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esp_dragonFandom: Original
Summary:
The world of Torpin is open, dragging in Others from different worlds. The majority of them are monsters, prone to violence. There are some, however, that are not, and are able to live amongst the human population, if allowed to. Marland should know; he's one of them. His job is to hunt and stop the Others that seek only to destroy what's around them. On one job, a human Other drops through a portal, an event which Marland has never heard of happening before. And that's not the only thing different about the human...
Rating: M
Notes: Contains swearing.
Any questions or clarifications, just ask. (Unless it’s, you know, plot-related. XD)
As for the italics thing, I'm going for if the word's in caps, then chances are, it's supposed to be in italics. Similarly, if there's words encompassed by -' '- , then whatever's in between them should be italicised.
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 2,671
Total word count: 47,291
Status: Work in Progress
They continued to glare at each other in an attempt to make the other back down. Marland wasn't, because he would start going insane from staring at the same walls for days on end; he needed to stretch his wings (physically or metaphorically, he wasn't entirely sure which) and breathe in some air that wasn't in this flat.
In one movement, Shodin sighed, shoulders slumping, one hand covering his face, only his fingertips touching. "This IS your house, and it is your decision whether you can leave it or not."
FINALLY. Marland relaxed from his own bristled stance. He caught Shodin watching him with a certain look in his eye, the one that Marland had begun to recognise as when Shodin was thinking deeply about something. He got a grin in return when Shodin realised that Marland was looking at him, the look vanishing completely. And that he didn't trust. Rolling his head, and then shaking it, Marland went off to get ready.
* * *
Marland and Shodin took a meandering route to the shop, attempting to go for the most convoluted way possible Shodin had joked. They were probably halfway to it (possibly – with the route that they'd taken, they could have already walked the distance to the shop and then some, and they still weren't anywhere near it) when Marland's ears flicked behind him.
Something was thumping its way across the street. It didn't SOUND like it could be a fox – it was far too heavy and not as agile as one could ever be. And there were two of them. Dammit.
"An Other?"
Marland nodded, turning around, Shodin following straight away. Just like Shodin couldn't keep Marland in the flat, Marland wouldn't have been able to stop Shodin from coming with him, being able to use his magic or no. And if he tried, who knew what the Other would do in that time.
They kept a constant look out for cars and other vehicles as they moved, and a few passed as they chased the Other down, but Marland had been able to duck out of sight in time and none of the cars had slowed down or stopped. After a couple of minutes, Marland was aware of another set of feet following the Other. More than just the one.
He skidded to a stop, using his claws to grip the ground and his wings to keep balance. Shodin shot past him, somehow missing his wings, and took a little longer to come to a halt. Shodin turned around and came over, worry in his drawn in eyebrows.
"Marland? What's wrong?"
"There's other hunters after it as well." They should stop before one of them caught sight of Marland and decided to go after HIM as well.
"Ah, all right." Shodin peered down the street, breathing still heavy. He then looked in the other direction. "Do you know where we are?"
Marland looked up at the street sign. Hmm. He knew vaguely where they were, and he knew a route they could take to the shop. They weren't as far from the shop as he thought they were. "Yeah," he said, beginning to walk down the street.
A couple of minutes later, Marland glanced around a corner and saw Kendal leaning next to a shop. She noticed him straight away, head jerking in his direction, hand going towards her gun, and pivoting on the spot. When she saw him, she grinned and waved him over.
His ears sank down before going up again. If he DIDN'T go, she'd badger him the next time she saw him. Grumbling, he checked for anyone else on the street and after seeing no-one else, got out of cover and headed towards her. He heard Shodin's soft spoken "Ah!" at the sight of her.
As he got closer, Marland could see that it wasn't a shop that she was standing next to, but a fast food place.
"The others are getting something to eat," she said, jerking a thumb towards it. She glanced between the two of them, an amused smile quirking her lips.
He stared levelly back at her. What?
The smile widened in to a blown grin and she shook her head. "Ah, never mind." She looked away, down a side street. Marland turned his ears in that direction but couldn't hear anything. "I heard the police found ya a couple of days ago."
