Carrick continued to coo as Lily scratched under his jaw. He didn’t care if it was weird for her; he liked getting petted again, even if he would never admit it. It was one of the many things he blamed on the animal side of his mind. When he was in Gryphon form and had a itch he could go for days while scratching himself and if other people scratched him, all the better. Leaning into her hand Carrick’s back leg twitched slightly as he continued to give out a sound of pure enjoyment.

As Lily sat down and he tuned his attention to Juka, Carrick’s beak opened slightly as he stood up and ran around in a circle for a moment before bending down his tail swaying behind him as he readied to pounce. Carrick assumed this was common knowledge that tag was a simple game for any magical creature to play.

Hopping into the air and extending his wings Carrick glided into Juka landing on him and forcing him to the ground. Although Carrick was somewhat big and heavy in this form as soon as he had pinned Juka Carrick used his wings to distort his weight long enough to place his paws off of the dressed man. With Juka under him Carrick let out a small victory chirp as he jumped up and away from Juka.

Landing on the ground Carrick ran in a circle again as he motioned left to right making it look like he was going to try to run but instead he ran behind Lily and nudged her with his head to get her to get moving. His tail swaying back and forth happily as his multicolored eyes screamed out with laughter.

Carrick didn't seem to have any worries about being petted like a common puppy. Lily got bolder at scratching, all the while giggling and wondering what would Maman say if she told her 'yes, school is really lovely, oh, and by the way, we have a gryphon and he loves to play...'
She let Carrick go after Juka. In a weird and adorable way they were a lot alike - playful and cheerful and hyper. She grinned as she watched Carrick tackle her friend, and wondered how that would feel like. She didn't think about joining the game - she figured a man floating in a bubble would be a lot more challenging for a winged creature - until Carrick somehow got behind her and nudged her to move.
"Hey!" she laughed as she scrambled to her feet "No fair! I'm the only one here who can't fly, you know." she turned around, looking at the two of them with hands on her hips, trying hard to look serious and failing in cheerful laughter.

Juka let out an 'eep' type noise as the griffon landed on top of him, completely not expecting the great creature to pounce. While struggling (all be it with a hug grin on his face) to wriggle out from underneath the wonderful beast, he came t the realization that, apparently, griffons were not so different from kitties after all, they just required bigger strings to play with. And, fortunatley for his angel bird, Juka was pretty sure that he and his bubble made and excellent griffon sized string.

Juka bobbed up off of the ground as Carrick finally let him go. Taking a moment to strighten his skirts and maintain his dignity, he finally turned back to the griffon only to find him nudging his darling Jewel. It was such an adorable an unexpected scene that he couldn't stop the peals of giggles that came from him. This was, he decided, exactly the sort of distraction he had been needing.

"Bet you can't catch me again," Juka taunted the mythical creature, bobbing up and down. The first time hadn't been any sort of a challenge for Carrick since he hadn't realized what Carrick was going to do. This time he would be sure to make it a proper challenge. What else was there to do for a boy in a bubble, after all?

One chirp then another and Carrick nudge Lily again with his head before he moved around from Lily to eye the challenging Juka who was now bobbing up and down in his bubble again. Eyeing the bubble going up and down Carrick let out a small click of his beak as he turned his head from Juka to Lily and then proceeded to motion her onward as Carrick crouched down and started to stalk his prey in his bubble.

Letting out a small chirping sound as he moved forward Carrick’s eyes remained focused on the small bobbing motions the bubble was making as the figure inside the bubble bobbed along with the bubble. Tail flicking behind him the way a lion does before the kill Carrick stayed low to the ground, as he got closer. There was no tall grass or bushes for cover but that didn’t really matter this were only a game and Carrick wasn’t going for the kill so the element of surprise wasn’t needed.

