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How could Marrow be expected to improve if nobody ever gave him the chance? It was beyond frustrating to find something you were really passionate about only to be denied a clean canvas. Granted, said canvas had been multiple other Freshlings as well as a few of the older students at the Academy. Every time Marrow was just about to get close enough to scribble with his pen on somebody's skin or fur they reprimanded them for his attempts.

"This isn't fair... it's not like it's going to stick forever. It's w-wash-a-ble," he struggled with the word as he read it off from the pen itself. He knew the jist of the word and that it wasn't going to stick like a real tattoo but it was good practice. Sure, it wasn't like a real needle or the awesome tattoo gun that he had been told about from that inked up stranger he had been lucky enough to meet, but it was close enough, right? He had always liked drawing but now that he had more of a purpose for his art it propelled him to be more hands on and ambitious.

Finally, he had something to channel all that angst he harbored.

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Maybe he could corner one of the other Freshlings. It wouldn't be too difficult to try and persuade them, either with faux kindness or fear. However, before he could even pick a victim he heard the distant humming of an older student growing persistently closer. Abort! Marrow spun around towards the direction of the soothing sound, hands immediately hiding the pen behind his back so that no immediate scolding could be given. However, he almost immediately forgot about his attempts to conceal his tool when he saw a rather long tail propelling a stranger in his direction. His little jaw dropped from the awe of it all.

Now, this wasn't to say he had never met a Naga. It was simply the fact that he had never met a grown Naga. He figured they would all keep their stubby little tails like that one Freshling he had met had but dear god this tail was daunting! "W-what? Huh?" He stammered immediately after he had been spoken to. Apparently Marrow's eyes had been locked onto his tail so intensely that he forgot all his other senses for that brief moment in time.

"W-what I got? Nuffin'! I ain't got anything, nosy pants," he sassed the elder student and crossed his arms over his chest. However, just as he had lied he got a brilliant idea. A big tail like that must have lots of room to tattoo, right? "Y-you got a big tail there," he mutters as he tentatively shuffles closer to the scales Corvo was sporting.

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No trouble? Yeah right! He had heard this before many-a-times prior to this moment. However, there was a unusual sense of comfort with this guy. He didn't seem like the rest of those hoity-toity upper-class students. He huffed as he contemplated his next few words. How would he go about this?

"I'm not sure... you look like a tattle," he huffed as if to test the other's temperament to make sure he wasn't a fibber. Oh boy, if he was fibber he would be sure to bite his ankles- tail? That's the kind of revenge he enjoyed dishing out.

He began to try and circle the man, as if eyeing up his prey, but unfortunately there was a bit of an obstacle. He came round to the thick tail and furrowed his brows before he decided he wasn't going to let anything get in his way. Without thinking he put the pen he had been trying to hide between his teeth and attempted to climb over the girth of the snake-ish body. He would conquer this mountain!

"Ugh...Why are you so big?!" he grumbled in frustration as he kept sliding down from the smooth scales. What an obstacle he was!

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Little?! That snarky remark had earned Corvo a scrunched little nose and a pair of squinted eyes glaring at him. However, they aren't exactly filled with hatred, and more or less of envy. Why couldn't he think of a good come back to that? Surely there had to be something he could bash about this stranger, but he was awesome. His spade as sharp looking as well as his spidery wings. He was definitely an inspiration.

Marrow was a stubborn little thing. Constantly, he would try to dig his little bare feeties into the side but his attempts were proving to be pathetic. It wasn't until the Naga so kindly slipped the spade beneath Marrow's little foot and hoisted him up higher. In a panic he flung himself over the back, sprawling across his spine to stabilize himself.

"I could have done it myself," he grumbled while a faint hue of pink began to rise on his chubby youthful cheeks. He didn't need help from anybody, or at least that's what he thought. Asking other people for help was a weakness, and Marrow believed that whole heartedly.

Soon after his little growl deep in his tiny chest the Freshie threw his leg over the other side of the Naga and straddled the stranger, completely facing away from his body by accident. "Gah," he hummed in frustration, gnawing on their little lip as he so carefully tried his hardest to spin around so he could face the other.

"I don't draw on walls! Walls are like paper- that's boring. I... I'm trying to tattoo- but nobody around here is cool enough to get one! I'm real good," that was when he realized. "Wait, where did my pen go?!" It seemed that in his sudden spook of being hoisted up he must have dropped his little tool from his teeth and just as expected his there it was sitting way down there on the floor.

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Did that really just happen? Was somebody referring to him as a great tattoo artist? He felt his heart beginning to pound while he restrained his urge to bounce on the balls of his feet with excitement. "Oh my god- geez, well... You're welcome." He had to use every ounce of restraint he had in order to hold back his giddiness. Play it cool, Marrow.

His plan to keep a stone cold expression was unfortunately hindered by the acceptance of his little hobby and aspirations. In fact, the man was even offering up his body to be his canvas. Endless possibilities began to flood Marrow's chaotic mind while his teeth began to bare themselves in a menacing grin. "Wait a second, Are you serious about this? You can't change your mind, you already said I could," he bit off the cap to his pen and spat it out, not caring where it landed.

"Stay still," he muttered as he laid down a bit, resting on his stomach as he eyed a patch of perfectly smooth and glossy scales. Marrow only thought for a moment before beginning.

"I don't make mistakes," he muttered while starting his pattern-like art. Marrow wasn't very interested in stick figures or portraits. Instead, he very much preferred wacky designs or pop-punk art. He had been starting to lose his drive what with all the discouraging adults taking away his pen all the time. However, here this guy was giving him such an ego boost. Just what he had needed.

"Hey, I might even use this as a- what do they call it? One of my examples?" He said confidently, as if he was good enough to be one right now if they allowed him, but honestly he needed work. His lines were a bit shaky and the patterns simple but he had a seed of talent, and with the right friends that talent could flourish. He needed someone just like Corvo to pick his spirits back up. His over-confidence was just an unfortunate side-effect.

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Everything Corvo was saying brought that blushy hue back to the little Hybrid's cheeks. How come he was so kind. Nobody up until this point had given him enough of a reason to charge head first into his future and leave him excited for what he was capable of. He never had parents like that.

He chuckled as the other began to ask for actual works of art. He was about to express his angsty side when all the sudden the adult had beaten him to the punch. He was quite funny, and that might have kept Marrow from drawing anything too inappropriate on him as a prank.

This guy was pretty okay. With a smile he continued to work on the 'tattoo' with a genuinely happy glint in his eye.

FIN

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