How did she always seem to find all these things out?
"It's called 'having connections', Marland," she said, teasing thick in her voice. "I can talk with them if you want," she said, shrugging.
Marland stared at her, ears going back in confusion. What? "Why the hell would you want to?"
Kendal just crossed her arms, a no-nonsense eyebrow raised. "Because you're a very stupid, very stubborn, intelligent being."
He blinked at her. Right. That made absolutely no sense to him.
She rolled her eyes, and sent Shodin a pitying look.
Shodin laughed, light and short. "I know."
… What?
Rubbing her forehead with the heel of a palm, she shot a look through the window of the fast food place. "They're taking far too long," she muttered. "I'll see ya later," she said, waving at them over her shoulder as she strode in to the place.
Marland looked at Shodin, who gazed back at him, eyebrows raised innocently, like he didn't know what Marland was thinking. They continued doing that before Marland eventually broke eye contact, snorting. Whatever. If Shodin didn't tell him then he didn't tell him – he'd probably bring it up later anyway. The smile on Shodin's face grew.
Ignoring it, Marland started heading back towards the shop, Shodin only a few steps behind.
* * *
There was someone following them. They had picked the person up a few minutes after leaving the shop and no matter what path they took, the person doggedly followed them. They hadn't started shooting, hadn't started yelling, hadn't seemed to have phoned anyone either (texting, Marland couldn't really hear that). They weren't trying to HIDE either, just following them in a straight line, not ducking around corners or anything.
"What is it?" Shodin asked softly, arms stilling, so not to make the bags swing so much.
"Being followed."
Shodin didn't, thankfully, turn around fully, but he did look at Marland, so that he could see the person from the corner of his eyes.
"Ah ha!" The sound of running footsteps towards them. Shit. Marland whirled around, wings snapping out. The person was pretty average: short, brown hair, kinda loose clothing, but Marland couldn't see any concealed weapons. His shoes weren't meant for running and - "I KNEW it was you, Ronthar!"
… What? …Oh, fucking hell. The person didn't SOUND drunk, and he wasn't weaving in any way, so… mistaken identity. Marland saw the man flick his eyes to him, but he didn't halt at the sight of him. Not that he should have, because he'd have known that he was there for the however long he'd been following them for.
The man jogged for the last couple of paces, already slightly out of breath. He laughed breathlessly, cheeks slightly red, a hand rubbing the back of his neck. "I should probably exercise more…" Coughing in to a fist, the man said, smiling, "Saisha told me all about you, and I've been wanting to meet with you for ages."
Shodin blinked at him. Marland did the same, but he also wanted to rub a hand down his face. "Ah, I don't think you…"
"Nonsense!" the man exclaimed, flapping a hand. "I know that your favourite chocolate is hazelnut, you absolutely despise dark chocolate, you enjoy going for long walks –around parks, or in forests, if you can get to one-, you don't like heights, you're a dog person…" For every point, the man flicked off another finger.
Okay, it was a little weird how he got Shodin's choice of chocolate right, but that was just tastes. People shared them all the time.
"How did you…?" Shodin was frowning, his eyebrows drawn together, and his lips slightly parted.
"I TOLD you – Saisha told me about you." He paused, happy expression softening and he sighed. "But it's been a couple of weeks since anyone's heard from you."
Something curled at the bottom of Marland's stomach. Shodin had appeared from a portal nearly three weeks ago. He'd never seen a portal open before, but… the portal had been throwing around lightning. But that didn't explain how Shodin could do magic. Right. Marland shook his head. He didn't get why he was suddenly doubting that Shodin was an Other.
"I'm sorry," Shodin said, shaking his head, "but I think you have the wrong person."
The man raised his eyebrows, disbelief on his face. "Okay, wait, hold on." One of his hands went to his back pocket, and Marland tensed. When he brought his hand back, there was a wallet in it. The man flipped it open, and pulled out a picture. He smiled down at it, before flipping it around and showing it to Shodin.
"Ah…" Shodin breathed a soft exclamation, his eyes wide, as he took the photo gently from the man's hands. Keeping his ears trained on the other man, Marland looked down at it and felt the world freeze.
