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Post by Noa on Jul 20, 2020 13:17:56 GMT -6
And riding, say, Avander was the only way he would ever be able to fly for extended periods of time now, so in fact it might have been more convenient in some ways if he had been smaller. But then that would have made handling Thundergugs and the like a good deal more difficult, so on the whole Aster found his current size a workable compromise of all these factors. He had gained some measure of wind magic a few years back, and could now fly a little under his own power again, but... no, not for long periods of time. It was good, and he had been overjoyed at first when he had discovered it, but as time went on his impression of it soured, and he knew it wasn't quite the same.
He had to shake his head sharply to clear the thoughts from his mind, startling the Salaves.
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Post by Noa on Jul 20, 2020 13:20:56 GMT -6
That hadn't been his intent; he had been caught up by the thought for a moment and forgotten where he was, or who he was with, or how they were arranged about his person. "Whoa," he said, and then, "sorry. Didn't mean to unbalance you there." He reached up a hand and smoothed it soothingly over the Salaves' scales, and the shifting of the Salaves' body, prompted by Aster's sudden motion, subsided somewhat. But it took a moment for the Salaves to resettle himself again, and Aster held obligingly still until this was achieved, before continuing.
Past the gates of the Mansion this month was nothing but sand. "Behold," Aster said, with a slightly sardonic smile. "Today... Well, our city isn't close to the ocean, but in July you can come here and have it almost as good. Interesting trick, isn't it?" He glanced at the Salaves, waiting to see if he would react.
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Post by Noa on Jul 20, 2020 15:51:41 GMT -6
The Salaves didn't have a dramatic reaction to the space, but Aster could see something like interest sparking in his eyes. The slender pink forked tongue came out to taste the air once, and then a second time, and then a third. This could pass for excitement in a snake, Aster thought.
"Not bad, huh? Let's take a look around," Aster said.
Of course, looking at the beach was one thing, but walking around on it with your regular shoes was a different matter entirely. Aster had fortunately thought ahead and come wearing sandals, which helped, but the trouble there was that the sand got into them more readily. It just as readily left again, but even so, the sensation wasn't the most pleasant thing, and walking on the shifting surface made for some unsteady going. He kept his pace slow, and hoped the mansion would give him no reason to have to run today.
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Post by Noa on Jul 20, 2020 16:00:33 GMT -6
Given the nature of this place, that was hardly guaranteed, and it would depend, he supposed, on luck or the whims of the place itself. He hadn't run into anything really dangerous for a while now, but sometimes if he wasn't careful, a creature accompanying him disappeared somewhere for a while... "You won't go running off, will you?" he said to the Salaves. They had these bug legs; Aster had seen this one unfurl them a few times, though at the moment the Salaves had them tucked away. And even without them, the Salaves could move quickly when the mood took him. But at the moment he seemed content to stay where he was, draped over Aster's shoulders.
"I hope you'll behave. That Malii gave me a real scare last time," Aster said. He would really prefer not to have anything like that happen again on this particular trip, thanks very much.
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Post by Nadia on Jul 20, 2020 16:25:33 GMT -6
Another patch of goodies.
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Post by Noa on Jul 21, 2020 19:46:50 GMT -6
"A real scare," agreed the Salaves. Aster knew that the Salaves was merely repeating snippets of what he said back at him, but the effect was still a little amusing... and a little unnerving.
"Right," he said, trying to turn it into some semblance of a real conversation. "A real scare. A shock, like if you weren't expecting something and it suddenly happened. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" The Salaves didn't particularly strike Aster as an ambush predator, though he would be the first to admit that he didn't have a great deal of experience with this species either. He was spending time with a wider variety of species lately, he found, possibly to make up for that period where he had been doing seemingly nothing but raising whelp after Sarane whelp. Almost like he was overcorrecting for that, or something to that effect. Funny thought, that one.
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Post by Noa on Jul 21, 2020 20:07:19 GMT -6
Well, the Salaves wasn't bad company, and so far, aside from a little sand in his shoes, Aster had not much cause for complaint. They walked a while--- or rather, he walked, while the Salaves remained content to stay draped over him, occasionally shifting himself somewhat, settling and resettling his coils around Aster's neck and shoulders. He was careful, Aster noticed, never to squeeze himself too close or too much around Aster's neck. The Salaves was heavy with muscle, and Aster could feel that strength whenever the Salaves moved around. In a fight he might not be too badly off, but in this position, Aster was sure the Salaves could snap his neck or strangle him to death if that was what he wanted.
How nice, then, that the creature had better sense than to do that. The Salaves must have liked him enough, or at least not wished to be a murderer.
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Post by Noa on Jul 21, 2020 20:22:02 GMT -6
He wondered if a less... well, sentient Salaves would have made the same choice. Maybe they would have learned to recognize him as not a threat, as a provider of food and shelter, and decided they didn't want him dead, but he sort of doubted it would look like the same conscious effort that this one was making. Or maybe he just wanted it to be a particular care, and he was imagining the whole thing. That was always a possibility too.
