melodiesofeternity | arm to the teeth [OPEN]

Who: Dylas and you!
When: After the new arrivals.
Where: A storage room in the Curti Center, later ~~walking~~ slithering to his home in the housing district.
What: Dylas receives a wonderful regain that earns him a few stares. Not entirely sure what's wrapped so tightly in the canvas, he decides to unroll it before heading home...
Warnings/Notes: Mentions of cannibalism, mostly played for humor.

i. can I give you a hand?

What’s their problem?

[Dylas asks the question aloud and at no one in particular as he makes his exit from the Biggs and Wedge. As if getting called out there wasn’t annoying enough—he’s been trying to keep a low profile for a number of good reasons. But those two assholes? They wouldn’t even look at him. Dylas calls himself a monster, but being stared at like one from people who have probably seen all kinds of weird shit is more annoying than hurtful. And all because of this parcel.

He looks down at where it’s tucked under his arm. Something from his home word, apparently, that’s what he’s carrying. But it’s long, lumpy. He can’t remember owning anything shaped like this back in his apartment. In fact, in Ryslig, he hadn’t owned many things at all aside from fishing equipment. This...it’s too short for a fishing rod. And with the canvas, he can’t smell it.

...well, it can’t be that bad.

And it isn’t bad until he’s stepped into what he thinks is an empty, seldom-used store room and sets the parcel down on a small table. He wastes no time in unwrapping it and, lo and behold, there’s a human arm staring back up at him. It’s still wearing its watch. Cute. Dylas stares down at it with a sigh, torn between relief, horror, confusion, and exasperation...when he hears the door opening. But it’s too late. He’s like a deer in the headlights, eyes wide and mouth hanging open as the door slowly swings open.

How is he going to explain this?]

——Don't look!!! I'm, uh, changing!

ii. just another normal day

[So, maybe he understands why Biggs and Wedge didn’t make eye contact with him now. Maybe. Maybe he’s also surprised he made it out of there without any authorities being alerted, because what the hell. He’s heard about these things, these objects from other people’s home worlds. He never thought he’d get one. And now that he has one, he doesn’t want it. Throwing it away would also be problematic.

Dylas manages to make it to the housing district without any further unraveling incidents, but when your morning starts with someone sending you an arm, your luck isn’t bound to get much better. He’s slithering fast, his massive weight taking corners without pausing. One moment, a passerby could be minding their own business, and the very next there’s a giant snake-man clutching a package crashing or near-crashing into them.

Sometimes, Dylas is nicer, but today is not the day for that.]

Are you trying to eat sidewalk, or do you just have your head up your ass?

[He’s agitated enough by the encounter for his fangs to be showing, but maybe he’ll calm down. Maybe. Once he stops glaring and feels less tense about this whole ordeal.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

We're not from the same world, but we were in the same world before this mess.

[He's not sure if he ever told Rutile that his last world wasn't his home world, but if they didn't know? They know now. He's been through all of this before.]

...I enjoy it.

[That's the first thing he has to admit. It's not like he's sitting around, throwing up at the idea of his diet. Humans taste delicious to him. They're like a treat, and he can't explain it. He loves hunting them, too, picking out a target and...]

But I could...we could stop ourselves if that was it. But it's not.

( they don't actually seem too bothered at the mention of another world, but their brow easily hoists upwards in surprise when rutile hears that 'he enjoys it.' )

Well, I can't say I expected that sort of candid response. ( all the same, they seem pretty impressed by the honesty of it. how proud the are to witness you being truthful about it all, dylas. )

Something more, then? Go on. ( they're listening. )

[Conversely, when Dylas says he enjoys feeding on humans, he flinches as if Rutile is going to respond with shock.

When they don't, he continues, slowly, warily. He's not having any fun here, and he has to remind himself that he's only doing this because Rutile could easily turn him in, and...then what? He'd die?

He'd die.]

...When we don't feed, the hunger...gets stronger. And when it gets strong enough, we can't control it. It's like...we become animals, feasting until we're sated.

