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Zach had yet to fully accustom himself to walking, his balance still too poor for anything beyond a slow and careful hobble of a walk. His head stuck out too far from himself on his long neck to make adjusting his walking an easy task. His sleep schedule had gone from nocturnal back to diurnal in the span of a week. He hardly kept track of time any more. Only holidays kept him vaguely aware of the days that had passed in this unchanging environment.

Not that he was upset about it or anything. On the contrary, he was feeling better than he usually did. As much as he tended to push people away with his stubborn and unfriendly attitude, he was happy that a select few weren't bothered so easily. The five coins made a light jingling noise in their pouch with every crutch-aided step he took. He was just taking a jog of sorts around the village, partly to bask and partly to keep his legs fit for holding himself up. He wasn't totally oblivious - he had to keep an eye out for Gaius or Thom or any of the handful of serious enemies he'd made - so he saw the grey-looking man a little while before he ended up a couple of feet away.

He paused to pick himself up off the crutches and catch his breath a bit, frill fanned.

Zach turned his head slightly, which in turn meant the entire neck twisted so that he could be facing the gray man perched on the pile of mud nearby without having to move much. Being this shade of ruby red never made for blending in. The look of surprise and the spitting would have normally irked him, but he'd found he had a better grip on his mixture of animal emotions now and didn't let them get out of hand so quickly. After casually spreading his wings out about three feet to each side behind him, he gave the human a grin.

"Something wrong?" he asked with mock innocence, pulling his tail back to himself in a manner not unlike a snake preparing to strike. Not that he would, or could. He wasn't going to be mean, but he could still have a little fun.

He was quite partial to hearing things about himself that weren't negative. But ugliest? What, had this guy never met that psychopath octopus Billy before? And anyway, he was majestic, not ugly. He'd been ugly before, but not now. Now he was a dragon. His attention was briefly turned to the scarf-like toss of fabric over his shoulders that constituted a shirt for him, gritting his sharp teeth for a moment. He had to get a grip. The guy didn't mean anything bad by it. Not like the 'pet' comments others chose to drop as genuine insults. "I'll... take that as a compliment."

He decided the safest thing would be to steer the conversation away. His eyes scanned the man for signs of a change, but there was largely nothing. Perhaps new, but he did say he'd seen other islanders. Had he come to terms with things yet? Doubtful. The new people never did. His tail made a wide sweep of the ground while he folded his wings back. "So you've been here a while?"

"Good to know not everyone here is refusing to accept what's going on." He made his way carefully over, ignoring the signs that the other man was potentially terrified of him. It might have been selfish of him, but he was hoping that this guy would share his views on things. It was always frustrating to have few people who weren't practically spitting on him from their high horse for not sharing in their perpetual misery. He'd investigate. Maybe he could convince this guy. "Have you asked the labs what you'll be? You won't be stuck wondering and worrying. It's not going to be anything you can't get used to with time."

"Two months... well, congratulations on making it out sane." Sane, to him, was embracing the reality of the situation rather than pretending there was a hope of 'escape'. He straightened up between the crutches, balancing precariously with each hand on a crutch for support. At the offered bottle, he shook his head. Alcohol hadn't exactly helped him any of the times he'd previously drank it. "Oh, no thanks. Huh, I've been here nearly a year... but it feels like longer. Wish it had been. It's better than my life before this place. Here, I'm... something. Well, a dragon specifically, but you get the idea."

He said it with absolute conviction. Being reminded repeatedly of how horrible his life had been before, coupled having no way to dispute such claims, forced them to be true in his mind. Disputing and doubting had only led to trouble. There was no loss for him, though. He preferred it this way. With absolutely nothing left behind but bad memories, he was more than content with his current lot. If only others would see things the same way.

"Who gave you that idea?" he asked, immediately thinking of some of his enemies, like Thom or Gaius, preaching their unfounded nonsense to people. The labs did mess with people sometimes, but there was always a good reason for it when they did. "The only people that ever get 'messed with' are the ones who cause trouble in the first place. They're looking for that kind of trouble. But asking what animal you got is perfectly reasonable. You shouldn't be scared of the doctors here."

"Probably too early to tell. Any... instincts you've noticed?" He looked over at the jungle that bordered nearby. "And yeah, about a year. Could be less, could be more. Doesn't seem to follow a pattern. I've met people who've barely changed and were here for months before even I arrived."

Zach nodded, though the gesture was warped somewhat by his lack of familiarity with the neck muscles into a wider sweep of the head. He took a couple of crutch-aided steps toward the pile of drying mud before lowering himself down and putting the crutches aside. "I'll be off of these soon, I just need to get my balance back."

"Well, that's still an achievement." It was an appropriate moment for a low whistle, but that was one of many things he hadn't bothered to re-learn with a snout. Instead he turned toward the other man and grinned. "What's the story with both of them?"

"Well, you know about Annie, right? That wolf on the loose." He glanced at the jungle again. He likely wasn't going to set foot in that place till she was caught or killed, whatever it took to put her out of her misery. And in turn, saving everyone else from dangerous attacks. "That's what happens when they don't watch us. It's safer this way."

"Nothing yet? Maybe you do have an herbivore." He turned back to the other man. He hadn't really considered that question before. "Feral? Uhm. For me, it was pretty soon after my first change. It got really bad following each of the rest, and then... like it wasn't there at all most of the rest of the time. Like right now, not a thing."

He was gradually forcing old memories away, namely those that conflicted with his current views. His recent past on the island was still vibrant in his mind, though, even if he had been a fool in those early days. All violent behavior he paid close attention to, fearing what would come of losing control again. Another mauling like Aubrey's, perhaps. However, quieter and quirkier behavior, such as fanning his frill and taking comfort in the dark, had meshed with him over time and his seven parts animal and one part human were largely indistinguishable from one another.

Zach chuckled at the sight of the thong. Antony was very unpredictable, it seemed. She'd been downright hostile to him the few times they'd crossed paths, and now here she was all over a near-human. He smirked, long tail curling. "I'm listening."

"I never met her myself. But from what I heard, she got rid of her chip - there's one in the back of everyone's neck - and then she ripped out someone's throat and just took off. Hasn't been caught yet. But see what happens if they can't do anything - someone got killed. I feel safer with the chip than I would without." It was too bad the light was starting to fade, basking had been quite nice. He was a little surprised by the sudden topic leap, but then again, this guy was downing a beer and couldn't be expected to be totally focused right now.

"That would depend on the... infraction, I think. The best thing to do is not do anything that'll get you negative attention, like doing anything unwarranted to others, and especially not to the doctors. Someone tried to kill me once; they ended up insane for months." He proclaimed it quite proudly. Never mind that Thom's punishment had been by a request given to Sabin. Zach had both been on the giving and receiving end of 'punishments'. It was emboldening at one extreme and humbling at the other. Although... he could have landed in much worse trouble the last time, the incident Gaius had left him a little reminder of. He still didn't know why all Sabin did was denounce his (at the time) baseless opinions, rather than something worse as he'd threatened. Mercy? Others definitely did not get so lucky as he had. Another reason to be glad he was what he was now.

There were less serious cases, and personal cases, but he didn't want to alienate or scare off this guy with those stories. Those were better saved for someone who he was sure would appreciate what had happened to the likes of Thom and Rex. He looked over at the gray man with a very serious expression. "I mean, serious stuff happens to people who try to kill others. It makes sense though, you know? They deserve it."