Yazi

pandok, witch familiar, annoyance in life, tender of bars

[kallistetheharpy]

To Kalliste, Yazi's questions seemed peculiar, almost as if the man had been isolated from society. And in such an extreme way, that it made Kalliste feel almost worldly.

"Mmm I want to say no, but I'm not sure I know how one becomes King in Destarin. Elsewhere you fight for it, or you inherit it. I think." As she spoke, Kalliste grew less sure and began picking at her platter with suspicion.

[pandokofswamp]

Yazi knew very little of the world, even after all the time he’d spent in it with Zaya as a two footer. He did know that Destarin had no king - until now. Though why it mattered if they had a king or a mayor… it was all speculation.

“Perhaps the person with the funiest hat who had the support of others,” Yazi suggested. “He does not look like he fought for it!”

[madkingmerry]

Gasping loudly in a clear exaggeration of the action, a hand pressing over his chest and everything before he dissolves into a fit of lilting giggles. "Is that so? Should I know? Because it is what I am?" Merry points a finger toward Yazi, landing squarely at his chest, "And what are you? A man? Do you know everything about being a man because you are one?"

[pandokofswamp]

”Yes! Yes you should,” Yazi exclaimed, then gasped in surprise. “A man? I am not a man,” he replied and shook his head. “Obviously I am a Pandok, and I know everything about being a Pandik.”

[furicdheart]

"A lovely feast at that!" Eirwen chimed in, the selkie woman flitting over to snag some more fish of her own. At the question, however, she frowned, trying to recall if there ever had been a difference. "One wears a crown and one doesn't? I'm not sure."

[pandokofswamp]

“Very lovely,” Yazi agreed absentmindedly. “A crown? The thing with the bells? That’s a small difference. Two footers have such strange customs!” He grabbed an empty plate from the table and put it on his head. “Am I a king now too?”

[kallistetheharpy]

Kalliste followed Yazi, extending her tawny wings to shield them both from being knocked over by the rowdy crowd. Beneath her flowing dress, Kalliste was trembling with anxiety and excitement.

"A mayor is not so fortunate as to wear a crown?" Kalliste suggested hopefully. Though she was filling up a platter of her own, Kalliste could not resist swiping from Yazi's plate. She was only a Harpy, after all. "And only a King could throw such festivities" Kalliste added, her enormous hazel eyes, darted about them warily.

[pandokofswamp]

Yazi didn’t even notice his food being swiped, he was far too preoccupied. “The thing on his head? But anyone can wear something on their head! Even a Pandok. It’s weird that only he can wear that! What if I make one too and put it on my head? Would I be a King too?” he asked, as he collected what smelled like beef but more sweet.

[madkingmerry]

"You know," Merrymock reaches forward for a vine of grapes, "I don't know. Suppose we find someone and ask them?" Grapes burst between sharp teeth as he bites down on their flesh, copper crown of bells chiming as he chews.

[pandokofswamp]

Yazi’s mouth dropped as he recognised said king. “You don’t know? But you are him! Shouldn’t you know? It’s your title!”

[zayaeze]

"Fancy words," Zaya brushed off of the change. She understood it seemed to be some sort of move to protect the towns from the other Kingdom's but she had long decided that if she and Yazi were in danger, that if making him into a dinosaur or using her magics in some way would not protect them, then the pair of them would take a ship and return to her home. She had always told Yazi that if things got bad they had somewhere safe to go. "Just as they call dainósọ̀ 'dragons,'" she insisted. "What matters is we get to eat and dance, the best of evenings."

[pandokofswamp]

This was true. They were fancy words. Meaningless to Yazi, meaningless to Zaya too. He thought about it a second longer, then rubbed his hands together in agreement. “Yes! First food. But not too much, I’ve been training my dancing skills.” Which was sort of true. His colleagues had started to help him work on his “gracefulness”, after all, he still walked stocky and a bit unsteady when on two feet.

[pandokofswamp]

"A feast!"

Yazi had now suddenly completely forgotten about the bloody display outside and the strange manner of royalty that was the jester with a crown. Or well, for a minute at least, as he collected a plate of fish. "What even is the difference between a king and a mayor?"

[zayaeze]

His exclamation only amused the woman further, extending the pouch to Yazi so he might hold it and use it for whatever plans it was he had in his mind. Zaya presumed they were less plans as much as general concepts of an idea, which did not bother her remotely, simply overjoyed that Yazi had decided he was so driven by something that he had chosen to seek some independence.

Zaya's smile grew when he called her beautiful and as she did not imagine Yazi was going to tae her anywhere that would involve sitting in uncomfortable chairs and using cutlery - since they both detested them - she agreed that she did not need to change, simply picking up some of the golden necklaces she had in a small container to elevate the sheer brown material she had wrapped around herself until it became opaque.