( there isn't really a reply at first. actually, there isn't a reply for awhile. rutile shifts their weight to stand on the other leg, leaning again against the wall and finally offering a— )

Is that all?

( as though they don't seem to be surprised in the least. )

Really, I don't see how it's all that different from the other meat-eating lifeforms, ( and then, a little more to themself as they think on it— ) though I suppose you've skipped a few steps in the process, hmm.

What the hell do you mean, 'is that all'?

[Anger rises up from somewhere inside of him. He can't tell if they're making fun of him or if they really don't understand. Regardless of which one, it pisses him off to have it treated so cavalierly.]

Yue and I eat people. Not animals. And we're not doing it by choice, either. Why don't you try thinking about what that might feel like instead of acting like a rock?

Ah...? ( they look up, a little surprised at the anger, but as they listen... their body seems to relax again and they close their eyes. filling the room with silence for a few uncomfortable moments as they close their eyes, and finally offer a simple— )

You're right.

( there was still so many nuances about the humans rutile didn't yet understand. animals ate animals, humans ate animals, animals sometimes ate humans... and yet— here's a not-quite human or animal with a lesson on where the lines should be drawn.

one foot shifted its weight to the other, and in the candlelight rutile's hair glimmered against the walls. )

I hadn't considered a lot of things, I suppose. ( the emotions they might feel... guilt, perhaps? shame? rutile didn't know of course, but imagining feeling guilty for wanting to survive... that certainly reminded them of another. )

I apologize, I didn't mean to offend you.

You don't consider a lot of things, do you? Why'd you want to know all of this, anyways? You're just a rock. You don't understand anything.

[Dylas' tail is twitching again, this time in irritation. He sets it against his mattress for leverage and pulls his coils in closer like he's about to strike. It's instinct. He hasn't been a naga for as long as some others have had their form, but he can see it right now. He could spring forward and...

...no. No, damn it, they aren't prey! Dylas grabs his face with his hands and exhales sharply through his nose, trying to calm himself down. He was getting worked up. Excited, even.]

Forget everything I've said. Just remember that Yue and I are monsters. That's all you need to remember. Got it?

( it's true, mostly because... there truly only is one thing that rutile thinks consistently about.
there's a flick of their two-toned eyes to that tail, and to the way that tail moves, how those coils of body tighten, and... fail to spring into action.

was dylas trying to stop himself from attacking them? hm. )

You certainly are interested in portraying yourself as a monster, aren't you? But here you are, doing what you can to ensure you don't go on an uncontrollable rampage.

( so, who are you trying to convince? )

[That.

That is so logical it physically pains Dylas to hear it. He hears Rutile's argument, but he counters it in his mind. No. He is a monster. He has to cling to that. He can't say this is normal. It's enough to make his stomach knot, and, being a naga, there's...a lot of stomach.

He's silent for a moment, but he shakes his head. He can't even look angry as he says the first thing that comes to mind. The absolute truth.]

If I were a person, I'd kill myself. But Yue and I want to live. We're monsters. When we look at someone, we sometimes think about how they taste. And we choose to keep living anyways.

[It's so selfish to keep on living. But he wants to be alive. He's a coward, and...and for Yue, he's done nothing wrong.]

Call me a monster. Now that you understand, don't let me catch you trying to call me a person.

( that... was also not what rutile was expecting. their head tilts to the side, though that stone-faced expression remains. there was a flash of red hair from a memory— the image of a gem that isolated themself, fearing the harm that they brought to others, and a wish to be taken away... )

I won't be calling you a person, I can promise you that. ( it's an even-toned reply, as rutile's body eases off of the wall they had been leaning against, and they take slow, deliberate steps around dylas, and towards the door. )

You don't need to worry about me outing you, either. I have no intention of sharing secrets that don't belong to me.

( there's a hand on the door, and they pause.
there's a strangely softer expression as rutile looks over a shoulder. )

However, if you want to call these sorts of behaviours monstrous, then— I think you had better prepare yourself to meet a lot more monsters in your time here.

( and with a turn of the knob... they'll just see themselves out. )

arm to the teeth [OPEN]

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cw: suicide

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