Who's afraid of the big bad beholder?

[Anonymous]

"Another mug!" Came the cry from the tavern. Most people inside were having a good time. Some were drunkenly singing, others were chatting loudly over the dim, but everyone was having a rather good time. It was just a little bit before most people stopped working for the day and relaxed into the night.  The bar keep was busy, rather enjoying the steady flow of customers at this time. Who wouldn't' enjoy such a thing after all? Many people were either coming or going, the usual crowd as it were.

And then came one that was...all too unusual.

The thick skinned (literally) bounty hunter came strolling into the small tavern. It was one of the less seedier places that he enjoyed. Good enough to have cheap ale that wasn't strictly water, and bad enough that people would keep their mouths shut. Dressed in black and brown leather, the worn clothing didn't creak or groan as he walked in heavy boots. The man's skin was a dark brown, as if baked and burned but didn't fall off or become too ugly. He was a rough looking man with horns coming from his chin, one large cyclopian eye above his flat nose, the dusty red colour a menacing look.

Despite his rather dangerous looking mouth, full of sharp blade like teeth...it was the multiple eyestalks that grew from his head like hair. Each eye a different colour, each eye looking at different things and focusing on things of their interest. Tucked through his belt at his back was a large wicked looking spear...something that appeared to be able to do quite a lot of damage if it so chose, and a slick looking dagger in his belt. He was a regular to some degree, but what made people take notice, was hung over his shoulder was a dirty young man, bound and gagged with multiple bruises and cuts over him.

"Good bounty tonight boys, the drinks are on me!" And after the uproar calmed down and went quiet, the cycloptian man headed to the bar counter, setting his prisoner down beside him on the ground. The man was mostly unconscious, an eye was swollen shut, the other was bruised and half closed. He wasn't going anywhere. "E-evening Xion. Regular tonight?" The bar keeper asked, making sure to make direct eye contact with the strange man. "Might as well. Any whores come tonight?" The creature asked in a deep growling voice as he took the mug from the bar tender, who shook his head. "They stay away when you get into town, you know this." Xion gave a short brutal laugh. "Might need to go find 'em them. I love it when they make me chase them. Just makes the fuck all the better." With that he took a deep drink from the mug of ale, licking his thin lips after all and showing off his pointed tongue.

"And...here's your meal." What was placed before Xion was a raw piece of meat, still dripping blood. "Great. Make a tab for tonight. After I turn this bastard in, I'll be able to pay it...just pray I don't find any women on the way." He simply began to tear the meat apart with his hands, ripping into it with teeth that just cut the meat like a hot knife through butter.

[Anonymous]

Sherah stuck out like a sore thumb.

Not that it was easy for a half-dragon girl who was over six feet tall to fit in anyway, but in this situation she also had the distinction of obviously being the youngest person to have wandered into this particular seedy tavern. Young and inexperienced enough, in fact, to not truly recognize the 'seedy' aspect as well as she probably should have. Still, she had managed to scrape together a little money for food - one aspect of her little journey that she had failed to account for at the outset. She sat at her own table, watching the other patrons with some interest as she ate the meal that was, honestly, a bit small in proportion for her taste.

It was then that a rather...unique man walked in. He was close to her own height, with more eyes than any person should rightfully have. He was armed too, but most notably, he was carrying a person who seemed to be in rather poor shape. The man seemed to be in a good mood, calling out something about a good bounty and buying drinks for the other patrons - clearly a popular move. However, Sherah's mind remained focused on the man he carried in. Who was he? Surely he didn't deserve to be treated in such a way.

Someone should really set him free. That was the sort of thing heroes did, right?

Truthfully, the many-eyed man was a bit intimidating; she hadn't seen anyone like him before. However, she reasoned, if she was going to become a Legendary Hero then she couldn't really let the sight of a man with a couple dozen eyes stop her, could she? Of course this would take some thought - with so many eyes, he would probably see her coming before she could even get close, right? But then she saw her opportunity as he was distracted by a big...remarkably appetizing...slab of meat.

No time to think about food now. It was time to do something heroic. (read: very, very stupid.)