With one of her longer necklaces she approached Yazi in the beautiful top he wore, bringing the golden metal around him and clasping it behind his neck. "We are beautiful together and we may go," she agreed, taking the arm he had extended for her.

Zaya let Yazi lead, unconcerned with the potential for magical beans to be purchased. The young witch kept their money because she knew in this culture it was necessary but she was not so worried on it that if Yazi mistakenly overpayed that evening she'd be upset. She'd rather he attempt to show he could survive on his own, or take care of her when the need arose, and end up making a mistake than him not try at all. It was moments when he swayed her emotions that she found it hard not to just let him be pandok.

Grasp on him tightening in affection Zaya smiled to her soulbonded pandok. "Have you been watching the two footers at work to learn courting, my little Yazi?"

[pandokofswamp]

Happily Yazi led them back towards the town, smiling proudly now that he’d completed the first part of the plan. A walk would be nice, they’d walk through one of the parks and he’d give her compliments - this was very important if his colleagues were to be believed. When they’d made suggestions he’d laughed because that would just be stating facts - and afterwards he’d take her to a place where the food was good - his colleagues telling him of several “fancy” places, but Yazi had decided to listen to the person who had suggested eating somewhere with food that Zaya liked. And he remembered one place she’d commented on that had food that reminded her a little of home. His face filled with glee. Such a surprise it would be, he was already happy with just the thought of her face when she saw where he would take her out for dinner.

“Watching and listening!” he told her. “They also said a lot of things that made no sense. Like buying you a hat, and flowers. I had to tell them that you are the one with the better taste and I’d rather do things for you than buy you things. Unless it’s things that make you happy. They’re silly sometimes. But none of them are actually married or anything so they don’t know everything.” And this was the truth.

“I am taking you with me and we’re going to do fun things that you like because I like to see you smile and not worry about me.” This was true. Yazi could joke about his witch and could grumble like a fat house cat when he needed to do things, but seeing Zaya happy - not content, but happy - made him happy too. “And I think me taking you out will make you happy.” 

Reaching the town limits Yazi led Zaya to one of the parks, navigating this new route to perfection because in preparation he’d walked it five times before. He almost made it seem natural. “This park smells the best,” he told her. “It reminds me of you.”

[hasbakianeji]

Hasbaki laughed at the notion they were his, helped him from wondering if they felt like anyone's. Certainly they weren't his though, no one he'd potentially been capable of having a child with had ever lived very long after their coupling, there was no change for conception. "No," he still laughed, trying to focus on the more amusing notion that he was a father than the reason he wasn't. "They're children from my coven, I'm just taking them on an excursion."

Yazi was still along though, and it was still strange, especially that he had a notebook with him, albeit nothing seemed to be in it.

"What are you here for if not to steal for your hag?" Hasbaki asked him, yet to correct his language regarding Yazi's other half.

[pandokofswamp]

“Your coven has many children,” Yazi said, studying the kids. “Why do they need so many? Are they like… school kids?” He did not know all the words of two-footer language - they honestly had far too many. “Are they going to school?” 

School seemed to be a thing parents did here, you gave your child to someone else and they would teach them things. Yazi had been taught almost everything a Pandok should know by his mother, and a little by his father, everything else he was supposed to learn on his own. To set out and experience. He supposed if he and Zaya did have children, they would do what felt right. 

If his kids were two-footers, maybe school was a good option. These kids all seemed to interact with each other. That was a good way to learn.

“I am making notes on what two-footer children do, for when I am a father.”

[fiadh-aich]

As she followed she watched. He was an interesting thing to say the least, and she liked that. Smiling to herself at the first part of his reaction, Fiadh struggled to maintain the same pleasant look when he mention that a witch had changed him but all the same it remained even if strained.

She looked at the stalls they passed for a moment before answering with only a partial truth and a fangs to grace her smile, "just a vampire." Was her simple reply before redirecting, "Tell me more about the form you prefer? If you don't mind of course."

[pandokofswamp]

"Oh yes, I've met Vampires before." Yazi just couldn't remember when and what exactly they were. Something with leeches? Wings? Two footers came in so many different sizes, all he understood right now was witches, and even they were so so different. "A Pandok?" He looked with wide eyes, by now he should be used to people not knowing what a Pandok was, but he still couldn't understand how people didn't know what a Pandok was! "I'm like... a crocodile but bigger, with wings, and I can breathe fire!" He was awesome. "What do Vampires do again?"

[ueharahiro]

Hiro is very good with faces, less good at recognizing feet but luckily the face is enough. “Ah, yes, I see,” dark eyes flick from the raised leg and aforementioned foot with an obvious expression of distaste that has nothing to do with the fact the foot is fine and everything to do that a foot is being brandished near his face. An awkward twitch of his lips, “You can put your foot down now.” Hiro much prefers others feet to remain at ground level. Something about a foot at eye-level being very unseemly.

