Rocks and Rain (Open)

[Lindir]

"Oh," Lindir said sheepishly, blushing lightly. He hopped onto the rock next to Kheiji. I'm sitting on a rock... I really hope it doesn't try to eat me or something.... That was highly doubtful, but he still worried about it. The guy sitting next to him had changed into a rock and an otter, why couldn't a rock now eat people? "So...," he murmured.

He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Oh!" he grinned. "Tell me about wizards! ...Please! Are they like Harry Potter and they go to a school and there's evil wizards. Or are they like Gandalf and are really old and wise. There's an evil wizard in that book too. Have you read those? Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings?" he asked. "They're cool. I like the Lord of the Rings movie better, though. The book is hard to read. There's elves and hobbits and darves and orcs.... Um.... Oh, yeah. So tell me about the wizards!" he said excitedly.

[Kheiji]

He blinked at the diminutive human next to him. Book references? Ooh… “Personally, I preferred reading the books to watching the movies of them. But then again, I say that about pretty much most movies; the ones I’ve seen I’m not fond of.” Backtracking, Kheiji thought of an answer to the original question with a grimace. “Well, there’s many different ways to practice ‘magic’. Some of it has to do with blood, others just… well, just is a fine way of putting it. I’ve seen many different types of wizards in my years, but there are major differences.”

“On my ancestors home planet, Parinenai, the wizards are not very stereotypical at all. At least, not in the way that you referenced. I, myself, haven’t seen many, but… I really don’t have a place to explain them, as I am not a wizard.” Kheiji withheld an amused smile at that, no, he was very far from being a wizard. But, as is most often questioned, what made one a wizard? Shaking his head, he turned to look at his companion and wondered how long it would take for him to start questioning again.

[Lindir]

Lindir bit his lip in thought. Wizards were so cool! And now he new they were real... just not on this planet. He started swinging his legs back and forth slightly. "If you're not a wizard... what are you?" he asked, looking up at Kheiji curiously.

[Kheiji]

Kheiji couldn’t contain the (slightly evil) grin that spread across his face. “A Dragon of course. Well, technically half. Parinenai’s ‘Dragon’ species is actually a ‘Dragonis’ which is quite different from my ‘Dragon’ half.” He paused, wondering how to explain it. He’d never thought the differences were so complicated, but the thinking of himself as ‘Half Dragonis Half Dragon’ did tend to get confusing…

“My maternal father was a shapeshifter, and they are generally born in the figure of a dragon. My paternal father was an Air Dragonis, his figure somewhat of a mix between an Asian dragon and European one. Well, not quite… more like a less bulky European one… no…” Kheiji pursed his lips. It was so hard trying to compare to Earthen standards, and so he wished he had room to transform into one. It would cut so many explanations off. Glancing at the figure at rapt attention next to him, he bit his lip. “I’d change into one to show you but… we’re pretty big in our natural forms. Rather hindering in a city like area such as this.”

[Lindir]

Lindir tilted his head, taking all the information in slowly. It was all a little confusing. Kheiji was pretty much saying he was half dragon and half... different dragon. Though apparently they were completely different things. And then he started talking about European and Asian dragons... and he was not even aware of the difference. A dragon was a dragon, right? Well, of course he was wrong. But he didn't know that.

And then he was saying he had two fathers. How could you have two fathers? He was thinking maybe one was like a step-dad or something... but then he was talking like they were his birth parents. The alien said matenal and paternal so.... Lindir was just so confused.

"Uh... oh. Yeah. You shouldn't transform, because then people would try to kill you. Or trap you and run weird experiments!!" he said, biting his lip nervously. "And then they might even talk about the rocks...," he muttered. He shook his head. "But that's so cool... a dragon, or something like it. Do you like breathe fire?" he asked, his eyes wide in wonderment. He was talking to a rock-person-dragon-like-alien-guy!!

[Kheiji]

Kheiji gave Lindir a patented look. “To address you’re first statement to get it out of the way… they wouldn’t be able to catch me. And if they did, I’d just transform into a small critter or something and escape.” He paused wondering for a moment if he’d be able to turn into something as small as an insect. Probably not, he’d tried something to that before, but part of becoming the animal is understanding it and the closest he’d ever gotten to was almost shifting into a spider… “And please, get the rock thing out of you’re head. It took me years before I could turn into a rock at will, and that was with the help of being able to talk to them.”