The plan was simple: she finished her meal, and stood as if to walk out on a path that would take her by the many-eyed man and his captive. Once she passed by, she would hastily snatch the man up and make a sprint for the door. Sure there was a lot that could go wrong with this, but she couldn't just do nothing, right?

[Anonymous]

He only really tended to notice what he wanted to notice. He'd seen many strange things in his life, many weird people, many different monsters and creatures. A woman who was also part dragon? Not that unusual in all honesty. He'd met dragons before anyway, he grew up around them after all. Besides, he was more interested in a meal and a drink, and putting down the mostly unconscious man.

Not to mention, she didn't look like a threat. He had been looking for other things. People that were dangerous, people that might attack, people that might kill, people that might want to take his bounty for that matter. They looked the same really...usually well armed, or desperate and often dirty to some degree. Some people who knew already, and they knew him and not to try anything.

Ripping into his food, he relished in the feeling of the bloody meat just giving way so easily. Not that he was surprised, his teeth were like finely sharpened weapons of death. Funny that he didn't use them for anything other than eating...usually. Sure sometimes he needed to cut a rope or chain but...there were few battles that he actually started biting.

His eye stalks flailed around in different directions as he ate, taking in the world around him, looking for anything that might need his full attention. For the time being, there wasn't anything that he really needed to worry about. That was until someone started to approach. At first, his eyes were casual about it, they scanned over her as they wriggled and moved about, as if not noticing her. This was always a good tactic...made people think they could get the drop on him. Normally he wouldn't be this suspicious, but he knew this tavern well, and in it anything could happen.

There was a multitude of things he could do of course, so many different things that he could use to his advantage. He decided to go with just the simplest of things. A flash scan over her mind. Even the most prepared never saw it coming. It was just a quick look, as if someone were scanning a page of a book with the quickest of glances. If they had some form of defence, it was usually good enough to go mostly undetected.

Like a bright flash of light, all he did was just look at the topmost thought, the ones closest to the surface. What he saw, barely, was her holding onto his captive, going toward..somewhere. Away from him no doubt. Multiple eye stalks focused toward her, each one charging up suddenly, the irises glowing bright as suddenly a beam of red hot light suddenly cut across the floor. It was quick, it cut a stool in half and left an ugly black scorch mark on the ground in front of the woman. People jumped of course, some screamed, and most looked at him, or knew not to look anywhere.

"Your next moves, choose 'em very carefully girly." Xion said, breaking the silence of the tavern. He didn't look away from his meal even...well...his main cyclopes eye didn't look away but his eye stalks were focused mainly on her.

((edit: If it's too god modey mind read-ie, let me know and I'll change it! x3))

[Anonymous]

((All good so far.))

Sherah paused when the eyes were suddenly looking at her. Maybe he wouldn't realize she was heading for him? Just move on as if nothing-

Nope, lasers.

The young dragon-girl jumped backward as the lasers streaked out before her. If she was capable of making such a noise, this was where an audible 'eep!' would be emitted. As if the bisected stool and scorched floor weren't evidence enough as to the heat of the beam, Sherah had the ability to literally see just how hot it was; to an eye that picks up only on thermal energy, the heat from this beam was almost blinding. Her left eye blinked a few times as she kept the other watching the many eyes of the man in front of her. It was obvious that miss was intentional.

The smarter, more self-preservative side of her was telling her to just turn and walk away, and maybe he wouldn't do anything more. But then there was the part that was still concerned for the beaten man still sitting semi-unconscious beside him. Once again, the latter part won out; Sherah was nothing if not stubborn. Of course the sneaky approach (if you could really call it that) hadn't worked - she probably should have known better than to try to sneak up on someone with a couple dozen eyes looking in all directions.

Sherah put on her best poker face. She extended a clawed hand to point toward the beaten man beside him, and shook her head; clearly she didn't approve. Because the attempt to simply run off with the young man had failed, might as well at least try to communicate, right?

[Anonymous]

((Whoot!))