Claws now outright and digging into the ground for traction Carrick sprinted forward into a dead sprint his wings tucked into his body as he charged for the pounce. As Carrick jumped his front claws retracted into his paws so if they did come in contact he wouldn’t kill his new friend and or tare him to ribbons. As he came close to Juka a loud screech bellowed from Carrick’s mouth as he prepaired to pounce once again.

Seeing a gryphon charge at her friend was... spectacular, to say the least. Lily wasn't sure how much Juka's bubbles could bear; she was only in a bubble once, and it was too fascinating an experience to remember the physical details.
The way Carrick acted was more playful then menacing, and even Lily - who usually worried way too much when it came to rough-and-tumble - didn't see any harm in the game. She laughed, a carefree, tinkling laugh, and watched the show. It really was like some kind of colorful illustration from a story book. Queen Juka and the gryphon. She started to wonder if she accidentally walked through an old wardrobe earlier in the morning. It certainly felt like children's magic.
"Careful, you two!" she called out, only half serious about the warning. She moved around, not sure how she was supposed to take part in the game between a mythical beast... bestling and Juka in his little perfect bubble.
Then she got an idea.
Removing her silver bracelets, she shaped them together into a shiny ball; with some concentration she managed to shift them around inside out, so the purest, brightest metal was on the outside. With that done, she threw the ball high up into the air, and made it go zooming past between the gryphon and the bubble.
"Catch that!"

Juka watched the beautiful angel gryphon carefully, trying to predict when it would make its pouncing attack and when he needed to move his bubble out of the way. Physically he had always been weak and slow and felt no shame for that, but in his bubble he had speed and reflexes that the merely mortal could only dream of. It would be an interesting experience to match them up with a mythical being such as Carrick was.

Juka continued bobbing up and down as Carrick prepared himself to pounce. As the fantastic creature's great claws came out, he felt a momentary thrill of fear and the flittering thought that perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to play with something with such very large claws, when, at the slightest mental urging, he nudged his bubble to the left, just out of range of the pouncing gryphon. Juka giggled happily. Big scary claws or no, Carrick really was just a big birdy and surely wouldn't hurt him, right?

"I'm ok," Juka called to his Jewelly friend, having caught his breath. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shiny silver ball zoom between him and his newest feathery friend. "Ooh mine," called his dibs and zoomed after the shiny ball.

Voicing her opinion in a worried tone one that his mother used on he and his father several dozen times Carrick let out a small click in acknowledgment as he just barley missed Juka. If Carrick had defined eyebrows in this form it would be clear that the sudden miss in his prey would be obvious however the only other indication of his miss was the tail snap to the ground as he landed. Dust flying up from under his tail Carrick let out a small squawk as he readied for another round this time he planned on trapping the bubble man in his wings or at least graze him to let him know the small movements out of the way would be ineffective.

Extending his wings and reading another jump Carrick lowered his head only to turn it quickly to spot Lily calling out to them. Quickly a shiny object came in between both he and Juka and again Carrick let out an excited screech as his attention quickly shifted towards the ball that shot passed his vision. His legs tapping the ground happily Carrick faced the ball and ran for it his wings extending out and starting to flap as his tail flew behind him not being able to flex or move due to the speed Carrick was putting into his run.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Juka going for the same target and he increased his speed as he leapt into the air and tucked his legs under his body to cut down on wind resistance. He wanted that ball and he was going to get it before bubbles would.

Lily didn't really think about the ball trick; she just did it on pure instinct, because that's what you do when you are happy and playful, you throw a ball for the gryphon and the bubble guy. Fetch.
The silver ball zoomed past between them, immediately catching their full attention; it slowed down to make sure they followed, then shot forward, and when in reached the invisible twenty feet line - it slipped out of Lily's control. By that time it was flying so fast it didn't fall to the ground right away - momentum kept it going for dozens of feet more before it started to descend, bounce, and roll.
"Ooops." Lily giggled, breaking into a run to catch up with her friends. She had to work on expanding her power limits. Just like she had to work on her speed too. It was not fair game, racing with a mythical beast and Mr. Flying Perfection, but she still felt rather... slow. They were far ahead, chasing the silver ball.
"Don't swallow it!" she called out, breathless from running and laughter.

