Free Spirits (Zombie_In_A_Box X Pigeon)

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian let out a soft sigh and shook his head. "Just put some stick through the meat and hold it above the fire, turn it from time to time." He explained quietly, nuzzling closer. The man had his eyes closed, leaning against the dragon with nearly full weight - although he didn't weight all that much. "Be careful to not let it catch on fire..." He muttered out softly, his lips staying parted slightly.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi quickly did as the human instructed, trying his best not to rip the meat to pieces as he put it on the stick, it was surprisingly difficult but he managed to get the meat safely over the fire. The dragon glanced over at Damain, his chest tightening at the expression on the man's face, he felt like it would almost be better if the human was angry and blaming him for what happened. But instead he just looked almost dead...

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian didn't see the need to pretend he was alright when he was with the dragon. Arumi probably didn't care anyway... The brunet let out a shaky sigh, a lump forming in his throat as he thought how quiet it was. With his eyes closed, the human tried to stop the tears - that he just had to do. He absolutely hated crying in front of someone else. Even if Arumi didn't mind, he didn't want to. His eyes only opened when he was absolutely sure he wouldn't let a single tear escape, gazing into the fire.

[Kotorichan]

"Damian..." Arumi scooted closer to the human, making sure the meat was still cooking. "I'm sorry... I really didn't want any of this to happen... Isn't there anything I can do to help you feel better? Please talk to me... I want to make it up to you as much as possible" he looked away sadly. "even though I know I can't actually fix any of the damage I've done"

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian turned his gaze to the dragon as his name was called out, listening quietly through all that he had to say. "I don't know what you could do." He muttered out as he rested his head against the other's shoulder. "I guess the best thing you could do is eat me..." The man chuckled quietly as he closed his eyes, a weak smile on his face. "I just don't know what to do now. Do I even have something to live for? My whole life was just torn from me... And it's just my fault."

[Kotorichan]

"It's not your fault!" Arumi's voice raised to a roar. He quickly regained his composure and began to speak in a calmer tone. "Why won't you blame me for this? If I had just left you alone and let you go about your life then none of this would have happened to you. Why are you blaming yourself?" The dragon blinked back tears, unsure if it was from sadness or anger.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian would've been lying if he said he wasn't terrified by the roar. Flinching away a little bit, the brunet stared at Arumi with wide eyes, at least showing some emotion. "I'm blaming myself because if I'd acted smarter, I wouldn't be in this mess." He said quietly, pursing his lips slightly. "...Are you crying?..."

[Kotorichan]

Arumi pushed his long hair back over his shoulders, sending the human a teary-eyed glare. "Of course I am, you're sitting there like a corpse and it's my fault. What else am I supposed to do?" he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, his voice shaking with every word. "Do humans not cry or something?"

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian couldn't fight off the faint smile as he reached out to take Arumi's hand. "Humans cry too." He muttered, his soft side showing as he reached out to wipe the dragon's cheek. "But it really isn't your fault." The brunet sighed as he held onto the other's hand. It was so warm... He leaned back against Arumi, trailing small lines over his palm as he sunk into his thoughts. "Why do you care about me?"

[Kotorichan]

Arumi felt somewhat relieved at the sight of the human's smile, even though it was brief. He frowned slightly at the question and looked away. "I've mentioned this before but I'm the youngest of twelve princes... I'm barely considered royalty since I'm so far from the throne... Ever since I was a child I've had to pretend to be weak and somewhat mentally ill so that I wasn't seen as a threat and murdered by any of my brothers. I guess you're the first person I've ever been around who I could actually relax around, and once I relaxed I started to get attached to you..." he laughed softly. "It sounds silly when I say it out loud..."

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian blinked in confusion a few times as he listened, the last part really drawing his attention. "...Attached?" He muttered out softly, gently tracing his fingers over the lines on Arumi's palm. "It sounds weird, but not silly... I... I guess you're the only one I have right now." The brunet muttered out, gripping onto his hand a bit tighter. Perhaps he didn't want to die yet after all. If there was still someone who needed him, he had to live on. Letting out a quiet sigh, the human pushed himself away and stood up. "I'll go and look for some herbs to go along the meat." He said before leaving into the forest.