The fact that the strange woman didn't make a sound when he shot his beam at her surprised him a little bit. Not enough to actually turn his head though. maybe she was just prepared for an attack? She was trying to take his bounty after all. It still did make him wonder about the whole thing. She definitely was some sort of lizard though...it almost made him want to go back to the Thunderblacks, to the dragons. Terrorize them for a while maybe...

Nah.

It seemed like she was going to perhaps run. She stood there debating for quite a while, and all Xion could do was continue to eat his meal. The meat was nice and juicy, very tough, and it was just he way he liked it too. He wondered how smart she was though...would she back away an d forget about all this...or was she going to look for a fight. She looked like she might be kind of fun...the dragon part of her definitely seemed interesting. His eyes stayed on her though, wondering what her next move might be.

Xion idly considered seeing if she was fireproof like most dragons...at least on her dragon side of things. Might be something to experiment with if she got a little grabby again. One of his eyes glowed as she pointed a claw toward the man. Oh no...she wasn't trying to take it. That was good. The eye stopped glowing as he laughed and shook his head. "A society is made of laws and rules." Xion told her between bites of his raw steak. "This man, this scum, broke those rules, broke those laws, and not even because he needed to. Because he wanted to." Xion understood mercy to some degree. He understood that humans were weak, and usually people who stole because they needed food and were dying without it got off easy. This one though...

No, he just stole because he wanted to. He stole because he needed more than he had, than he could afford...and so, he had a bounty on his head. "So the man goes to the dungeons. Ain't that right Caul?" The bounty hunter reached down and rubbed the man's head, getting a pained groan from the man. "If you want him, you've gotta pay the bounty..." Xion turned in his seat finally to look at her, his one large eye just focused straight on her. "And make it worth my while. Chased him for one week through forests, cold, grubby forests, and even near some mountains. So you'd have to make up for that too...and I don't think you've got the...funds or...desire for that."

[Anonymous]

Sherah stood in place for a few moments; suddenly, she felt rather foolish. So this man was a criminal, if the one with many eyes was to be believed, and she nearly allowed him to escape. She wondered what laws it was that he broke, that left him apparently on the run so far away, only to be captured and beaten by this man. But that was a curiosity that was difficult to convey. Eyestalks, as she had mentally nicknamed him for the time being, then turned around so that she had a better look at the bigger eye, the sharp teeth, and the horns on his face. He definitely didn't seem like someone she would want to be on the run from.

She also quietly wondered if the bigger eye - the only one in a place where eyes should be - also had a bigger laser. Hopefully she wouldn't have to find out the hard way.

The dragonling returned a sort of odd look when he mentioned making it 'worth his while.' Did he mean more money? Obviously she didn't have enough for what he was asking anyway. She didn't like the way he said 'desire' though, and since the man was a criminal anyway, she had no interest in letting him go free. A hero's job was to punish criminals, not release them! Although mercy was important too. Eyestalks didn't strike her as the mercy-showing type.

Sherah decided to answer him with a single shake of the head - no to paying his bounty, no to making it 'worth his while.' She then eyed the scorched spot on the ground near her feet. She knelt next to it, digging a single claw of her right hand into the scorched wood. After this she began to scratch a single word on the wooden floor, made more visible by the black markings she was tracing through it:

SAFE?

With that etched into the floor, she pointed toward the captive once again, giving Eyestalks an inquisitive look.

[Anonymous]

You know, he hadn't been drinking a whole lot recently actually...and for some reason this girl wasn't saying anything. It looked like she had a lot to say but she didn't actually say anything to him. She just...he wasn't really sure how to take that. Now that he thought about it, because she was being so irksome, she could possibly be mute. He wondered what kind of mute it was. Her throat looked normal...so it wasn't cut up...though she could have no tongue...not that he could tell right now.

Honestly it could be easy to figure some things out by going into her head, but he didn't particularly want to. He also knew he was pretty sure he had to ask permission and stuff like that. Sometimes they counted invasion of the mind as rape, and then it was a whole big thing.

