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Post by Noa on May 31, 2020 21:30:48 GMT -6
With all that in mind, Aster honestly felt as though he should go home. But they were already here, and the Malii did seem eager to see what was inside. He felt that at this point he was obliged to at least take a peek.
Gingerly, he pushed the door open all the way, and stepped inside first, making sure to keep an eye on the Malii as he did so. He didn’t want the Malii trying to bolt past him again, and he hadn’t heard anything coming from inside the house, so he had to trust that there wasn’t a trap or some creature trying to bum rush him. He didn’t feel great letting down his guard like that, but he had a good enough sense for these things that he wasn’t immediately super concerned to take his eyes off the house for a moment.
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Post by Noa on May 31, 2020 21:30:59 GMT -6
And once he had made sure that the Malii had come through with him without trying to run, he relaxed a bit more and turned his attention to the interior of the house.
What greeted him was a wide hall, looking on the surface as though it belonged to a fancy mansion. In that sense, it reflected the exterior’s facade of normality. But the interior of the house wasn’t entirely mundane either. Aster noticed immediately that the ceiling was a lot higher than he would have expected, and when he chanced a look up, the ceiling was obscured by what looked like real, bona-fide clouds just hanging out inside a building.
It wasn’t the most surreal thing he had seen in this place, but it definitely wasn’t normal. A part of him almost felt relieved to see it. Frankly, the lack of strange goings-on had felt bizarre, as though something was missing from the house…
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Post by Noa on May 31, 2020 21:31:33 GMT -6
Or as though the house were trying to lull him into a false sense of security. If that latter idea was indeed the case, then he was glad that it had given up the game somewhat, and finally shown its true colors again, even if it wasn't to a dramatic extent.
Though then again, maybe it had gotten tired of making up something interesting for every month, and just decided to be lazy this time around. Was the house capable of something like that?
The decor too--- on the surface of things, it all seemed normal, but the longer Aster looked, the more he could appreciate that there certainly was a definite theme to it. The vases, the tapestries, the little figures on mantles and pillars, all of them had a draconian form to them. He thought of the little pocketpet he had seen the Malii toying with earlier out in the yard.
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Post by Noa on May 31, 2020 21:31:49 GMT -6
He hadn’t gotten a very good look at it, but he thought it might have had a dragon shape to it too. Was that the theme for the month? Usually there was one, of a sort, to the extent that even Aster could recognize it, but he had never been here during this particular month before. And if the theme really was ‘dragons’, then what was with this set-up? Shouldn’t the interior of the house be more like a cavern? Shouldn’t there have been flames or piles of gold sitting around?
… Though he supposed it depended on the type of dragon. Sarane were dragons of a sort, and the draconics of the canyons were dragons of a different sort. The Tat-lung provided yet another alternative, and the Wiurn, while not dragons themselves, certainly did resemble them somewhat. And all of them were different in their temperament and preferences.
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Post by Noa on May 31, 2020 21:32:08 GMT -6
It was just that none of them quite mapped to what Aster was seeing before him now, at least not as far as he could tell. He had a lot of experience with Sarane, and that couldn’t possibly have been what this place was reflecting. Sarane were creatures of survival and battle, and aside from the human interference in their development, were generally simple, animalistic creatures. He had some passing familiarity with draconics as well, having lived among them for a time, but his memories of that were hazier, so he couldn’t be sure. He also admittedly hadn’t been trying to glean things about their culture at the time, so his knowledge was sparse to begin with; there had been other things to occupy him back then, despite their best efforts to get him involved in their family community.
It could be draconics, he supposed, after some thought.
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Post by Noa on May 31, 2020 21:32:23 GMT -6
Of the three, they were the ones with their own civilization. But the decor that he was familiar with incorporated a lot more natural rock, even if, he slowly realized, the proportions of the mansion interior as it stood at present could certainly have accommodated draconic residents or visitors.
Lest he get too far lost in his thoughts, Aster checked to make sure the Malii was still with him. He hadn’t seen or sensed any sudden movements, but you could never be too sure, especially if they’d made an escape attempt before. Fortunately, his luck held, and the Malii was still with him. The Malii was, in fact, also preoccupied with observing what he could see around him. Aster sure hoped the Malii wasn’t comparing these accommodations to his own. There was no way Aster could afford this level of luxury at home, and to be honest he had no desire to either.