It was a photo of Shodin – a clean-shaven Shodin, with shorter hair, and a non-scarred neck. He had an arm draped around the shoulders of a smiling red-headed woman with a great big volume of bushy hair on her head, both their eyes towards the camera, while Shodin had also raised a hand to wave. There weren't any marks or scars on Shodin's arms either. There was, however, a tattoo peeking out from under his sleeves. It was directly on the spot where Shodin always held himself when he was he was bothered about something. Ducking his head slightly, Marland lifted Shodin's sleeve with a finger. And the exact same tattoo was there.
"That's you and Saisha. Believe me yet?"
But that didn't make any SENSE. Shodin had magic; humans here didn't. He shared a body with Puzz; humans here… Was it only Puzz that was the Other, not both Shodin and Puzz? But if Shodin had grown up on Torpin, then why did he have to relearn everything?
And what did Marland know about memory problems? Absolutely nothing, apart from that he knew it could happen.
Shodin continued to stare down at the picture. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head, his hair slowly waving side to side, and gently handed the photo back to the other man, a small smile on his face. It didn't reach his eyes.
"I'm sorry, but I don't remember anything," he said quietly, the fake smile still present.
The man blinked, then looked between Shodin and Marland. "You don't remember… anything?"
Shodin shook his head, his right hand creeping up – but then held his elbow instead. "Nothing."
"Oh – I, uh –" The man laughed nervously, looking down and scratching the back of his head. "Well, this is awkward."
For all of them. What the hell was going to happen now?
"I hadn't introduced myself either," the man mumbled. He stuck out a palm towards Shodin. "I'm Balt."
Shodin took his hand and shook it twice. "Shodin."
Balt nodded once, face concentrated, and then turned to Marland. "And you are…?"
Marland gazed back at him, not looking at the proffered hand, making sure that his ears didn't move – he'd only just gotten them back up again. It was weird that a human here would talk to him –or even walk up to him like Balt had just done- but if they knew someone in common… If they were friends because of similar likes or outlooks…
"Marland." He didn't shake his hand though.
Balt nodded again, smiling with his teeth on full display, even as he retracted his hand. Balt turned back to Shodin, hand flipping his wallet open. "I imagine this is a bit of a shock to you," he said as he rummaged through the pockets, "suddenly meeting someone on the street who sort of knew you in a 'past life'." He pulled out a card, then squinted at it, bringing it close to his face.
"Yep! Okay, these are my contact details, if you want to get in touch," Balt said as he presented the card to Shodin.
Balt then glanced at the watch on his wrist, and then started, eyes going wide. "Damn, I'm going to be late." He waved to both of them, grin wide. "I hope I speak to you soon, Shodin! And thank you, Marland, for looking after him," he said warmly. He immediately started jogging in the direction that he'd come from, before either of them could say anything.
They stood there in silence, Marland staring after where Balt had gone, and while it looked like Shodin was doing the same, he was more likely talking with Puzz.
After some indefinite amount of time, Shodin exhaled deeply and shook his head. "We should head back before something else happens," he said quietly, adjusting his grip on the bags.
Like what? They bumped in to someone who knew Shodin directly AND had some way of restoring his memories completely? Shouldn't he WANT to stay out then?
Marland clenched his jaw, a growl growing in his throat. And he was being really fucking stupid right now – the longer they stayed outside, the bigger the chance that the police would stumble across them again.
Head down, ears flat, wings drawn in as tight as they could go, Marland followed Shodin home.
* * *
They were quiet as they put the shopping away. They wasn't unusual since Shodin had learned where everything went weeks ago. Marland paused and inspected that thought. …Maybe he should be calling Shodin Ronthar now, since that was his real name.
"Hey, Shodin – " He stopped when he realised that he was using Shodin's… whatever name you called it –it wasn't a fake name, and calling it a 'given' name didn't sound right either- instead of his real name.
"I'm still going to go by 'Shodin'," Shodin said as he reached up to put something on the top shelf of a cupboard. "I don't, well, FEEL like I'm a 'Ronthar'. Shodin's my name."