When he told her about the criminal part, she definitely didn't seem to care anymore about the man. Clever ploy, or did she generally not care now that she knew the truth? Well, he'd have to figure that out as they went, wouldn't he? Now she was doing something. Taking up the last of his steak he began to eat the rest of it as she started doing...something to the ground. People started to go back to drinking and talking again, albeit a little nervously. "Ah Xion! She's...fuck..." The bartender could only get out a strangled word as she started to destroy more of his bar.

"I'll pay for it, don't worry." Xion said with a wave of his hands. He looked carefully as she finished the word. Safe? "He won't die from his injuries...and he can't walk so he's not going anywhere." He explained to her with a small shrug as he picked up his drink and took a sip. "Quit scratching shit into the bar and have a seat. Over here." He told her as he jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the stool on the opposite side of him and his bounty. "If you still want to talk that is. There's a much easier way, providing you've got the mind for it." He wouldn't deny it, she was definitely interesting. She had wanted to steal from him. People didn't try that everyday...and she looked strange enough that he could look at her more like a dragon, than something that might be fun to eat or beat.

[Anonymous]

Sherah could hear the tavernkeeper's protest; when she was done asking her question she would give the man a small, sheepishly apologetic smile. Yeah, she probably shouldn't have done that, but she needed to be certain that the captive wouldn't be harmed any more than he had been. When Eyestalks - or Xion, apparently - answered the question, she at least made an attempt to wipe off the black marks she had left, with very limited success. With that she would stand, and then hesitate again when he offered her the seat across from him.

She still wasn't entirely sure if she should trust him, although she was already willing to take him at his word regarding his prisoner. It also helped that he no longer seemed quite so angry. He just wanted to talk, apparently - said there was a better way. Did he figure out she couldn't speak? She would have expected to be asked. That was what most people did. Still, he spoke of an easier way to communicate. If it turned out this method was something she couldn't do, she had paper in her pack to write on. It would be good enough.

Sherah decided to take him up on his offer. She gave him a light nod and then walked toward the seat he had indicated. Despite having what was essentially four feet of spiked muscle trailing from her backside, she had grown adept at not taking out furniture with her tail by accident. The remainder of her trip to the seat resulted in no additional damage to the tavernkeeper's belongings. Once seated, she looked at Xion inquisitively, wondering how he planned to communicate.

[Anonymous]

It was bad enough that Xion was here being his regular self, more so now that he cut a black swathe through the bar, but now there was this dragon lady who was cutting words into the bar. However, Xion had said he would pay, probably because he knew that getting into too much trouble would be a bad idea. In his earlier years, he had found that despite being stronger than most people here, there were a lot of them that had magic and powers that he had to be wary of. He knew to keep his behaviour to 'thuggish' and 'brutish' for the most part.

Reaching into his vest he pulled out a small satchel and a rough looking stone pipe. Tapping some pipe weed into the stone pipe he put the satchel away as one of his eye stalks looked toward the pipe and glowed. With a small puff of fire, he put the stone to his lips and inhaled the bitter mix before blowing the light smoke upward. "Ah hah, much better." His voice was a dark growl that was supposed to sound like a pleased purr. It gave some people the creeps...others just didn't notice it.

His eye stalks watched her carefully, rather impressed by her ability to walk around without knocking her tail into things. He took a few more puffs of his pipe as she sat down, wondering how she managed that too with the tail. Then again, it was just a stool, those were probably easy. Chairs might be a little more difficult. His stalks all looked at her carefully as she looked at him, he smirked a little as he began to work his powers. His eyes began to flash and glow at random intervals, he was careful as he reached out his mind towards her. It wasn't particularly difficult really, he just had to make sure that he didn't end up flashing a bunch of psionic energy and accidentally erasing her higher functions.

Not that he wouldn't be able to find something to do with her when she didn't remember anything and couldn't comprehend what was going on. Still, best to play nice. "Just relax...quit thinking so much." Not that it would be particularly easy no doubt, considering she couldn't speak. "Very cluttered in here. Lots to say and no way to say it eh?" Xion's voice resonated inside her head suddenly, finding the right spot finally. He grinned wickedly as he looked over at her, the pipe between two teeth as he blew out a small puff of smoke at her.

