Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Ambulance." Aella replied quickly and spotted reaching for the phone so she could rub his back. "If he is bleeding internally the less movement the better. "


Meph almost dialed the number on his phone before stopping himself. They had another ******** phone! He immediately swapped out to Aella's phone and dialed for emergency services, requesting an ambulance to come their way. Honestly, this might have been overkill to use Aella's. Also, it might be entirely useless! If Deia really was tracking him like he thought, she'd soon be on their tails once they arrived at a hospital. Still, he hoped this meant something. He told the team where they were and then headed outside to wait for an ambulance.


Using Aella's phone was a good call, but Meph would soon realize he was unprepared. Upon arriving, a stretcher was brought in and medical personnel went straight into checking his vitals while another person approached Aella and Mephitis for information. Name, age, date of birth, species, medical history, insurance, and relation to the patient. After all, only family could ride in the ambulance. Aella looked to Meph to answer the questions.


Ash was not in the greatest conditions, but once he had been turned on his side, allowing the blood to flow out, his reputations had begun to return to normal. Still, he was feverish and blood was still present in his oral cavity, yet no cuts existed.


Mephitis froze up for a second as a slew of questions started coming his way. The boy gritting his teeth as he stood there before the EMT. The man waiting patiently but also pressing Mephitis as to whether he knew the boy at all. That wasn't what tore at him. Instead, it was Aella's stare. The young man trembling underneath her gaze as he knew he was about to do something she wouldn't be prepared for. Why of all people did this fall to him? He hated doing it, but he was only getting better. His hand reached out to Aella's and he grabbed it tight.

"Aaron Davis." Mephitis paused and gave a shrug, acting if he was trying to remember something. However, he was taking time to make up a story. "I gotta be honest, we only met this guy a couple weeks back at a party." Part of that wasn't a lie so Mephitis was able to say it confidently. "He says he's seventeen. No clue on birthday though. I'm going to guess human hybrid since he's shown some cool powers from time to time. "He told us he has no family and has been roaming around the country taking odd jobs. Not sure where he stays but he hangs out with us a lot. So, I'd say we're friends. Honestly, dude seems off the grid." His hand tightened around Aella's, hoping she'd follow along. He knew he had a lot to explain later.


Uh... Mephitis was holding her hand? Okay, guess this is happening? Weird. It was weird, because it was Mephitis and he was like THE anti-contact guy. Aella had no idea what was going on but she guessed it had something to do with the whole 'escaping family' thing Ash mentioned when they first met. Luckily for Meph, Aella was used to lying to authorities and rolling with stories on the fly. He'd feel her fingers lace intimately through his and Aella took another step closer to him, gently stoking his biceps with her other free hand in order to play the part of girlfriend that she guessed he was trying to portray to the EMT. If that wasn't what he was going for, he really needed to work on his non-verbal communication. The EMT made some notes, put in a call for a medic from the BoM, and then continued some questions as Ash was wheeled out of the room and into the ambulance. There were some other questions as well like where were his clothes, why he was here in a motel, how he had gotten injured, things like that. "We're not sure exactly. We had a room last night so we could spend some time together and he called late asking if he could come crash with us but didn't show up until super early this morning. He was naked and passed out on the bed right away. At first we thought he was just really drunk or something so we were going to let him sleep it off but then he started coughing up blood." They were thanked for the info, asked if there was anything they wanted to add, and told which hospital he would be at should they wish to visit him later.


Mephitis owed Aella his life right then as she happily played along with the lie. For once, he was able to relax a little more and ease into the lie, knowing that she was supporting him on this. Although, it was strange. Usually, he was so frantic whenever she got close or decided to touch him. He'd blush, whine, and try to escape anyway he could. Right now though, he seriously needed someone at his side, helping him. He was also surprised she followed his lead on the couple thing. After all, he wanted to give them a reason why THEY were together and reaffirm that Ash was just this "Aaron Davis" that they just met. Mephitis nodded to Aella when she described last night. "No, nothing else to add. Thank you so much."

From there, Mephitis just went silent as he watched Ash be taken. Those sad pink-eyes just following the boy's body. Even if there was a monster in his "nephew", he still cared for the guy. So, when the ambulance left, he just stood there staring for a long time.


Once they were standing alone in the motel, Aella expected Mephitis to drop her like a bad habit. Except he didn't. He was standing stock still, continuing to hold her hand. Was he in shock? Her adrenaline was still pumping through her veins, giving her the energy to ignore her blasting headache and fatigue so she continued to stand there with him. Actually, holding his hand in silence was much better for her than any form of conversation at this point because she had no idea what to say to him. So she simply stood there and held his hand for as long as he wanted and when he finally decided to let go of her, Aella would speak. "Should we head to the hospital then?"


