Castle Garden

[Heavy Metal Dragoon]

Red Gypsy

Throm sighed, listening to her. It reminded him of his own past, so long ago. He slowly sat beside her. After a few moments thinking, he started speaking, on a surprisingly gentle tone.

"What you should do, on my opinion, is move forward now. From what I understand, your family gave you a window of opportunity to survive. Make the most out of it." He looked at the stars above.

"That's what they wished for, Bast. Start by finding a place to stay-I can help you if you need- and continue from there... On a side-note, there's a little something for you on the left inner pocket of my jacket. Hopefully it will cheer you up, if only a little."

He glanced a the stars once again. He also needed a place, but Bast came first in his view.  

[Red Gypsy]

Heavy Metal Dragoon

Bast frowned a bit, knowing what he was saying but not sure how to do it, "Sebastet offered me a room in her tower, so I have that at least," she told him softly, her voice proving that she was still a bit lost but not liking the fact.

She wasn't like this. She wasn't some weak-willed female that wilted at the first sign of adversity. She'd been raised to be stronger than this.

When he said he had something for her in the pocket of the jacket he'd put around her, she frowned a bit more, unsure of why he was giving her anything. But she reached inside anyway and pulled the object out, holding it in her palm so that she could see it in the moonlight. She had to wait for a cloud to move out of the way before she saw it clearly though.  

[Heavy Metal Dragoon]

Red Gypsy

"In case you are wondering, Bast, it's my way of apologizing for startling you so badly earlier." He hoped she would like his gift, a very ornate necklace with two emerald serpents on it,and between them a respectable sized ruby.  

[Red Gypsy]

Heavy Metal Dragoon

Bast could only gasp softly as she stared at the piece she was holding, knowing that it was worth a small fortune. She'd never been given anything like it. The most expensive thing she owned was her sword, forged for her by her father.

Her chartreuse eyes were wide with shock as she finally looked up at him, "Throm... I don't know what to say... I've never been given anything like this..." she told him softly then looked down at the piece as the short dark fur on her face puffed up a bit in the Hylarr version of a blush.

In her shock, she wound up purring the 'r' in his name a bit, turning it into something probably better spoken in more intimate moments rather than where anyone could hear it spoken that way. She moved the fingers of her other hand lightly over the serpents on the piece then over each of the gems, almost petting the necklace.  

[Heavy Metal Dragoon]

Red Gypsy

Throm smiled at her reaction, and couldn't help but facing away for a second to hide the slight blush that showed on his face when he heard the way Bast pronounced his name, even though i was likey caused by the shock.

"Looking at you, I'd honestly have thought you would be used to this sort of presents, Bast." he said, indirectly referring to her beauty.

"But enough of that. I'd say you need a rest... Would you let me escort you to your place? I'll find one of my own later on" He said with a smile.

He managed to cheer her up slightly-or at least he thought so. And he thought it would be rather rude to leave her by herself after all that, hence his offer.  

[Red Gypsy]

Heavy Metal Dragoon

She could scent that dawn wasn't too far off but didn't want to move just yet. So, instead, she responded to his remark about presents, "The last gift I got was my sword. My father forged it for me himself, along with three of my daggers. Before that, a new outfit from my mother, flowers from my brother, my cloak from my sister... This is the first jewel I've ever been given. The first piece of jewelery as well," she explained to him softly, her fingers still moving over the piece lightly.

Somehow, she managed to completely miss the implied compliment on her beauty. Her family had always told her she was beautiful but all she'd ever seen were her differences from them. Her sister had been the one to be courted by the few unattached males in their small community while they'd completely avoided Bast. Her sister's silvery coat had been preferred to Bast's black. So Bast had stopped thinking of herself as pretty, certainly not beautiful.

"I know I should probably rest but I won't be able to yet. I'd just sit up there thinking about them or pace the room and think about them. I don't want to, though. Something about this place, and you, helps me not to think about it too much," she admitted to him in almost a whisper, "My new room is on the second floor of Sebastet's Tower, though. The room on the right. The one on the left belongs to her godson and his mate," she added, hoping he'd understand that she didn't mind him knowing where her room was.

She wanted to put the necklace on but didn't know how so she simply kept moving her fingers over it, tilting her head slightly as she took in the slight shifts in the scent of the air around them, "Did you know that different times of the day smell differently? I can actually smell that dawn isn't far off. I'm tired but I still know I won't sleep. I just don't know why," she said for no reason that she could think of.

