[Kodai]

In a city as large as Lamenolai, it was impossible to walk down a single street without spotting someone who looked like an interesting character. Angels, demons, spirits – Evelon had its share of all these and more, walking about in broad daylight and mingling with one another.

Still, some people were more interesting than others, whether by personality or by simple appearance. On this particular day, walking through the mid-afternoon crowd without a seeming care in the world, was someone who was both.

From a distance, they blended in easily with the general Barakkan population, having a solidly brown complexion with short, scruffy black hair. But upon getting closer, it became quite obvious that this person was anything but general. Claws sprouted from their fingers and toes instead of nails. Two short, insect-like antennae curled gently back over their head. The grin on their face was full of teeth that were entirely too sharp. And their eyes had horizontal pupils, much like that of a goat.

All in all, they provided a strange sight when paired with the outfit they were wearing. Sandals, cargo shorts, a T-shirt... and an obnoxiously brightly colored windbreaker.

What kind of a weirdo was this, anyway?

[Redd]

This guy was well acquainted with the strange. Angels, spirits, monsters, the boogeyman, the thing under the bed, demons. Chaos.

He knew them all. Very well considering he was one of them.

With this section of Lamenolai being his turf, it was part of his duty and responsibility to keep an eye out for similar things. These were his people, his humans, (sometimes) his Chaos pack and most importantly, his Dweller. So it was with no great surprise that one of his network had noticed something... off about someone acting so blatant. So much so, that the only reason they'd passed through the gates without so much of note being sent, was they acted like they belonged.

Harutte sighed and scratched the back of his head, long brown-blond hair falling between his fingers, before smoothing down his buttoned up white shirt and tan trousers, both worn from use and crumpled from negligence. But it wasn't his lack of shoes that set him apart from the crowd, not his faded gold tattoos that could be seen snaking up from under his neck. Rather it was the set of golden, slitted lizard-like eyes that he was using to peruse the crowd, looking for the stranger mentioned in the note. He could get away with his heritage because he was an icon, it was a persona, the juggling lizard-man. People came from all around to see his show, and they thought it was just makeup, contacts. This stranger was a liability just wandering around like that.

"H-hey, woah dude." With jog, he set off after the trespasser, a hand up in the air as if to flag him down. So far, he was trying the friendly approach. As much as it rarely seemed to work, he had to give them the benefit of the doubt. "Dunno how long you've been on this plane, but this isn't the Chaos Realm, we hide our features here." He'd clearly misread what species they were, but in his limited experience, anything that had animalistic features, especially regarding the eyes, were Chaos.

[Kodai]

One of the strange stranger's antennae bobbed gently in reaction to being called. They turned around, leisurely waiting for Harutte to catch up as they mulled over his words with that sharp grin.

"Oh, that so?" they replied jovially, scratching their jaw. "Sorry, dude. I kinda left my mask at home."

They grinned wider, as if they'd just made a joke, and then studied the human-form Chaos carefully.

"So, I guess you got 'don't-gotta-hide-my-features' privileges, then?" they asked, still looking cheerful. "There a way I can sign up for that? 'Cause, like, I really don't feel like getting another mask."

They stretched, folding their arms behind their head nonchalantly. Seemed like Harutte would have to be concerned enough about the situation for both of them, because the stranger certainly wasn't putting forth an effort.

"Also, you mind reminding me who we're hiding our features from? I must've forgot."

[Redd]

All the stranger got throughout that initial exchange was a slow blink. Like the lizard-chaos was struggling to process exactly what was going on. Mask? Who they were hiding things from? Had they grown up under a rock (no offence to the Chaos who probably did but... seriously)?

Reptile eyes blinked once again, his expression incredulous and for a moment, he was considering just... trying to use his runes to convince this guy to first off, at least buy a set of contacts to hide the eyes, and secondly, maybe a make a bit more of an effort to hide uh... claws? Antennae?

Wait, he'd mentioned masks too?

Some small part of his brain was working overtime, trying to match that description to any other crazy random cults (in addition to any Weavers or fish Chaos cultists) that he'd come across and... he was drawing a blank.

"Zu'hai take me, man." He mumbled under his breath, wincing a little at how... human the expression was. Harutte knew full well he was going to regret following through with this. This was how he'd managed to be abducted like 4 times now. It's like he hadn't learned after being abducted by Nano, the underground Chaos fighting ring, the Heirarchy's mad scientist or Fish Cultists acting under a crazy Fallen.

