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Now a certain dragon was beginning to really get on Rex's nerves, "ZACH! Just SHUT UP for ONCE!" The deep rumble of a roar in the making resounded from Rex's bared lips. His fangs were long, sharp, and visible. Claws were flicked open to reveal a set of several daggers literally at his fingertips and the viscious glare of the lion looked out from Rex's blue eyes.

Then as if that didn't happen, Rex returned to normal, trying to speak in a casual and calm voice to Gaius as a human. Not as the beast he knew he was. His voice was sincere and worried, yet another soul was condemmed to the island. "Man... well..." Rex struggled for the correct way to word it, he'd never told anyone something as important as 'your life is changed forever.' He had to be straight with him.

"Gaius. Everything that you've been told about this island is... is a lie. There is no amusement park or whatever you were told, we're not actors, these aren't costumes." Rex sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose, dropping his gaurd and losing focus. "Um, this island is run by some nutcase that goes by the name of Moreau. We're all just his little pets, everyone here used to be human... but he's changing us all into animals."

He felt like he was telling someone a family member died, only ten times worse. With a sigh, "You're... you're never going home, Gaius."

The architect felt rather awkward, finding himself between the two in what must have been some kind of rivalry. Rex's display of temper made him jump, taking a step back. Maybe... Maybe there was some truth... No one should be able to roar like that, should they? And the extending claws... He'd caught a glimpse of the teeth in the lion's mouth, and they sure looked firmly planted in his gums.

"Wait..." Gaius said after Rex had finished his explanation. "What? Lies...? ...Moreau? I... I think I saw the name mentioned in the funding information for the job..." He was struggling to put sentences together. Everything was jumbled in his head. There was no way it could be true, yet everything looked to real to not be true. "But... I'm just here until the project is finished..." he floundered.

Turning at the dragon's mocking voice, Gaius watched as he jeered at the lion. Something... seemed off.

"This... this all has to be a joke, right?" He glanced between the two weakly, hoping against hope that that was the case.

Zach let go of Rex's shoulder to wipe a tear from his eye. He hadn't laughed that hard in... well... in all honesty he didn't remember laughing at all since before he'd arrived on this rock.

Rex did look geninely worried at this point, but he was making it even harder by pointing out that there were no seams to his apparent 'costume'. Was it really worth keeping up the little game, just for the sake of a little fun? "Fine," he wheezed, still grinning wickedly. "Fine, Rexss."

After taking a couple deep breaths to assumably gather his thoughts, he turned to Gaius with a completely serious face. "Gaiusss... Rexss is right. This placsse really is a mad scientist'sss little exssperiment. And you're going to become an animal, jussst like me and Rexss, and all the other people here. You're not leaving. None of us are. Ever. You just have to get usssed to it."

He gave it time to sink in. The corner of his mouth twitched a little. But after a while, he couldn't hold it in any longer, bursting into loud hissing laughter, holding his forehead as he shook with mirth. "You- oh god - how do you keep a ssstraight facsse when- when you sssay that ssstuff?"

Rex's spirits rose, glad that Gaius was finally accepting his explanation and happy that Zach was finally giving in to the poor new guy as well.

Until Zach's last comment and Gaius following his lead.

Rex snarled wildy, the lion taking control of his mind for the first time in a long while. Rex roared wildly and planted a hard right hook on Zach's long jaw, "SHUT UP, YOU a*****e!" An increased panic followed as his heart raced and the lion continued to grunt primitively.

NOT letting that happen again, the Human Rex thought, shoving the lion's instincts back down into his gut before turning to Gaius. "What'll it take to make you believe me?!" Rex pleaded, a tone of desperation filled his voice.

Gaius stared wide-eyed. "No way..." That blood... It was streaming out of his snout. "No, that... that doesn't make sense!" He tried to fight the truth, but it was spitting a tooth out right in front of him. Ever trace of merriment dropped, leaving him standing there feeling empty and lost.

"Please... No... This... It's real?" He looked from Zach to Rex, the one who'd apparantly been the 'honest' one. "But... a scientist... animal-people... this only happens in movies and books! I-I can't be a part of this!"

"Oh, id'sss real all right," he grumbled at Gaius, continuing to clamp his hands against his bleeding snout. His false friendliness was gone entirely. The bleeding obscured some of his speech, making it sound like he had a bad cold. "You bedder be hoping you god a nice fuzzy mammal like Regsss."

As soon as Rex approached him Zach's eyes narrowed, the shadow of something wild and solitary in his expression. He shifted his hands so that one of them could keep pressure on the side of his mouth, while the other blood-covered hand lashed forward in warning, fingers curved ever so slightly An odd growling, hissing sound rumbled from his throat. "Ged away frumb be!"

He winced, straining his jaw too much. The blood was still trickling unchecked from his mouth and nose. He needed a towel, and soon.

Rex stopped outside of the striking range of Zach after he took a swipe at him. Apparently Zach was as heartless as he thought. "Fine, Zach. Bleed to death." A loathing sneer replaced his expression of anxiety that occupied his face moments before. If he didn't want the help, he wouldn't get it.

Instead, Rex shifted his focus to Gaius who has suddenly collapsed onto a nearby tree. "Oh no..." He ran to the human's aid instead, unfortunately Rex didn't have a whole lot that he could say. "Gaius, I- I know it's hard, but it's true..." He sighed, motioning for Gaius to sit back against the tree trunk as Rex crouched to his knees to comfort the man.

All of his experience on the island had taught Rex to not bring up the changes, but he couldn't help but blurt out. "Listen... the changes aren't so bad. I mean... well it sucks, but you get used to them. You'll live through it..." He was at a loss for words, too washed up by the large spectrum of emotion that he'd just been put through. "...and hey, life here isn't so bad! I mean, who can say that they got to spend their whole life on a tropical island." He couldn't help but feel like his pathetic attempts of cheering up the man were futile. His shoulders collapsed and he burried his head into his hands. The only thing heard behind his forming tears was a muffled "I"m sorry... so sorry..."

Gaius continued to shake his head, trying to dispell the reality around him. He couldn't bring himself to look at Rex, though he mumbled a lie about being alright.

Zach's derogatory tone dragged him out of his gloom, making him finally look up and ackowledge the scaled man. The previous despair was washed away, anger igniting instead. Gullible, he'd said earlier. Yes, Gaius had been gullible once again. Taken in by Sabin and Zach's forked tongues. "Yes," he grunted, "It was Sabin."

Pushing himself up off of the tree, Gaius tentatively placed a hand on Rex's shoulder to try and show there were no hard feelings. He wondered at how he could have missed the fur growing right from Rex's skin. "Thanks... for being honest. I need some time... to think..."