“Did your witch heal you? As I recall, no other magic works on you,” which had caused quite the predicament for the young witch but it was sorted practically anyway. Hiro’s talents are not dedicated solely to magic which is a product of his education with his coven. Magic is meant to amplify and enhance skills and not to be a sole source of power because having only one strength is a weakness in itself and his coven abhors weakness.

[pandokofswamp]

Yazi put his foot down, gladly, because he was not an expert at standing on just one leg. “They’re now both in working order.” He nodded. “Do you still use your stick magic? Because I could use your help, I can even pay for it!”

[pandokofswamp]

@ueharahiro

Yazi walked straight up to the person who had once helped him after an unfortunate incident, no small talk, no ‘hi’, simply a beeline for him with a straight face. One that turned to a smile as he appeared in front of Hiro. “You! I have to thank you, because I forgot whether I did that before when you helped me with my foot.” He then grabbed his leg and held up his foot to the other. “Look, it’s in perfect working condition again! And I have since not fallen.” 

[hasbakianeji]

Punished || Hasbaki&Yazi

It was a punishment, he was sure of it as he watched the young men of varying ages rush about the small and crumbling grounds. Surely the wooden children's castle was decades old, if not more, with wooden planks either broken or weather worn, the wooden swords that had once been available for play now gone, left only the supports that had once held them. Still, it was better than the temple. For them, at least.

For Hasbaki it was a reminder that if he stepped out of line too many times the young men would be without him to protect them as he had over the years, as best he could at least. Times like this would be gone if he didn't do what he had to with Hiro, there would be no trips to the decrepit wooden castle, one of the few times they got to smile, there would be no one to take the blame for small mistakes the boys made. This trip was intended as an obvious instigator. Get the information the coven wanted, or watch who could be hurt in the process.

"There's a man alone," one of the boys said, pulling down the black fabric that had covered most of his face, as it did all the boys. His words interupted Hasbaki's negative thoughts, replacing them with a different sort.

Placing a small hand on the young man's shoulder Hasbaki assured him he would look into it, that he should go back and play with the other kids at the castle, some part of the coven, and some not. As a child it had been one of his only chances to interact with those not in his coven, he didn't want to leave because someone was there that they didn't recognise, especially when Hasbaki clearly did, removing his own mask as he wandered over.

"Should I be worried your hag has you trying to steal kids for her magic?" Hasbaki asked, his tone joking, perhaps enough it hid that though he didn't believe Yazi was there for that, he had been told female witches would do this.

@pandokofswamp

[pandokofswamp]

"Steal kids?"

Yazi looked appalled, shaking his head before he turned completely to face Has. He was holding a piece of paper and a pencil, but nothing had actually been written on it - Yazi could not write. It was mostly for show.

He bit his lip. He was about ninety percent sure that Zaya did not need kids for her magic, or anything else really. Maybe ingredients for her cream, but that was it.

"Are they your kids?" he asked, suddenly attention sparked. If so: Has had a lot of children. Maybe he had multiple women. It was not Pandok culture, but he knew people did things differently and two-footers had many strange ways that he did not understand.

[fiadh-aich]

A smile bloomed on her face, he looked confident enough in the place she was fine to check it out. At worst it was going to be a very entertaining adventure based off of the side quest it needed to start.

"Whatever works best I'm in," she motioned with her arm for him to lead, "but please, tell me more about this Pandok."

[pandokofswamp]

Yazi nodded firmly, and gestured for her to follow, his back straight and his eyes scanning the streets for the route he did know. At her question, he did not beam, he was momentarily confused. “Well, I am, obviously.” It was not obvious, and he’d been told that enough times that he should at least know. “My witch changed my shape to look like this, but I am a Pandok. What are you?” They passed through the market, will all kinds of vendors trying to sell them things. 

[zayaeze]

"My little Yazi, you are being so cute," she asserted at his proclamation. It did not immediately dawn on her what his intentions were, letting out a little giggle that he intended to take her out, as though their combined money was not cared for by the woman. He, obviously, had access to their money, but Zaya did tend to hold onto the purse strings so that Yazi did not inadvertently get tricked into buying a bunch of magic beans.

The weather was no deterrence for the young witch though. "Does this mean we have to dress fancy as well?" she asked him, presuming this to be some fun activity that he had been convinced of trying by some people at his work, or perhaps his rude witch friend.

Moving to grab the pouch of gold hidden away in the small swamp cottage she looked back to him. "We would have to wear shoes," Zaya pointed out, something that she knew he did not like at all and she was not too big a fan of herself. "You sure you want to go somewhere fancy?" she checked because Zaya herself was not fussed and not familiar with the sort of courting that came from the continent beyond watching it so the notion what Yazi was doing was to court her was quite lost.

