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It was far too quiet at home. Admittedly, he was used to being home alone for long periods of time... His mother and many of the inhabitants of the boarding house that he lived in worked for some kind of carnival or something- he really should ask his mother if he could come with her sometime, but he never quite worked up the nerve.
...but still, it felt different this time- what with the war and all. It was quiet and he was worried, and the comfortable room he lived in felt stifling and prison-like instead of a refuge. When he found himself pacing around thumbing through the book on -flower arrangements-, he knew he had to get out or he was going to go stir-crazy.
Tail lashing, Darien picked through his belongings until he found a pencil case and a mostly-new sketchpad. He should draw something. Yes, that was it... he'd draw something new, and maybe his mind would settle. His mother would be fine, she always was, and he just needed some air. Clutching his pad of paper and pencil case like a shield and sword against the world, Darien made sure to lock up his room, and then ventured outside of his usual little bubble, letting his feet decide where they took him.

Darien admittedly zoned out a bit- which was unlike him, he was usually so nervous about social interaction... but maybe that's why he walked away from the city and into some sort of wooded area. He relaxed after a moment of panic... he couldn't have wandered far, right? And maybe it would be better here than in some stuffy cafe or the like- he wasn't good with crowds, and it wasn't often that he got to draw anything natural outside of some of the photo books his mother had supplied him. When he heard rustling coming from somewhere near him, he paused. Some kind of animal? He cautiously moved closer- if it was dangerous, he didn't want to alert it, and if it wasn't... maybe it would make a good sketch.
He was not, however, expecting to find a Pockettu... eating a leaf? "Oh!" escaped from his lips before he could quiet himself.

It's not like he'd never seen a Pockettu with strange features before... he had a tail, for one thing. Someone he lived near had butterfly wings. He'd just never seen anyone quite so... well- sort of unique, really!
The dark-eyed Pockettu blushed a little, his teal cheeks purpling ever-so-slightly. He was being rude! Darien fiddled with his sketchpad uselessly, trying to give his hands something to do.
"H-hello..." he finally managed. He couldn't just... -not- greet the other back. It was far too late to try and sneak off with his tail literally between his legs. "I, umm... didn't... mean to interrupt your..." he fumbled with his words, "Bug... watching? I was just taking a walk..."

"I'm... Darien," he paused a moment- for some reason he didn't meet a whole lot of people with a last name... what was the protocol for that? "Erm, it's nice to meet you- Mister Bloodlust?"
He brought his sketchpad up to block his face- the other's name sort of sounded like some sort of villain's name, but it made him smile a little for some reason.
Darien blinked his dark eyes as the other had problems with his tail. "A-are you stuck?" his own tail flicked side to side, just like it always did when he thought about it. "I... don't see a bug... could you show me?" he tried to move the conversation along in case he'd embarrassed the other mentioning his difficulties.

"Ahh, Be...helf, then," Darien tried to make sure he pronounced the unfamiliar name correctly.
Then he glanced down at his own tail, flicking the pointed tip up. He didn't give his tail much thought, really- he can't imagine having one that grabbed onto things, "I don't even think mine -could- grab something... not very flexible," he mumbled half to himself.
He purpled again, "I'm sorry! I distracted you, so your bug ran off..." he looked a little mortified now. To say he wasn't good around people was making light of it, apparently, and he tended to blame himself for that fact.

Darien let out a little embarrassed, "Oh! Beh-elf, then. I'm sorry," he tried his best to copy how the other pronounced his own name.
"I've never really thought much about names," he admits, "But I guess mine's the least exciting one in my family?" he appears to study his sketchpad, but there's nothing on the page he has it turned to.
"...I don't think I'd really ever -hit- anyone with my tail... n-not on purpose, anyway," he cleared his throat sheepishly, "I broke a vase once by accident when I was looking at things in a shop and turned around too quickly. ...I got yelled at, and had to replace it. My mom gave me the money back, though... but I still got stressed out."
He listened a little wide-eyed as Behelf related the story involving getting stuck on the ceiling, and while part of him could sympathize with him, another part of him thought it was kind of funny, and a soft chuckle escaped Darien before he could reign it in. "I'm sorry!" he said immediately, "It probably wasn't very fun... but the mental image is sort of funny..." he tried to explain himself.
Darien shuffled and looked down at himself as the conversation veered back to him. "I guess I am? Y-you're really eyecatching yourself, you know..." he glanced at Behelf, dark eyes sweeping over the feathered ears and the bright shock of red hair.

He was sort of at a complete loss to parse all the talk of being 'specimens' and the like, so Behelf's rambling about it just made Darien blink and tilt his head. ...was he being complimented? He wasn't entirely sure... it still made him shuffle a bit when Behelf said that he'd make good specimens anyway.
He was quite thankful to be back on familiar ground when the other brought up his sketchpad, though. "Oh, this? It's not for notes... I draw," he smiled a little, "I could probably take some pretty good notes... my mother is very meticulous when it comes to planning- but I just left the house because I was getting bored. There's only so many times I can draw from photos before it gets boring, and there isn't anyone around to sketch..."
He looked a little wry, "W-well, not like many people -want- to be sketched anyway..." Or, rather, he was too shy to ask sometimes.
There wasn't much in his current sketchbook, but he flipped back a few pages anyway, turning it so that Behelf could see- as fate would have it, he'd been bored enough to draw a spider that had been making a web outside of the window in his room. It was mostly realistic, done in pencil- but Darien had done some embellishment. There was a beautiful flower caught in the web that would have been far too heavy for a normal spiderweb to support, and the spider itself looked like it the legs were shiny metal with barbed hooks and over-sized dripping fangs- all against the background of a delicate spiderweb spangled with dew.