The Hand That Feeds (m)

[Draconian]

"At least you look human or elf." Jaiha said bitterly, finally letting go of Juras to simply hold her tail in front of herself. "I just look weird." Though the mention of  seeing a lizard-someone caught her interest. "Are you friends? Or did you just see him? The lizard man, I mean."

[DaGlobster]

"Nah, I just saw him. Seemed like nobility, or something."

He studied Jaiha a bit.

"But his scales don't match up with yours, Jai. His were like... gold."

[Draconian]

A deep sigh and again, her ears were back. "I wasn't looking forward to him being my dad... Just..." Her hands pet at her tail, "I've never met anyone even a little but like me. Scaley, I mean. " Then, again, her hand reached for Juras's and she resumed holding his hand in one  and her tail in the other.  "Are we there yet?"

[DaGlobster]

"Almost."

Perhaps it was the conversation, but Juras didn't really notice when they exited the Colosseum and entered the streets proper. He'd walked this route so many damn times, he could do it with his eyes closed.

He turned, and they were in a one-way street, lined with several two-story houses. Each floor was a separate home, with the houses having stairs on the outside to reach the second floors.

Two houses down on the right, and Juras motioned to the stairs.

"Come on, mine's on the second floor."

[Draconian]

Slowly she followed him up the stairs, having let go of his side to again simply hold her tail. "This is my home now?" Her tone was soft and she slowly bit her lip, "I'm really yours? I don't have to go back to a cell?"

[DaGlobster]

Juras didn't stop until he reached the top of the stairs.

"Our home, technically. Housemates, remember?" He said, chuckling.

"You're all mine."

[Draconian]

Again, Jaiha wrapped her arms around Juras's middle and pressed her face to his neck. "You don't know how much this means to me. I'll be the best housemate ever! I promise!" Jaiha pulled her head away and smiled as brightly as ever, "I'm overwhelmed. What can I do for you? Anything?"

[DaGlobster]

This time, Juras was expecting a hug, so he didn't seem to be bothered by it.

"Well, for now, you can just get settled in. We'll see about what needs to be done later, okay?" Juras asked, waiting for her to finish hugging him before he unlocked the door and led her inside.

Juras' home was generously decorated, although the furniture and decorations he had were all incredibly modest in their craft. The front door opened up to a living room/kitchen, with the kitchen area being at the front and the living area at the back. On the back right wall, there was a door that led to the bedroom.

Juras' kitchen had all the essentials, and his living room had plenty of space and sitting areas, for a single person. The back wall of the home was covered in weapons and weapon racks, which did a lovely job of conflicting with the homely and minimalist decorations.

"So? What do you think? I wouldn't exactly call it luxury living, but it's home."

[Draconian]

Cautiously Jaiha stepped into his home, a quick look around. Possibly for some sort of... Trick. Half of her was expecting to see chains and maybe a pet bowl waiting for her, so there was a physical sigh of relief when it just looked... Normal.

Giving her feet a shake to remove any dirt bits that clung to the bottom of her padded toes she took a step into the home and... Shuffled in a little. Her tail was down and out of her arms and she was pressed against a wall, following it into the living room. "Your home is lovely, Juras." Her golden eyes caught onto the wall of weapons and she stared at it for a moment, "can you use all of those?"

[DaGlobster]

"Yep. Each and every single one."

On the wall, there were swords of all shapes, lengths, and makes. Most noticeably, though, there was a picture frame, with a single, rusty shiv placed in the middle, almost as if it was some kind of treasure.

Juras walked up next to her, and pointed at the framed shiv.

"That one's special, though. My first weapon," he said wistfully.

[Draconian]

Jaiha flicked her tail and looked down at the stumpy end, then back at the shiv. "My first weapon was my tail," Jaiha sat down, her tail in her arms, cradling it like a baby. It was long and snake like enough that even without the bladed end it was easily hovering above the ground. A moments pause and she looked up at Juras, "How old are you to be able to use so many weapons?" Her eyebrows drew together and she looked at him sadly, "Have you not had a nice life?"

[DaGlobster]

Juras frowned at her question, and sat down on a couch facing the wall of weapons, patting to the empty space beside him.

"I can't say I have. I was born poor. Destitute, actually. Uthlyn is a beautiful city, but the slums? Not so much," he started.

"Both of my parents were dead by the time I was eleven. I raised myself, pretty much."

[Draconian]

Jaiha stared at him pat the space on the couch beside him, looking over her shoulder before she shuffled closer to him on her knees. So, while he spoke, she was kneeling on the ground in front of him with her tail in her arms. "They were..." Jaiha's ears drooped down and she let her head fall forward, imagining a younger (shorter) Juras all alone and without parents.

"Well... I'm glad your here? That's selfish of me but..." Her ear gave a twitch and she smiled slightly, "I haven't been able to be selfish in a while. I'm surprised I still have back scales sometimes."

[DaGlobster]

"I'm glad I'm here too. I loved my parents, but if they'd gone on living, I wouldn't have become the independent warrior I am today," Juras said, brushing his fingers through his hair.

"I don't think I would've gotten very far if I didn't have to take matters into my own hands."

[Draconian]

Shuffling a little closer, Jaiha sat sideways and placed her cheek against his knee. "Still, eleven is very young. Um..." Looking up at Juras from his knee, she put an arm on the couch and looked at it for a moment, "Am I going to sleep out here?"

[DaGlobster]

"Out here? Erm..."

Juras glanced about his living room. There were definitely a few spots where somebody could lie down and sleep. Would it be comfortable? No.

"Well, you don't seem to have an issue with space," Juras said, motioning to Jaiha.

"I was going to offer you the extra space on my bed."

[Draconian]

At the motion to her she looked down, his knee under her chin and she blushed and sat up, looking away. "I... I don't want to make you uncomfortable," tentatively Jaiha dusted off his knee and sat up straight with her hands on her lap. "I take up a lot of space," She looked down at her tail.

[DaGlobster]

"Well, there certainly isn't enough space for you out here," Juras said. "Unless you want to sleep on the floor. I really don't want you to sleep on the floor. You deserve to be comfortable, you know?"

He stretched his neck.

"Besides, my bed's pretty big. I'm sure it'll fit the both of us."

[Draconian]

Deserved to be comfortable.

That was a new one. Jaiha had learned over her short stint of being a slave she deserved a great deal of things, most of them bad and none that she wanted to remember. Her hands slowly moved onto her lap and she looked at her tail again, drawing her nails along the side sort of like she was petting it. "I've got... this." She motioned to her tail, "it's not prehensile but... Sometimes it has a mind of it's own and... I wouldn't want to do anything to you in my sleep. You barely stand me touching you as it is, I just can't help myself." Jaiha gave Juras an apologetic smile, "today has been nice."

[DaGlobster]

Yikes, so she noticed his earlier discomforts, didn't she? Juras' cheeks hued pink at being called out like that, and he rubbed the back of his head.

"It's not that I can't stand you touching me, it's... Where I grew up, trusting people was hard, and contact like that wasn't always safe. I like the hugs and all, it's that, well, old habits die hard."

He motioned to her tail.

"Besides, it's not like it's going to strangle me or anything. Really, I don't mind."