~Troubled Waters~ (Closed over and done with)

[RevJunior]

Cadyn considered the dragon even though he had already made up his mind, reaching forward and placing a gentle hand on the broad forehead. He smiled at the drake once he looked up at him. "Yes I would like it if you were to stay. You will never have to leave if you don't wish to. The rules aren't all that complex here and I'm sure most of them are common sense and the morals you already possess. I suppose even though I'm prince I'm not all the good with words, in fact most others find me downright...scary" he finally settled on a word. "I'd like to think of you as a friend, one of the few I have and even though it's a new friendship I feel like I know more about you every second we spend together. You can learn a lot about a male just by watching them and I like what I see in you." he murmured tail swishing as he gave possibly the longest response to someone he'd ever given. "In fact if you want you can stay in my room until we can get you a space of your own....I can either stay with you or move somewhere else if you want."

[silence.]

Instinctively, Tempest leaned his head into the gentle touch. Legs shaky with relief, he murmured, "Anything's fine. Anything but going back is wonderful. Perfect, even." Eyes bright and wide, Tempest asked, "Could we meet Bo, now? I bet she's not one of those one-dimensional bottom feeder types... And I've never been to a palace, before. Or any fancy building. Do you think the king would have me executed if I had a panic attack there? What if no one likes me?" Taking a deep, calming breath, Tempest shook his head, "Ah, no, you don't have to say anything. I know I'm fretting."

[RevJunior]

Cadyn laughed at this and grinned easilly at the male, something new for him. "Well considering my Da values life more than I do I'd say no. Your chances of getting executed are rather small unless you like...go on a bloody rampage or something." he teased as he started swimming with the drake in the direction of the palace. "Plus I already like you, so you have me in your corner already." He chuckled once more. "And yes we can go see Bo. She can be kinda feisty but I wouldn't call her one-dimensional."

[silence.]

"Wonderful! Not dying is always number one on my to-do list!" Swimming up a little higher, using his hind legs to push himself from the ground, he continued, "Which way? North, south, east, west? I can't make heads or tails of where the Palace might be, 'cause it smells like Mer everywhere! Not, um, that Mer-scent is unusual, here. Or that it's bad. Um. Yeah." A bit sheepishly, Tempest looked off to the side. Who knew one of the most dangerous predators in the sea was such a chatterbox?

[RevJunior]

Cadyn let out another rough laugh and couldn't seem to keep that little smirk off of his face. He found Tempest to be actually...amusing. Only Eden and young Ari had ever made him laugh in truth, much less at this scale. Usually he had to force a smile and pretend but not so with this young male. "Sokay, most Mer do smell a bit strange I suppose if you aren't used to it. We are heading...."he used what he liked to call his internal compass to take a stab at it. "North West I beleive." He said as he swam side by side with the drake.

[silence.]

Not quite content to swim in silence, Tempest asked, "What's it like, being a somebody? Are people always crowding at you, looking at you in awe? Trying to get close, all hoping to be that one person you pick to let in? Does it ever get... annoying?" He wasn't sure why a somebody would ever want to wipe their faces from the minds of the people and live life in obscurity, as a nobody, but... He understood want. And he knew perfectly well people usually seemed to want what they didn't have. The real question, buried under all the others, was simple. 'Are you like the rest?'

[RevJunior]

"You know honestly? It does get kind of annoying...I'm a...very private man. Recently a friend of mine, Eden, you met her brought to my attention just how many Mermaids want me just because of my title. Sometimes it makes you a bit suspicious I suppose about other people's intentions but I'd like to think I'm a pretty good judge of character." he said as he swam, the palace coming into sigh way off in the distance. "I don't necessarily get a lot of awe as you put it though. That's usually reserved for my father...me? I'm kind of, literally the black ....er well I was going to go with sheep but everyone recognizes that I'm a predator. I think it scares them at times but it's not like I can just change that." Cadyn surprised himself in talking this much to anyone, much less a recently met friend. Something about Tempest made him want to trust him.

(One more post after your next response and then I'm hitting they hay.)

[magpie~]

{hey guys x3 any chance of a recap? c:}

[silence.]

"All creatures seem to have the same flaw in common, then-- the shallowness which some of the more undesirable members possess." Tempest's voice was soft; resigned, "There's always going to be someone who wants you for your title, your scales, your abilities... and there's always going to be others who hate who you are because it's not what they expected. They hold a kernel of fear over who you are-- and, to them, you're not supposed to be scary. You're supposed to be a white knight, running in to save every little girl from the monsters in her closet, and every little boy from the boogeyman under his bed. You're supposed to be the shining example of perfection parents can prattle on and on about to their children, to chase the nightmares away. But... you're not, and that's fine. Perfect, even. Because then at least you have the guts to be yourself, rather than what society expects you to be."

Quickening his pace, Tempest hesitated before continuing, "We're not too different, you and I. The other drakes... They never liked how I grew in length rather than girth, becoming long and thin rather than short and heavy. They didn't like how I took after my mother instead of my father. They didn't like... Well, they didn't like how I looked. And when I didn't share their same ambition, they didn't like how I act. But that's fine. Because I'm still me, and you're still you... and that works. The pieces fit, the cogs turn, the batter bakes... However you want to put it, it doesn't change the fact that we're sentient, and it's okay if we didn't grow into society's mould."

((...How did that turn into my long-awaited rant against society and conformity? o.o))

((Um... My character, Tempest, was introduced to Cadyn, Eden, and Starfish. Then he and Cadyn went hunting, and are now headed to the palace. And that sums up everything I've done since I joined. XD))

[RevJunior]

(o.o,....argh *kaput splat...thud* the sounds of a dying brain trying to process paragraphs and respond on 4 hours of sleep. I might need to respond to such a gorgeous post later when I can give it it's full due lol. It's now 6 in the morning here and though I got the aforementioned hours of sleep before hand I now need to get like 4 more. Goodnight, Good Evening, Good Morning lol I'll probably be up around and back up to posting at 3-4 my time.

@Thoothiania...yah that's basically what happened..what she/he said)