“As for breathing fire… there are some Dragonis species that can, but my side can’t breath fire per say; my father can breath out mist water, and my maternal can breath fire. I… can’t do either. It happens sometimes, if a fire dragonis species mates with an air one. It ends up being one or the other, but as my other half is a totally different type of draconic species it just cancelled out.” Kheiji shrugged, he’d gotten over it years ago. “Doesn’t matter anyway; I’m not the type of dragon who’s all for fighting over land or hoards.”

[Lindir]

Lindir fingered the rock they were sitting on uncertainly. Rocks... talked? He was sitting on a rock and it could be able to talk. Well... with Kheiji. No one else he knew could talk to rocks and have them talk back. What did rocks say? He bet they did not like being crushed and everything else people did to them. At least, if he was one he would not want that to happen to him. Maybe they didn't even like to be sat on!

The boy shook his head to himself. Kheiji told him to stop thinking about rocks, so he was going to. At least until he finished wondering about the alien having two fathers. Now he was sure the other guy was serious about having two fathers because he said they had something to with how he could not breath fire or water. "You.. um... you have two dads?" he asked uncertainly. That was so mean! What if he hates me now for saying something like that? It was kinda rude. Maybe he'll tell this rock to eat me or something. Or turn into a rock and eat me himself....

[Kheiji]

Ignoring the fact that he’d pretty much given Lindir enough information to give him a stroke with the way the kid confused himself, Kheiji could honestly say that he was gaining much amusement from the conversation, however twisted the reasons were. Still, he’d wait a moment before letting his companion know that he was broadcasting thoughts again. Wait until he answered the question, that is.

“Yes, my parents are both male. It’s not odd or uncommon as you are thinking however.” Smiling slightly at the mental blank that occurred when he said that, Kheiji continued blithely. “I don’t know if there were just no females ever borne to the major planets or not, but our ways of conceiving isn’t based on sex. Well, it is, but not really. Every person in the universe has someone who matches them completely inside. A soul mate if you will. Zerca, one of the main planets has finding ones mate perfected almost to an art form. My parents, while both being of the same sex, are both male and due to the bond were able to conceive. Or something like that.”

Kheiji shrugged. He’d never paid attention to the why’s and how’s behind mates and pregnancies. It was too much unsolved theory and he was sick of it, not to mention, as his maternal father was a shapeshifter it didn’t matter anyway. “Apparently you find your mate and know you’re meant to be together. After mating, which is, as you’re wondering, the sexual aspect, they get pregnant. End of sentence. I don’t know the semantics of it anymore than I do about why I can get struck by lightening and, at worst, come out with only having received an orgasm.”

[Lindir]

The teen was silent for a while. Okay, so aliens were all male? That was interesting. And they could get pregnant. The soul mate thing was really cool. If every person in the universe had some one, did that mean he had some one too? Well, he was part of the universe. So then he did. Lindir wondered what his soul mate was like. He was perfect for him, well, according to what Kheiji said he was. What if they weren't a boy? What if his soul mate was a... girl? Eww..., he thought. Not that there was anything wrong with girls... he was just attracted to boys.

Lindir looked back up at Kheiji. Sometime during his thoughts he had ended up looking at his hands, which had begun thumb twindling. He stopped the thumb twidling as soon as he realized he was doing it. "You get...," he blushed a dark red color, "um, orgasms from being struck by lightning?" he continued quietly. "Wow.... So anyway, males can get pregnant? That's cool. Too bad that doesn't happen on Earth. Then more gay couples could have kids without all the hassle.... The soul mate thing is really amazing. There's really some one out there for everyone?" he smiled. He paused a moment. "What if you can't find them?" he asked, frowing.

[Kheiji]

Grinning outright, Kheiji tackled the first question, even though it had been more of a statement, the other wouldn’t have asked if he wasn’t curious. “Getting struck by lightening is amazing. Powerful, foreign energy just flowing everywhere and outwardly caressing every part of the body is an amazing experience. But it’s not my own energy, so it has to be expelled somehow. I suppose some might scream or bleed from it, but I found that it’s just a rush of multiple orgasms for me.”

His mission of seeing the red deepen in color complete, he answered the other questions. “As I said, I don’t know everything about it. I think the magic that is emitted from the initial bonding and thereafter act of mating changes the male body slightly, creating a womb or sorts. At least, that’s what I think. Zercan’s are separated between dominant and submissive based on wombs, so I can’t be sure.”

