Heat Source
Feb. 24th, 2016 08:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonFandom: Noblesse
Summary: All Tao wanted to do was bask his scales in the sunlight, but then he was interrupted by two humans coming close to his nest.
Notes: Happy birthday Milkteaghost! They asked for always-Medusa!Tao with Takeo and M-21.
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word count: 1,169
Status: Complete
Tao lounged on his favourite rock, stretching his wings out every so often to soak up more of the sun. It was a good day — no clouds, a slight breeze and-
His hair lifted, looking south and he slid his tongue out, scenting the air. Nothing yet, but he could detect two large heat signatures coming his way.
More humans. He hissed, twisting down his rock, his tail rasping as he slid over it. More of them had been coming recently, all of them wanting to kill him. He'd been staying away from the town nearby, hunting the game inside the forest since it was easier to drag them back to his cave, but some humans must have found pieces that he'd left behind and realised he was there.
Tao wound up a thick tree trunk, finding the branches that would support his weight as he hunted down the humans before they tried to ambush him.
He slowed as he neared them, anchoring his tail around the tree trunk, lifting the branches away from his hair so he could get a clear shot. Humans thought gorgons turned anyone who looked them in the eyes to stone, but that wasn't true — a gorgon's hair was what caused the true damage, were the ones that spat the poison that overloaded their prey's organs until they died, leaving the body a darkened blue. It must have looked like stone to the panicked humans and the story had spread. It wasn't as if a lot of humans survived to correct the lies anyway. Or maybe they had, but no-one listened to the truth, the lie sounding better.
There were two humans there, the long-haired one an archer, while the silver-haired one didn't seem to hold any weapons apart from a knife at his belt. The silver-haired one was closer, and Tao focused on him.
His hair spat in the direction of the silver-haired one, and he thumped the tree trunk with his tail at the same time, intending to distract them.
It worked, the two freezing just long enough for the poison to hit and Tao launched himself at the long-haired human, his wings carrying that little bit further. He saw the other human's skin darken as he slithered past.
The long-haired human notched an arrow and let it fly, but it went wide, only nicking tao's shoulder. The human was staying his ground though, notching another arrow as-
Half of Tao's hair snapped to look behind him at a growl, and he swerved at what his hair was seeing, turning to make sure it was right.
He scented the air again, and huh, it all matched up. "Why's a werewolf teaming up with a human?" Unless the human wasn't a human either? The discolouration from Tao's poison was already fading from the werewolf's skin, but werewolves were legendary for their healing.
"Because of a job," the werewolf said, crossing his arms, his claws tucked away. "The humans know you're here, and they're willing to pay anyone who can kill you."
Tao hissed at that, drawing himself up, his hair ready to strike again.
"Ah," the human said, holding his hands up in a placating manor, his bow behind his back, "we're not here to kill you. We're here to warn you before someone does kill you."
"And you don't want that." Tao frowned, scenting the air. No, that one was definitely human.
"There's not exactly a lot of us left," the werewolf said with a snort.
...That was true. It had been a while since Tao had met any other supernatural beings. He sighed, flapping his wings before settling them again as he drew his tail close to him.
"So that's why you travel with a human?" Tao asked, glancing between them. Werewolves tended to live in packs, but if there weren't that many werewolves left either...
"He's good company," the werewolf said, and Tao tried to bury to ache in his heart at hearing that. "And it makes some things easier, like when they've set up wards against us."
Huh, was that what humans were doing now?
The werewolf was studying him, his head tilted. "Can you transform to look like a human?"
Tao huffed, stretching his wings out again. "If I could, do you think I would be out here?" His tail and wings weren't something he could hide. He would have liked to live amongst humans, if only because they and their machines generated more consistent heat than waiting for the sun.
"Chin-mae...?" the human said, and the two were sharing glances with each other.
"Well?" Chin-mae said, directing it at the human, not frowning, but his lips were pursed.
The human chuckled. "I don't mind. The more the merrier."
