[Ander]

Iiav, anthro form

He didn't want to be here.

Oh, did he not want to be here. The walls were too high, the stone too white! Everything was looming and dark and - why did he have to come at night? Why, indeed! Dravesis had specified coming to call on them by nightfall to get the ingredients he had paid for...but oh, woe that he had to come at all.

The situation was more dire than he expected if he'd started using words like 'woe'.

The young Kalamarei's mincing steps were entirely too loud, bouncing off of walls that stood over him like they disapproved of his being there at all. His paws seemed to wring themselves into knots, over and over; it was clear by the boniness of sparsely furred knuckles that this was a regular, nervous habit. He didn't know who these friends of his father were, and he didn't care. He just wanted to get what he had to from them, and be on his way back home. Home was assuredly the lesser of two evils.

[Citanul]

Luckily for the young Kalamarei, the one he sought was already outside, tending to her garden. It had been too hot, too harsh as of late to tend to it during the day, and she had the soft glow of the lantern to work by. A tail swished lightly as she worked to spray all the plants with water while tenderly twining the vines around the stakes she had already set up.

Catching the movement down the street she tilted her head to see who it was and gave a small chuckle. "We expected you before nightfall, Iiav. Come here young one, I have your father's ingredients inside."

[Ander]

Oh, it was so very terrible! The shadows were everywhere, leaping at him. Threatening and calling for him, showing him all manner of frightening, unfriendly faces. This part of the city was downright unpleasant...too dark for Iiav, oh yes. The odd street-lamp, planted like lonely saplings along the residential rows, made things no better. All of these low-lying tenements, the withdrawn openings of doors and windows holding who-knew-what behind their closed faces - ah, no!

He was so on edge that the gentle call of the Kuhna in front of him nearly made him jump right out of his fur. As it was, he still cleared a few inches. She was spellbinding, her markings neon-toxic against the backdrop of night. The lantern at her feet, like the lamps on the road, only accentuated her horror. "I-I'm very sorry," Iiav began, tentacles drooping at the thought of inconveniencing his father's friends - and of course, because she was a scary thing. "Dravesis told me to come after dark...he said I'd be just in time then. Y-you're Arsenic, a-aren't you?" He was trying not to stammer, really. But a broken mind treats cruelly with one so wrapped in fear.

[Citanul]

"Indeed I am little one. And you are just in time, I've finished tending my garden." Wiping pollen-stained fingers on her deep colored apron she gave a toothy grin. "Come now. I am sure that Cyanide is done with dinner, and what your father requested."

Taking her lantern in hand she motioned for him to follow her inside, only shutting the lantern off once they were in. "Wipe your paws now and let us go to the kitchen."

[Ander]

She was being so personable, so kind, and that made the fact that Iiav couldn't stop jittering that much worse. He even flinched away from her smile (oh, all of those teeth!) before he caught himself, wringing his paws in a familiar muddle of terror and shame. "That's all too nice of you," the Kalamarei offered, timid and yet proud of himself for withholding his stammer. "I'm not used to...out. All of this outdoors, at night, I mean." He followed Cyanide, admiring and fearing her pretty patterns and the warming glow of her lantern. Wiping his feet seemed automatic - after all, she had only just commanded him to do so - and he looked all the meeker away from the dark that had swallowed him up. For all the mention of dinner had bolstered his spirit, Iiav was still a frail thing.

"I have never been out on errand this far, or this late. Usually I am well indoors by now..." His voice trickled into silence. He didn't remember much about indoors after dark other than the haze of drugs and Dravesis' curving smile. The cold press of the stethoscope, and diode gel, and beeping scans, and the separating bite of the scalpel. The boy flinched; it had nothing to do with present company, or the night.

[Citanul]

A soft laugh and a shake of her head was given as the Kuhna lead Iiav to the kitchen. Or so it smelled that way, the savory scent of roasted herbs and taproots hitting half-way down the hall.

"I am sure your father does not even want you out after dark. Many awful things happen on these streets, though I know you live far you must have heard." Arsenic was certainly knowledgeable of what Dravesis did with his son, though he must have let the boy out on occasion. Otherwise he would have been hopelessly lost getting here, finding his way through the twists and turns in the city.

[Ander]

"I hear...some things," the boy lied. Should he have? Sometimes, when it was all over and he lie recovering on Dravesis' metal table, the television on the far wall would keep him company. He tried to pay attention to the scattered sounds and blurry, flashing pictures; all too often he failed, and succumbed to drugged sleep. Perhaps those programs showed the awful things he was supposed to know about. Iiav was abashed and ashamed of his inability to pay more attention to them, never considering that perhaps they were things he would rather not be aware of.

"I must have been late then. Please, I'm sorry." He could have sworn that his father wanted him to come after dark - but Cyanide said otherwise, and she couldn't be wrong. Surely she knew his father better that he did: Dravesis called her mate friend. "The c-city is v-very c-c-confusing..." There was his stutter again. It was fear that did it, fear that the pretty Kuhna would tell his father about his mistake. Couldn't he do anything right?

Maybe he could distract her, just for a moment. "Is Mister Arsenic around? And will we eat soon?" He was awfully hungry, after all.

[Citanul]

It wasn't hard to see that Iiav was lying. Cyanide caught it but she said nothing for now, the boy had plenty of time to learn. She did make a bit of a mental note to make sure to at least accompany him to the city gates when he left.

A gentle laugh fell her lips as she clasped the boy on his shoulder, patting his back gently. "Now, now. We are not worried - like I said, dinner was not even ready yet. Getting lost in the city is easy to do, I am sure your father has even gotten lost before here."



"Have I been hearing my name?" Emerging from a nearby door Arsenic gave a gentle chuckle. "Ah, and you must be Dravesis' son. Come, come boy. Dinner is ready." He held the door for the both of them, sizing the kid up. Hm. Dosages may have to be changed. He hadn't expected the boy to be so lean.

[Ander]

Though he nodded meekly, Iiav thought that the pretty Kuhna's words were madness beyond compare. Dravesis didn't get lost in anything - anywhere. The Kalamarei knew first-hand what his focused, single-minded determination was like, unstoppable by any distraction. Unmarked by any sort of delay. Unhindered by any kind of emotion. Or sobbing. Or pleading.

The boy shook himself to, unaware that he'd been shaking as Cyanide spoke. Had she been touching him? He found himself embarrassed at the realization that she might have felt his fear.

Thankfully, he didn't have to respond. Arsenic would find his appearance greeted with a tremulous half-bow and the ever-present stammer. "H-hello sir! My f-father would like to send his greetings! He hopes I w-will be able to help you with the proj-j-ject you discussed." The words tumbled from his muzzle. "Thank you v-v-very much for allowing me entry and supper in y-your home!" Making the pretty one like him was all well and good - selfish, maybe...she was so fair! - but Arsenic was who he needed to impress. Arsenic would relay his conduct back to Dravesis without fail. Iiav would make sure he had nothing but good things to tell.