"From the uh... humans? Chaos.... scare them. We're like demons." He gestured, waving his arms out in an all-encompassing gesture. Oh right, they'd also implied they thought he was what they were and also mentioned masks. "Y'don't need a mask... just eye contacts... maybe covering shoes as well. why would we need masks?" Dear Yepha, why was he the one saddled explaining the basics to someone who clearly didn't care too much for keeping the status quo.

[Kodai]

Unbeknownst to the poor befuddled Chaos, this particular stranger was what some people would less-than-affectionately refer to as a "little shit". They were, in fact, fully aware that the two of them were not the same species and was merely enjoying making Harutte spill information without realizing it.

But then he mentioned that they were hiding their appearance from humans, and things got a bit more interesting.

"Huuuuumans, huh?" they drawled out, the stranger's expression turning thoughtful. While they were still smiling, their antennae had all but flattened into their hair. "Y'mean, like… those guys, over there?" They waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the surrounding city crowd. "The ones that are distinctly not fear-inducing monstrosities whose very existence is a blight upon the universe? Those humans?"

They paused, and suddenly their expression and antennae went back to their default, carefree states.

"Yeah. Of course you do. Well, I gotta say, they don't seem very scared of me," the stranger shrugged. "Mostly just think I'm some kind of, uh. Whassit. Anthro? You know, those animal people–"

A loud, hoarse caw from above interrupted them. Looking up, the stranger suddenly beamed.

"Bastard spotted!" they called out.

The bird perched above the pair on an overhang gave another raspy caw before flapping down to land on the stranger's head. It wasn't recognizable as any sort of Evelonian avian; the closest thing was a Corbine, but this one had no metal plating.

"So where's The Other One?" the stranger asked it jovially, apparently unconcerned about having their head being used as a perch. The bird, displaying the raw attitude of an animal that simply doesn't care about anyone else's opinions, ignored the being underneath its claws, instead training a beady black eye on Harutte.

There was a long period of silence, and then:

"Fuck you."

It was in that typical mimicking-bird voice, but the words were unmistakable. The stranger merely kept grinning.

"Wow, rude. You know we're out in public, right? There's, like, kids and shit running around."

"Fuck you," the bird repeated a little more loudly, earning a few glances from some passersby.

"Yeah, you totally know. Neo-blessed little bastard."

Unfortunately for Harutte, it didn't seem like an explanation for any of this would be forthcoming without his needing to ask.

[Redd]

"... Yeaaaaah? Those are humans." He carefully drawed out, following the gesture. "They're... not fun when they find things they don't understand... speaking of..."

Harutte immediately felt the need to back up a pace. This... what? He thought he had an understanding of the situation. Strange little buggy... goaty Chaos dude got lost, fell out of Chaos Realm, causing a nuisance in local park. Typical deal. Well not really but it happened occasionally.

Well, okay. Once.

The coarse bird broke his train of thought, forcing a flinch and snapping his predatory reptile gaze upwards. Just a bird. Not a threat.

Just a... really rude bird?

"Fuck you? What?" His agitation was reaching peak breaking point. "I... uh, promise I didn't do anything to your uh, obviously not Human or Chaos... person. Gods..." Harutte cautiously responded, giving the stranger a pointed glance. He was really unable to find a reason why a bird would be taking a personal offence to him. He did... get an entire flock of birds killed once. But that was once damnit! And they needed that information from the old woman. "Is your 'bird'... normally like that?"

But what was he supposed to do here? Leave them? With loud-ass 'Fuck You' here and his equally weird looking humanoid companion. What if They came along? Seraphim, High-Bloods looking to protect the status quo, didn't matter which they! They'd come, he'd get the blame. He only had special privileges probably due to his role in the bullshit shenanigans he got dragged into a few years back.

[Kodai]

That sharp-toothed smile the stranger was wearing only got bigger.

"Yeah, he's Bastard," they replied, the word both a description and a name. "Typical kaw. It's nothing personal."

Although, with the Chaos's reaction, it likely would get personal as the bird sought to keep the emotional feedback going. It had no hate (or love) for Harutte himself; it was just wondering if he was a good source of food and/or amusement – which, admittedly, was not something the stranger wanted to encourage.

"Just ignore him and he'll stop eventually," they said, raising their head to gaze up at the bird (and subsequently causing it to hop forward to keep its balance). "Or at least look for a different way to get on your nerves. Ain't that right, Bastard?"

"Piss off."

"Same to you."

The stranger turned back to Harutte, head tilted (hop, hop, went the bird), regarding him. Well, he'd finally reached the conclusion that the two of them were not, in fact, the same species...

"So, Chaos," they said, still grinning, "what're you gonna do now? You said humans aren't fun when they find things they don't understand; are you like that, too?"