Thanks to Zaiden. This is for you
Scoping out the opposition was the normal thing Ian did the moment he and his brothers had settled in. New tournament, new people, with the chance of new tactics from the bladers they hadn't seen before. And after the disruptions that ended up happening when an unknown blader entered the tournaments, like The Brooklyn Incident, none of them were taking any chances.
So the purple haired blader did what he was best at; staying a bit unnoticed amidst the rest as he watched the local bladers flock around the beydishes. He would rather be practicing if it weren't for the fact that his teammates were all way more popular and would be mobbed by fans. Lucky Ian was usually a bit less known. Lucky Ian missed out on things like helping his team when they got beat to shit by bladers they hadnt counted on. Lucky Ian.. could help his brothers where they had a disadvantage simply by being well known, to prevent it from happening again. He had, after all, preferred sneaking and sniping in the abbey. And while that didn't quite ease the sting of being the least popular of his brothers, the fact that this lack made him able to help them from being stalked and also helped them find out about opponents that would be a challenge ahead of time slightly made up for it.
Just slightly. He still complained under his breath to a rather sleepy Wyborg as he went along.
Crimson eyes scanned the bladers, a dismissive huff escaping him as he leans against one of the few benches in the shade. Nothing to see here. No competition worth reporting back with. He was about to leave, when a girl broke off from her dish -short, stocky, and and enough chub to make him doutgh she would ever be able to do much- and made a beeline for his bench. Her polite query about sharing the bench was ignored with only a hint of a sneer, and Ian was quite happy to see her decide not to interact as she sat down. He did not like people. He'd much rather mentally ridicule the bladers who were still at the dishes, and so he did just that… until he caught sight of the girl's lizard.
The creature was gold and brown and tan, a species rather recognizable as a Bearded dragon. The little thing sat perfectly content on it's person's shoulder, getting random pets under it's chin as the girl settled. He would much rather look at the lizard than the thumb and hand brace, strapped and re-adjusted, that made that inner abbey training chanting and analyzing go "A weakness. A weakness, this one will never last, and fall before our might. She will be easy to take out. And look how fat she is, so soft looking. A weakness. A weakness." He couldn't shake it, which made his scowl more pronounced. None of them had been able to completely shake it, to get rid of the analysis they had learned for the goal of world domination.
It was a moment later when the blader -now satisfied with her brace and looking at her beyblade- spoke. "Her name is Myra."
Red eyes narrowed as he realized he had been caught watching the lizard as it roamed around on the girl's shoulder, active and alert. And the blader, even distracted with her brace and studying the blade she had been using, had noticed.
'a weakness, a lapse of attention, a threat unnoticed. It will get you killed.' the abbey training scolded.
His retort was cut off as the lizard looked at him and dashed towards his head.
"Myra!" The little spiky reptile had scampered along the back of the bench, making a beeline for... of all things, his goggles, very clearly sticking her tongue out in anticipation of tasting the green material. The owner's lunge got a smirk as she lifted the lizard away, an apology on her lips.
"You feed her enough? I'd hate to see what you give her if she goes after my goggles. Clearly your care is lacking."
The bait was met with the desired indignant protest that no, she fed her lizard a lot, and that she was just really excited about different greens to try. A few snarky retorts and verbal sparring later, and it looked like he would finally get a rise out of her, her shoulders lifting and a flash of fire behind the green eyes.
Until someone shouted an insult at her, this Alyssa, that made her stiffen, softness turning a slight bit more like a brick wall than that pudgy clay he had been comparing her to, and a steely cold in the gaze flashing in ways he hadn't yet gotten out of her.
Looking at it later, once he figured out what had happened, Ian had only heard the words lizard and hold, and being the reptile attuned person he was, had put his hands out immediately. And that led him to his current predicament; holding a spiky little bearded dragon that went from sitting patiently in his hands to climbing onto his shoulder and bobbing it's head in it's own -rather adorable- challenge, while said lizard's owner stormed over to a beydish to beat the person who had dared insult said lizard and her blading skills in a way Ian was slightly jealous of, if not simply becuase the challenger had beat him to the punch.
The weakness the abbey voice had chanted about was swiftly quieting as this Alyssa decimated her opponent, and snarled a challenge to the boy's cronies, teeth bared and nose actually wrinkling like an angry dog. Here.. here she was vicious, and showed a good deal more skill and power than the other kids around the area.
Perhaps.. perhaps he had found a blader to tell his brothers about. He could find out more, just by offering to hold her now pissed off lizard while she further showed her skills.
The Russian blader got up, and headed over to offer his own insults to her opponents, lizard securely on his shoulder. Trash talking other bladers and hold a reptile? This might prove entertaining after all.