The Falcons discussion

...

Anthony walked through the library, muttering to himself.

Iltani sat in the back corner, cross legged on the floor with a stack of books around her. A part of her wing was a bit bruised, and her hair was a complete mess. Enchante was stretched out on her shoulder back, sleeping contently.

Anthony found a table near the back corner and set the list he had down. He was supposed to go find a bunch of music books for his sister. Anthony looked over the stack of books he had already found and smiled. He looked around and noticed Iltani in the corner.

Iltani had her wings hunched over her shoulders as she read, occasionally scrawling something in a notebook besides herself. She bit her lip as she read, yawning.

Anthony slowly walked over to her. He approached carefully, not wanting to scare her. "Hey, Iltani." He said softly once he was close enough.

Iltani jumped, her head snapping up and the pencil dropping onto the paper with a thump. "I-Oh-Uh-" She stumbled over her words, startled. "H-Hey, Anthony."

"Hello." Anthony looked over all the books she had surrounding her. He smiled slightly, noticing her cat on her shoulder.

Iltani ran a hand through her disheveled hair, looking like she hadn't slept in awhile. "So, uh, how are you?"

"Pretty good, picking up a bunch of books.." Anthony replied, pointing to the stack a few feet away. "What about you?"

"I've been trying to finish one of my dad's projects..." Iltani glanced at her various items. "I sorta dedicated my current life to it."

"Well don't dedicate your entire life to it.." Anthony paused, "do you need or want any help?"

"I'm fine, thanks." She marked the pages and closed the various books around herself, scooping Enchanted off of her shoulder. The kitten meowed cutely, blinking as it began to wake.

Anthony stood silent, watching her. He smiled slightly.

Enchante looked around, purring, but then caught sight of Anthony. She wiggled out of Iltani's arms and jumped to the floor, rubbing against Anthony's legs and purring loudly. "I see you still have the affection of my cat."

Anthony smiled and shook his head. "I didn't mean to take her affection at all.." He responded, picking up Enchante.

Enchante purred even louder, fully enjoying it. "I'm sure." Iltani seemed more relaxed this time, but it was more to do with the fact she hadn't slept in who knows how long.

"I swear I didn't mean to." Anthony said, sighing. He set Enchante in Iltani's lap.

Enchante didn't stay put, stumbling back to Anthony. "I don't mind. It's nice not to have a fuzz ball attacking me 24/7."

"Good point." Anthony looked down at Enchante, "you do know it's not very nice to literally bite the hand that feeds you, don't you?" He said, talking to the cat.

Enchante just meowed cutely, while Iltani giggled tiredly. The sweet sound trailed off into a long yawn.

Anthony looked back up at Iltani. "You look really tired, how long has it been since you slept?" He asked.

"Erm... A day? Or two..." She trailed off, frowning.

Anthony sighed softly. "you need to sleep.." He said gently.

"No, I'm fine, I just..." She pauses to again. "I'm fine."

"Don't try that with me, it won't work. I can tell you're not fine..." Anthony told her, crouching so he was closer to her eye level.

Iltani looked away, pouting. "But..."

"But, what?" Anthony asked, his voice calm and gentle.

"I don't want to..." She murmured, sounding like a small child.

"You don't have to tell me what's wrong unless you want to. But I'm not going to believe that you're fine when I can easily tell that you aren't." Anthony explained gently.

Iltani crossed her arms and looked away, stifling another yawn. Nothing was wrong, she was just... Tired. No, she wasn't tired, she was fine.

Anthony sighed softly but wasn't going to give up. He knew she wasn't fine.

"I'm not tired." She said in response to his sigh

"Well part of you is, you keep yawning.." Anthony quietly replied.

"No!" She argued, then yawned for awhile. She blushes; looking sheepish.

"Yes, you are tired." Anthony replied softly. He watched Iltani carefully.

"Well, I... I'm not." She kept arguing, sounding like a small child again.

"Please, don't lie to me.." Anthony pleaded with her. He looked at the books that surrounded her.

Iltani hangs her head, sighing.

Anthony sighed softly in response, looking at her.

She stayed quiet, an argument poised behind her lips.

Anthony say silently, knowing not to push her. He had learned the hard way that if you push too far, that most people will just shut down.

Iltani sighed again. "Okay. I'm tired. But it's fine." She mumbled in defeat.

"Well then, you should go get some sleep. These books will still be here later or tomorrow but you need to get some rest." Anthony spoke gently, hoping she would take his advice.

"But..." She began to argue again, cut off by a yawn.

"But what? These books can wait, I promise." Anthony responded, sighing softly.

Iltani sighed dejectedly. She didn't want to sleep, for who knows why, but Anthony was right.

Anthony smiled faintly, figuring that he had convinced her.

"I sorta maybe locked myself out of my house..." She whispered, getting quieter with each word.

Anthony nodded, "well I just happen to have.." He paused for a moment reaching into his pocket. "Some tools that work great for lock picking." He held up a key chain that had a bunch of different things on it, some of which could easily pick a lock.