Sindri listened to the story, laughing a bit at first. He couldn't believe the two put those uniforms on! "That certainly explains things..." He sighed, hoping that his friend was alright. Knowing Ansar, the beige dragon would get over it eventually. He smiled at Ruthed. "Well, regardless of such events, I thank you for being such a good friend to him during my absence. I'm not sure how he feels, but I've missed having him around."
"He misses you too," Ruthed pointed out. "All he talks about are all the fun times you had starting from your childhood. He was kind of glad when you asked him to stay here during your term as Solare. He didn't want to leave without you."
"Really...?" Sindri asked, happy to hear that. He then hopped off the fence and held a hand out for Ruthed to join him. "Anyways, want to go look at the animals?"
Ruthed took Sindri's hand when it was offered and hopped off the fence as well. "Want to help me adopt a rabbit? They didn't say we couldn't have pets at the fortress!"
The blonde laughed. "That's true. But, to be safe, we should make sure that it's male. How do you plan on getting one?"
"From one of the barns, of course!" Ruthed said as if it were common knowledge. "Oh, that's right, your bullet train didn't pass by the barns on the way in. I saw all kinds of animals in the barns when I first arrived."
"They would actually let you take one?" Sindri asked, a bit surprised. Then again, many animals in the farms were sold. "Well then, let's take a look at them" He conceded with a smile, secretly excited about the prospect of holding one of the rabbits.
The honey-eyed dragon grinned as they neared one of the barns. He peered at a sign overhead. He threaded his fingers through his bangs to pull the wispy strands out of his eyes as he read. "Yep, this looks like the place." The barn was lined with rabbits of all kinds in a variety of burrows.
The caretaker beamed as she saw them. She was a pink dragon with fuchsia hair and lilac eyes. In her arms, she held a purple lop-eared rabbit. "Welcome! Are you both here to adopt? Feel free to look around!"
"I'm just following him around. He's the one that's really interested," Sindri told her as he smiled at the purple rabbit in her arms that twitched its nose at them. "Any of them catching your eye?" He asked Ruthed.
The caretaker pouted. "Why that's nonsense," She huffed as she placed the purple rabbit down and carefully placed a white one in Sindri's arms. "They need a loving home. I won't take 'no' for an answer. Each of you must pick one."
"But I, ah…" Sindri stuttered, but the woman had placed a white rabbit in his arms before he could fully protest. He blinked as he gazed down at the grey-eyed thing, smiling a little at it. "Oh, alright. But just this one, please. I'm not sure if I could care for more than one."
Ruthed snickered, leaving Sindri to his distress as he browsed all of the other rabbits that were up for adoption. A brown rabbit with red spots and purple eyes drew his attention. "Would you look at that!" He gently stroked one of the brown ears. "Doesn't he remind of you of Emyve somehow?"
Sindri carefully carried his new rabbit with him as he peered over Ruthed's shoulder. He caught sight of the brown rabbit and laughed. "He kind of does. And this one reminds me of Gonuret. I wonder if we can find the others in bunny form here."
A wide grin formed on Ruthed's face. "Let's take pictures of them," He suggested as he pulled out a camera from one of his pouches. "We'll start with that one," He pointed out a golden yellow lop-eared rabbit. "That's Sindri Rabbit." He declared as he snapped a picture. "Ansar will get a kick out of seeing these. Think we should bring him one?"
Sindri watched as Ruthed started to take pictures of them all. "Ah, yeah. He'd probably like that; especially if he's coming to stay here with me. He might like another friend around, albeit a small one." He answered with a small smile. "You must really like animals? You seem even more lively around them."
"Yep!" Ruthed admitted as he continued to take pictures of all the rabbits that resembled Gallants. They found Ruthed's counterpart in a teal-hued rabbit with light brown eyes. They found Ilohir's counterpart in a blue rabbit with pale green paws.
"We've found just about everyone, didn't we?" Sindri asked with a small laugh, looking down and seeing that his own rabbit had fallen asleep in his arms.
The two of them stopped when they came across two rabbits sleeping a few feet away from each other. One was a creme yellow with one brown ear and brown paws. The other was a dark orange-red with red ears and a red underside. "Are both of these male?" Ruthed asked, feeling goosebumps along his arms.
