#(( oh bri does really luv this kiri (:

[prvtocol]

It feels wrongfully indulgent to sit and loiter with leather strips in her hand and the goal to weave them into an accessory. There are shipments to divvy up, bases to call on, and even commons to clean — stopping always feels like a breach of contract, a fretful layover from her initial tenure as a shaky surrenderer trying her best to keep going. 

     But Kiri’s bright insistence and enthusiasm calling her to her side get the better of her (besides, it's in these moments she feels like a person again). With long legs crossed under her lanky body, blue fingers fumble through the pattern as taught, while having flashbacks of knotting colorful thread at summer camp in grade school. Who would have thought the friendship bracelet was even more than universal? And minus the snarling and tail agitation, it looks like teenage strife is too. 

     “< Ah. I guess you won’t be giving him one of these then. >” With brows lifted, Brianne lightheartedly muses though concern is captured in the gaze shifting back from the miffed youth across the way.

     As her companion, consideration returns to the strips she has unfurled in her palm. Mirroring Kiri's motions, she pulls one over the other and backward, leaving that small opening for a stone. What stones does one use and where do they find them? She wonders while having a sinking suspicion (with the need to amusingly backtrack a missed weave already) that the completed bracelet will not be worthy of any.

     Her young teacher’s agitation cues Brianne to gently push the one causing ire out of the conversation. “< Tsireya sounds like a good friend. Are you making one for her? >”

@prvtocol sent < "Did something happen between you and that Metkayina boy?” > for Kiri from Brianne

Kiri sits in the sand, back pressed to a palm tree. Her long blue fingers work diligently at weaving a bracelet while she hums quietly. It's rare she finds herself so wonderfully alone, she relishes in the moment. The bark on her skin, the sun on her face, it's all so pleasantly peaceful. Despite enjoying her time alone, she instantly perks up upon seeing Brianne nearby, yelling out a greeting while waving her over.

"Come, come! Come sit with me! I learned a new pattern!" She waits for Brianne to join her before excitedly showing her the new technique. Her fingers fold over and tug at the rough strip of leather, going slow in demonstration. "You try, you try!" She hands over a stack of leather strips to Brianne before returning to her own. "Tsireya taught me this one, she says friends make them for each other as a symbol of their bond." Kiri grins widely at the chance to share her new knowledge. "And if you do it like this-" she weaves the strands backwards, creating a little opening, "You can add stones!"

As she's explaining everything Tsireya has taught her recently, she trails off. Her gaze is locked with a Metkayina boy across the shore. About her age, mess of tall curls sitting atop his head. The boy snarls at her. She returns the favor and adds a puff of her chest, raising her chin.

< "Did something happen between you and that Metkayina boy?” >

Her shoulders fall at the question, attention returning to Brianne. She huffs and straightens her back, trying to seem proud.

"I pushed him into the water." She's not proud. She regrets letting her anger get the best of her. But he deserved it. He started it! Her focus stays trained on her bracelet as she silently argues with herself, twisting and tying the leather roughly with frustration.