His Dark Materials discussion

((roleplay starting hereeee...fyi, if you want to talk to someone about something in the roleplay but isn't part of the story, use '(( and ))'. k? let's go!))

(( oh yeah. enter your character description under the characters subject))

Kimber sat on the dock, kicking her feet in the cool water of the lake. She sighed. She liked it when she had time like this on her own. Well, that is, alone with Skaene, her daemon. He turned into a cat and curled up in her lap.

Kye wandered along the pier with his dæmon Yurra, a small black tabby with brilliant yellow eyes. He came to the edge and sat down. Looking around him, he noticed a girl in the distance on the dockside. He wasn't quite sure who she was, but he waved at her anyway.

Kimber was focusing on her toes submerged in the water, when she saw a slight movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked up-alert. It was a boy, waving at her. He didn't look familiar. she waved back and smiled. Skaene looked up. "Who's that?" he asked. Kimber looked back down. "wouldn't you know if i knew?" Skaene slipped back into his nap. point taken.

Kye smiled back at the girl happily and watched her wave. Without looking down, he asked Yurra, "Who do you think that girl is?" "I don't think I've seen her before." she replied with a soft mew. "Maybe you should go talk to her?" Kye looked down for a moment. "Alright, let's go say "hi"." He got up slowly and started towards the girl.

Kimber looked back at her toes. they looked like raisins having soaked in the water for so long. She looked back at the boy-or where he was, rather. he wasn't there. as a matter of fact, he was walking right toward them. friendly like, she convinced herself. mmhmm, murmured skaene. he changed into a bobcat and stood, on the guard. Kimber stood as well. "I don't want to be stuck in between a guy and the water if he prooves evil." she said. "paranoia." said Skaene. Kimber stuck her tongue out-right when the boy reached her.

"Hello There." said Kye rather shyly, reaching the girl. He didn't know exactly what to say, but she looked friendly enough, so he tried not to worry. "My name is Kye." he put a bit more bluntly than he had wished. "I don't think i've seen you before. What's yours?"

kimber, still paranoid (as skaene put it) tried her best to look tough. "what business is that of yours?" she asked

Business of mine.. thought Kye. "Umm.. Just saying "hi"." He replied, looking off the dock for a second then watching Yurra creep over to Skaene mewing quietly in greeting.

"Oh." said kimber, guard failing. maybe i AM paranoid, she thought. "I'm Kimber." she gestured to her daemon. "And this is Skaene." She looked back up at him. "I haven't seen you around here before."

Kye relaxed a bit, sensing she wasn't so tense anymore. "I come here every so often." he spoke a little more casualy, "I wonder why we've never seen eachother." Yurra slipped back to Kye and began curling up by his feet, satisfied that Skaene wasn't going to bite her.

Skaene turned into a canary and flew to Kimber's shoulder. Kimber blushed in embarassment. Her daemon still had settled into his final form. She was already 15. "Yeah." she replied, getting back into the conversation. "I'm usually here everyday...thinking." her gaze drifted to the lake. her eyes immediately shot back to kye's face. he had brown hair and brown eyes. a thought traveled through her head but she shook it off. "what about you?" she asked.

Kye looked puzzled for a moment at seeing Skaene's transformation then blinked to refocus himself. "I usualy go down the pier a couple times a week to sit and think." He stared at her eyes for a moment. She had nice eyes. Again he blinked to refocus himself, feeling a bit embarassed. "Do you ever go to the pier?"

Kye blinks a lot, thought Kimber. "Uh, yeah. sometimes." she thought for a moment. "I heard it's really peaceful there." she reached up to her shoudler to stroke Skaene. "What's your daemon's name?"

"This is Yurra." Kye replied, picking her up and stroking her fur. "You should come down to the pier sometime. It's really nice." He looked at Skaene and asked "What's your's name?"

"Skaene. I thought kimber told you." replied skaene right when kimber blurted "sure!" she quickly looked down so kye wouldn't see her blush. "I mean," she stammered, "I'll have to see if i have time." she risked another glance up at him. "You know, school..." lame! she thought. yeah! thought skaene. shut up. you're not in control of the situation, retorted kimber. well, neither are you, replied her daemon.

((uh, are we making this take place in modern day?))