Juka had never played cat and mouse with a giant bird before, especially not a game of cat and mouse in which he was the one playing the mouse. It was something he thought should be much more terrifying, except that Carrick was so fuzzy and cute and obviously wasn't out to hurt him anyway so instead it was nothing more than exilerating entertainment. And it certainly was exilerating. He had never had the opportunity to really test out the limits of what he could do in his bubble, beyond allowing storm winds to buffit it to and fro, but this was so much more fun that that.

Juka zoomed after the ball and thought he had it until his new found angel bird was suddenly beside him. "My ball," Juka yelled, giggling all the while. He stuck his tongue out at Carrick. He sent out a tendril to try and capture the little flying ball but his aim was off and he ended up missing entirely, instead picking up a very much non-shiny rock, which wasn't nearly so satisfying.

Frowning slightly as he turned his gaze to the side to eye Juka sticking his tongue at him Carrick felt the sudden feeling of inferiority, he held the title lord of the sky after all so how was a man in a bubble keeping pace with him. Maybe he wasn’t as fast as he had thought? No that wasn’t the case there had to be a way to cheat with that bubble… that had to be it, Carrick trying to best Juka flapped his wings faster and faster closing the distance from his legs to his body hoping to cut down wind resistance.

Not exactly paying attention to the warning that Lily called out Carrick opened his mouth thinking he heard something about swallowing it. Why would he swallow it? It was after all a ball, maybe it was some sort of silver looking jaw breaker? That might be her powers, if it was he would use any excuse to spend time with Lily cause he loved jawbreakers. Mouth opening and his paws outstretching Carrick lowered his body to the ground as he reached for the ball.

To his great pleasure Carrick watched as Juka scooped a rock in his bubble instead of the ball and a few chirps exited his throat as he voiced his happiness in the cheater failing to win the prize. Lowering himself to the ground bit not focusing completely on the distance Carrick brushed his mouth on the ground scooping the ball (and a mouth full of dirt in the process).

Not ready for the sudden weight in his mouth Carrick felt himself falling forward and quickly reacted by folding his wings into his body, no reason to break his wings from a nasty tumble. Rolling into a few summersaults Carrick slapped his front paws into the ground to tried to catch himself from his tumble however he only managed to slam his body into the ground and in the process he was forced to swallow the contents in his mouth which included the dirt.

The boys were incredibly fast - Lily admired their enthusiasm in chasing a silver ball. True, Carrick was still a kid and Juka was... Juka, but there was an extra cheerfulness in the air she couldn't quite explain. Maybe it was using their powers freely, for fun. Maybe it was the autumn sunshine. Maybe it was the flying. She suddenly felt like flying. Too bad her own powers were not qualified for that.
She ran faster to catch up to the boys as they bobbed and pounced after the ball; she could see Juka miss, and Carrick tumble, with the ball in his beak, and by the time the silver showed up on the edge of her senses again, its position was clearly and undoubtedly 'inside the gryphon'.
Ooh damn.
"Carrick!" she called out, worried - could a mythical creature choke on a silver ball of that size?... - as she finally caught up, stopping so suddenly she almost slipped. She collapsed on the ground next to the gryphon, panting, and with a half grin on her face "I told you not to swallow it, kid!"
Putting her hand on the gryphon's neck she could feel the silver ball under the fur and skin and muscle. She scratched him behind the ear, sighing. "Now what?"

Juka was inordinantly pleased with himself that he could keep up with such a fantastic creature as his angel griffon. It was more than a little gratifying to know that he was the equal of such a stunning creature as it surely was. But then, he was Juka Miami and did that not mean that he was every bit as stunning as the angel bird beside him? Why, of course it did! There was no denying it. It was fact, pure and simple and entirely undisputable.