As Ash was inducted to the hospital, several findings had been made. There had been signs of internal organ failure, but oddly enough he still seemed to function-in a healthy manner given his shape-for some time. It was almost like he had frail dying organs managing the output of a young man’s body habitus. Even more perplexing were that his vitals were steadily improving after the episode that had been disclosed by the boy’s peers. His heart showed signs of tissue death, but was bouncing back to a normal rate-yet still on the high end. Samples of the bloody sputum disclosed that there were dead tissue fragments…as if his body was shedding necrotic tissue. It was a very perplexing case, seeing as all the signs would point to an incredibly unstable patient while he was paradoxically stabilizing. Still, he did not wake. He had been out on oxygen and several medications to slow his heart rate…but even then his body seemed to reject medications and decreased at its own sluggish rate. When Ash was finally admitted the hospital called for an arcane specialist, who sensed some kind of curse…but it was not identifiable. It seemed too deeply rooted for anti magic to remove completely…and it was too old and anonymous to counter spell. That being said, Ash was put into an anti magic room…where the rate of his recovery seemed to be assisted. Visitors would be questioned if they knew this Aaron Davis, and whether or not they knew of any sort of history between him and dark arts practitioners. They were currently going through a process to identify him and find some kind of reference to contact or some kind of medical record, but they would find no such thing meeting his description.


Mephitis couldn't explain why he continued to hold Aella's hand. He didn't know whether he was just lost in thought, shocked by all that was happening, or if he found her presence comforting. However, he didn't move an inch until she finally spoke up. Those pink eyes snapping to her as he started to come back reality. "Y-Yeah, we should. I-" Mephitis looked around the room for a second, checking to see if there was anything they forgot. As he moved his hands to check his pockets, he froze up again. He looked down at Aella's hand as if to confirm he was really holding it before letting go. His face bright red as he looked away and coughed a few times. "Thanks for that. I don't know how much Ash has told you but... Deia can't find him. Also, I can get us to the hospital, if you don't mind flying. That, or we can get a taxi."


They had been holding hands for like ever. Aella eventually spoke up, mainly because her feet were hurting from standing still in her heels, which were still on from yesterday. "Yeah, no problem." She replied, wishing that she had pockets to awkwardly stick her hands in. Without anything to do with them, she dragged them up the smooth, skin tight fabric of her bum, shrugging as she did. Maybe he would think she had pockets. "He told me he was imprisoned or something when we first met at the gas station, but that's all." She turned and picked up the coffee, chugging what was left since that was the closest thing to a pain killer it looked like she was going to get. "Up to you, I don't have money so you're either paying or flying." She set the empty cup down, flipped her head upside down to shake free some of the sand and glass tangled in her wild locks, then flipped it back up. "Okay, I'm ready." She gave him a once over. "On second thought, maybe we should fly." She gestured to his bare feet and last of shirt. "Or at least fly to a shoe store, you don't want to walk around barefoot in a city."


"I think I have enough for a cab." Mephitis said with a little shrug as he checked his wallet. Honestly, he had ZERO idea how much things were, but he definitely had enough for a cab there and back to the city. However, he stopped in his place as he looked down and checked over himself. Feet a mess, no shirt, and he was wearing another dude's jeans... He looked like a bum. He sighed and said, "Maybe we should head to Rengoku and clean up." Either way, they were flying. The young man heading out of the room and already sprouting his wings as he did. He let out a pained grunt as he looked back at them. Bullet holes still there and they were so damn sore from last night.


Were they not in the city anymore??? Aella’s brows furrowed as he mentioned flying back to Rengoku, which she assumed he meant the school not the city. "Were not flying all the way up the mountain just to chang-" Oh. Without thinking, Aella reached a hand out to touch them. Her fingertips gingerly brushed around one of the holes, careful not to actually touch the scabbing edges. This was her fault. Slender brows furrowed together. "... I'm sorry." She said softly, crystalline hues searching to connect with his pink ones. Aella wanted him to know she meant it.


"I mean, we're at the beach already so the fl-" Mephitis was honestly looking up at the sky to see if everything would be good for flying. It was a mostly clear day so they wouldn't have to worry. However, he immediately shut his mouth as he felt Aella's fingers tracing around the wound upon his wing. It didn't hurt, just sent a strange sensation down his spine. He looked at her for a bit before getting the most sincere sorry he had ever heard pass those lips. He just stared at her for a long time before giving a tired smile, "It's not your fault. None of us thought Cash's guys would find us like that. Besides, it'll heal."