The last questions were harder to answer, so Kheiji stalled, thinking of how to word it. “As far as I know everyone has a match, but many go without even seeing their other. I can see why it would be a question for you; you’re humanoid, so you only have so much of a lifespan. I’m Dragonis and we live a lot longer, so we don’t really think about it. I know that there are people who go without ever finding their mates, but the most find them because they’re pulled. Humanoids have adapted to live without mates, you can conceive without being mated due to the female species.” He frowned, thinking on it. “There are people who find submissive or dominant ‘companions’ to spend their lives with, though any contract with them is null and void once they meet their mates. If it came down to it, I’m sure they could get pregnant, but…”

“In my maternal father’s culture, any dragons who are pregnant have to balance themselves or the child won’t be balanced. I know more than one dragon who went insane because of a small mistake when their mothers were pregnant. I’m not saying they couldn’t be sane, but they are more likely to loose their sense. I would imagine that there is something like that to those who don’t find their matches. Not the going insane part, but that they would have to be cautious to the extreme when pregnant.”

He gave an odd grin at Lindir; a question had him scrambling for answers. “Of course, that’s just if you want children. It is perfectly fine and accepted to be with someone who matches your interests throughout the years.”

[Lindir]

There was so much to this soul mate thing. Lindir had so much to take in, so much to think about. There were so many things he wanted to ask, but he didn't know which one to ask first. The boy was just opening his mouth to ask Kheiji another one, when some one called out, "Lindir!"

Lindir looked towards the voice. "Toby! I'm over here," he called. A moment later an older boy with longish blonde hair showed up. He smiled at his bandmate, but gave Kheiji an uncertain look. "Hey Toby. This is Kheiji. He's... not from around here," he told him.

The other boy nodded and stood in front of them. "Hi Kheiji," he said softly. "Lindir, we're leaving soon."

"Aww... but I was having fun talking with Kheiji...," he complained. He grinned suddenly. "Kheiji, do you want to come to our concert tonight?" he asked hopefully. Toby was still giving the guy strange looks.

[Kheiji]

Kheiji couldn’t keep the amused look off his face if he tried. Lindir’s friend’s thoughts were along the line of ‘Don’t let him answer, just get Lindir and go. Could be… -insert long list of negative things-.’ Still, it shoved him in a precarious position. If he accepted, he would be on bad terms with his latest amusement-friends friend’s. Probably have to go through a heck of a lot of legal bits to see him after the concert, as Lindir would no doubt get a dressing down to not be with people ‘like him.’ Yet if he didn’t go, there would be the same risks, and the little human would be upset. Humm…

“As much as I’d love to go, I’m afraid you and your friend, Toby was it?, don’t see eye to eye where I am concerned.” Yes, that would work out nicely. Lindir, put on that upset aura. Friend, be introduced to what is known as a masters work at guilt.

[Lindir]

Lindir pouted. "What are you talking about?" he asked. He glanced over at Toby to give him a look. "You don't like Kheiji, Toby?"

The blonde sighed, giving the stranger a dirty look before looking at his friend again. "I really don't know him enough to say anything," he said carefully. "I don't think your mother would... appreciate you inviting strangers to the show, though."

"My mother doesn't appreciate me inviting anyone to our concerts, because that means they aren't paying," he said with a roll of the eyes. "Give Kheiji a chance, okay? He's really really nice!" Lindir put on his best puppy dog eyes.

Toby sighed quietly after looking uncertain for a few moments. "Fine. Whatever. He has my permission to go," he muttered and Lindir cheered.

"Yay!" the boy grinned. "Are you going to go, Kheiji?"

[Kheiji]

Skimming the duo’s minds for a few moments, and practically falling from the force of Lindir’s internal ‘please please please please ~’ Kheiji nodded with a sigh. “So long as you don’t make me turn my hair pink or anything.” In retrospect, that wouldn’t be a bad idea; well, not the pink part, but changing his hair color for the concert. “You said tonight, right? If you’re leaving now, which I’m presuming to set up, would you want me to accompany now or meet you there before the concert? I’m sorry to say, but I’m leaning towards the latter, as I should probably do some things before it and, technically, the captain of the ship is itching to leave soon.”

Sure, a slight lie. He didn’t want to leave anytime soon, but he knew he should. He liked Lindir, and he’d given the singer so called ‘classified’ information, but he didn’t know if he could handle publicizing himself, which is what could happen if he accompanied Lindir for too long. There was a difference between being a headache for the Zercan external affairs force and changing an upstart’s reputation, as the latter could swing either way.

[Lindir]

"You're leaving soon?" Lindir asked softly, tilting his head.

"We're going to be leaving soon, too," Toby pointed out. They were always going to different places.

"True...," he muttered. He started going through his pockets and eventually pulled out a ticket. "Here you go. The time and everything else you need to know is on here," he said, handing the ticket to Kheiji. "Do you think you can find the place?"