Juka dropped the dirty little rock he had bubbled and went to turn around and make another pass at the much more shiny and appealing silver ball that his Jewely had so generously provided them to play with. Unfortunately in so doing Carrick, in all his feathered glory, passed him and, horror of all horrors, got the ball before he had a chance to make another attempt. How could that be when clearly Juka himself must surely be the most amazing?

Then Juka saw the gryphon land, if land it could truly be called, most ungracefully upon the ground and, this was the truly hilarious part as far as he was conerned, swallow the shining silver ball. He tried to restrain his laughter and was mostly successful ans he floated down to the ground, in perfect grace and majesty, and silently dismissed his bubble. Carefully composing himself but not quite able to restrain his gleeful smile he asked the wonderful creature,"are you ok?" The bird might have one, but he had the final laugh and that was what mattered most in life.

"Thank you for the wonderful game, Jewel my sweetness," he said turning to his oldest dearest friend. "I shall surely have to make it up to you."

Carrick blinked as the taste of dirt filled his mouth and the feeling of sand in the throat overcame him. He blinked again as he suddenly felt a thirst that could not be quenched, even if he had to drink all the water, he felt like his throat was closing up. Not really reacting to it right away Carrick tilted his head as Lily approached him and scolded him for eating the ball. It wasn’t like he wanted to swallow the ball or the dirt, he just did and now he felt a sudden urge of panic as Lily scratched him behind his ear.

Shaking his head as Juka questioned him Carrick rose to his feet and craned his neck forward. Could he throw up in this form? He had never tried to attempt it before but last time he had ate some metal he wished he would have, trying to digest a soup can was the most painful experience he had ever had in his life, if it wasn’t for the healer at the circus odds are he wouldn’t have survived for long.

Feeling his stomach contract and expand Carrick unfolded his wings behind him as his tail curled and wrapped around his leg bracing himself for the expulsion. Turning from Lily in hopes he wouldn’t puke on her Carrick started to heave the way a mother hawk does to feed her offspring. The only difference was he wasn’t going to try to make Lily or Juka eat what he was about to regurgitate.

"Whoa whoa, easy" Lily looked worried as she felt Carrick's body shake "It's okay, Carrick, calm down. I'll get it out."
She was more frightened than she showed. The ball wasn't all that big, and she could sense it clearly, but still, the gryphon was a kid after all, and it would have been really, really bad to make a Mansion student choke to death during a silly game.
Keeping her palm against his neck, Lily focused her powers on the ball. The gryphon was already doing his very best to move it back up the way it went down, so she helped along, pulling on the silver and shaping it into a form smoother and easier to... um. Throw up.
"Ssh, almost done" she murmured; when the silver ball finally appeared in the gryphon's beak, she pulled the silver out in a long string, and let it fall onto the ground. She sat back on her heels with a sigh. She smiled at Carrick.
"Are you all right?"

Juka felt just the tiniest bad at his almost laughing at his feathered friend who seemed, now that he really payed attention, to be in some distress. Well, perhaps that wasn't surprising. Juka would probably be in some distriess too if he swallowed a shiny silver ball and a handfull, or was that beakful, of dirt.

Juka wanted to help Carrick, he really did, but what could a bubbler do to help with the problem of an ingested ball? Not much as far as he could concieve. Its not like he could reach inside the gryphon and bubble the ball out and even if he could that seemed like a bad idea for so many reasons, not the least of which as that he would probably end up damaging Carrick in the process which seemed rather counter-productive.

But it seemed that his angel gryphon, with the help of his sweet and innocent Jewel, had things all undercontrol as Carrick began attempting to regurgitate the ball. Not that throwing up seemed all that Angelic to Juka. Perhaps he would have to reevalute the boy's angelic properties after this. In the meantime he reformed a protective bubble around himself (just in case of splatter of course) and moved a feet away. One could never be too careful.