Aella held his gaze a moment longer. A lump had formed in her throat at seeing the damage she caused and tears threatened to well in her eyes when he excused it. Dark lashes flickered and she cast her crystalline gaze off to the side. It was her fault. She'd gotten too comfortable, decided not to wear her wig and darken her eye make up. If she'd been in disguise, none of this would have happened. There was no going back though and right now they needed to get to Ash. "Are you sure you can fly?" She asked after a moment of silence where she composed herself. "Am I going to be too heavy?"


"Yeah, I'm sure." Mephitis didn't mention that he flew with the damage last night for far longer than he should have. He didn't want her to feel any worse about what happened. So, he just started to stretch his wings and took a deep breath as he started to reach out, "Nope. You're basically a feather when I'm in this form." She was already stupid light anyways! He just looked at her and started to blush again. "I um... I'm going to pick you up now." He didn't move... He was looking for permission.


"Okay." Aella blinked. This was the first time (to her knowledge) that he'd flown with her- or anyone for that matter- so she wasn't exactly sure what to do. As a result, she just kind of stood there, staring at him awkwardly to initiate. The awkwardness of it all was compounded by the fact that Mephitis was such a bottom, the idea of him initiating anything was completely out of character for him. It couldn't be helped though. There was no way for her to know if he needed to scoop her up into a princess carry, pull her close like superman and louis lane, or if she needed to climb on his back like a dragon rider. So... she just stood there. Staring.


Just a few more seconds of painful awkwardness and Mephitis finally reached out and picked up Aella. The young man carrying her like a princess as he kicked off the ground and flew into the air. As he rushed through the sky, it was only then that he realized how close the city was and how far away the school was from here. Honestly, he wasn't sure why he thought it was so much closer... However, it just reaffirmed that Aella was right. He would need to buy some clothes at some shop and then head off to Ash. So, they made a short stop at a cheap clothing store to buy some. He ended up with a plain black T-shirt, a new pair of socks, and some white sneakers. He wasn't even sure what brand this crap was. Whatever, he would just toss them once back at school.

Mephitis made Aella carry the shirt as he couldn't wear it until his wings were gone. Finally, they arrived at the hospital where Mephitis landed in an alley a few blocks down and put his shirt on. "Okay, we're here. Remember. Aaron Davis. Seventeen. Met him couple weeks back. We think he's a human hybrid. I don't think they'll interrogate us but still."


He might have thought the awkwardness had ended, but it was only just beginning. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck when he bent down to scoop her up, thinking that her shoulder would be uncomfortably in the way if she didn't. Flying wasn't something she had experienced before so when they lifted up from the ground with a giant flap of his wings, she instinctively drew herself closer to him, pressing tightly to his bare chest and clutching his neck for safety. Being carried in a cradle wasn't something she normally experienced and it was only made that much more nerve wracking by the fact that it was a bumbling dragon boy taking her away from the safety of the ground. Eventually, Aella got used to the small dips that happened every time his wings were on the upswing. They had been scary at first, but the longer he went without dropping her, the more comfortable she felt. She was actually enjoying it a little by the time they spotted a shop.

It happened to be one of those tourist places near the pier, the ones with shirts that said 'I ❤️ Rengoku' on the front along with other paraphernalia. Mephitis was actually quite lucky to find some plain things. Apparently they did custom logo and airbrush design so they had blank shirts available. Ash wasn't so lucky, because Aella took it upon herself to pick him out some clothes while Meph shopped for himself. He would end up with a cheap Hawaiian snapping shirt, a pair of swim shorts (because she couldn't find any underwear), and some flip flops that were added onto Meph's pile along with a comment about Meph going commando and a flirtatious smirk. His pants were sagging low enough on his obliques that she had noticed his lack of underwear by them and she couldn't help but point it out in a suggestive tone.

The second flight was much more fun. She wasn't as scared this time as she had survived the first one just fine. Aella pointed out several things she could see in the city with the kind of excitement that came with the rush of flight and asked him to go higher and then dive low and if he obliged, she's shriek with glee and ask to go again. He'd realize she really liked the rush of adrenaline, as it made her eyes sparkle and her energy soar. Arriving at the hospital, she sobered some and handed Meph his shirt. He looked a little less wild being all clothed again- which was kind of disappointing. She nodded to each fact as he recapped. "I remember."