((Sure. though if it's modern day in Lyra's universe, then it'd be kinda half-old-world half modern. And you don't really have dæmons in our world.))

"Yea. School is a pain." Kye replied, not sure of what to say, noticing her obviously concealed blush, which in-turn made him blush slightly. "I'm not usualy very busy, so we can go whenever you'd like." he said looking toward the water shyly.

((ok then. that makes sense...modern in their world but whatev.))

Kimber looked sheepishly back up at him. Although she didn't know him very well, he seemed trustworthy. "Ok. How about tomorrow. i can meet you here?" she looked down and stood on her heels. "I have homework..."
she rolled her tongue over her upper teeth. "5? i should be done by then." She looked back up expectantly.

Kye smiled at her request and hastily replied "Sure, that'd be great." He looked up at her eyes again. "Do you want to meet here?" he asked energetically. He really liked her eyes. He laughed to himself for a second at the thought, then remembering where he was, felt embarassed and looked back towards the water.

Kimber smiled her award winning smile (well, if there were awards given to the best smile, she would have won it. fair and square.). "ok then." she glanced down at her watch. "oh crap. late for dinner." She turned to leave, not before waving bye at her new friend. "See you tomorrow!" she called as she ran off with skaene, now a tiger, bounding protectively by her side.

Upon seeing the smile, Kye felt a very strange feeling. It was an awe and admiration, though also a nervousness and happiness all at once. He smiled back as best he could. "See you!" Kye replied, waving at her and standing to watch her run off until she was out of sight. He looked down at Yurra. "What do you think of her?" he asked. Yurra just meowed passively.

Kimber's school day whizzed past. literature, algebra, chemistry, band. it was all a mere blur. skaene had to turn into a canary several times in order to nip her ear when she wasn't paying attention. It was 4:30. Kimber started to walk toward the dock, hands shoved into her pockets. skaene turned into an ermin and wrapper himself around the back of her neck so as to warm her up. it was unusually cold that day, but kimber didn't mind. the dock was in her view.

Kye sat at the edge of the dock, waiting for the girl to come see him. He was a bit nervous, but he found stroking Yurra's fur on his lap calmed him a bit. He didn't really mind the cold. He just wanted to see her again. He sat for awhile and finally saw her approach. Getting up hastily, he shouted "Hey!" across the dock to her and waved her over.

"Hey!" Kimber looked around. then she saw kye, standing and waving eagerly at her to come over. She grinned and ran the rest of the way with skaene as a falcon. when she reached him, skaene turned into a canary once again and alighted on yurra's back.

Kye couldn't help but feel an immense amount of relief that she came. He was very worried she wouldn't come. He smiled gently as Yurra playfuly pawed at Skaene. "Hey, you came." he said happily to Kimber, motioning towards the dock edge with his hand and sitting down. "Come have a seat."

hey, you came? what made him think she wouldn't? she thought. oh well. she's here and that's what mattered. "ok." she said and sat down where he gestured. to avoid getting her jeans wet, she rolled them up to just below her knees and discarded her flip flops on the dock beside her. she slipped her feet into the water and sighed in content. skaene perched on her shoulder. they sat in silence.

Kye sat stroking Yurra's fur while staring out into the sea. He looked at her next to him, then at Skaene, and back to her. Without knowing of anything important to say, he asked "How was your day?"

Kimber was about to try to start a conversation when kye beat her to it. "How was your day?" he asked. oh gosh. he sounds like my mom, she thought. then again, there's nothing better to talk about.
"It was fine. we caught bubbles on fire in chemistry today. it was pretty exciting." she finished with a nod and looked down at her submerged toes. without looking at him, she asked,"how was yours?" with a bit more curious of a tone, she looked up at him and asked,"what DO you do? i haven't seen you at my school."

Kye grinned and looked away for a moment. Then acting as if he never heard the question,looked back at her and replied "Setting bubbles on fire? That sounds like alot of fun. You should show me how to do that sometime." He continued stroking Yurra's black coat. "Is it hard?"

did he hear my question? hmm. "you didn't answer my question though." she insisted. "tell me and then i'll tell you." she looked at him for as long as she could, then back down at the water.

"Well, I go to school. Though it's not a school like yours. There's not many students and most of them are quite a bit older." He looked down at Yurra and added, "I can't say anymore about it right now." He stretched out his arms and once again seemed to forget the current conversation. "So how do you do it? Do you use chemicals or anbaric equipment, or both, or what?"