"But so's Ronthar," Marland protested.
"Which I don't have memories of," Shodin pointed out, voice slightly muffled by a cupboard door in the way. "I do have memories of being Shodin though, so, therefore, I'd say I'm more 'Shodin' than I am 'Ronthar'." When he closed the cupboard, Shodin looked at him, an eyebrow raised.
If that was how he felt about it, then that was what Marland would call him. He squashed down the relief that he felt – if Shodin had wanted to be called Ronthar, then that was his decision. But he didn't, so Marland didn't have to think about that anymore. At least, only in the sense of what to call Shodin. As for the rest of it…
One of Marland's ears twitched down to the side before popping up again. Smiling and tilting his head to the side, Shodin turned away to put something else in its proper place.
They continued empting the bags, but the silence wasn't so obvious as before, and Shodin began humming a tune soon after.
When it was finally all done, Shodin sat heavily on one of the kitchen chairs, blowing at the strands of hair that had worked their way free. His elbows went on the table, his mouth hidden by his intertwined fingers. Marland sat down opposite him, ears constantly moving as they tried to go down and Marland not allowing it.
It didn't take long before Shodin was talking, hands falling away, wrists crossed on the table. "Puzz doesn't remember much of what happened before we met you."
Marland already knew that, so he'd never considered as something they could rely on. The photograph was something different.
Summary:
The world of Torpin is open, dragging in Others from different worlds. The majority of them are monsters, prone to violence. There are some, however, that are not, and are able to live amongst the human population, if allowed to. Marland should know; he's one of them. His job is to hunt and stop the Others that seek only to destroy what's around them. On one job, a human Other drops through a portal, an event which Marland has never heard of happening before. And that's not the only thing different about the human...
Rating: M
Notes: Contains swearing.
Any questions or clarifications, just ask. (Unless it’s, you know, plot-related. XD)
As for the italics thing, I'm going for if the word's in caps, then chances are, it's supposed to be in italics. Similarly, if there's words encompassed by -' '- , then whatever's in between them should be italicised.
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 2,671
Total word count: 47,291
Status: Work in Progress
They continued to glare at each other in an attempt to make the other back down. Marland wasn't, because he would start going insane from staring at the same walls for days on end; he needed to stretch his wings (physically or metaphorically, he wasn't entirely sure which) and breathe in some air that wasn't in this flat.
In one movement, Shodin sighed, shoulders slumping, one hand covering his face, only his fingertips touching. "This IS your house, and it is your decision whether you can leave it or not."
FINALLY. Marland relaxed from his own bristled stance. He caught Shodin watching him with a certain look in his eye, the one that Marland had begun to recognise as when Shodin was thinking deeply about something. He got a grin in return when Shodin realised that Marland was looking at him, the look vanishing completely. And that he didn't trust. Rolling his head, and then shaking it, Marland went off to get ready.
* * *
Marland and Shodin took a meandering route to the shop, attempting to go for the most convoluted way possible Shodin had joked. They were probably halfway to it (possibly – with the route that they'd taken, they could have already walked the distance to the shop and then some, and they still weren't anywhere near it) when Marland's ears flicked behind him.
Something was thumping its way across the street. It didn't SOUND like it could be a fox – it was far too heavy and not as agile as one could ever be. And there were two of them. Dammit.
"An Other?"
Marland nodded, turning around, Shodin following straight away. Just like Shodin couldn't keep Marland in the flat, Marland wouldn't have been able to stop Shodin from coming with him, being able to use his magic or no. And if he tried, who knew what the Other would do in that time.
They kept a constant look out for cars and other vehicles as they moved, and a few passed as they chased the Other down, but Marland had been able to duck out of sight in time and none of the cars had slowed down or stopped. After a couple of minutes, Marland was aware of another set of feet following the Other. More than just the one.
He skidded to a stop, using his claws to grip the ground and his wings to keep balance. Shodin shot past him, somehow missing his wings, and took a little longer to come to a halt. Shodin turned around and came over, worry in his drawn in eyebrows.
"Marland? What's wrong?"