It took nearly 24 hours after the onset of his unconscious state for Ash to finally come to. It started slow, his vision incapable of defining details beyond colored blobs. Once his awareness was relayed to the medical team, several doctors came in ready to question the boy, determining if he had basic coherency before they asked him any other question. Apparently “shut up, where am I” and “seriously just shut up and tell me where I am” were enough for the doctors to determine that he had no TBI. Ash came to soon after that, completely…and it was then that the doctors told him everything…and none of it he wanted to hear. He just wanted a normal life, none of this bullshit. “I refuse to stay here,”

“Well listen Mr David,”

Who the ******** was that? They then started saying that he was too drunk prior to running into the friends he had apparently met while he was being a roadbound vagabond. The ********? Ash’s eyes pinched with confusion, but eventually caught on that he was here under some lie that his uncle had made; or so he hoped. Still he should have NEVER been taken here. Ash reached for the IVs and yanked them all out, sending loud noises from the machines around him. “I’m refusing treatment, I don’t care what you say, just let me get the duck out of here,”

“Sir you shouldn’t get up, you’re still recovering,”

“Who asked for your opinion? It certainly wasn’t me, now move so I can leave. I’m fine…”

With that the doctors cleared the room…though a few people intercepted him, informing him that he needed to sign a release form…to which he signed <******** you” and left before they could confirm.
“Getting the ******** outta here, getting the ******** outta dodg- oh s**t”

Ash had exited into the main lobby, ensuring to leave everyone who might want his attention would be left in his dust…but in his haste he seemed to collide with someone…small…and familiar.

“Aella? Aella! What are you doing her- are you ok…what’s wrong?” His tone went through an emotional rollercoaster from rushed, to curious, to realization, to concern. “What’s wrong?” He held her shoulders gently to make sure she didn’t bounce off of him too aggressively, and would steadily release her once he was confident that she had balance. Sadly, the medical employees were quickly coming on his heels.

Aella wasn't all that small at the moment. She was still in her stiletto heels from the night before, giving her an extra four inches that made her almost nose to nose with Ash. Comparatively, he still had a good 80 lbs on her so she was extremely light in comparison. Her slender form had nothing on the built, six foot male- especially when she was essentially wearing stilts so it was good his reaction time was up to speed. If he hadn't caught her shoulders, she likely would have landed right in Meph’s lap. Seeing him though was not the lovely reunion he was probably expecting. "Ash!" Aella looked stricken to see him. Her features went wide and the color drained from her face. She was shaking in his grasp, seriously spooked. He’d see the streaks of black on her cheeks and the splotch of red by her temple from where it had rest on his uncle shoulder for several hours. A full second passed before she caught herself, blinking several times to reorient her brain. "Listen uh- I'm glad you're okay- but I have to go." She gestured to where they were sitting. "He's got clothes-" She side stepped him, trying to awkwardly go around the unexpected obstacle. "Sorry."


Ash’s deep blue eyes analyzed all the signs of anxiety…but at the end of the day…he felt entirely relieved that Aella was ok.

“Listen uh- I’m”

Ash gave her no more time and released her, only to bring her into a hug. “Jesus ******** I’m glad you’re ok…” it was an impulse…because he hadn’t seen her since he had gone unconscious…and here she was…alive and well…a little traumatized it seemed but Meph was there so what could have gone wrong? He was the hero no doubt. He would release his hold on her a little, allowing her some mobility as he reiterated “what’s going on, you…you’ve been crying…” it didn’t even matter that he was in a medical gown right now.

“Mr. Davis this won’t suffice as a signature!” One could here from behind the door that led to the long hall of examinations rooms.


Deia was exhausted. She been contacted in the middle of the night by the BoM with a dragon related emergency and had spent the last 12 hours in meetings with different organizations, convened dragon families, and press conferences. Of course the Isernia family had nothing to do with the incident, they weren't fire breathers, but being the most influential dragon family in the public eye, it affected them anyway. She was slumping down into her desk in an exhausted heap when a knock on her door sounded. Tiamut's wrath, it never ended. "Come in." Deia said in a resigned tone. It was one of her researchers, bringing in some fresh data from a nearby hospital. Well, at least it wasn't another fire breathe related problem to deal with. She could use a good puzzle. Deia instructed them to leave the paperwork on her desk and began pouring over the data. It was quite fascinating- an unknown curse! Deia pressed the intercom button. "Hold my appointments for the next two hours and have Clarence bring the car around." Deia wanted to see the subject in person.


Honestly, if Ash hadn't been able to cut Aella off before she rushed out, the dark haired beauty would have made a clean getaway. Mephitis was passed out like a rock in the chair. His head rolled to one side and body slumped down so low that he just might fall out of his seat. All of those flights, the shitty bed, and emotional damage finally showing just how much energy had been sapped from the young man. He seriously needed to go back to the school and actually get some good rest for once.