"oh." said kimber, clearly disappointed. "Um, i don't really know. i'm not good with science..." she looked down, embarrassed. "I'm a bookworm..."" she laughed nervously. "i just really like to read and really like ... to play piano. been playing for 10 years now." she grinned to herself. "What about you? hobbies?" this is going great...she thought to herself sarcastically. mmhmm. maybe you can ask him his favorite color next! thought skaene. kimber glared at him. he turned into a field mouse and hopped into her pocket.

Kye frowned slightly at hearing that she didn't know, but appeared to be happy at hearing she loved to read and play instruments. "I love to read too." He replied energeticaly. "I also play the violin and a bit of piano. And I love science. Especially chemistry." he said grinning. "What's your favorite book?"

((fav book??? how about one from today.))

he didn't seem like the talkative type...ah well. that's cool.

"you play piano too? maybe we can duet sometime!" Kimber was glad they shared some of the same interests. "Maybe you could tell me what made the bubbles explode in flames. hydrogen? oxygen? oh, i don't know." hmm...what else was there? oh yeah! books!! "currently i'm reading the kite runner. so far, my favorite has been my sister's keeper. you?"

((sorry...could only think of books i've been reading.))

"I think it has something to do with using methane gas combined with soap bubbles and igniting it which combusts the gas and causes the bubble to burn" He shrugged. "Only a guess."
He thought for a moment on the books he'd been reading. "Hmm.. Well I've been reading "The Lamaseries of Bhutan by Jasper Wetzel, and From Novgorod to Cairo: and Alternative trade-history by Ricardo Pontoppidan." He smiled and added, "I also love history and world cultures."

((I took the book names from a list of books in "Lyra's Oxford"))

ooh. he's smart, thought kimber. world cultures? "I'm amazed by world cultures as well!" she remarked. "I haven't read those books. i think i'll tackle them next." she looked down at her watch. it was 6:30 already? she frowned. "I'm sorry, but i have to go. my mom gets pretty cranky if i'm not there for dinner on time." skaene hopped off yurra's back and turned into a tiger, ready to protect kimber on the way home. she subconsciously placed her hand on his back. "It was great getting to know you, kye." she looked back at the lake. "I guess I'll see you later?" she asked, hopeful.

"Sure" Kye replied, standing up and letting Yurra down next to him. "I'm here often. We can meet whenever you want." He smiled and said "It was really nice meeting you. I hope we see eachother soon."

"Yeah." replied Kimber. "I'll come by sometime." she turned to leave. then she stopped. shook her head and ran off grinning, hair flowing in the breeze.

Kye waved goodbye and sat back down for awhile. He thought about the girl, and he thought about his school. It wasn't so much of a "school" school, but a place where he helped research one particular subject. He would like to tell her what exactly that was, but not until he knew her more. It wasn't everyday someone met a young member of his "school", and he intended to keep it a secret until he knew he could trust her. He got up after awhile and walked toward the city.

Kimber ate her dinner, thinking of Kye and what he meant by "Though it's not a school like yours. There's not many students and most of them are quite a bit older." There was only one high school in the area as well as one university. He looked 17 so he must be in high school. Is he homeschooled? no. the "other" students wouldn't hint to there being a few more than one homeschool would be able to provide for. and also, he said they were quite a bit older. that also hinted at there being people older than him. it isn't very possible to there being 30 year olds being homeschooled. That rules out the local university idea. she thought. what did he mean? she asked herself. she would have to make another trip to the dock a but sooner than she thought...not that she didn't want to go there again soon...well, she did but, oh nevermind.

The next day when Kye had free time after his school research was finished, he sat once again on the side of the docks, reading a quite uncommon book, a bit old, and read mostly by experimental theologians and intellectuals just wanting to learn new things. It was a book about the expeditions of Boris Mikhailovitch Rusakov and his discovery of Rusakov Particles or more commonly, Dust. He was very involved in his book, not taking notice of anything around him anymore, he sat and read.