[Anonymous]

While Xion may have had several decades of experience behind him, Sherah had no such benefit. Just as the many-eyed man had to learn some things in his younger years, so too did Sherah have such formative experiences laying ahead of her. In fact, she could very well be in the process of experiencing one - or if not now, perhaps soon. She did already learn that you probably can't sneak up on someone with so many eyes.

Also, watch out for lasers.

She didn't really mind the smoke. Some of the men back home smoked; if anything, the smell reminded her of them. The growl in his voice was a little unsettling, but really no worse than anything else she'd witnessed thus far in this encounter. At least she had a stool to sit on rather than a chair. Stools were among the more tail-friendly pieces of furniture out there. Chairs, depending on how they were designed, tended to be inconvenient at best and terribly uncomfortable at worst, but it was just one of those things she'd grown accustomed to over the years.

Sherah watched his eyes carefully as they started flashing again, becoming momentarily worried that she was about to get lasered. However, there would be no discharge of heat. What there was instead was some kind of...presence in her mind, although she was a little too inexperienced to identify it. This was, after all, her first mind-probing. Xion would, indeed, find a multitude of thoughts coursing through her mind. They ranged from "I'm still hungry" to "Maybe this guy isn't as bad as I thought?" to "How do you even process what you see with that many different eyes?"

He told her to quit thinking so much - naturally, this only raised further questions, causing the opposite of the desired effect. Was she being that obvious? Did she do something wrong? Other than try to steal this guy's bounty. And scratch up the other man's floor. She wished she could apologise better for that. Maybe she could find a way to make some money and pay him back. Hopefully it wasn't too bad; it was just a little scratch, right?

Then there was a voice in her head that wasn't her own. Sherah sat upright suddenly, visibly startled though seemingly not bothered by the smoke blown her way. There was a moment of relative silence in her mind at that point, although the parts that werent silent echoed similar thoughts to the tune of What the hell was that? A few moments of thought traveled along this line, and it didn't take her much longer to reach her conclusion:

"That was hi- that was you, wasn't it?" she spoke in her mind as if she were simply speaking to herself, her eyes glued to Xion.

[Anonymous]

At least she didn't seem to mind the smoking. Then again, she was a dragon lady wasn't she? They breathed fire and all that, they should be used to things like smoke breathing. He wouldn't be surprised if she smoked honestly...it wasn't like it could kill her. Though he didn't often see younger folk smoking. Drinking yes, but never really smoking. Expensive habit anyways, all things considered. Most people had to deal with the silliness that was running out of money.

He could smell, see, and sense even a small amount of fear from the woman as his eyes started glowing. He couldn't be sure what it was of course, but he assumed it was probably the fear of what was happening. It wasn't like he had been clear about what he was going to do to her. For all she knew he might try to cast some sort of magic on her. Not that he didn't think of it of course, but it was always best to try and behave in town.

Maybe he'd lure her out of the town boundaries if he didn't end up enjoying their conversation. And if he didn't get enough to drink.

She had a lot of convoluted thoughts in her mind, and he had to admit that this might be a little more difficult. Too many thoughts were not particularly good really...they revealed a lot of weakness. Something about apologies and what not. Things he didn't care for. The only time he apologized was usually when he stole someone's bounty, and even then it was a pretty sarcastic apology.

The surprise made him grin, his bloody teeth shining slightly in the light. Ah he loved that look on people's faces...it was usually quite hilarious. He was surprised by how fast she came to the right conclusion though...it wasn't often how many people actually figured it out quickly. "Very good, there's actually hope for you yet." Xion said slyly as he took up his mug of ale and drank deep from it, managing to keep his pipe tucked in between two teeth while he drank. Years of practice.

"So what's yer name little dragon girl? I'm known as Xion Frost, bounty hunter." He asked her as a few of his eye stalks focused on her carefully, watching her casually. She was no threat, not yet at least. He still would be prepared of course.