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Post by Noa on May 31, 2020 21:32:33 GMT -6
His house was a nice house; it was comfortable and functional and he liked it. The accommodations for his creatures were built along the same lines. He hadn’t been the one to design them, but all the same, he had chosen this place, and what hadn’t been in good repair, he had fixed himself.
“Don’t get too attached,” he warned the Malii, just in case. At the sound of his voice, one of the Malii’s ears turned to him. “I’m not shelling out so you can live like a king. Just so we’re clear.”
The Malii didn’t have a particular reaction to that. He did wander a little further in, and since he wasn’t bolting, Aster was content to follow. He had no particular plans on where he wanted to go inside this place, nor did he have anything in particular that he wanted to find.
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Post by Noa on May 31, 2020 21:32:50 GMT -6
If the Malii had more of an idea than he did, he was fine with just being along for the ride.
They wandered from one room into another, which resembled a living room somewhat. But the furniture was strange, built along lines that suggested humans weren’t really the intended users. In place of chairs, there were cushions situated along a long, low table. There were also large windowed alcoves along the walls where something large might recline in comfort. “Avander would have loved it here,” Aster remarked idly. Even if he couldn’t have appreciated the art pieces, it looked as though he would have had a comfortable time lounging around.
But then, if Avander had come with him, Aster really might be hearing about ‘helpful suggestions’ for renovating the estate in the coming days. No, much better to have come with a creature that wasn’t in the habit of asking anything of him just yet.
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Post by Jack on May 31, 2020 22:10:19 GMT -6
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Post by Noa on Jun 5, 2020 17:11:07 GMT -6
A new month, a new trip to the mansion, though at least this time Aster didn't have that Malii in tow. That Malii didn't give him much trouble last month, though it wasn't fair to say that the Malii had given him no trouble at all either. Aster probably ought to do something with him soon, since he seemed rather bored the rest of the time, but he was at a loss as to what that might be. He never did manage to determine whether the Malii could speak, or if it was sentient, or any of those questions he had about the Malii's lineage.
And arguably the little entourage he had with him had the potential to be worse. It was the terrible trio he had been raising thus far, three hatchlings that he was working with... in theory. He hadn't done much work with them as of late, not that it stopped them from growing any bigger. They were no longer the wobbly little hatchlings they had been, fresh from the egg and good for little more than peeping for food. They weren't really gangly teenagers as of yet either, but they had definitely found their legs, and if that made them harder to contain, well, that wasn't exactly their problem. It was just Aster's, and if he didn't exercise them some, now that they had the means with which to get around properly, they could also cause their fair share of mischief when left to their own devices.
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Post by Noa on Jun 5, 2020 17:15:02 GMT -6
He understood the idea, he really did. They were young easily bored, and had plenty of energy. In that sense, they weren't much different from the Malii, who also suffered from the same concerns, though maybe in different proportions. If he were actually sentient, at least, the boredom must really have been no joke; but he was also at a mature point in his life, so he probably didn't have as much restless young energy as the Sarane did. Those guys weren't quite that bright, but they made up for it by sheer numbers, and also with the kind of boundless vigor that kids of all species seemed to have, in bursts, at certain points in their lives.
That was why he had brought them to the mansion. He thought it was a good, out of the way place where they might find room to stretch their legs, and find things to amuse themselves. It was kind of luck of the draw whether the month you went was any good to you, but he remembered a little bit of June and thought it wasn't too dangerous... Loud and sometimes kind of creepy, sure, but that was it, right...? Though the fact that he wasn't sure meant that there was already room to go wrong, so maybe it was better that the Sarane were no longer exactly infants, and could take care of themselves even a little bit. But if things really did get bad, then of course they would go home.
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Post by Noa on Jun 5, 2020 19:25:52 GMT -6
But--- and maybe he was only being lulled into a false sense of security here--- he felt as though the last month had been uneventful enough that maybe this month would be the same. And the month before that, while exceedingly weird, had at least given him the Malii back without much in the way of side effects that Aster could see. When he thought about it, nothing had really actually happened; it had just been unpleasant to watch and deal with at the time. And he would be more careful, he thought, but whether that translated into reality once they were there... Well...