...Wait. Were they-?
"Like I said," Chin-mae said, transforming back, leaving smooth skin instead of being covered in fur, "there's not exactly a lot of us left, and you're the first we've met that was actually willing to talk instead of continuing trying to kill us."
"You...want me to come with you?" When he looked as he did?
"Or you can stay here and maybe be killed by a lucky human."
"Ah, Chin-mae can be rather...blunt," the human said, with a strained smile.
"He's a werewolf," Tao said with a shrug. They were like that. "Okay! I'll come!" Tao said before they changed their mind. He lowered his hair so the heads brushed his shoulders instead and wound his way over to them. Chin-mae didn't transform again and the human's hands didn't go near his bow.
So it wasn't a trick. Huh.
If Chin-mae seemed fine travelling with a human, Tao was willing to try it out.
"Hey, Takeo," Chin-mae said as Tao neared them.
"Mm?"
Tao didn't get out the way when Chin-mae leaned over and hugged him, wrapping his arms around his shoulders, too surprised to move. His hair half-raised at the intrusion but it wasn't an attack so they continued to hover there, unsure.
Takeo joined them a beat later, covering what Chin-mae missed.
"Ah-" Tao could taste their scents; he already knew how warm they were, but knowing was different from experiencing and his tail curled around them both, trying to be in contact with as much as possible.
"Gorgons are cold blooded and they usually try to grab heat from either the sun, or physical contact," Tao heard Chin-mae say. It had been so long... "And the faster he gets used to our scents, the faster his hair won't try to poison us while he's sleeping."
Oh…yeah. His hair would react to anything moving before he'd even woken up. He scented the air again, trying to commit them to memory.
He should let go. Tao took a breath, just about to do it, but then stopped. He didn't want to.
"We've got time," Chin-mae said, Takeo making a sound of agreement.
Warm. They were warm. "…Thanks..."
He could get used to this, sharing the warmth of bodies, rather than getting it from the sun.
____________________________
Yep, Tao shoots out T2, heh.
Summary: All Tao wanted to do was bask his scales in the sunlight, but then he was interrupted by two humans coming close to his nest.
Notes: Happy birthday Milkteaghost! They asked for always-Medusa!Tao with Takeo and M-21.
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word count: 1,169
Status: Complete
Tao lounged on his favourite rock, stretching his wings out every so often to soak up more of the sun. It was a good day — no clouds, a slight breeze and-
His hair lifted, looking south and he slid his tongue out, scenting the air. Nothing yet, but he could detect two large heat signatures coming his way.
More humans. He hissed, twisting down his rock, his tail rasping as he slid over it. More of them had been coming recently, all of them wanting to kill him. He'd been staying away from the town nearby, hunting the game inside the forest since it was easier to drag them back to his cave, but some humans must have found pieces that he'd left behind and realised he was there.
Tao wound up a thick tree trunk, finding the branches that would support his weight as he hunted down the humans before they tried to ambush him.
He slowed as he neared them, anchoring his tail around the tree trunk, lifting the branches away from his hair so he could get a clear shot. Humans thought gorgons turned anyone who looked them in the eyes to stone, but that wasn't true — a gorgon's hair was what caused the true damage, were the ones that spat the poison that overloaded their prey's organs until they died, leaving the body a darkened blue. It must have looked like stone to the panicked humans and the story had spread. It wasn't as if a lot of humans survived to correct the lies anyway. Or maybe they had, but no-one listened to the truth, the lie sounding better.
There were two humans there, the long-haired one an archer, while the silver-haired one didn't seem to hold any weapons apart from a knife at his belt. The silver-haired one was closer, and Tao focused on him.
His hair spat in the direction of the silver-haired one, and he thumped the tree trunk with his tail at the same time, intending to distract them.
It worked, the two freezing just long enough for the poison to hit and Tao launched himself at the long-haired human, his wings carrying that little bit further. He saw the other human's skin darken as he slithered past.
