Welcome to Gaia! ::

He smiled, the act hidden under his veil, and chuckled. "You don't. But as I haven't killed you yet, it would be safe to assume that I had no intentions of killing you." He answered simply, smirking now, though she couldn't see it.

Shadow merely turned away, ignoring her request. "My identity is known to one person only, and he is unavailable. Just as you do not trust me, I do not trust you." He started walking down the hall, pausing a few doors away and tapping on it. "The kitchen is through here. Eat, sleep, do whatever you wish." He started walking again, disappearing around the corner. A few seconds later, the sound of a door shutting echoed down the hall.

The halls were painted a dark red, like wine. Paintings interrupted the emptiness once in a while, a landscape, a seascape, trees, animals, plants, and much more. But no portraits. Most of the doors were locked, a few open ones leading to a sitting room, the kitchen, a library, and oddly enough, a reptile room. Standing in this last room was a boy, with brown hair in a tail, pale skin, and green eyes. He was holding a snake, it's open mouth pressed to a plastic lidded jar, into which venom dripped. He wore a plain black shirt, cargo pants, and sneakers, with a chain wallet stuck in his pocket.

The boy didn't turn, only pulled the snake from the jar gently adn let it's mouth close again. Setting the jar on a work-bench, he picked the rest of the reptile up, cooing at it as he settled it back in it's box carefully and dropped a mouse in for it to eat. Then he labeled the venom sample and set it in a freezer before turning around and blinking slowly at her. "Hello."

He nodded. "That's Shadow. I knew he had a job tonight, but I didn't think he'd bring someone home afterwards. He doesn't usually. You must be special somehow." He turned, snapping on a pair of gloves and reaching into another tank, pulling out the bright yellow and black frog within. "I'm Eli." He added, prodding the frog gently and using a plastic scrapper to get the poisonous substance off of it's back.

Eli's lips quirked up in a smile as he worked. "The poisonous ones yes... and some of the larger constrictors." He answered, glancing to the back of the room. "I have a Komodo Dragon in the back. It's saliva is quite nice for dipping Shadow's needles into."

"Shadow? Not so far as I know. I only ever see him at meals and when he comes to get his weapons re-coated." Eli answered absently, slipping the frog back into it's cage and stripping off the gloves. "Why?"