As the two spoke, the poor poison dragon finally slipped out from his seat and his a** dropped onto the floor. In the most ridiculous manner, Mephitis gasped out and started to scramble about like a fool. His head whipping about this way and that as he tried to figure out where in the hell he was before recognizing that he was in the hospital. His eyes looked back at to Aella's seat to find her gone but the stuff was still there. He didn't need to look far before he found her again... And with Ash.

"Oh, thank ********." Mephitis groaned as he grabbed the stuff and started to head over to them. "Ash! I'm so glad you're okay." Mephitis was oblivious as to what was going on. He didn't know Aella had been crying nor that she was trying to leave. He just thought she had woken up first and got to talk to Ash.


She'd been...? How could he tell? Aella brought a hand up to her face to wipe at her cheeks but her fingers stopped short as a doctor began yelling at them from down the hall. Her eyes drifted over Ash's shoulders to a man in a lab coat storming at a brisk pace through the corridor. Mephitis' wake up went unnoticed behind her as her sights focused from the direction Ash had come from. Wasn't Davis the fake name they gave? Aella had a bad feeling. "Uh..." She ended up pointing instead at the angry medical worker, thoughts of ditching them temporarily tabled. "Should we... run?"


Ash’s head pivoted a full 180 when he heard the doctor yell after him. Jesus he needed to…

“Should we run?” Aella manages. Couldn’t have said it any better <******** lutely.” He glanced at meph, “yup, I’m fixed up, all better, and more than ready to run out of here with my a** hanging out. The hell were you thinking bringing me out here man?!” His angry whispered the last sentence. As he gave Aella a look before booting towards the front door. Every now and then he would find the girls arm and guide her into a sharp turn before running again. That being said, Ash was in the front of the pack…where one could see the assembly of all his scars on his back and…oh yeah…his a**. Eventually they reached an alley and had shaken everyone…that’s when Ash stopped and put his hands on his waste “ok, good night run…nice nice. Let’s never do that again… I’m not trying to meet My mom sooner than I want to”


Mephitis blinked a few times as Aella asked if they should run. The boy then whipped his head towards Ash as the boy agreed with that statement. Wait, why were they running now? What was going on? Meph had little time to process all of this information as Ash started hissing at him about bringing him here. The poison dragon just glared at his nephew as he tried to hiss back, "You were bleeding o- Ohhhh. Oh! That's why we're running." The blue-haired idiot was slow on the upkeep but, when he saw an angry medical worker, he bolted out of there. The foolish wannabe hero just tearing his way out of the hospital with Ash's new clothes in hand. Could have done without the sight of Ash's a**, but whatever. They were safe for now and away from that terrible place.

Ash hadn't been on the sharp side of her tongue and if Meph had been in front of her, he would have been able to see the sharp glint in her eyes when she raised her gaze upward and known it was coming. Aella met Ash's glare with one of her own, completely icing him out in such an unfeeling, chilling way that it almost seemed inhuman. He was talking about friendship, about how he had chosen this, but Aella hadn't. She was rearing up, preparing to tell them that they could both go sing kumbayah in the distance together and put all their eggs into the power of friendship, but Aella hadn't agreed to any of it. As far as she was concerned, they weren't friends. All of it was ready to go, sitting on the tip of her tongue just waiting to spill out in a ruthless slice of cold silver. Then at the last second, everything changed. It was that racoon comment. An edgy racoon. What the- Aella's brows furrowed instead and a heat filled her chest, burning away the cold in an instant. "Are you- are you making fun of my make up right now?!" Now. Of all times. RIGHT NOW?!?!?! She was so shocked, it was so incredulous, Aella completely forgot about what she was trying to do and instead started trying to fix whatever black had flaked off from her lashes while she was sleeping to give her a raccoon appearance.


“Eh?” Did she really just, wait…what? What was even happening, “no? Pretty sure I was talking about our run-on joke, and you being edgy…I-“ Ash shrugged, “don’t really care ‘Bout your make up. s**t gets emotional, so…” Ash didn’t know what to say. He thought he was pretty clear. He shrugged. “You’re still pretty, not sure if that helps…hey Meph, I’m actually gonna skip out for the night after I drive her bike back…if my moms sees the cameras she might send one of her men to the school. Soooo imma stay somewhere else tonight.”

In the event that Aella missed a spot, Ash would kindly just point it out to her, using his own anatomy to try and help her get any splotches she missed. God this girl is just a bundle of emotion, Jesus. “Who has the keys to the bike?”