She finally shifted a bit closer to him and rested her head against his arm, needing some kind of touch to ground her. The Hylarr were a race that thrived on touch and she felt a bit lost without it right now. The feeling of his skin against her soft fur helped, reminded her that he was real and she wasn't alone.  

[Heavy Metal Dragoon]

Red Gypsy

He smiled slightly when she named the presents she had been given throughout her life and who had given them. He wondered why she told him the location of her place, but he concluded she wouldn't mind him knowing it. Then, when she told him about the daily scents, he looked surprised.

"Really?" he asked, sniffing the air "I can't tell... I never had any idea about it."

He looked at her as she laid her head against him. Slowly, almost shyly, he placed his hand on her head and stroked her hair in a surprisingly gentle way, for a dragon. His heart was beating fast as he did so, and he hoped she wouldn't notice, since he didn't want to ruin the moment.  

[Red Gypsy]

Heavy Metal Dragoon

She rubbed her cheek against his arm a bit, enjoying the fact that he didn't seem to mind that she needed the contact. It steadied her. The movement of his hand over her hair even made her give a small smile as she spoke about the scents, as if was a normal conversation instead of the distraction she needed.

"Yeah... Dawn smells a little bit like the air does after it rains. A little moist with the heady scent of fresh grass. You can actually smell the morning dew gathering on the plants. There are a few flowers as well, but it's mostly the moisture and the grass. Noon smells a bit like a heated attic, a bit musty but with the hint of heat to it. Sunset smells like sleep to me. Almost the same moisture as dawn but not as much. More like the coolness of mist by a waterfall, I guess. Midnight smells cold to me, like snow hanging in the air with a hint of danger to it," she explained it to him softly, wondering if he could catch the scent of dawn now.

But then she realized how she'd spoken of it, almost in a dream-like voice, soft but a bit intimate, as if telling a secret.

Once she realized that, the fur on her face stood up again in the Hylarr version of a blush and she ducked her head a bit so he wouldn't see it without taking her cheek away from his arm, hoping he wouldn't think her an idiot...  

[Heavy Metal Dragoon]

Red Gypsy

Throm smiled as she told him the daily scents. He could actually understand what she meant, and easily picked up the scent of dawn after a few more attempts. But he got completely lost at the smell of sunset.

"Uhm... Maybe you will think i'm dumb for this but..." He scratched his head using the tip of his tail. "If i listened correctly, sunset smells like sleep to you..." By now he looked honestly confused. "I can't imagine what
sleep smells like..."

He smiled as she ducked her head. He found it unbelievably cute. All he while, he kept stroking her hair , since she apparently enjoyed it.  

[Red Gypsy]

Heavy Metal Dragoon

She blushed again, keeping her face down so he wouldn't see the puffball she turned into, "You know that moment right when you're falling asleep? When you're completely relaxed but you can hear and smell everything around you, everything seems to come into sharper focus? But you don't really care because you're tired by that point? Every time I get to that point it's like at sunset, when part of the world is getting ready to go to sleep but part of it is just waking up. At sunset, everything I smell just seems sharper, clearer. Maybe it's the Hylarr's feline nature, but that's what it's like for me," she explained, hoping she wasn't making an idiot of herself over it.

Part of her wanted to purr under the caress of his hand moving over her hair but the rest of her thought it would be embarrassing. In the end, though, she simply couldn't help it and gave in to the softer version, the one that could be felt more than heard. For her, it showed that his caressing of her hair was soothing.

For a Hylarr, she was still fairly young and a bit unsure of herself in some situations...  

[Heavy Metal Dragoon]

Red Gypsy

"Oh, yes! I understand what you mean now... Though I can't say I sense that every sunset.." He looked to the horizon, where dawn was starting to make itself know, although very faintly.

As he kept caressing her hair, he very faintly became aware of her purring. He stopped for a moment, giggling to himself.

"Are you actually...? Yes.. yes you ARE purring! That's so cute!" He remarked , half-laughing.  

[Red Gypsy]

Heavy Metal Dragoon

Bast instantly stopped purring and bent over to cover her head with her arms in total embarrassment when he laughed at her. She was mortified beyond belief. Gods! How could she have been so stupid?

Unfortunately for Bast, the next embarrassment was pretty major. The good part, though, was that she couldn't be mad about it.