For Zaya courting was not typically done between bonded souls. Things simply came to be, but she was from a land where souls like Yazi's knew they would be bonded, were prepared for what it could mean. And if your soul bond was not your romantic partner, but someone else entirely, most courting was done through the soul bonded person who assessed whether or not the match was a viable one. In the end Zaya was not expecting anything from Yazi in terms of a flourishing relationship beyond the efforts she'd observed in him to be more mature. Perhaps 'fancy' seemed mature to the pandok, and if that was the case she did not intend to begrudge him her company while he practiced.

[pandokofswamp]

Yazi considered the question. He did not know what ‘fancy’ actually meant. Aside from the beautiful shirt he wore, he’d not thought of anything else. He did, of course, not wear any shoes. He held out a hand to her when she grabbed the pouch of gold. “I’m paying!” he said. He knew however that Zaya kept all their money - for good reason - and so he suspected she would be okay with him taking the pouch. If he promised not to buy any magical beans. Then he looked around the door to the cottage and grabbed the shoes Zaya had once bought for him that he’d never worn before, and put them on his two-footer feet. They were terrible. He hated them. But she was right. He needed to wear shoes. 

“So, now I have shoes.You always look beautiful so I think we’re good to go,” he decided. Zaya drew eyes, and Yazi understood why. Her skin was healthy and she moved elegantly and she wore clothes that accentuated all of this. 

He held out his arm for her to take - he’d been taught this as well - and hoped she’d understand the gesture. He intended for them to have a stroll and dinner, and he’d wear shoes and do his best to pay for the food afterwards. Normally Zaya did this, and he liked it better like that, but he needed to prove that he was responsible, and he needed to show that he wanted to take care of her beyond turning into a fire-spitting dragon if danger ever arose. He felt confident however, because while Yazi half-assed anything he didn’t like to do, he went all out when it was something he did want. That was why, for one, he still had his job as a bartender. And why he made art that actually sold. 

[pandokofswamp]

CLOSED STARTER FOR @zayaeze

Yazi had thrown his all into this matter of becoming a more responsible person. He’d asked advice from the most unlikely sources: his colleagues at the tavern. Half of them were women, half were men, some identified as something completely different, but they all agreed: he should court Zaya. Show her he was interested and he was willing to put in the effort. 

He’d spend over a week arranging it all, carefully planning things, writing it down, practicing, committing it all to memory, and creating a cheat sheet - he was going to need it.

So now he believed he was ready, standing outside their cottage in the woods in a white embroidered suit that he’d found on sale - and hassled the price off even further. His two footer hands were sweaty, and he looked over the little note in his hand again. Before pocketing it and stepping inside. 

“I wish to take you out to a fancy restaurant and stroll through town in the moonlight!” he proclaimed. It was overcast outside, but he hadn’t understood the phrase to begin with.

[taurusvolkov]

Playtime || Yazi&Taurus

The young woman gave Taurus a small spin as she showed off the pants she had put on to play with the other children in. He had not wished for her to keep getting the nicer clothing she wore dirty and so had bought her some attire to play around in and she seemingly felt quite powerful in the clothing that was quite similar to her father's, showing off some weak punches.

"Don't actually hit any of the other kids though, yeah?" he checked with the young dark haired girl who gave her father a strong nod before she rushed towards the wooden play castle that had been erected in the Rochielles district by one of the locals. There were a few other children there, parents too it seemed that sat nearby watching. Taurus himself kept his eyes very firmly on his daughter, not intending to let them wander because there was every chance the young woman would try and hit someone who said the wrong thing to her.

For the moment, she seemed contented though, waving to him as she got to the top of the castle, having climbed around the edge of the wood so she could climb on top of the roof and seek the weather worn fake flag made of wood at the very top. He waved back, and probably should have been more concerned she would fall but as she wandered around the roof, holding onto the rod of the flag, he decided he was content she was willing to be so reckless. At least it meant she had his spirit for adventure.

@pandokofswamp

[pandokofswamp]

Yazi thought two footer children were strange, they were odd, all limbs and screams, cries and energy. He recalled having been a small Pandok, always on adventure, together with his siblings. But he’d been forced to grow up quickly, by the age he thought these children had, he was already on his own hunting. His mother only taking care of him the first year and a half. His father only appearing on occasion, often bringing some beautiful lizards for his mother. 

He narrowed his eyes for a moment when he heard the play of two footer children, then decided that if he wanted that kind of future with Zaya, he’d need to get over his judgement and understand them better. So he walked up to the playground, then stood and watched with interest. He felt like one stalking his prey, yet he did not move, staring forward and trying to make sense of what these kids were doing. 

“You have a child here?” he asked a tall and broad stranger. “Was raising them difficult?” he asked.