Mephitis couldn't help but stifle a bout of laughter as Ash brought up Aella looking like a raccoon. One of the few things from last night that he absolutely loved. Just the very idea of a raccoon Aella squeaking her little head off. He snorted a little as he covered his mouth and looked the other way. "The edgiest of raccoons." He hummed out before turning back towards Ash. He pursed his lips and sighed. <********, right... The cameras. Yeah, that honestly sounds like a good idea. If you need me, text Aella. Otherwise, s**t will hit the fan fast." Mephitis then sighed as he scratched the back of his head. This was going to get bad. "Honestly, I'd stay off the radar for a while. Deia is going to go crazy and if I'm on those cameras... Well, I'm next up on her list of targets." Mephitis fished around in his pockets for a bit to pull out his wallet and four hundred bucks that he still had stashed away. Honestly, this kid walked around with WAY too much. He held out the money towards Ash and sighed, "Here. That's all I got for now. Hope that helps to get something cheap."

Her lower lip puffed out into a pout that was borderline sultry as they both teased her. She wasn't trying to be sultry in that moment, but she had one of those faces that just looked alluring when she was frustrated. It pissed her off even more that his comment had completely deflated her cold front. Now what was she supposed to do with this?! Aella was used o Mephitis cowering or bumbling around like a kicked puppy, not being disarmed from the get go. All she could do was huff as Ash attempted to help fix the make up, but it was the kind of mess that needed either a cleansing wipe or a lot of soap and water. Dry fingers did nothing and if he licked his finger, Aella would make a face and back up with 'Ew, don't rub spit on me like I'm five.'

"It doesn't." Though she'd take the compliment anyway. "I have the key." She informed them. Was it too late to take back her offer? When she was heated, she had no problem throwing her precious machine in between herself and the boys to keep their unwanted friendship at bay. Now that the tactic had failed miserably and it was actually time to hand over the keys, Aella was reluctant to do so. However she was also a woman of her word, so. Begrudgingly, she reached a hand down into the side of her bra, causing her breast to nearly pop free of the plunging neckline of her jumpsuit. Meph would see the creamy flesh bulge as it was displaced in order to make room for her hand in a place that had no extra room to spare. A soft grunt was made as her finger hooked into the loop and pulled it free. The damn thing had been in there so long it was imprinted into the side of her breast and actually kind of hurt to retrieve.

"Here." Aella handed it to Meph to hold while Ash put away his cash and phone. It was still warm.


400? ******** that was enough for some trashy touch screen maybe…well, it was temporary, maybe he would get something cheaper and use the rest for two days of food or something “thanks, you still owe me a new phone tho” Ash pointed out to his uncle as he pocketed this. “But this will suffice…for now” he looked back to Aella…and actually did try to kick his finger, which earned him a look that made him stop “what?” Jesus this woman was a headache…and he still wanted to be her friend…maybe something was wrong with him in the head? “Whatever, anywho y’all can fly and s**t..imma stick to the roads…not trying to run into anybody. Aella I’ll get your bike to the student parking lot…and I’ll text you when it gets there from…whatever trash I decide to buy…” it seemed that she had decided to stop being weird at least. That much was good. ash would wait to get the keys before he would try to dip himself…he might buy a beanie to hide his hair too while he was at it…one to match this horrid choice of attire.


Mephitis was entirely clueless to the emotional distress Aella felt earlier and the icy tirade that she would have gone on... If not for Ash just cutting her down with the raccoon comment. However, what he did notice was Aella reaching into her damn bra to fish out the keys. His face becoming bright red in seconds as he just stared for a moment longer and then turned his head to look at a wall. What the hell was wrong with this girl!? Was this seriously more common than he thought or was Aella just weird? He was going to go with Aella was just weird... Actually, did Akyrie do this sort of thing? No, right? Right?

Things only got worse as Aella held out the keys to Mephitis. The girl was acting like this was totally fine while he stared in complete shock. His hand just trembling as he slowly reached it up and took the keys from her. Still warm! It was still ******** warm! The poor poison dragon seemed ready to have a ******** heart attack as purple smoke jetted out the sides of his mask. The fumes twisting up high into the air as he stood there shaking. As soon as Ash asked for the keys, Meph shoved them into the boy's hand and turned away. "Yep. Good. Great. All done here. No need for me to hold that. So, w-w-we should really get going."


To Aella it wasn't weird in the slightest. No pants pockets meant bra pockets right? The only reason she'd given him her cellphone was because it was too big to fit into her top- unlike her keys and ID. Looking at the keys, there were only two plain ones. Nothing was colored or had a little plastic coating and there were no key chains or anything decorative on them. Aella didn't think anything strange about handing them over, so Meph's reaction was chalked up to just him doing his weird coughing thing. His face turned red and coughed quite a bit but Aella always assumed it had something to do with his breathing problem. Like the toxic fumes got stuck in his lungs or he choked on his own spit all the time because he was wearing a mask. She was completely oblivious to the fact that it only happened when she did something he found outrageous.