"There's other hunters after it as well." They should stop before one of them caught sight of Marland and decided to go after HIM as well.
"Ah, all right." Shodin peered down the street, breathing still heavy. He then looked in the other direction. "Do you know where we are?"
Marland looked up at the street sign. Hmm. He knew vaguely where they were, and he knew a route they could take to the shop. They weren't as far from the shop as he thought they were. "Yeah," he said, beginning to walk down the street.
A couple of minutes later, Marland glanced around a corner and saw Kendal leaning next to a shop. She noticed him straight away, head jerking in his direction, hand going towards her gun, and pivoting on the spot. When she saw him, she grinned and waved him over.
His ears sank down before going up again. If he DIDN'T go, she'd badger him the next time she saw him. Grumbling, he checked for anyone else on the street and after seeing no-one else, got out of cover and headed towards her. He heard Shodin's soft spoken "Ah!" at the sight of her.
As he got closer, Marland could see that it wasn't a shop that she was standing next to, but a fast food place.
"The others are getting something to eat," she said, jerking a thumb towards it. She glanced between the two of them, an amused smile quirking her lips.
He stared levelly back at her. What?
The smile widened in to a blown grin and she shook her head. "Ah, never mind." She looked away, down a side street. Marland turned his ears in that direction but couldn't hear anything. "I heard the police found ya a couple of days ago."
How did she always seem to find all these things out?
"It's called 'having connections', Marland," she said, teasing thick in her voice. "I can talk with them if you want," she said, shrugging.
Marland stared at her, ears going back in confusion. What? "Why the hell would you want to?"
Kendal just crossed her arms, a no-nonsense eyebrow raised. "Because you're a very stupid, very stubborn, intelligent being."
He blinked at her. Right. That made absolutely no sense to him.
She rolled her eyes, and sent Shodin a pitying look.
Shodin laughed, light and short. "I know."
… What?
Rubbing her forehead with the heel of a palm, she shot a look through the window of the fast food place. "They're taking far too long," she muttered. "I'll see ya later," she said, waving at them over her shoulder as she strode in to the place.
Marland looked at Shodin, who gazed back at him, eyebrows raised innocently, like he didn't know what Marland was thinking. They continued doing that before Marland eventually broke eye contact, snorting. Whatever. If Shodin didn't tell him then he didn't tell him – he'd probably bring it up later anyway. The smile on Shodin's face grew.
Ignoring it, Marland started heading back towards the shop, Shodin only a few steps behind.
* * *
There was someone following them. They had picked the person up a few minutes after leaving the shop and no matter what path they took, the person doggedly followed them. They hadn't started shooting, hadn't started yelling, hadn't seemed to have phoned anyone either (texting, Marland couldn't really hear that). They weren't trying to HIDE either, just following them in a straight line, not ducking around corners or anything.
"What is it?" Shodin asked softly, arms stilling, so not to make the bags swing so much.
"Being followed."
Shodin didn't, thankfully, turn around fully, but he did look at Marland, so that he could see the person from the corner of his eyes.
"Ah ha!" The sound of running footsteps towards them. Shit. Marland whirled around, wings snapping out. The person was pretty average: short, brown hair, kinda loose clothing, but Marland couldn't see any concealed weapons. His shoes weren't meant for running and - "I KNEW it was you, Ronthar!"
… What? …Oh, fucking hell. The person didn't SOUND drunk, and he wasn't weaving in any way, so… mistaken identity. Marland saw the man flick his eyes to him, but he didn't halt at the sight of him. Not that he should have, because he'd have known that he was there for the however long he'd been following them for.
The man jogged for the last couple of paces, already slightly out of breath. He laughed breathlessly, cheeks slightly red, a hand rubbing the back of his neck. "I should probably exercise more…" Coughing in to a fist, the man said, smiling, "Saisha told me all about you, and I've been wanting to meet with you for ages."
Shodin blinked at him. Marland did the same, but he also wanted to rub a hand down his face. "Ah, I don't think you…"
"Nonsense!" the man exclaimed, flapping a hand. "I know that your favourite chocolate is hazelnut, you absolutely despise dark chocolate, you enjoy going for long walks –around parks, or in forests, if you can get to one-, you don't like heights, you're a dog person…" For every point, the man flicked off another finger.