[Anonymous]

It wasn't as though Sherah had never been interested in smoking. She was a curious child, after all, so there was no way the thought wouldn't creep into her mind every once in a while. Of course, she was never allowed for the same reasons the other kids weren't allowed, her own unique (to them) anatomy aside. This would lead to some trouble on more than one occasion when, in times of stress, wisps of smoke would mysteriously come billowing from her nose and mouth. Apparently some part of that draconic fire-breathing gene lay dormant somewhere, but it was probably for the best that it hadn't yet manifested as an actual flame. Otherwise there would have been a lot of fire damage in her hometown.

The bloodied teeth probably should have bothered her more. As if their wickedly pointy shape wasn't enough to intimidate most, the addition of bloodstains certainly added to the intimidation facter. However, he was speaking to a person who, on occasion, liked to go hunting with no weapons other than a clawed hand and her own teeth. Sherah was not a mindless beast by far, but there certainly was an animalistic side to her. To her, the smell of blood only made her hungry.

Which, really, she still was.

However, that wasn't important at the moment. What was important was the person rooting around in her head. Without thinking too hard on what he could see or actually do in there, she decided to focus on the fact that she had been provided a rare opportunity to communicate with words. It was an act that most people took for granted. She could only imagine how much easier things would be if she could communicate like this herself. So hey, it wouldn't hurt to ask, right?

"My name's Sherah. I'm gonna be a hero," she replied with a degree of certainty that suggested this was the only option. But then, on to the more interesting bit: "So where did you learn to talk like this?"

[Anonymous]

Lots of more thoughts raced about, and he tried to ignore them for the time being. Memories, he knew those well, they had a familiar...signature to them.

Xion figured that a lot of his usual tactics for intimidation weren't going to work on this strange draconic girl. She wasn't exactly...normal after all, and by the look of her half-draconic nature she wasn't easily intimidated by just looks alone. He almost wondered if she had been raised around dragons or what her story was. He might even ask her it if he got the notion into his head. Instead of just rooting around for it himself like he usually would do. While it was usually hard to tell whether a psychic had actually violated your mind or if you were just making things up, usually with Xion the guards believed the person pointing the finger at him.

Not that he blamed them of course, he usually was behind it.

"This? It's instinctual. I was born knowing I had these powers." It must have been strange, he thought to himself as he lifted his mug once more to his lips, to see two people sitting there beside each other, not talking...while they actually had an entire conversation in their head. On some level, he found it amusing actually. No one would be able to know what they were talking about, and the fact that two people could be best of friends and look like complete enemies amused him. Not that he was going to get that buddy buddy with the dragon girl, but just the idea of a person who had moments ago fired a searing hot beam of light at someone was now having them sit beside them...well it was amusing.

"And you're gonna be a dead hero if you try something like you did again. Gotta pick yer battles, and sneaking upon a man with twenty six eyes isn't a battle you can win easy." He warned her in an almost friendly manner, as his one cycloptic eye shifted to look at her for a few moments. "So what're you? Got the look of a dragon, and a human, but I've never heard of a successful crossing of the two." and he would know, being born in the Thunderblacks and all.

[Anonymous]

"You're lucky. I wish I could do something like this on my own," she responded lightheartedly. It seemed as if most of the fear she had regarding this man had melted away quickly, and really it was all thanks to the chance to actually speak with someone for the first time in her life. "This thing where you talk with words? So much easier than waving my hands around and hoping people understand what I'm trying to say. Or scratching words into the floor."

Not that she was complaining, really. This was the way things had been for all of her life, so she was used to not using words. To her, verbal communication - even if it was just in her head - was a novelty. It was unusual, and for that reason, it was actually kind of fun. However, it wasn't something she really needed. Not that she wouldn't like to gain the ability to do this on her own, of course.

"Guess that's not the best idea I ever had, huh? I just figured I'd slip by if you saw me - lot of good that idea did. I really wasn't expecting that beam of hot light, though." It was strange, in a way, talking to the man from whom she had attempted to steal a captive only moments before. It seemed that all was forgiven at the moment, and the man was being remarkably nice considering the circumstances.

"Well, you have now," Sherah shrugged. "I came from a village in the mountains. Mama's a dragon. Never met my dad, but I know he was human." It feld odd, talking about herself like this. Only part of it was because she was doing so with a complete stranger. Being unable to use words in most situations made Sherah into a good listener, but she wasn't used to talking about anything, much less herself.