Aella nodded once to Ash. "Don't scratch him up or anything." She warned, fully intent on checking him once he was returned to the school. There was nothing left to say at that point, so Aella turned toward Meph and tried to ignore the fact that he was once again shirtless. Seriously, could he please stop looking hot? The shirtless, low riding jeans look was really working for him. Actually... she had an idea. "Can I see my phone before we go?" Aella held out her hand.


The exchange of Aella’s keys was a bit jarring, seeing ad Ash fumbled with them as they were shoved into his care. What the hell was that all about. “Jesus relax man,” Ash managed as he looked over to meph in confusion…which is when he saw the hints of blush just around the dragon’s mask. Ash crooked a brow, and took a moment to look at the warm keys in his hand, then to Aella…and after that everything seemed to click as he looked back to Meph, “oh c’mon man, no way that makes you all bashful….” Ash felt a bit of mischief surface…so much so that a impish grin began to blossom on his features. He then jingled the keys towards Mephs face and made ghost noises as he said, “ooooOOO, boobie keys”. After that he chuckled a little. His uncle was really sensitive about this stuff wasn’t he. He then began to walk away, giving a “no promises,” to Aella before skipping out of the alley and towards some place where he could pick up a hat to blend in more before getting the bike


Mephitis just glared at his nephew as the orange-haired a*****e started to tease him about the keys. His left eye twitching a bit as he thought more about this situation. Seriously, he wasn't crazy right?! He should be bashful about this! Aella had just stored that thing under her damn boobs and he was essentially touching it. Wouldn't it be like him storing his stuff near his damn crotch!? Well, actually, it wouldn't. Also, gross. Mephitis seemed to become lost in thought as he tried to figure out if he was being stupid...

"H-Huh? Oh, your phone?" Mephitis shrugged as he reached into his right pocket and snatched her phone out from them. He then held it towards Aella and waited. He was assuming she needed it to share her contact info with Ash. After all, most people couldn't remember phone numbers nowadays.


Aella gave Meph a side eye complete with a half sussed grin. "Seriously? That's why you're coughing?" She couldn't believe it! She suppressed a soft chuckle and shook her head a bit as she took her phone back. Since she didn't want Mephitis to catch on to what she was doing, she turned her back to him and took a few steps in the opposite direction while she navigated through the lock screen and to the camera app. Once it was ready, she turned around and only when she was sure she had a good angle did she tilt the phone up and take a picture. Or several pictures. There was no shutter sound since she had everything on silent, but she was 100% spamming the button to get a good dozen or so before he stopped her- if he stopped her. If he didn't notice right away, Aella would be done and flipping her phone shut before he could catch on.


Mephitis just let out a long, aggravated sigh as he looked away from the two of them. The boy placed his hands on his hips and just glared off at nothing for a while. Seriously, he wasn't the weird one here, right!? How could HE be the weird one? One was a clone lichdragon and the other was an edgy raccoon! Unfortunately for Mephitis, his focus upon this ridiculous topic left him open to Aella's "attack". The dark-haired beauty able to collect a slew of photos of the shirtless young man. By the time he finally looked back at her, her phone was shut and he was clueless. "Are you done yet? I seriously want to get back to school. The longer I stay in this stupid city, the more I'm worried one of Deia's contacts will see me." Meph huffed as he tapped his foot. "Also, I feel like people are looking at me." Yes... They were. Of course they were since he was ******** shirtless with his pants hanging low.


Aella sucked her inside of her cheeks together to bite down on them, attempting to prevent the smile and glitter of impish glee from showing on her features. Somehow, she managed not to grin outright at him as she handed him the phone back. "People are definitely staring, you look like you're posing for an ambercrombie and fitch ad." Aella snickered a little, unaware of how bad the tear streaks on her face were. The looks he was getting were actually a mixture of opinions. While some of the younger people may not care what was happening and were checking him out, the older people on the street who happened to glance into the mouth of the alley were casting glances of concern. A well built shirtless male with a gas mask and a crying, pretty woman was not really a good combination. "Should we take some selfies for your social media? If your sister asks, you could tell her you were trying your hand at becoming an insta-model." Aella pulled up close to him, pressing her body against his and placing the cool palm of her hand over his bare pectoral. "And pose!" She shot a 'model' look out at the street, where the pretend camera man swould be, complete with smoldering bedroom eyes. It was all fun and games for her though, because she actually had no idea what she was doing. She was just imitating what she thought she could remember off a magazine cover.


