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Date Posted: 16:37:46 04/16/02 Tue
Author: Tristan
Subject: Talking to the new guy
In reply to: Noyko, Marz, and co 's message, "Decisions" on 10:13:20 04/16/02 Tue

Tristan was actually kind of glad they were headed back for the west tower. He’d been so preoccupied with his thoughts this morning that he hadn’t really eaten much. At the moment, he was finding it rather hard to be overly sympathetic to what had happened to Jeremy, too. So although he felt kinda “bad” for him—well, he wasn’t exactly happy he’d been hurt, anyway—it wasn’t anything to lose his ever present appetite over. Besides, dragons held grudges; it was just a fact. This seemed like an apt enough punishment for fruitlessly trying to seduce Marz away from him.

Back in the tower kitchen, Tristan took a seat beside Marz after first pouring himself a small bowl of leftover stew. He tried to focus on his food, but the increasingly crowded little room was making him slightly nervous. He shifted ever so slightly, brushing his leg against Marz’s, the physical contact calming him down a bit. I just have way too many phobias, he thought, gritting his teeth while trying to sip his java.

He looked up when Erlic and the (ex) slave boy entered, Noyko raising his solemn eyes to meet Tristan’s. The other youth blushed and looked away, which he thought was kind of irritating. What the hell was so disturbing about his face that the guy couldn’t stand to look at it?

At this point, it became even more difficult for him to finish his light meal, since he kept catching Noyko staring at him. It was pretty damned disturbing, and he felt his natural defenses go up instinctively, his eyes whirling a dark red every now and then. After a while, Noyko bolted out of his seat and hurried to his side of the table, keeping his head bowed and his hands clasped before him. Tristan’s hand dropped to his sword without really thinking about it, though it seemed rather unlikely that the ex-slave could really harm him.

But then the unprecedented happened. Noyko suddenly dropped to his knees and prostrated himself on the ground, his eyes fixed steadfastly to the floor. "My instincts tell me that I must serve you,” he said, his voice quiet and respectful. “Command me, master Ryuujin for I give myself freely to your will.”

Tristan just stared at him, forgetting to even swallow the piece of meat in his mouth. After a couple seconds, he finally gulped and glanced at Marz, who looked a little on the annoyed side. “Get off the damn floor and go sit down,” he said with his customary bossiness, “Tristan don’t want you to serve him, so beat it.”

Suddenly, all the remotely antagonistic thoughts he’d been harboring toward Noyko faded away. The dirty, dark-haired youth sat back, a look of astonishment washing over his normally complacent features, but it was quickly replaced by a burning sort of shame. “Once again I am sorry if I have displeased you,” he murmured miserably, as he quickly got up and slunk back to his seat across the table.

Before Tristan could say something to reassure him (although why he felt the need to do something like that, he had no idea), he was distracted by the little girl’s laugh. He shot Marz an irritated look, determined to give him a talking to if the little brat started following them around too much. It was all fine and dandy if his lover wanted a kid to play with for a while, but there would come a point when Tristan would just have to put his foot down. Hell, they got little enough private time as it was, and the last thing they need was some annoying little girl tagging along and interrupting them at the most inopportune times.

He was slightly mollified when Marz put an arm around his shoulders, making him lean against him almost unconsciously. He pushed the stew away with one finger, finally full, and turned his head to listen to Tia. It made him rather happy to hear that he and Marz were going to stay behind; although he liked exploring, he’d much rather spend his time inventing ways for the two of them to be together—alone. Of course, they’d still be busy here, guarding Alakbar and keeping the two ex-slaves out of trouble, but hell, it was better than nothing.

He stopped listening to who was going and who was staying, when Marz grabbed his attention by pulling his arm away and moving to take Ablina into his lap. Tristan crossed his arms and glared at the girl, only to have her smirk and stick her little pink tongue out at him. He growled back at her, Marz’s preoccupation with her starting to nettle him already. His eyes shifted to Noyko, whose face was still very solemn and rather downtrodden as he stared listlessly into his bowl of food.

“You didn’t have to be so mean to Noyko like that,” he said suddenly, gaining Marz’s attention. His lover raised an eyebrow at him, but Tristan only grew bolder. “He wasn’t hurting anybody. You’re probably just jealous, anyway.” And then he stuck his tongue out at Marz. Without waiting for a reaction, he turned to Noyko and kicked the other youth under the table, making him look up.

“It’s okay, Noyko,” he said, actually smiling, “You can serve me if you want to.”

“But Noyko and Ablina aren’t slaves, anymore,” cut in Rowan, who had just entered the room and settled himself down next to the older ex-slave. He’d just informed the others that he would be staying behind to take care of Jeremy instead of continuing the exploration of the ruins.

“But I wasn’t commanding him to serve me,” Tristan snapped, his arms tightening over his chest. “I was just telling him he coud if that would make him feel better. I was being considerate.”

“Right,” the elf retorted, rolling his eyes non too discreetly. “So, Noyko,” he continued, turning to face the other boy, “Tell us more about yourself. Where do you come from exactly? Got any future plans aside from groveling before snotty young dragons like our little friend over there?”

Tristan’s growl was very audible this time, and he had to clench his fists under the table to keep from leaping up and shoving his fist into Rowan’s face. “You don’t have to answer him if you don’t want to, Noyko,” he added, although he didn’t see why the other youth would refuse to do so. He just always had to have the last word, especially around people like Rowan. The elf only snorted and grinned at him before returning his attention to Noyko, awaiting the boy’s response.

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Replies:

  • Dear consequences -- Erlic Eastlore, 20:14:53 04/16/02 Tue
  • Monster mash -- Ravin and Tia, 12:29:21 04/17/02 Wed
  • A little rest can go a long way -- Ravin, 14:57:41 04/24/02 Wed
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