Third Time's the Charm // Roleplay with Circe // Closed

((Yes, Tess is in New York))

Nikolas stared down at the now still dragon in front of him, quietly thinking to himself. At length, he finally said, "I'll take you. There's a house that provides a place to stay for wonderers or troublemakers or whathaveyou." He didn't fly away just yet, tipping his head to the side to study Runner as he waited for an answer. The twins might not care—Hell, they're almost never around—and neither would Tess. Bringing in strays was a common thing in the house.

((I'm surprised you haven't bumped this))

"Maybe," Nikolas said, "but I'd rather at least stop by before wandering the streets. That's where my coffee is." He huffed an amused breath, glancing up at a particular constellation with a sparkle of fondness in his eyes.

((I was just getting to it. Slowly. Eventually))

Nikolas bobbed his head in a nod, then turned around and headed towards New York, innately knowing where it was from how many times he's gone there.

((shush. People have their things. Runner's just a little different))

Nikolas rolled his eyes, then let out a slow breath as they flew, darkness skittering from his throat and clouding around him and Runner, enveloping them both in a growing blanket of black mist. Nikolas couldn't see anything, which was a good thing. "Alright, Mr. Impatient. But you owe me for the cost." Though they didn't feel anything as they flew, the mist was transporting them from shadow to shadow, bringing them closer to New York by the second, traveling miles in a blink of an eye.

"Not sure I can," Nikolas grunted, stretching his stary wings out to glide along the steady current the darkness created. "It's just a thing I can do, and it's taxing, especially with more cargo," he added as he swung his head back to look at Runner.

Nikolas rolled his eyes and faced forward again. "It's not weight, it's mass. The more mass to transport, the higher the cost to my magic. And I won't be the one to teach you, though. People working on instinct are bad teachers." The darkness skittered away, and Nikolas swooped down towards the open expanse of fields, the lights of NYC not far away. They were in the outskirts of the city, away from most people and safe from suspicion—the twins had spelled this area to hide any magic from the normals.

"It's not all that amazing as media makes it out to be. Mostly dirty street rats, crime, and everyone calling everyone different kinds of assholes. Maybe the occasional egotistical suit-and-tie and pencil-skirt." Nikolas circles around a large farmhouse that had a barn and pasture not too far from it, looking for a good place to land.

Nikolas eventually found a place to land, and he, too, switched into human form, though he didn't even wait until his dragon feet touched the ground before he switched.

Deep-set, slightly mono lidded eyes the color of a full moon during a cloudy night; blackish haze seemingly drifting over the irises at random times. Surprisingly pretty and long eyelashes. Wavy and medium-length hair that falls into the eyes at almost all times dyed a starlight silver with the natural black roots. Lean muscle roped through a thinner body, though strength is clear in the solid torso. Rather sharp, narrow, and prominent features, such as jawline and cheekbones. Pale skin littered with both faint and raised scars. A height of exactly 6 foot.

That was who now stood before Runner, dragging a hand through his hair and messing it up so some silver strands fell into his eyes.

"I help a bit with my racing, but the twins are the ones who pay for it." Nikolas shrugged nonchalantly, then looked around as if searching for something—or perhaps someone. "I need to check in on Tess, she isn't doing so hot. You can either tag along or wander around, your choice. She's a dragon too," he added, just to let Runner know that there was yet another one of them. He left out the bit about her being the complete opposite of them both, however.

Nikolas nodded and turned towards the barn, sensing Tess in there. He led Runner into the barn, where the golden-haired girl was hanging upside down by the rafters, half shifted so it was her dragon's tail holding herself up while her legs were crossed and her body was hidden behind her wings.

Tessa flared her wings open when she scented a stranger—and walking beneath her no less!—in the premise, her nostrils flaring and eyes slitted. She bore her teeth, then yelped when she got poked in the stomach by Nikolas. "Not a demigod," he said for her, since she didn't seem in the mood to talk. She huffed some smoke through her lips and pulled herself up, climbing up onto the rafters to laze about. "Both foster babies, so we don't know our history," Nikolas lied smoothly, the story an old but useful one that had become their daily.

Tessa remained perched up in the rafters, and Nikolas nodded at Runner in acknowledgment of his reveal. "Tess, you doing alright?" he called, tipping his head back to look up at her. She threw down a small handful of hay, the straw landing on his head. He sighed and shook his head, running his fingers through his hair to get it out. "I'll take that as a 'fuck off and leave me to pout' then." He backed up before he could get hit with the rocks she threw down.

"The twins are in the house, and possibly some more if they're in town," Nikolas said right before he was cut off by Tess's angry voice. "You would be grumpy too if you were kicked from the foster care system and left to rot out in the fucking streets without a second thought!"

"Says the one that chose to live in the streets more often than not," Nikolas grumbled.