[Anonymous]

"Really? Talking with words is easier than gestures and etching, I never woulda figured kid. Damn you're a smart one, gonna hafta keep a couple extra eyes on you." It was pure sarcasm really, you would have to be rather simple not to hear it in his voice. However, true to what he said, a couple extra eyes lazily drifted to focus on her. He was already wondering how fun she might be. The dumb ones could always be wild in the sack. Only problem was she just reeked of inexperience, and not just in the bedroom.

The whole trying to take his bounty came to mind rather quickly.

He gave a loud audible laugh to the entire tavern as she spoke about not expecting his ray of light. "Hah! Yeah! Not many people do, and it's great to watch 'em squirm when they're missing a limb." He was honest about it, he enjoyed others in pain. Speaking of which, he reached down to check on his bounty, who groaned slightly through the gag at his touch. Yep, still breathing and alive. He'd learned his craft quickly, and perfected it even faster. The man couldn't walk, but he wouldn't die. Probably. Some had weak hearts and minds and just gave up so...unfairly.

"Dragon mother huh? That musta been quite the fuck. Can't say it woulda been much better the other way around." He thought to her lewdly as he considered it. Yeah, it actually wouldn't have been all that enjoyable had her mother been the human and her father had been a dragon. Shrugging that off though, he just looked over at the girl with a sly little smirk. "For a small price, I'm sure I could teach you how to speak like this. Very least I can open yer mind so it's able to do this." And open a few other things of hers.

[Anonymous]

Sherah didn't exactly appreciate the man's tone; apparently he wasn't familiar with the idea of friendly banter. Granted this was her first time actually trying it, but still there was no need for that response. It was met with a slight roll of the eye (since the left one didn't seem to move at all). It was in the conversation that followed that she would be reminded of what sort of person he was. For example, she didn't find the idea of people with severed limbs to be particularly amusing.

Really, there just wasn't much she could say to that.

But then the conversation really took a turn for the awkward. Sherah hadn't ever stopped to think too hard about her own conception - most specifically, the idea of a human and a dragon getting together. The logistics of such a thing had to be tricky, to say the least - unless she just took a human form for that. It was then that Sherah realized she was thinking of her own mother having sex, which just went too far down that 'awkward and gross' direction. She made a face and pushed the thought out of her mind.

Fortunately, there was something else to think about: Xion offered to teach her how to speak like this, but for a price. A 'small' price, he claimed, but she wasn't sure she believed that part. It was fairly obvious that she didn't have a lot of money, so it couldn't be that. With money ruled out as an option, it didn't leave many pleasant things that she could pay with. However, she was interested in learning how to speak like this, so maybe...

"What kind of price?" she would ask warily.

[Anonymous]

Xion was rough around the edges, there was no denying that. He was crude, he was crass, he was all sorts of other things that ended with ass. No one really wanted to understand him, or befriend him. Most knew that he was not just a monster hiding behind a gruff exterior just wanting to burst free and be loves. He really was a monster with a gruff everything. He made no apologies about it, and never really pretended to be something he wasn't.

At least he was honest in that sense.

Personally Xion didn't really see anything wrong with the conversation. He personally wondered what made him really! Human, and something with many many eyes. Who was his mother, who was his father, which was the mother and which was the father. He could only wonder really. Maybe it was a little perverse, but really it was all in curiosity. For the most part. Ahem.

Oh all those silly little thoughts going through her mind just made him smirk as some eyes focused on her, looking her up and down. "Never rode a woman like you raw before, so that'd be the price I'd say. Some fun time for Xion gets you the ability to speak to people." He told her with a chuckle. He tapped the bar counter with one hand. "Another beer, for both of us." Xion said as he jabbed a thumb in her direction. The barkeeper nodded and brought them two large mugs full of ale. Xion picked his up and quickly drank from it. "Ah, that's much better."