Mephitis raised his right brow a little bit as he finally saw the streaks running down Aella's face. This was the first time he had actually gotten a good look at her eyes and it caused him to worry a little bit. They must have been from last night? After all, she didn't seem to be in a bad mood as of right now. In fact, she seemed to be more than ready to mess with Meph to her damn hearts content. The boy's face immediately lighting up once more as she slid her body right up next to his and placed her hand upon his chest. The ******** was she doing!? The boy incredibly unamused with her antics as she suddenly turned and did her best to pose against him. He just huffed as he slowly pushed her back, "I'll let you know when Ratchet Raccoons Monthly calls you for a model." The boy was still on the backfoot even with that comment. Hard, short coughs erupting from his chest as smoke billowed upward again.

"Ohhhh they're not that bad." Aella took on a tone as if she were talking to a puppy not wishing to get in the bath but it too was playful. her hands began pulling up toward the area the bone was jutting out from, reversing the motion she had been making to push the knots away from it. "Stop moving it!" Aella paused to whack him in the back of the head. "How am I supposed to release the tension if you're tensing it?" She harumphed, but continued nonetheless. "Well..." Crazy wasn't the word she would use, but let's follow his train of logic for a moment. "Let's pretend you aren't bonkers, what's so weird about taking the bus?"


"Ow! You trying to help me or just hurt me more." Mephitis huffed. However, he did as he was told and stopped moving his wings, which was sort of hard. The little jolts that would run through his spine occasionally would have him wince a little or even squirm for a split second. None of it was Aella's fault though. Mephitis had definitely pushed himself too far and ended up screwing up his back in the process. This was starting to help though. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he tried to think. "Again. I think taking the bus from here is fine. It's in the city that I'm worried. Same stop with relatively close timings. Just pull that data and then pull whatever cam she wanted to for the day she was suspicious about. Granted, I guess she needs a REASON to do it. Deia doesn't like wasting time. So, um... Really she isn't checking the cams around the clock. That and I guess if I'm not with Ash, she could literally care less." Meph groaned as he finally admitted. "Okay, I'm bonkers."


"There there, glad you realize it. Acceptance is the first step." Aella snickered and ruffled his hair before switching to his other side so she could loosen it as much as her inexperienced fingers could before they got too tired.


Mephitis just gave an annoyed grunt as a reply while Aella ruffled that already messy blue hair. Okay, he really was getting too paranoid about Deia. Yes, he needed to be careful about his sister but he didn't need to be this crazy. He just shook his head as he looked around them for a bit. "You think a bus stop is anywhere close to here?"


"Seriously Meph? There are hundreds of bustops all around the city, probably even dozens. just within a few blocks of us here. Our school bus only goes to one though, since it's a private bus. From there you have to transfer to other lines or walk." Gods, she couldn't believe she was explaining buses to this idiot. "Are you so rich that you've never had to take the bus before?"


"I've taken the bus, Aella. I just haven't taken many." Meph huffed as he rolled his eyes. Honestly, he was so rich that he didn't need to ever take the bus. If he was more interested in being an Isernia, he could have had a damn limo carry him around anywhere he wanted on a whim. However, he felt like an a*****e any time he rode around like that. So, mostly, he just took the bus that went from here to the school and then walked around the city from there. He never really explored said city since he had his own little world build up basically. "Uh, stand back. I'm gonna transform back and we'll just get to a bus stop then."


"Uh huh." Aella tooootally believe him. She backed off when he asked her to though. "Alright, sounds good." Riding the bus might be nice for once, since her feet hurt super bad. All she wanted was a bubble bath, but sitting down for a while sounded like a good compromise. Once he pulled his wings in, Aella would let him lead them off in search of the bus. This wasn't an area she was all that familiar with since there wasn't much to do for a broke highschool kid.


Mephitis just rolled his eyes at her. He could easily tell that she didn't believe him but it really didn't matter. He just took a deep breath and pulled his wings back in. His eyes closing tight as he felt a bit of pain once more before they finally disappeared back into his body. Yeah, he was definitely going to need some rest and relaxation. However, he also needed some damn work on his transformation skills! He threw back on his shirt and turned towards Aella with a little nod.

"Alright, just one second." The boy ended up pulling out his phone and doing a quick search for the nearest bus. Why even ask Aella in the first place!? His eyes running over the screen as he tilted his head around. "Okay, I think I can get us to the one that takes us to school." And off they go! Mephitis easily gets them to a stop.


Aella takes a long a** bubble bath when they get back to the dorms, forces everyone to use the common bathroom down the hall, leaves all her s**t on the floor in the bathroom again, scampers about in a towel, and then eventually has tea and passes out.

Meph is PASSED OUT after that. Homie doesn't wanna wake up