Okay, it was a little weird how he got Shodin's choice of chocolate right, but that was just tastes. People shared them all the time.
"How did you…?" Shodin was frowning, his eyebrows drawn together, and his lips slightly parted.
"I TOLD you – Saisha told me about you." He paused, happy expression softening and he sighed. "But it's been a couple of weeks since anyone's heard from you."
Something curled at the bottom of Marland's stomach. Shodin had appeared from a portal nearly three weeks ago. He'd never seen a portal open before, but… the portal had been throwing around lightning. But that didn't explain how Shodin could do magic. Right. Marland shook his head. He didn't get why he was suddenly doubting that Shodin was an Other.
"I'm sorry," Shodin said, shaking his head, "but I think you have the wrong person."
The man raised his eyebrows, disbelief on his face. "Okay, wait, hold on." One of his hands went to his back pocket, and Marland tensed. When he brought his hand back, there was a wallet in it. The man flipped it open, and pulled out a picture. He smiled down at it, before flipping it around and showing it to Shodin.
"Ah…" Shodin breathed a soft exclamation, his eyes wide, as he took the photo gently from the man's hands. Keeping his ears trained on the other man, Marland looked down at it and felt the world freeze.
It was a photo of Shodin – a clean-shaven Shodin, with shorter hair, and a non-scarred neck. He had an arm draped around the shoulders of a smiling red-headed woman with a great big volume of bushy hair on her head, both their eyes towards the camera, while Shodin had also raised a hand to wave. There weren't any marks or scars on Shodin's arms either. There was, however, a tattoo peeking out from under his sleeves. It was directly on the spot where Shodin always held himself when he was he was bothered about something. Ducking his head slightly, Marland lifted Shodin's sleeve with a finger. And the exact same tattoo was there.
"That's you and Saisha. Believe me yet?"
But that didn't make any SENSE. Shodin had magic; humans here didn't. He shared a body with Puzz; humans here… Was it only Puzz that was the Other, not both Shodin and Puzz? But if Shodin had grown up on Torpin, then why did he have to relearn everything?
And what did Marland know about memory problems? Absolutely nothing, apart from that he knew it could happen.
Shodin continued to stare down at the picture. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head, his hair slowly waving side to side, and gently handed the photo back to the other man, a small smile on his face. It didn't reach his eyes.
"I'm sorry, but I don't remember anything," he said quietly, the fake smile still present.
The man blinked, then looked between Shodin and Marland. "You don't remember… anything?"
Shodin shook his head, his right hand creeping up – but then held his elbow instead. "Nothing."
"Oh – I, uh –" The man laughed nervously, looking down and scratching the back of his head. "Well, this is awkward."
For all of them. What the hell was going to happen now?
"I hadn't introduced myself either," the man mumbled. He stuck out a palm towards Shodin. "I'm Balt."
Shodin took his hand and shook it twice. "Shodin."
Balt nodded once, face concentrated, and then turned to Marland. "And you are…?"
Marland gazed back at him, not looking at the proffered hand, making sure that his ears didn't move – he'd only just gotten them back up again. It was weird that a human here would talk to him –or even walk up to him like Balt had just done- but if they knew someone in common… If they were friends because of similar likes or outlooks…
"Marland." He didn't shake his hand though.
Balt nodded again, smiling with his teeth on full display, even as he retracted his hand. Balt turned back to Shodin, hand flipping his wallet open. "I imagine this is a bit of a shock to you," he said as he rummaged through the pockets, "suddenly meeting someone on the street who sort of knew you in a 'past life'." He pulled out a card, then squinted at it, bringing it close to his face.
"Yep! Okay, these are my contact details, if you want to get in touch," Balt said as he presented the card to Shodin.
Balt then glanced at the watch on his wrist, and then started, eyes going wide. "Damn, I'm going to be late." He waved to both of them, grin wide. "I hope I speak to you soon, Shodin! And thank you, Marland, for looking after him," he said warmly. He immediately started jogging in the direction that he'd come from, before either of them could say anything.
