Free Spirits (Zombie_In_A_Box X Pigeon)

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian felt relieved when Arumi agreed to changing into his human form. "...You're naked." He muttered out quietly, but followed him onto the bed. He felt as if he was some kind of a tiny creature in a human's room. Everything was huge! "Oh, really?" His eyes went huge as he looked at the other, a small smile on his face. "Thank you!"

[Kotorichan]

Arumi frowned slightly at the human's comment. "It isn't that cold... Is there really any other point to wearing clothes?" He asked, tilting his head side. "I'm never wearing clothes in my dragon form..." He flopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, trying to think of how to start teaching him.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

"Humans usually get naked for a few reasons only. It's either to have sex or to shower... I don't think there are any more occasions to do so." Damian explained while attempting to not-too-obviously glance at Arumi's, err, private parts. "When you're a dragon, you have scales to cover you, so it doesn't really count as being naked."

[Kotorichan]

"Humans are so weird..." Arumi grumbled, slowly standing up. "It's not like I'm planning to mate with you..." He sighed and walked over to his dresser. He pulled out some clothes and dressed himself before turning back to Damian. "Is this better?"

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian could barely hide the somewhat embarrassed smile on his face when Arumi went off to dress after hearing about how humans interpreted nakedness. "Yeah, definitely." The man chuckled softly, for now able to get his thoughts away from his people. As long as it wasn't night and he wasn't left alone with his thoughts, he would be fine... He would be fine.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi flopped down next the human. "Hm... So should I just start by teaching you some basic phrases? I've never taught anyone how to speak any kind of language before" He rolled over onto his back and smiled up at Damian. "Or are there any words you want to learn first?"

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian blinked a few times, turning his gaze away for a moment. "No, I don't think there are any phrases I want to learn any more than the whole language." He said with a sigh as he pushed himself towards the wall to lean against it. "So I guess you could just teach me what you think is most important at first."

[Kotorichan]

"Um... What about that's hello" Arumi said, he thought for another moment before speaking again. "Maybe it would be good to just learn basic words and get the pronunciation down..." He reached out and took Damian's hand to examine his fingers.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian nodded slightly and repeated, trying to say it exactly like the dragon did. He didn't manage to get the pronounciation completely at first, but before he could ask Arumi to repeat, his fingers were taken into the other's hand. "Yeah, uh... What are you doing?" He asked in confusion, but didn't pull his hand away. Weirdly, he trusted this guy.

[Kotorichan]

"Hm... I had heard stories that humans look just like us when we're in this form... But no one has ever figured out why... I'm just trying to see if there's any differences, you know things that aren't immediately noticeable" Arumi kept examining Damian's fingers. "try saying it again "

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian nodded slowly, relaxing his muscles to let Arumi examine them however he wanted. "Um... ." Damian attempted again, this time managing to get the pronounciation right. "Wait, can I write them down somewhere? It's easier to learn for me if I have the stuff written down."

[Kotorichan]

"Oh, sure" Arumi got out of bed and pulled an empty notebook off a shelf. He found a pen and opened up the notebook. "Here, I'll write it in our language first..." He wrote down the strange looking markings and then wrote it in English before passing it to the human. "There, now you can write it in a way that helps you remember the pronunciation"

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian let out a soft sigh as he watched Arumi write down the strange markings. "Which symbol is for which sound?" He asked as he took the notebook and wrote down the pronounciation. The man muttered the word a few times so he would get the hang of it as quickly as possible. He was a quick learner once he got the basics... Yet those were the hardest for him.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi pointed to each letter and said the sound for it, making sure that the human had plenty of time to write it down. "would you like me to teach you a couple more words or would you prefer to just focus on one?" He leaned over the paper, his long hair falling over his shoulders.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian noted down each sound before letting out a soft hum. "Can you just write down all the symbols and I'll write the pronounciation?" He asked, holding out the notebook. "I don't want to focus on one word... What's the point of that? You could tell me, erm... Pronouns, maybe? I mean, the basic stuff." The brunet said as he looked at the dragon.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi took the notebook and began to write his alphabet. "I thought I should teach you some words that would be good for you to know while you're living here... But maybe it would be better to just start with the basics" He smiled and pushed the notebook over.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian let out a small smile and shook his head. "No one will want to talk to me anyway, so what's the point? I'd rather know how to read so I actually have how to spend time in this pri-... I mean, here." The brunet ended and glanced away, lightly biting his lip. Once the notebook was pushed over, the human took it, glancing up at the dragon. "Can you tell me which symbol is for which sound here?"

[Kotorichan]

Arumi stared down at the notebook, his expression turning sad when he almost called it a prison. "Of course..." He sighed softly and began to go through the alphabet, pointing to each of the symbols and saying the pronunciation slowly. He made sure that the human had plenty of time to write it down before going to the next one.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian scribbled down the letters one by one, staying silent throughout the process. The man felt sort of bad for almost calling the place a prison, but that was what it was. He couldn't really do much here... He wasn't even sure how he would eat. Didn't dragons just eat raw meat? He wouldn't be able to eat that...

[Kotorichan]

Arumi stared at the human sadly. "You... You must really hate it here..." He said softly. "Maybe I should have thought of some other solution" he looked away, pulling his knees to his chest. "There must have been some better way to make you feel better..."

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian tensed up a little bit, staring away from the dragon. "Once I heal, take me out to the forest." He said quietly, finally looking up at Arumi. "I feel like this is a cage. I don't like it here..." The brunet trailed off, letting out a sigh. He didn't know anyone but Arumi and most people wanted to kill him. That wasn't any fun, of course.

[Kotorichan]

"Okay..." Arumi said quietly. "I'm sorry I did this to you" he sighed and pulled his clothes off. "I'm sorry, but I'm really tired, would you mind if I went to sleep?" He really did care about Damian, and it was painful to know that he had caused the human so much pain. Besides, the dragon was completely alone so it had been nice to have someone to talk to.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian shook his head, looking at the notebook closely. "Yeah, you can go. I'll try to memorize this..." The man muttered as he whispered the letters to himself. He could get through this, he could. He didn't want to go to sleep, though. He was scared that he would get nightmares... No, he knew he would get nightmares. If he did go to sleep, it would be long after Arumi did.

[Kotorichan]

Arumi slipped under the covers and shut his eyes tightly. He knew that he had no right to bed this upset about Damian wanting to leave, it must be horrible for the human to stay with so many dragons. He just didn't want to be alone again, Damian probably wouldn't want to see him after he left. After about an hour Arumi finally managed to fall asleep, curled up into a tight ball.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Damian stayed up long after Arumi fell asleep, trying to memorize the letters. The more he tried, however, the worse he could remember them. Finally giving up after around three hours, the human set the notebook away and shifted on the pillow to get a little bit more comfortable. He glanced at the gigantic form in front of him before slowly getting closer for some more comfort. What comfort was there in scales? Just knowing that there was someone next to him.

 

Of course, that didn't scare the nightmares away completely. While it didn't show too much on the outside, it seemed that Damian was stresed out even when he slept. His body was stiff, as if ready for something or someone to attack him.