The long-haired human notched an arrow and let it fly, but it went wide, only nicking tao's shoulder. The human was staying his ground though, notching another arrow as-
Half of Tao's hair snapped to look behind him at a growl, and he swerved at what his hair was seeing, turning to make sure it was right.
He scented the air again, and huh, it all matched up. "Why's a werewolf teaming up with a human?" Unless the human wasn't a human either? The discolouration from Tao's poison was already fading from the werewolf's skin, but werewolves were legendary for their healing.
"Because of a job," the werewolf said, crossing his arms, his claws tucked away. "The humans know you're here, and they're willing to pay anyone who can kill you."
Tao hissed at that, drawing himself up, his hair ready to strike again.
"Ah," the human said, holding his hands up in a placating manor, his bow behind his back, "we're not here to kill you. We're here to warn you before someone does kill you."
"And you don't want that." Tao frowned, scenting the air. No, that one was definitely human.
"There's not exactly a lot of us left," the werewolf said with a snort.
...That was true. It had been a while since Tao had met any other supernatural beings. He sighed, flapping his wings before settling them again as he drew his tail close to him.
"So that's why you travel with a human?" Tao asked, glancing between them. Werewolves tended to live in packs, but if there weren't that many werewolves left either...
"He's good company," the werewolf said, and Tao tried to bury to ache in his heart at hearing that. "And it makes some things easier, like when they've set up wards against us."
Huh, was that what humans were doing now?
The werewolf was studying him, his head tilted. "Can you transform to look like a human?"
Tao huffed, stretching his wings out again. "If I could, do you think I would be out here?" His tail and wings weren't something he could hide. He would have liked to live amongst humans, if only because they and their machines generated more consistent heat than waiting for the sun.
"Chin-mae...?" the human said, and the two were sharing glances with each other.
"Well?" Chin-mae said, directing it at the human, not frowning, but his lips were pursed.
The human chuckled. "I don't mind. The more the merrier."
...Wait. Were they-?
"Like I said," Chin-mae said, transforming back, leaving smooth skin instead of being covered in fur, "there's not exactly a lot of us left, and you're the first we've met that was actually willing to talk instead of continuing trying to kill us."
"You...want me to come with you?" When he looked as he did?
"Or you can stay here and maybe be killed by a lucky human."
"Ah, Chin-mae can be rather...blunt," the human said, with a strained smile.
"He's a werewolf," Tao said with a shrug. They were like that. "Okay! I'll come!" Tao said before they changed their mind. He lowered his hair so the heads brushed his shoulders instead and wound his way over to them. Chin-mae didn't transform again and the human's hands didn't go near his bow.
So it wasn't a trick. Huh.
If Chin-mae seemed fine travelling with a human, Tao was willing to try it out.
"Hey, Takeo," Chin-mae said as Tao neared them.
"Mm?"
Tao didn't get out the way when Chin-mae leaned over and hugged him, wrapping his arms around his shoulders, too surprised to move. His hair half-raised at the intrusion but it wasn't an attack so they continued to hover there, unsure.
Takeo joined them a beat later, covering what Chin-mae missed.
"Ah-" Tao could taste their scents; he already knew how warm they were, but knowing was different from experiencing and his tail curled around them both, trying to be in contact with as much as possible.
"Gorgons are cold blooded and they usually try to grab heat from either the sun, or physical contact," Tao heard Chin-mae say. It had been so long... "And the faster he gets used to our scents, the faster his hair won't try to poison us while he's sleeping."
Oh…yeah. His hair would react to anything moving before he'd even woken up. He scented the air again, trying to commit them to memory.
He should let go. Tao took a breath, just about to do it, but then stopped. He didn't want to.
"We've got time," Chin-mae said, Takeo making a sound of agreement.
Warm. They were warm. "…Thanks..."
He could get used to this, sharing the warmth of bodies, rather than getting it from the sun.
Yep, Tao shoots out T2, heh.