[Anonymous]

It was worth noting that this was the young Sherah's first time outside of her small village. As such, she had never met someone like Xion before. Not just someone of Xion's race, either - after all, there were a lot of people in the world who could say they hadn't met a man with upwards of a couple dozen eyes. She also had no experience with people who were rough not just around the edges, but through and through. By contrast, Sherah was a girl who still retained much of her innocence; she knew what sex was, of course, but to her it wasn't something to be treated so...casually.

"No."

The response was firm, and delayed only by the length of time it took to sift through the man's vernacular. As Xion ordered a beer for the both of them - another one of those things about which she had long held a certain degree of curiosity - she felt the need to explain herself. "This is a neat trick and all," she said as she picked up the mug that was set before her, proving at least that she was capable of multitasking. She proceeded to give it a test-sip as she continued. "...but I've gotten by my whole life without the ability to speak. I don't need it that badly."

The beer wasn't bad - if he was attentive, Xion might have caught something in the background of her mind about how it tasted a little odd. Clearly this was her first taste, and while it wasn't her favorite, it wasn't bad either. She set her mug down and looked Xion straight in the big, central eye. "And since I doubt I have anything else I could pay you with, I guess I'll be staying silent."

[Anonymous]

That had been expected.

Young, naive, soft, and tender. She was everything that made for a very enjoyable night in his mind. She however, was not having any of it. Not that he really cared, it wasn't the first time anyone had said no to him. Of course, the learned afterwards that saying no to him was not a smart idea. He would bide his time however...public place, invading her mind like he was now...yeah that could end up in a lot of trouble that he didn't want to get into. He could wait though. Yeah. He could do that.

He gave a rough laugh as he removed the pipe from his mouth and took another drink. The damn thing had been mostly forgotten, but he puffed it a few times and was satisfied with the rush of tobacco smoke into his lungs. "An interestin' thought to have. Little too proud for my own tastes, but we can't all be like me I suppose." Sex was honestly not a big deal to him. She was half dragon for that matter, and should have been able to handle it all a little easier. The thought excited him in some way. Despite the broken bones occasionally and the bevy of bruises most whores got from a night with him, that was gentle, as gentle as he wanted to manage it anyway. "I admire yer conviction though kiddo, very good, you'll make a fine hero yet."

It was a bit of truth, and just a bit of shit he was piling onto it. Might as well make nice for the next little while. Get comfy and all that. "Nah, tonight you get to talk. Least until I get bored." He told her with a terrifying grin. "So hero, tell me, why did you want to become a hero? Why did you want to protect the world and vanquish evil?" He wouldn't deny that in his younger days, a girl like her would have ended up dead right quickly around him. Until he realized how much fun one could have with heroes.

[Anonymous]

Sherah found herself a little curious about this man. He seemed rougher than he was acting; she didn't think that the type of person who would laugh about cutting someone's limbs off would normally be the type to sit down for a casual conversation with some kid he'd never met. Granted, he tried to get some sex out of her, but he didn't even raise a complaint when she turned him down. If she had more experience it might have told her to be more wary, but as it was she wasn't that good at guessing ulterior motives.

Besides, his words were appealing to her own sense of pride. That was, admittedly, one reason for the 'hero' thing: that sense of pride one may feel from being loved, admired, and well known across the lands. Of course, that bit where you save peoples' lives and stop evil in its tracks was also very important. It wasn't as though pride was the only reason for this personal journey of hers. It did also stem from a genuine desire to help people. But why not enjoy becoming popular as a result?

Xion's next question, as it turned out, would be along those very same lines. Really, that could make for a long answer, so she thought for a moment about how best to summarize it while taking down another big moutful of beer. "There's a lot of reasons," she began, placing her mug back down. "I used to hear a lot of stories when I was little, all about heroes saving the day from evil and all that. I always kinda wanted to be that person, and I guess as I grew up that feeling never went away. Besides that, I always wanted to get out to see more of the world, so I thought, why not try to make it a better place while I'm at it?"

She said it so casually, as if changing the world for the better was an easy thing, but there it was. She had to admit it sounded a little silly now that she said it aloud(ish), but that wouldn't stop her resolve to become a Hero.