Kimber's school day had, again, flown by. this time, her mind was on kye. she had to ask him what he meant by...what he said. at 3:00 she headed straight for the dock, her backpack weighing her down. Skaene offered to carry it for her and she obliged. funny sight-a tiger carrying a periwinkle color backpack loaded with books. within half an hour, the dock was finally in sight. "he doesn't seem to lie." said kimber once she spotted kye's silhouette. she grinned and jogged the rest of the way. He was reading-and seemed very absorbed in the thick book he was reading. it seemed oddly more like a text book. whatever it was, stole kye's alert side and allowed kimber and skaene to jog quite noisily down the whole length of the dock and take a seat next to him without being noticed-well, not the sit down part that is. seeing the two sit down next to him made him jump and slam his book shut.

"Ah!" Kye turned in surprise, "Oh, hey." he hurriedly put his book into his nearby bag, Yurra tightening the strings with her teeth. "Didn't see you there." He said looking still a bit jumpy. "You snuck up on me." Then he laughed quietly to himself and returned to normal. "So how was your day?" He asked, stroking Yurra's fur like usual.

Kimber automatically switched to detective mode once she saw how important the book he was reading seemed. time to act casual. "Oh. my day was okay, as usual. no chemistry." she laughed nervously. she had to keep herself from slapping her forehead. so much for casual. She looked at him. he seemed a bit tense. "Sorry about scaring you earlier. we saw you were so absorbed in your book, we didn't want to disturb you." Thankfully, skaene had transformed into a falcon and had discarded her backpack by her side. "May I ask what book you were reading?" she reached for the bag.

Yurra pulled the bag towards Kye carefuly, he reached inside and pulled out a similar sized and colored book titled "The bronze clocks of Benin". He handed her the book. "It's called the Bronze clocks of Benin. Did you know they use anbaric clocks in Benin rather than the wind-up ones we use here?" He smiled and showed her a few pictures in the book of the insides of clocks.

Kimber frowned in disappointment. The book he was reading was a forest green-not dark. oh well. maybe she saw it wrong. "Oh. so ... you like clocks?" merely looking at the black and white pictures made her bored so she looked up at his face. he still seemed a bit tense. when he looked back at her, she blushed and looked at skaene who cocked his head.

"Yea I do like them a bit." He replied watching her blush. He felt calmer knowing she too was nervous. Not that he wanted her to be, just that he didn't want to be the only nervous one here. He stared at her eyes for a moment. Those deep green luring eyes.. He shook his head, looking away quickly. "So, have you seen an anbaric clock before?" he asked smoothlessly, holding Yurra, embarrased.

Kye stared at her eyes for a few seconds, making kimber blush even more. he looked away. "So, have you seen an anbaric clock before?" he asked.
uh, noooo. "No. i'm not really interested in clocks. i mean," she shrugged "they're clocks. nothing special." kye looked nervous. because he was reading a book on clocks? she watched him stroke yurra's black fur as he always did. it looked soothing. she was tempted to stroke her fur as well but resisted. she didn't want him to know her as the kid who violated the unspoken norm. she watched as skaene turned into an ermine and curled around her neck. thanks, she told him. anytime, he replied. kimber, not knowing what to say, kicked the water a bit with her feet, accidentally splashing a few drops on kye's head. she stopped abruptly. "sorry!" she apologized. "I didn't mean to! and...it's just water, right? and at least i didn't get your book wet. that would have been bad." augh! she yelled in her head. why do i have to babble so much when i try to apologize. psssh. at least i got the 'sorry' out this time. she stretched her hand out to wipe it off while kye merely continued to stare at the book. she recoiled her hand and waved at his face. "Helloooo?" she asked.

Kye laughed at her while she acted so strangely. "There's nothing wrong with water." He put his book away, noticing she wasn't all that interested. (he was only mildly interested in clock. not as much as he showed to be.) He put the bag next to him on the side opposing Kimber and pulled a large piece of bread from it. "Would you like some bread?" He asked holding out a chunk. "It's made by german bakers down in the market."

Kimber obliged and was given a chunk of bread the size of her fist. she tore off a piece and ate it, savoring the flavor. Maybe there wasn't anything weird going on at all, she thought. maybe...
she fed a small piece to skaene who gobbled it up. she smiled. maybe that book on clocks had clues hidden in it? she smirked at the idea. they sat in silence, eating the bread and watching the sunset. sunset? kimber glanced at her watch. it was 6:45. oh crap. she thought. she quickly thanked kye for the bread and turned to leave with skaene around her neck.