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Natsumi smiled some as Thom agreed. It was nice ot be around him, even if she was outside.. And it hadn't slipped her mind just how unusual it was to be so scared of leaving her duplex.. She just had no logical reason to force herself outside against those emotions. Now she did, which would be good...

She had been looking in Thom's direction, and so she got a full view of Zach sauntering in. Her heart froze in her chest as not only paranoia kicked in, but the fear the man had rooted in her from their first meeting. Eyes widened, she found herself straightening up as much as her body would allow, shoulders hunching... Much like a cat might react when startled. She held that until he turned around, in which whatever was going through her mind(Even she wasn't too sure what she was thinking) stopped. And for the gecko, directing her actions through her subconsious or something along those lines, decided that puffing up wasn't going to work. Next thing she knew she had ducked under the chair she was sitting in moments before.

There was a breif moment of "I told you so" in her head. That part that had told her something bad would happen. Somethign bad would try and eat her. And there it was. Rational mind argued with the irrational; Obviously a chair wasn't going to help. But where else could she hide? While her mind raced and 'fight or flight' responces started kicking up she completely missed the fact Zach was much more scared of Thom, and hadn't even passed her a glance.

...Had they met? After the dragon's reaction, Thom wasn't terribly sure. Maybe he had imagined the encounter in the cave? It seemed entirely possible. The week had seemed a good deal longer than it really was... He could have, and had, imagined quite a few things during that time. But no--he had met Zach before the cave, anyway, and the near-strangling was the only reason why the dragon would be so scared of him right off the bat.

"Of course we 'ave, Zachary Bloodstone," he replied brightly, grin remaining in place. Reaching for his crutch, he climbed to his feet, lazily starting towards the dragon--and careful to remain between Zach and the doorway. "Surely you remember me? Th' cave, yes? I nearly strangled you, if I recall correctly. Pity I didn't. You got me in a lot of trouble, Zachary."

Trouble with a certain shadow, to boot. Thom stole a wary glance towards the door to be sure said shadow hadn't arrived in Zach's wake and, with Zach's words, turned his eyes a bit further to search for Natsumi. It took him a moment to realize she was under the chair, and once he did...well, he wasn't sure what to do about it. He was torn. Torment Zach, or comfort Natsumi? ...Or do both at the same time by tormenting Zach? That would work. Insert toothy grin.

"Now that you m-mention it..." Zach's eyes flickered between the door and the half-snake monstrosity hobbling his way. Trapped. All the methods of escape that ran through his mind sounded horribly impractical to the sliver of consciousness that was still human. Fly? No, there was a ceiling. Swim? No water to dive into. Make a break for it and hope to all deities of questionable existence he'd find himself on the other side of the door?

Well, it sure sounded a lot better than anything else he could come up with.

Without another thought he abandoned his laundry and ran, trying to get around the snake as best he could. He didn't care whether Natsumi was around, or whether the snake was directly in front of him. His wings unfurled from his lack of concentration, open like a pathetic makeshift parachute. Here went nothing.

Natsumi watched the scene before her a moment, edging her way out of the fetal position she had uselessly shoved herself into. Cause you know... The best way to escape a dragon eating you is donning the fetal poisition under a flimsy public laundry room chair. Either way, she had been trying to come out of it, calming down with lots and lots of mental encouragements against a panic attack.

That was, until Zach made a run for it. To which she let out a light squeak and ducked under again, initially mistaking the sudden rush for the door as a sudden rush for her, as she was pretty much right next to the door. Zach was then tripped, causing the paniced woman to squeak again and squish back up against the wall. It was like a bad remake of Godzilla.

Flinching eyes slowly pried one open, to peer at the dragon before her. She hadn't gotten a good glimpse of all the changes until that moment, everything before had mostly been red scales equals zach. Zach equals don't stare. That and to hide. But now he was right there, showing off all sorts of features of the dragon he had claimed to be becoming. Oh yes, that had been a really bad first impression.

Initially, she shifted back from his closeness.. But his actions weren't anything like they were before. No threatning gestures, no irritated voice, no glare of pure annoyance. Just a pure pleading look... A pathetic one, at that. And what young girl's heart wouldn't bleed for such a look? Cautiously, her body slipped away from it's position against the wall, tail shifting nerviously. She wasn't coming out just yet, but she had neared forward enough to sneak a glimpse at the current top of the food chain. Thom would never... Would he? But.. Alec had suprised her with the Aubery incident, and with that had shattered her trust in her judgement of people. But at the same time... This was Thom. He'd never shown signs of agression around her... Neither had Alec. Oh the confusing thoughts and misconceptions.

There was a long pause, enough for Zach to relax his arms a little bit and crane his neck around in the direction of the executioner. His breath was still caught uncomfortably in his throat - what could he say that could possibly save him this time? Reasoning with a nutcase was pointless. Unfortunately, running away hadn't exactly been the right solution here either. He wasn't particularly conscious of Natsumi or what she thought of him. There were things that came before one's image, namely one's life.

At first he'd followed the sharp arc of the crutch with his eyes, but couldn't, turning his head away sharply instead to stare at the lint-strewn floor. He clamped his teeth together suddenly when it hit the back of his foot, nearly biting his tongue in the process - he'd expecting it to land on one of his underdeveloped wings, or the back of his head. Zach didn't even wait for the cobra's mocking permission to bolt. Moments after the snake let go of his ankle he was already pushing off the floor with his palms, tail stiff as a board behind him out of pure fear. The last time they'd met had been a terrifying enough experience and he wasn't going to wait for any malicious change of heart. Toes scrabbling against the floor, he pulled the door open and fled outside.

It was only after he'd slammed the door behind him and slunk around to the shady side of the building that he realized he'd left his laundry in there. There was no way he'd go back in now, not until the room was empty of the would-be killer. The snake would pay for this, he hoped. Sabin hadn't let the black and yellow menace get away with what he'd done before.

Thom, in fact, did not chase after the dragon man. The moment the door swung closed behind Zach, he ceased counting and simply allowed himself a good long laugh. He had successfully terrified the dragon, would likely be able to do so again, and had managed to do so without attempting anything that might provoke retribution from the labs on Zach's behalf. The shadow, satisfied, slunk away, probably after Zach, and Thom, completely at ease for the time, laughed.

Finally his laughter tapered off, and he straightened up, wiping his eyes and shaking his head after the dragon. Still grinning, he turned his attention now to Natsumi, hopefully assuring the girl he meant her no harm even if he had been less than friendly towards Zach. "Don't 'ide under th' chair next time. I'll let you hit 'im with th' crutch."