[Kotorichan]

"Alright... Just call if you need help..." Arumi kept cooking the meat. Soon the outside of the meat started to burn and the dragon pulled it away from the fire. "I hope this is okay..." He sighed, staring at the slightly burned meat. "I really have no idea how this is supposed to work..."

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian didn't take long to find enough herbs for the meat. When he came back, he eyed the meat a little bit suspiciously. "You cooked it a little bit too long." He said with a quiet sigh as he walked towards it. "This black thing isn't really edible, but it's possible to scrap it off with a knife." He explained as he pointed at the knife. "Can you do it? I'll prepare the herbs meanwhile." The human requested as he began taking off the small leaves from the herbs he'd collected.

[Kotorichan]

"Sorry..." Arumi sighed at the man's comment. He took the knife and began to carefully cut off the blackened parts. "Are you feeling ill?" he asked, glancing over at the herbs. "I've never seen anyone use plants for something besides medicine..." His people lived off of nothing but meat, so putting herbs on food for any reason except to disguise the flavor of the medicine was unheard of.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian let out another smile and shook his head. "No, it's possible to use some of the herbs as spices for various foods. Like, this is just some basil, it barely gives any taste, but I find meat morr enjoyable with the smell." He explained as he looked at the dragon. Although he showed emotion, they felt weird. While he could definitely pretend to be okay, he wasn't.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi nodded in understanding and watched the human prepare the food. "Damian... I'll be taking you back to my home with me tomorrow morning. I'll be able to protect you from the others of my kind, but only if you follow my instructions of how to behave in front of them..." he chewed on his lip. "otherwise they would kill you..."

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian looked away, his body stiffening for a few moments. So he was supposed to be a slave, from what it seemed. "Okay, how do I have to act then?" He asked with a slight frown, taking a piece of the meat into his hands. Taking a big bite, the brunet leaned back against a rock, chewing slowly. He let out a satisfied grunt, not taking too long to finish the whole piece.

[Kotorichan]

"As I've told you before I'm seem as strange by my entire country... No one would question it if the crazy youngest prince brought a 'pet' human home after one of his disappearances. In front of others you should try to stay quiet so that you don't accidentally say something that makes one lash out at you." Arumi looked down at his hands. "I hope you can continue to be yourself when we're alone, I'll be telling everyone that you escaped from a group of humans that was... killed last month"

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian listened quietly, only nodding from time to time. "Understood." He said with a sigh as he grabbed another piece of meat and began eating it. He liked how soft it was... The human ate a few more before deciding he was full - there were still a few pieces left, though. "What do you plan on doing until tomorrow?" The brunet asked as he raised his gaze up to the dragon.

[Kotorichan]

"Well... It's starting to get late so I thought we should just sleep, then I'll fly you back to the castle..." Arumi looked over at him. "Do you think you'll be able to sleep tonight? We could leave tonight if you would prefer, I just thought you'd like some rest after everything that happened today"

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian raised an eyebrow, blinking a few times. "I doubt it's that late." He muttered, motioning to the sun that had just begun setting. "I'd preffer going today, though. The longer I stay here, the bigger the chances of me being killed." He said quietly and slowly stood up. The human collected the rest of the meat into his hands and looked up at the dragon. "We can go if you're ready."

[Kotorichan]

"Alright..." Arumi stood up and slipped off his clothes. "You should put there on, it will get very cold up in the air." He moved away from Damian before changing into his dragon form. He stretched and slipped his bag around his neck so he could carry it as he flew. He crouched down to the ground so that the human could climb up.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian felt warmth sparking up inside his heart as he took the clothes and nodded lightly. It felt nice to be taken care of like this... The brunet got on when he could, tightly holding onto the scales so he wouldn't fall off. Once he was all set, the human put Arumi's clithes around himself - like a blanket of some sort. He shouldn't get too cold like this...

[Kotorichan]

Arumi waited for a moment for the human to get settled on his back before spreading his wings and taking off. He flew in a slow circle before figuring out which direction they needed to go in. He began to fly towards the castle, trying to go slowly so that Damian wouldn't be hit by too much of the cold wind.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian made sure to hold on tightly when the dragon took off, the sights taking his breath away again. Honestly, seeing everything from this high up was incredible... He was above everything he ever lived for, literally. The brunet pulled the clothes over himself as he looked around in awe, his lips parted slightly. The human was startled when a crow flew right past him, making him flinch a little bit.