Naga & The Mouse

[Blind]

((T.T Somehow I didn't copy the first 2 posts! Anyways, this happened before Drax went to Phthalo, prior to the Blizzard))

<RosedIllusions> When the voice spoke up, Akii went completely stiff. He glanced up for an escape route which caused his ears to fold back as he realized that'd be impossible... "Y-yeah?" Akii squeaked, looking over his shoulder. Gula's fault for making him so wary of older people now, especially when in an alley. It wasn't any better when he realize what exactly Drax was. He jerked up immediately and backed off.

<BlindTaleTeller> The naga tilted a bit to one side, not sure he really believed him at first: " Are you sure, you don't lo-- " and the kid jerked up, causing him to coil back a few inches, his hands slightly extended palm down as if to say 'calm down'. " Whoawhoa whoa.. it's all right, I'm not that type.. I uh.." he rubbed the back of his head briefly. " I don't eat land folk. Heh. "

<RosedIllusions> Akii gave the man an untrusting look, keeping low to the ground in a more submissive position. "W-what do you want?" The boy asked, his voice matched his stature, low and paranoid. "I-I don't have a-anything for you, I'm s-sorry." Was he wishing Gula was here? .... No, it wasn't like that man cared... Akii was two steps away from sobbing again as his mismatched eyes teared over.

<BlindTaleTeller> Gamble's coils eased up slowly. " I saw you come over here. " Easing down more to his level he settled back on his coils. " I'm not going to hurt you. " after a few moments thought he looked him over again with the one good eye, a bit of sympathy in hsi expression and his voice. " Not everyone's going to jump you kid. I was just a little concerned. My name's Drax, by the way. "

<RosedIllusions> Akii stared at the other for a long moment, slowly relaxing...Slowly... Ever so slowly. He looked nice... But then again, Gula looked nice too... He fidgetted uncomfortably and stepped closer a bit, "I-I-I'm ummm.... I-I'm Akii...." He murmured, looking down as his toes drew circles in in the dirt.

<BlindTaleTeller> Drax was actually very used to that kind of reaction. His expression softening a bit for the kid, he smiled and took it one step at a time. " Nice to meet you. You live around here?"

<RosedIllusions> Akii shook his head slowly, "I um.... I-I.... Live.... I live with a-a someone..." He fidgetted more and shrugged, "I-I lived in the desert...And then... Th-the mines... And n-now... u-umm... Gula?"

<BlindTaleTeller> " Ah. " He thought he got it, and nodded, reaching back for his bag where it was slung behind him. " I'm kind of floating around myself. I'm for someone.. but, he's not in the area. I seem to keep missing him. " Finally finding the canister of soup he'd taken with him after lunch, he shook it a bit.. yep. It was still warm. " You hungry? It's just corn chowder, but it's good. We could go sit on that bench around the corner and talk in the meantime. It'd be a lot more comfortable than a dead end alley. " He was already opening it to have a look, and it did smell very good. " I've been cook on a ship until recently, at least that's one of my jobs. I'm still getting used to not making so much. How about you.. do you have a job? "

<RosedIllusions> Akii lightened up more and moved closer. "I.... Yes I-I am really h-hungry..." When the boy was close enough he glanced over the others hands to look at the food. "Y-you're a sailor?" Akii had many more questions but...to shy to carry on with them. "Nnn.... I w-worked in the mines?"

<BlindTaleTeller> Drax nodded to both, glancing back towards the bench, it was quiet, they wouldn't really be disturbed and could eat in peace. " Yes. My Captain's ship is in Phthalo at the moment, restocking and repair while I run errands. " Nodding towards the bench he frowned very lightly at mention of the mines starting that way. " I've never been there, but I've heard from others who have. What do you do now? "

[Blind]

<RosedIllusions> Akii moved over to take a seat, giving the other's scales a quick curious glance before looking away before Drax could hopefully see him peaking. He curled his tail around his waist and picked at the hair at the tip of his tail as he thought.... A light shrug answered the other's last question, "...L-looking for home?"

<BlindTaleTeller> " Oh. " And he nodded slowly as he sat down, curling the tail partially under the bench. " With me it's mostly the opposite. Sort of. The Wavecutter's become more of a home to me now than my father ever made our reef feel. My Captain can be scary some days, and I certainly didn't like it there at all at first: but.. they're loyal friends, we take care of eachother in our own ways. " Offering one bowl he offered the spoon next. " You have somewhere to stay? "

[Clone]

"Reef? W-whats a reef?" Akii asked, giving the other a blank stare before his ears perked high and he eagerly took the bowl and spoon. "A-are you a p-pirate?" The splicer asked curiously, loosing his fear now in exchange for the questions. The name to the boat sounded scary, and the first thing that came to mind when the word 'seas' and 'captain' came up was pirate.

He suckled on the spoon absentmindedly, thinking on the question meant for him, "Umm... I... Have something.... But h-he's really s-scary... He umm... Did..." Akii bit his lip and desided to skip that part, "I d-dunno."