The black blade of a very sharp sword rested on Throm's shoulder, the edge right against his neck. Then a low growl moved through the garden around them, making Bast jump to her feet and turn around with wide eyes, Throm's jacket around her effectively covering her from shoulders to ankles, "Sebastet.." she gasped out softly, wondering what she'd done wrong.

But Sebastet leaned over Throm's shoulder to talk to him instead of Bast, "A Hylarr's purr is not something to laugh about, lizard. It should be a mark of either pride or fear to draw one from one of our females. Pride if you've made her content. Fear if you've pissed her off," she told him through her growl that instantly dropped into a louder rumbling purr that would have had anyone else shaking in their boots, "Embarrass her again and you'll understand why even the oldest of dragons won't upset me," she told him softly then backed off from him.

A brief moment and she looked up at Bast without taking her sword from Throm's neck and grinned at the younger female even though it couldn't be seen under the hood of her cloak, "Learn your true worth, Cub... And the next time he laughs at you like that, knock him on his a**," she stated simply then removed her blade from his neck and sheathed it under her cloak before turning to head back to her tower, "You can make it up to her by taking her for a little trip through the air. Have her back by noon, though, or I'll have myself a dragon-skin cloak to wear," she called out behind her as she left then alone again.

Bast looked at Throm then at Sebastet's retreating back then back at him with wide chartreuse eyes, one hand over her mouth as she tried to figure out how to handle this one without being a total idiot...  

[Heavy Metal Dragoon]

Red Gypsy

Throm's giggling was cut short by Sebastet's blade on his shoulder. Despite being quiet, he kept a smug smile on his face while he listened to her, even though a bead of cold sweat formed on his forehead... And a prickle on his pride for being called a "lizard". Had it been someone else,
Throm would already be kicking a**.

He listened to her purr and had to make an effort not to grin.
To him, Sebastet's menacing purr sounded nothing short of incredibly sexy.

His expression changed when she talked about taking Bast for a trip. It was amazing how his face changed from a smug smirk to a shocked/embarrassed expression in a matter of seconds.
He finally turned around, watching her leave. After a bit, he turned to Bast.

"What the hell was that all about?"

His mind raced back to Sebastet for a few moments: just like that, she had already earned his respect. Even though he didn't mean to embarrass Bast with his laughter..  

[Red Gypsy]

Heavy Metal Dragoon

The fur on Bast's face was puffed up again as she looked at him and lowered her hand from her mouth to rest over her heart, which was pounding hard in her chest. How to explain it, though...

"Well... Since my family sent me here to find her, that kind of made her my Guardian... That usually doesn't happen unless a female is sent away from their family to that of their potential mate. My situation is a bit different, mainly because I don't have a potential mate. But that still means that she's responsible for me until I do find a mate. It means that she's supposed to watch over me and help guide me in some things. Like finishing my training in fighting, teaching me the Hylarr ways, food and healing recipes, and teaching me our history and such. And that she'll also be watching my choices in who I choose to spend time with. It sounds stifling, I know, but there's good reason for it," she explained to him, blushing the whole way through it.

She finally looked down at her feet, her other hand almost clutching the necklace into her waist, "I may be considered an Ancient in years, but by Hylarr definitions, I'm still considered a bit on the young side. As a result, while she's training me in all of that stuff, she and her mate will also act as Champions of sorts if I get into any fights. I'm not supposed to take on any fights on my own until after she says I've passed my initial training, and no sparring unless she supervises it," she added and scuffed the toe of one boot lightly against the stone she was standing on that made up a beautiful pattern on the ground around the large urn that held the jasmine.

Her explanation of her age might not have been helped much by the image she made wearing his jacket at the moment. It almost swallowed her, making her look like a child wearing her father's coat or something like that. But she'd been totally honest with him, giving him the full explanation of Sebastet's behavior and a bit of information on what to expect.  

[Heavy Metal Dragoon]

Red Gypsy

Throm listened to her explanation in silence. Part of him wanted to comment on how cute her blush was, but then again, he didn't want to embarrass her... again. When she was through, he nodded and spoke.

"You know, I can totally relate to that... The only difference is that I don't have a guardian. What I know -and that's a lot- I learned by self teaching and experience. Unfotrunately... I'm no good at cooking." He smiled and approached her.

"Here, let me help you with that.." He said, referring to the necklace.
He gently took her hand and grasped it, slowly moving behind her, placing the necklace around her neck. After checking that it was correctly placed he smiled .