"The creme one's female." The caretaker said as she peered over at the sleeping rabbits. "The ginger one is male."
Ruthed reached down to softly pet the red underside of the sleeping rabbit. The rabbit blinked open its red eyes and peered up at him. "We'll take him."
Sindri gaped at the one that Ruthed had picked for Ansar. "Are you sure about this? That little guy looks a lot like someone Ansar doesn't seem to like at all." The apricot dragon warned. The rabbit himself seemed sweet! But the resemblance...
"Don't you see? It's perfect," Ruthed explained. "Whenever he gets frustrated with the real thing, he'll want to rant to his rabbit counterpart about it. The rabbit can't be blamed for what his dragon version does, so Ansar will only grow to adore it even more!"
"If you say so..." Sindri smiled nervously, petting the other rabbit with one hand while keeping his safe in his arms. "It's hard to dislike any of these guys anyways." He then realized how late it was getting. "We better get going. I guess I'll ask my questions on the way back to the fortress."
The smile on Ruthed's face was victorious. They both signed off for the three rabbits, and Ruthed paid for their food and beds to be delivered to the fortress. As they walked, he carefully held his rabbit and Ansar's rabbit in his arms. "So, what questions did you want to ask?"
"First off, tell me if you would like any help carrying them," Sindri offered. He honestly didn't mind, as he loved animals. Especially ones like rabbits and birds.
Ruthed peered at the sleeping rabbit in Sindri's arms. "Yeah, I don't think so. If this coppery rabbit is anything like its counterpart, it will try to attack yours." He commented in a joking manner.
"G-good point..." Sindri said a bit nervously. He sure hoped those two were alright at the fortress. Ah, but now was not the time to worry about that. "Hm, well...What are some things you like to do? Besides being around animals and causing mischief, I mean."
"I don't know. I just like to enjoy life, whether indoors or out, in good times or bad. It's rare when I feel like resting and keeping still, but there are times that I'm actually calm and serious." He gave Sindri an unsure glance. "I can't really look at myself through an outsider's perspective, so I don't know how to describe it for you."
He listened to Ruthed's words and gave him a reassuring smile. "I think I can understand." He looked down at his rabbit before looking back to the other. "So, what do you look for in a lifemate, Ruthed?"
"Well, I'm not one to be picky," Ruthed replied. "I can find the fun in just about anyone. For a lifemate, I guess it could be anyone who would actually want to deal with me. It's no fun being alone, you know?"
Sindri was feeling some major deja-vu. Emyve had told him something similar earlier on that very day. Hmm. "Maybe Emyve should be your next project. He talked with me for a bit, but he's still rather quiet." He suggested with a smile. "I bet he'd just be happy to have some company around."
Ruthed felt a blush rising right up to his face, and he ended up slowing down. "H-how did you know?" He asked in a whisper. "Did Ansar tell you about my secret crush on Emyve? He said he wouldn't tell anyone." His lips fell to a pout.
Sindri was a bit surprised hearing Ruthed unwittingly confess to liking Emyve. He quickly shook his head no. "No, Ansar simply said that you might not be lifemate material for me... but that was it. It was just that Emyve had told me something similar earlier...that no one should be alone." The blonde explained. "If you'll promise me to give him a shot, I won't pick you two. I'd rather that you go for someone you feel you have that kind of a connection with."
"Emyve said that?" Ruthed asked in wonder. "I…thank you." He said with a sigh of relief. "Thank you. I feel a bit more at ease that you don't seem to like Emyve, too. I promise I won't let this chance be in vain." He sent him a playful smile. "Besides, I know of a couple of OTHER Gallants that are certainly fighting over you…"
"I do like you both, but as friends." Sindri smiled reassuringly. He then blushed a little, having a feeling that he at least knew two of the Gallants that Ruthed hinted at. "I just hope that the fighting will stop once I've made my decision...though two of them certainly aren't making it any easier for me."
"Then may the best Gallant win among them," Ruthed replied with a chuckle, thoroughly amused about his new friend's dilemma as they walked towards the fortress with lighter hearts.
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