"If I left, I would have nothing to do. I would be killed immediately if I went to any village. All the treasure would be taken too, and I'm not allowed to let the treasure be taken." Kono's horns shrank a bit again. They seemed to do this when he became more emotionally open and less worried about simply destroying anyone who came inside this cave.
The Dragon // One on One // Closed
"Well, that's… probably not true. How would they even be able to tell you were a dragon? You have a human form-thing, right?" She asked.
"I can't stay in human form forever. I would quite literally go insane. The dragon part of me would still be raging on inside my human body. I could only tolerate that for so long before needing to at least half shift." His horns shrunk slightly again.
"That… sucks," she told him, examining her nails. "Well, you could still do other things. You could visit villages?"
Kono shrugged. "I'm… not very likable. Or good at interacting with humans in their 'socially acceptable' way. I'll always just be an outcast. I've… I've accepted that fact."
Gemini shrugged. "Okay, then, I guess. Welcome to the club."
"Club?" Kono glanced over at Gemini, confused. Strangely enough, his golden eyes held far less aggression than they had before. It had been replaced by curiosity and simple caution.
"You know… the social outcast club?" Gemini said, gesturing with her hands.
"What is a 'club'?" Kono cocked his head slightly to the side, his tail swishing to the other side of his body.
"Um… oh, Jesus, how do I explain this? It's like a… gathering? Of people who are similar? Or share similar interests? I - I think that's right?" She said uncertainly, hugging her knees to herself.
"But that is the opposite of an outcast, is it not? If outcasts grouped together, they would no longer be outcasts. That defeats the point." His horns shrank a bit again. They were noticeably shorter now.
"That's not - " she pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's a saying. If someone says "join the club," they're basically saying "me, too,"" she explained patiently.
"Then why wouldn't you just say 'me too'? It's far less confusing, and less steps to achieve the goal of getting one's point across to someone else." Kono huffed a bit, frustrated by the ambiguity of humans.
"I DON'T KNOW, ok?" She said, sighing. "I'm weird. Humans are weird. I'm weirder than the average human. I don't know things like that. Ok?"
"Dragons don't use ambiguous phrases… or do they…? I don't often come into contact with other dragons, either. In fact, I probably see dragons less than humans. That's… kinda depressing, honestly." Kono mused aloud, to himself more than to anyone else.
"Yeah, well, life is depressing. It happens," Gemini said matter-of-factly, laying on the ground. Her hair spread all around her head, but she couldn't bring herself to care.
"I'm aware. It gets quite… gloomy, here. The most common 'interesting' thing is when birds try to fly in. Even they've learned to stay away by now, though…" Kono drew his knees up a bit, crossing his arms on top of them. His horns were about half their original size.
"Do you kill birds?" Gemini asked, yawning. "That's mean. Birds are friends. And they're cool. I wish I had wings…" she muttered.
"Sometimes I kill them. Sometimes I just watch them. It really depends on my mood." Kono flexed his own wings a bit, as they were getting stiff.
"You should be happy more often," she suggested, staring at the ceiling. "Then nothing would depend on your mood, because everything would always be the same."
"I can't force myself to feel something I'm not actually feeling." Kono picked up a coin, examining it.
"I know that. I don't actually - nevermind," she said, shaking her head. "I'm tired. Your cave is darker than it is outside. I'm a fan of stating the obvious."
"I've noticed. During the day, the sun reflects off the gold and it gets quite bright, though that's rather obvious too." Kono fully transformed into a dragon and lay down.
"That's nice…" she trailed off as she curled into a ball to sleep.
Kono kept his eyes slightly open, not truly sleeping. He couldn't trust Gemini yet, so he was going to keep an eye on her.
Gemini put a hand over her face. "Go to sleep, don't be creepy," she complained.
"If I sleep, you'll take the gold and leave. I can't trust you yet. Since you claim to be an outcast yourself, surely you understand." Kono moved to lay in front of the entrance so Gemini couldn't escape.
"Oh, gods. Fine, whatever," she muttered, almost under her breath.
Kono lay his head down on the coins, his tail curled so the tip was near Gemini. He closed his eyes, but stayed awake to listen and make sure Gemini wouldn't try anything stupid.
(Bqjiergtn idk what to do lmao)