They arrived at the mansion, and Aster immediately began wondering whether this was going to be a good idea. The place looked like a mess. It sounded like a mess too, from what he could tell. There were sounds of fire and firecrackers, and the kind of cacophony he usually associated with a much more crowded place than this. He had no idea what was going on. As it turned out, his memories of June at the mansion must not have been all that clear, since they definitely didn't prepare him for this. He wondered if something bad had happened, enough so that he had made an effort to scrub it from his memory, conscious or not...
The Sarane, at least, didn't seem to be bothered by it, though he actually sort of wished they were. Then he'd have an excuse to turn them around and go home.
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Post by Noa on Jun 5, 2020 19:30:11 GMT -6
They'd been more help than Aster had thought they would be that time he had taken them questing, but he supposed his luck wouldn't hold out forever. Even Avander didn't comply with Aster's wishes all the time, and that guy knew what Aster was thinking and feeling at any given time. Avander's ribbon was one of the few that Aster tended to leave on even when he took the others off, and though there were times he removed even that one, in general he was more used to having the Wiurn's presence hanging around within reach in the back of his own mind. Those times he took it off, it felt strange, like being without a necklace that you were accustomed to wearing at all hours.
The exception was when he went to sleep, though sometimes when he napped unexpectedly, he didn't take it off, for obvious reasons. So it wasn't like Avander didn't know about Aster's nightmares, but even so, he didn't like exposing any of his creatures to them any more than he had to by sheer accident. The telepathy was too useful to completely dispense with, and so that was the arrangement they had come to.
But if a creature like Avander didn't always do what would have been best for Aster's interests, he could hardly expect these hatchlings to do it. They barely even knew him compared to Avander. Right now they were crowding outside the front of the gate, looking back and forth at everything there.
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Post by Noa on Jun 5, 2020 19:35:11 GMT -6
It must have been immensely interesting to them, if it wasn't scaring them off. And evidently they weren't scared, since they were going right up to the place. Privately Aster thought they ought to have a bit more caution than they did, but he supposed it was better than dealing with them panicking. He couldn't help but think that it was probably a sign that not all animals could sense supernatural danger though. Not that Sarane were famous for their keen sense for the supernatural or anything, but still.
Well, that wasn't entirely true, actually--- that the hatchlings were completely unafraid, anyway. Upon closer inspection, he could see that Roland was a bit back from the other two, and twitched whenever something loud went off. The other two reacted, but not as strongly, and not as aversively to it either. For Alioth and Abelia, the sounds just happened. They were a little surprising, but no more than that, and certainly nothing to be alarmed at. But the more Aster watched, the more that he suspected that Roland was probably just hanging around because his so-called clutchmates were doing the same. On his own, he probably wouldn't have stayed there. Maybe he would have run away altogether, or maybe he would simply have retreated. It was even possible that he might have hid behind Aster. Aster never did figure out whether they saw him as a parental figure because he fed them or not, but he did feed them, so there was that.
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Post by Noa on Jun 5, 2020 19:41:09 GMT -6
Even if Roland didn't see him as a parent, at least Aster would have probably looked more like a source of safety for him than the surrounding scenery, right?
Luckily for the both of them, there was no need to find that out just yet. Roland had the other two to rely on to bolster his spirits and his sense of security. In fact, Aster thought that even though the bigger two didn't show any outward signs of fear, even they might not have been so brave if they had had to come here on their own. The whole 'clutch' of them were stronger together than they were apart, because of safety in numbers or something to that effect. Anything that hurt them, or tried to, would have to contend with all three of them, and it would likewise have all three of them to choose from as targets, rather than just a lone hatchling.
Not that they would have thought it through to that degree, of course. He was sure they just felt it instinctively. But if it kept them calm, that was something.
Since they weren't running away, then there was no reason not to go in, he supposed. They couldn't very well romp about right outside the mansion. That would be odd, and if anyone so happened to pass by, it would be fairly inconvenient for all of them to have to get out of their way. Not a lot of people lived near the mansion, since it was so weird, but...
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