Free Spirits (Zombie_In_A_Box X Pigeon)

[Kotorichan]

"of course... I'll check the clearing" Arumi stared at the human for a moment, his face set in a concerned frown. "Well... take care of yourself..." he murmured, dropping the rope. He bowed his head slightly before turning away and walking back into the forest. He didn't even wait for the human to say anything in return and just walked back to the clearing where he had left his clothes and book.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian sighed quietly, nodding a little at the dragon. "You too." He found himself muttering those two words - even with all that suspicion, Arumi looked honest... The brunet stared at the boulder, thinking of the easiest way to move it. When he finally did and went inside, others were asked to bring in the food while he was hurried to take care of the wound.

 

For at least a week, he wasn't able to go outside their hideout - the people just didn't let him. When he finally did go out, he promised to only bring herbs and nothing else. His arm was bandaged up, as well as his chest, this way covering up most of his older scars. The brunet made sure to get to the clearing early, stabbing his knife in front of the rock into the ground before hiding himself - this time on the ground, wearing the boar coat over himself once more.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi checked the clearing each time he had to patrol. Every time he didn't find any sign of the man he grew more and more worried about him. When he found the knife in front of the rock he let out a soft sigh of relief. "It's safe to come out Damian" He called out, sitting down on the rock. The dragon had a long cut across his face that he had gotten since they had last seen each other.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian actually flinched a little when Arumi's voice reached him. Slowly standing up, the man pushed the fur off his head and walked towards the dragon. "What happened to you?" The brunet asked quietly as he stopped, staying standing in front of the other. Damian felt actual worry about this guy - how weird... Arumi had the power to kill him at any moment, but he never did.

[Kotorichan]

"This?" Arumi lightly touched the cut on his face. "One of my brothers was having a bad day, they usually take it out on me" He smiled at the human and took a step towards him. "Are you feeling alright?" His gaze drifted to Damian's bandages. "It looks like it was pretty bad..."he sighed and slipped his clothes off. "well... what kind of meat would you like me to get for you this time?" he asked, brushing his hair back out of his face.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian frowned, his good hand gently placed over the bandages on his arm. "That's bullshit." He muttered with a sigh, looking at the dragon. "I'm not getting any meat. It'd be suspicious. Others will go out later and hunt - I just need some herbs." The human explained with a quiet sigh, leaning down to take the knife out of the ground. "You can put your clothes back on, if you want to help me out." The brunet said, holding the knife loosely in his hand.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi frowned slightly and pulled his clothes back on. "Others are going to come out hunting?" he walked over to the human. "They might find my footprints... and depending on when they come out." He slung his bag over his shoulder with his book inside. "That could cause a lot of problems if you don't want your people to know about me..." He sighed and brushed his hair back out of his face.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian rolled his eyes slightly, absentmindedly touching the bandages on his arm. "First, they know dragons come here. Second, they know you can turn into humans. I don't think footprints will be a problem... Besides, they're not coming out for a long while. They think it's safer at night." The brunet explained as he began walking deeper into the forest. "Thanks to me, we're almost all out of pain meds. Those are my top priority at the moment." Damian explained quietly, looking around cautiously. In the forest, he didn't really feel completely safe - not when he didn't have the ability to even hold his knife properly.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi followed close behind, completely relaxed. The dragon had no reason to fear anything that lived in the forest, even if something did take him off guard it would only be able to give him a minor injury. "you'll have to show me the plants you need before I can help you. I'm not sure what helps your kind with pain..." He sighed and looked around at the plants, looking for anything he might recognize. "Although I should still stay near you to make sure you don't get hurt again..."

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

"There are several herbs that fit, however this area only has one of those. It's the strongest." He explained, looking around for the said herb in case they'd be here already. However, the brunet froze up at what the dragon said next. Turning around sharply, he pointed at the other's chest with frustration in his eyes. "I can take care of myself. There's no need to keep on reminding me how much stronger your kind is." He nearly hissed out before hurriedly walking off again, searching for the herb he had in mind.

[Kotorichan]

"I'm sorry, I only meant that you use your arms to fight and one is injured..." Arumi sighed. "I know you can take care of yourself Damian... You've already survived so long without any assistance..." he crouched down and picked one small herb that he knew could worked as a disinfectant, at least on small animals. "Does this work on humans? I've used it as a medicine on rabbits but it might not work the same..." He frowned at his own ignorance, wishing he could be more helpful.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian grunted quietly under his nose, quickly brushing off the other's words. He ofted did that - ignore emotions or anything of the sort. Right now he felt as if he was getting closer to Arumi... He knew he couldn't let himself get too close. "I need pain numbing herbs, not desinfecting ones." The brunet muttered and continued walking, abruptly stopping in front of a bush. Damian crouched down, tearing off one leaf that he held out in front of his eyes. With a light grin on his face, the man held it out to the dragon. "Chew this." He said with a smile. The plant was sort of like a drug... He was curious to see how it would work on a dragon.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi stared at the leaf for a moment, he wasn't sure if he could trust the human or not... He had said that he didn't know of any plants that could poison a dragon so the worse it could do would make him feel sick. He shrugged his worries off and took the leaf, popping it in his mouth and chewing slowly. He frowned at the strange taste but kept chewing. After about a minute he started to feel strange, he leaned against the nearest tree, blinking in confusion. He had never felt like this before, it was like he was spinning and falling all at once. The dragon pushed his feet down on the ground to make sure he hasn't gotten into the air somehow. He let out a pathetic whimper like some kind of hurt dog, his eyes wide and confused.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian watched cautiously as Arumi chewed the leaf, his grin stretching out across his face when the effects began kicking in. The brunet bursted out laughing at the whimper, standing to walk closer. He placed one hand on the other's shoulders, chuckling quietly. "This'll pass in a few hours. Try to relax and enjoy~" The human smiled, lightly patting the other's shoulder. He pulled back, gripping the other's hand. The drug had a weird way of working - first it was a bit too strong to feel good, but then it faded out and left the user "high".