Of course, not being particularly murderous wasn't usually a trait he looked for in his creature companions... Or was it? Aster stopped for a moment, brought up short by this train of thought. All the creatures he had trained had to be at least able and willing to function in combat, but had any of them ever had occasion to kill a foe, when it came down to it?
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Post by Noa on Jul 21, 2020 20:34:40 GMT -6
There might have been a couple of occasions in the Pit, come to that. Not Avander--- no, of course not. He didn't have one of those crazy offense-oriented injection abilities; Aster had been a little more defensively minded when he had chosen what to inject Avander with, back when Avander had been a Sarane still, and new to the Pit. And the drakes were all otherwise fairly evenly matched against one another.
If anyone, it would have been Grunty, who was a great big heavy creature and often didn't know his own strength. He moved at Aster's behest, and even then, somewhat reluctantly, but once he got moving he wouldn't be stopped for almost anything. That runaway freight train quality of his might have turned into a kill somewhere along the way, come to that.
A slightly cold, damp sensation snapped him from his thoughts for a moment; the Salaves had licked him.
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Post by Noa on Jul 21, 2020 20:38:05 GMT -6
Or perhaps the Salaves had simply been too close to Aster's face when he had tasted the air just then. Aster glanced at him, but the Salaves seemed content to observe their surroundings for now.
Aster returned to the thought of Grunty, and felt thankful, for once, that the 'Gug did not have a delicate or sensitive temperament. Avander, being higher strung, might have felt it more keenly if he had managed to kill a foe. Being Avander, Aster thought he would have gotten over it in time, but it would have been a shock at first, surely... Or maybe he was projecting here, for Avander was a predator, and maybe he had an intuitive acceptance of the act of killing that Aster himself did not.
But whatever the answer to that question, they hadn't had occasion to reach it yet. And Grunty was the sort who wouldn't bat an eye at anything, corpses included.
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Post by Jack on Jul 22, 2020 11:40:05 GMT -6
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Post by Noa on Jul 23, 2020 19:10:16 GMT -6
But it wasn't as idle a thought as it could have been. Aster wondered what he wanted the answer to be - that his creatures could easily take a life if it was for his sake? He had always known that he valued them for their abilities in providing protection, but in his mind that protection never went beyond the looking threat sort. Anyone could take one look at Avander, at his size and the way that he moved, and know him for something dangerous. Anyone familiar with these parts and the creatures herein would look at his coloring and extensive modifications, and know him to be much more dangerous than he looked.
But beyond that? What then? Avander knew how to strike, but Aster had never taught him to pull his blows.
Idly, Aster reached a hand up to run it along the scales of the Salaves as he thought.
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Post by Noa on Jul 23, 2020 19:12:23 GMT -6
The Salaves didn't seem to mind. He stayed still under Aster's touch, content not to move. Aster had reptiles enough in his life, but the Salaves' scaly skin was cool and pleasant to the touch, in a way that made him suddenly remember that the Salaves was probably cold-blooded. And, judging by the white coloring, he might well have some Frost in his blood - that had been one of the old breeds, hadn't it, of the ones that all died off? - and if that was the case, then maybe he really didn't do well in the heat.
The sun was certainly shining fit to roast them. For the first time Aster wondered if the Salaves' indolence had anything to do with the fact that he was overheating. Heat was supposed to make reptiles more active, he thought, but maybe there was a limit to how much it could do so.
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Post by Noa on Jul 23, 2020 19:15:02 GMT -6
Maybe, after reaching some certain zenith, it began making them lethargic with illness instead.
"I wish I could ask you if you were too hot," Aster said. "Well, I guess that'll be a possibility eventually."
"Well, I guess," said the Salaves. And then, as if to confirm all his fears, "Too hot."
Aster laughed again. "You know what, I'll take it. Let's try finding somewhere cooler for you, huh?"
Personally, of course, Aster didn't mind the heat. He never had. It was one of his minor strengths; summer was his season, and he coped fairly well with it, no matter how hot it got. He didn't sweat easy, and he didn't particularly mind being sweaty once he began. Sometimes when he cooked, no one else was allowed in the kitchen for fear of the heat therein.
But that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the struggles of, as they might say, lesser mortals.
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Post by Noa on Jul 23, 2020 19:17:20 GMT -6
And it certainly didn't mean that he was determined to make the Salaves suffer only for his own convenience. It had been his idea to bring the Salaves along, after all, and so the Salaves' comfort was his responsibility.
"You can get off, you know," he said to the Salaves, but this time the Salaves made no response, be it in motion or in the repetition of some choice few of the words Aster had spoken. He was scanning the yard for anyplace that might have been suitable, but there really was very little in the way of cover outside the mansion this month. A stray abandoned umbrella offered its paltry shade, and the heat of the day was a dry heat, but he somehow felt that wouldn't be enough.
He was coming to the unpleasant conclusion that the only thing to do might be to enter the mansion itself.
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