[Blind]

<BlindTaleTeller> Patient, Drax listened; initially he'd intended to give that little white lie to the kid. If it was spread around too much the ship would be siezed, and much of if not all of the crew likely arrested. It wasn't that he thought the kid would squeal.. more that he didn't trust the surroundings to say so out loud just yet. As he listened though, and more importantly watched the mouse while he took his own first spoonful, the naga's eye shifted over his face, picking up an all too familiar vibe. " A reef, is referring to Coral structures under the seas. My kind make homes of them more often than not. Well that and caverns. Not many live near the shore these days. " Looking forward for a moment he shook his head and explained: " I'm not a desert writher. I'm water Naga.. that's why I'm not so keen on the food here. Fish and sea harvest taste better to me. vegetables aren't that bad up here though. " To the last, he had been thinking of how to answer: and his curiosity got the better of him in the process. " I'll answer that middle question.. if you'll answer me honestly: are you a slave? "

<RosedIllusions> "A-are reefs pretty? C-coral sounds pretty..." Akii muttered to himself, continueing to enjoy the meal with faint squeaks of approval, quickly warming up to Drax now, "I wouls l-like to live u-under the water, that'd be neat..." He continued while listening to Drax before.... His ears duckedback with the question, giving the naga a wary look. But... was he? If you ran away, would you still be concidered a slave? "Umm...I-I don't know?"

<BlindTaleTeller> " Coral can be very beautiful, especially when it's alive. Only masters make homes in living coral though. The Rift Lords have whole living castles. " His eye and attention drifted south; one of those rare moments when he missed one of the places he had called home in his younger days.. his Grandfather had lived in a keep like that. His attention was brought back though as Akii answered his question. " It's not a very hard question to answer.. were you bought by someone? " The way he said it wasn't condescending, though slightly factual and very curious. He spooned another portion of his soup into his mouth as he waited for the answer, both brows raised slightly. Whatever the answer, the Naga didn't seem like he would be surprised or hugely upset by it.

<RosedIllusions> A whole coral house? That sounded so neat.... Akii wondered if it'd be hard to breath underwater. The poor boy had never been in deep enough water to know seeing as the desert didn't have much of that H2O. "Umm...Y-yes...?" Akii looked down, highly embarrassed by this, and his burning cheeks showed that.

[Blind]

Gamble couldn't resist pulling one hand to the top of his head and petting it back along his hair with that, a softer, but slightly crooked smile. " It's okay.. " and looking around a bit he tugged the short sleeve of his shirt back to show the marks over his left shoulder blade: one a skull made to look like a medusa, and below it his current owner's mark: a snake coiled in a figure eight about to eat it's own tail, with two odd symbols in the hollows. " You're not alone in that. "

[Clone]

"I-I ran away from them th-though, they don't own m-me now..." Akii scrunched his shoulders up more a puffed his cheeks, still looking uncomfortable about this... He made a face, looking over the tattoo, overly pleased he didn't need to get one of those now.

"You s-said you'd answer my q-question now?" The boy asked, directing his attention to the others tail again, giving it a curious look as he reached his hand out and ever so gently stroked the pads of his fingers over the scales lightly.

[Blind]

" Oh. " Drax's eyes lowered for a moment. " Running away can have it's problems; and even more so if you don't have anywhere to go. " Looking back to Akii's face he smiled wide for a moment before leaning in close to his ear and whispering very quietly. " It's not something you spread around.. but yes, my Captain's ship is a pirate ship. "

[Clone]

"I-It's okay! I....umm...." He paused before continuing, "I have a big bad d-demon, and he'll b-beat them up." Akii nodded, though knew that thought was a dead threat. He probably would stick around Gula... He had no where else to go after all, he needed somewhere... Akii couldn't spend his days lost on the streets of Umbra forever after all.

The boy gasped softly and grinned with the last bit,"I kn-new it! Umm....I mean, I knew i-it." He repeated, this time a big quieter. His fingers drifted to a fin, touching the sides of it curiously before going back to the fins.

[Blind]

" Ohhh~ " Drax might have closed one eye at him with that chin-upped smile as he looked down to him: but he was missing one already, so that kind of would have defeated the point. He didn't believe him, but he wasn't going to call the kid out on it. " I see. Well, if I'm around, and you ever need a second body guard.. I make a good shield slash hiding spot. " Which, at his size? Couldn't be that hard to imagine as a truth. Even as nagas went, he was pretty big, in height and in muscle.

The touches didn't bother him so much.. though the mouse did manage to touch over a sensitive spot or two he was able to blow over it for now, just smiling and withe the touch to his folded fins, spreading them a bit after to show him their full length briefly: giving in to his own curiosity and softly brushing his fingers over the fuzzy ear closest to him with a soft smile. " But.. anyway. Problems with your master? I kind of know how that is. Hector and I didn't get along well at all at first. He's got his own brand of pride.. and I recognized the fact he couldn't read anything but numbers right away. He didn't like that, and picked on me a good deal because of it. We got into a lot of fights back then. I even spent a whole week up in the crows nest with the first mate trying to talk me out of 'his personal space' ... "

[Clone]

"I-I'll be okay." Akii nodded, assuring himself just as much as he was Drax. He was...Kinda far away from the mines, and the pirates who took him weren't around. The pirate lady was so creepy... She didn't do anything to him... It was just the... Creepy. Akii curled his tail around his waist and leaned into the hand petting his ears, giggling lightly. "But I-I wouldn't mind if y-you protected me, the o-only mean things are the big spiders a-around here, but they're not a-as big as the ones in the d-desert.... Those a-aren't that tasty."

Akii moved both hands over the other's scales, stroking the fins again as they stretched, tugging lightly on them to keep them from closing again as he made the appropriate 'ooh' and 'aah' noises. The curious noises stopped though and he puffed up. "I-I don't HAVE a-a master." Akii squeaked, bowing his head low.