[Kotorichan]

Arumi held tightly to Damian's hand, trying to see straight. The forest seemed to be swimming around him and the color of the sky looked wrong. "What'd you give me?" he mumbled, trying to remember how he usually walked. "I feel... wrong..." He shivered and looked around, trying to figure out how to explain it. "do you usually do this?" he wasn't even sure if he was referring to feeding the drug to other people or taking it himself. His attention was suddenly caught by a large beetle on the tree. "so shiny..." he mumbled, reaching out to touch the bug.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian felt a little bit bad for laughing, but he did so anyway. The brunet gripped his hand, a wide smile on his face. He realized too late he was already slipping into a feelings' territory he wasn't supposed to be in. The human gently tugged Arumi towards himself until he found a plant he was searching for. "Stay still for a few moments, I need to take this." Damian said with a smile as he crouched down to cut off the herb, leaving the roots in the ground. Someday he'd take the whole plant with roots, when they could grow plants in their hideout. He definitely would. The brunet soon stood up, smiling lightly at Arumi. "How do you feel?"

[Kotorichan]

Arumi stood next to the human as he waited his attention was caught by a small pink flower on the ground and he immediately dropped to his knees to examine it. "It's sooo little..." He whispered, reaching out to run his fingers over the petals. "it's like a little baby flower~" He giggled happily and kept petting it like a small animal. "I want one... It'll be my little baby" he looked over at Damian with a bright smile. "Isn't it so little? It's like yooou" He laughed harder, perfectly happy to just sit and stare at the flower all day.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian snorted, laughing softly at the other. "You're so cute..." He muttered under his nose before lightly tugging the other upwards. "Come on, we have to go on. I need a little bit more of these." The brunet said with a smile, lightly holding Arumi's hand. He couldn't help but like the warmth that was spreading into his palm from it, a gentle squeeze only intensifying it. "I shouldn't be doing this." He muttered, trying to pull his hand out. He couldn't allow himself to fall any deeper. He couldn't let himself love a dragon. No way in hell.

 

Or perhaps it was already too late? Love had already planted its seed into Damian's heart and only time could tell if it would sprout or not.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi held tightly to the human's hand when he tried to pull away. "noo you're so warm" he whined, moving closer to snuggle up against Damian's warmth. "warm little man" The dragon closed his eyes happily, letting out a comforted growl. "I just wanna take you home with me and cuddle up all day..." He mumbled. Arumi usually did enjoy the human's presence, the drug was just amplifying his feelings the human and making it impossible to control his actions. He couldn't think straight anymore and at this point he didn't even care, it felt so nice to be so relaxed.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

It started feeling unreal too soon for him. Damian stared down at the ground as Arumi got closer, feeling completely powerless. The human let out a defeated sigh and slowly brought an arm around the other, hiding his face into his shoulder for a moment. "God, you're so high..." He groaned before pulling away, gently taking the dragon's face into his hand. He liked the other, he couldn't even deny that fact. It was ruining him... "I made a dragon high." The thought said out loud suddenly seemed extremely funny, and in a few moments the brunet was chuckling warmly, finally feeling relaxed. So he had some feelings, screw that. Life was too short to not enjoy it.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi giggled happily and leaned in to nuzzle his nose against the human's face. "So fleshy~ No scales at all" He wrapped his arms around Damian's shoulders and growled playfully, still nuzzling him. "Squishy~" he lightly bit the man's nose, not enough to make it painful only enough to hold onto him. Arumi seemed a lot more like a playful child than a fully grown dragon prince. At the moment he didn't care about proper behavior or appearances, he just wanted to spend time with Damian and have fun.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian just gave into the touches, laughing quietly as it tickled a bit. However, when the dragon bit his nose - even if not painfully - the man was a little bit freaked. He gently tugged the other's teeth off, his heart beating a little bit faster. "Don't bite me, okay?" The brunet chuckled before gently combing a hand through Arumi's hair. As he was still being hugged, the brunet couldn't really pull away or anything of the sort. "Will you help me search for those plants now?" Damian asked with a slight grin, gently stroking his hair.

[Kotorichan]

"It's not mean bites..." Arumi pouted. "It's gentle little bites, for playing~" the dragon nuzzled his face into the man's neck. he lightly nibbled at Damian's neck with just his lips, careful not to let his teeth actually touch the skin. "Play bites..." He murmured. The human's question made him frown deeply. "I don't wanna go look at plants..." He whined. "I wanna play with you, it's more fun" he pulled back just enough to bump his forehead against Damian's in a playful manner.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian sighed and shook his head, his cheeks flushing the slightest bit as the other busied himself with his neck. "It doesn't matter for what they are, they're still... Uh... Still bites." He muttered, mentally yelling at himself for being a dumbass who got a dragon high. A dragon that was currently almost crossing the line of playing and mollesting. When Arumi bumped their foreheads together, the brunet sighed, glancing away as to not let their eyes meet. "I have to get some... Then we can, um, play." He murmured out and pulled away, his cheeks a little bit redder than usually.

[Kotorichan]

"Okay... But only if you promise to play with me. You can't leave as soon as you're done or I'll be really sad..." Arumi pouted and snuggled up to the human for another moment before finally pulling away. "How're we gonna find the plants? The forest is big and they're all small, and you're small too" He lightly patted Damian's cheek with a smile. "So cute and small" He giggled and rocked back and forth on his feet. "I wanna put you on a shelf"