem - that was him. Table six. Got it.

He turned and walked away, towards the table six, where someone had already arrived before he had. A tiny male with the shape of a Chinese dragon type was on the opposite end of the table, his would-be partner for the day. The partner who was currently goggling at him. Azriel sighed and took the initiative to introduce himself, seeing that the other was probably not going to: "Greetings, I am Azriel..." deciding not to mention his rank, which could scare the anxious-looking Chinese dragon, he settled on, "of the Xoyan tribe, if you couldn't tell. What's your name?"

The Chinese dragon had tried to hold in the panic inside and acted calm or at least tried to, he speaks out to Azriel in a whisper-like fashion "m-my name is Soba...pleasure to meet you." he nodded his greetings and looked around nervously, being unsure about himself, hoping he had not came off as creepy or boring, he shakes his fur up and it slowly lays down as he calmed down. He looks up to Azriel and smiles awkwardly "a-anyways, what are your hobbies...?" he asked still shaking violently

The partner that Azriel had been landed with was exhibiting signs of extreme nervousness, understandable really as he was in an unfamiliar environment with a dragon several times larger than him: But the Chinese dragon was nervous to such an extent that it was starting to get on his nerves, despite Azriel only having interacted with the other for a few moments. Azriel's partner - Soba - was visibly making an effort to calm himself though, something that eased Azriel's ire a bit. (After all, he had attended the event to have fun, not to babysit.)

He decided to avoid Soba's question for now and said as gently but firmly as he could, what he thought was the best tone for the situation, "Soba. Before we continue, I would like to request that you loosen up, that you relax. I don't think you're boring," having observed the other closely enough to catch the gist of what Soba was afraid of, "so be yourself. And no, I'm not scolding you. Only, as I said, making a request. Can you do that? We're here to have fun after all."

Soba had taken a few breaths and put up an actual smile, he looked to Azriel with more brighter and happier eyes now "you got it!" he seemed instantly more happier and looked around. He hadn't came here with a plan necessarily he always charged into things blindly, now that he knew that Azriel had thought he wasn't boring that was finally able to let Soba loosen his gears, his fur puffed up in excitement as he looked over to Azriel again "so then...what would you like to do?" he seemed more jumpy than ever as if a curse had been lifted from him, though that was Soba just being Soba.

Soba's change in behaviour was almost instantaneous, Azriel was pleased to note, watching in amusement as the former's fur puffed up in visible excitement. No more breath would be wasted on trying to convince Soba to calm down at least. He let a small smile flash across his maw as he thought of a reply to the Chinese dragon's question, and at last said, "Well, we could talk. Hobbies, you asked earlier? I like to observe others from a distance, to find patterns in their behaviour or a notice a certain talking style. And you?"

Soba was also delighted, possibly the two were getting along, Soba had thought that Azriel's hobbies were actually quite interesting, his smile brightened more when Azriel had let a small smile come out. Soba had tried to remember his hobbies but finally remembered after a minute or so "those are great hobbies! I have a few hobbies as well like flying around, exploring, relaxing, and making friends! I'm not much of a fighter, I don't have the power though I'm fine with that!" he had made a happy purring-like sound when he finished talking, showing off the amusement or affection a cat would show off.

Azriel made a humming sound, looking thoughtful as he observed out loud, "Then we're opposites. You talk. I watch from a distance. That's... Interesting." Were Soba a Xoyan spy of sorts and had the discipline of one with that rank, Azriel would have liked to work with them. Of course, he was perfectly capable of acting most sympathetic to most individuals he encountered to the point they would open up to him; nonetheless, his area of specialty did not lie in charming others. The purring sound Soba made was cute though. "You're a rogue, am I correct? How is it like out there, surviving on your own?"

Soba had made another short meow of delight while looking about as well, Soba glanced to Azriel then away multiple times then looked to him when he had asked the question of life as a rogue, his eyes immediately brightened up like stars in the night sky, a small green flicker in them he shivered in excitement, he clearly had more than just a few words to say. He shut his eyes to contain himself and slowly opened them and let out a breath "where do I start? It's great! you have in a way, free range and have control over your life as a whole, I get to travel and mind my own business, but I also have to control the traveler's diet too, so in a way it's like mentally training yourself yet enjoying the time you have, you may make a friend or two, you never know!" he purred at the end of speaking, quite loudly though not to the point where it could be heard from anywhere else, though it sounded quite loud from their table, he stopped the purring and blushed in embarrassment "oh my gosh! there I go again, I was purring loudly wasn't I? I'm sorry hehe!" he smiled brightly, still blushing.

Clearly Azriel had only been looking at the downsides of not belonging to a tribe. Soba's opinion cast light onto the life of rogues, and the General nodded, feeling very enlightened with the knowledge just acquired. "I see, I see... But having to find prey to catch and eat, what if there isn't any, what if there isn't a shelter for you to sleep in through the night? What do you do, then?" A little critically he eyed Soba, unsure of how the gullible-looking Chinese dragon had survived so long. He shook his head at Soba's purring, muttering that it was fine, he didn't really care.

He thought of the idea for a second, he wondered as well how he had actually managed to find shelter and prey. He wondered for another minute before answering "Well...I guess I just do it, though I do barely eat everyday, only 1 meal, and I set up in one area a night, other rogues tend to attack me or take all the prey. So I taught myself to hold off from eating so I could survive." he shrugged or tried to and looked around more, letting out a small yawn, it was barely hearable as the purring stopped and he seemed to calm himself entirely as his brightened green eyes went back to the normal dark-green. He looked to the general, clearly having questions as well but not wanting to annoy him, he simply stared at Azriel with a calm look and kept thinking about the questions he wanted to ask but didn't want to ask them, Soba never had too much confidence as it is so he tends to stay quiet or will only have short bursts of excitements so he doesn't get too overconfident or happy.

Azriel allowed some emotion to cross his face, his eye-ridges lifting in surprise. "So you adapt by minimising your food intake. Interesting. You must be pretty resilient," he complimented. "I almost feel fat and lazy now, in my tribe. Food's everywhere, whether in the nearby forest or hung up on hooks in stores. I'd show you, but I don't think I'm allowed to bring you out." He sighed, and shook his head a little. "So, any questions you want to ask? Shoot."

Soba nodded at the compliment "Thank you. Took me a good while to master it, being in a tribe sounds amazing, I wish I could have that luxury but, I'm sure you have larger responsibilities with greater luxuries." he kept himself calm and held eye contact with Azriel. He wondered why he wasn't allowed to be brought out, possibly something to do with other ties, he doesn't really know. Soba gave a small stretch in his chair and wondered what to ask, he ignored the thoughts he had as to not annoy Azriel, he simply asked only one question: "how is life in a tribe?" he had wondered forever.

Azriel nodded, confirming what Soba said. "There are additional responsibilities the higher you climb up in rank," he added, having firsthand experience of that... Additional responsibility. Silence then fell for a while as Soba thought of a question to ask Azriel, and when he did at last the latter wasn't one bit surprised. "I'm not the best dragon to ask that. I have a loner attitude, much like a rogue, but I can tell you that it feels nice to belong. And you don't have to worry about shortage of food or a lack of a shelter: So basically it's a comfortable life. Mostly."