They stood there in silence, Marland staring after where Balt had gone, and while it looked like Shodin was doing the same, he was more likely talking with Puzz.
After some indefinite amount of time, Shodin exhaled deeply and shook his head. "We should head back before something else happens," he said quietly, adjusting his grip on the bags.
Like what? They bumped in to someone who knew Shodin directly AND had some way of restoring his memories completely? Shouldn't he WANT to stay out then?
Marland clenched his jaw, a growl growing in his throat. And he was being really fucking stupid right now – the longer they stayed outside, the bigger the chance that the police would stumble across them again.
Head down, ears flat, wings drawn in as tight as they could go, Marland followed Shodin home.
* * *
They were quiet as they put the shopping away. They wasn't unusual since Shodin had learned where everything went weeks ago. Marland paused and inspected that thought. …Maybe he should be calling Shodin Ronthar now, since that was his real name.
"Hey, Shodin – " He stopped when he realised that he was using Shodin's… whatever name you called it –it wasn't a fake name, and calling it a 'given' name didn't sound right either- instead of his real name.
"I'm still going to go by 'Shodin'," Shodin said as he reached up to put something on the top shelf of a cupboard. "I don't, well, FEEL like I'm a 'Ronthar'. Shodin's my name."
"But so's Ronthar," Marland protested.
"Which I don't have memories of," Shodin pointed out, voice slightly muffled by a cupboard door in the way. "I do have memories of being Shodin though, so, therefore, I'd say I'm more 'Shodin' than I am 'Ronthar'." When he closed the cupboard, Shodin looked at him, an eyebrow raised.
If that was how he felt about it, then that was what Marland would call him. He squashed down the relief that he felt – if Shodin had wanted to be called Ronthar, then that was his decision. But he didn't, so Marland didn't have to think about that anymore. At least, only in the sense of what to call Shodin. As for the rest of it…
One of Marland's ears twitched down to the side before popping up again. Smiling and tilting his head to the side, Shodin turned away to put something else in its proper place.
They continued empting the bags, but the silence wasn't so obvious as before, and Shodin began humming a tune soon after.
When it was finally all done, Shodin sat heavily on one of the kitchen chairs, blowing at the strands of hair that had worked their way free. His elbows went on the table, his mouth hidden by his intertwined fingers. Marland sat down opposite him, ears constantly moving as they tried to go down and Marland not allowing it.
It didn't take long before Shodin was talking, hands falling away, wrists crossed on the table. "Puzz doesn't remember much of what happened before we met you."
Marland already knew that, so he'd never considered as something they could rely on. The photograph was something different.
no subject
Date: Nov. 23rd, 2010 07:53 am (UTC)"It's called 'having connections', Marland," she said, teasing thick in her voice.
Haha, it's like she can read his mind. She must know him well, or maybe his expression and body language are giving him away. =P
Aw, people caring about Marland... but he doesn't get it. XD
"I KNEW it was you, Ronthar!"
Eeeh, someone who possibly knows Shodin from before? That means, Shodin's from this world? Or that other guy also got dropped in this world. XD
It was a photo of Shodin – a clean-shaven Shodin, with shorter hair, and a non-scarred neck. He had an arm draped around the shoulders of a smiling red-headed woman with a great big volume of bushy hair on her head, both their eyes towards the camera, while Shodin had also raised a hand to wave.
The picture you drew! :3
Balt seems friendly enough.
Hm, it feels to me that Marland seems to want Shodin to be an Other.
But... ehhhh, is it possible for someone to get pulled in by a portal and get dumped in the same world??
Still, someone who knows Shodin! *flails*
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Date: Nov. 23rd, 2010 07:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Nov. 24th, 2010 05:11 am (UTC)His ears and body language gave him away. And she yeah, she knows him and how he thinks. X3
Nooope, he doesn't.
XD
Yep!
It gets mostly explained in the 23rd part why he does. There's others as well, but the biggest reason is that one.
Hee. You'll find out~
I could've stopped after "That's you and Saisha. Believe me yet?" X3
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Date: Nov. 24th, 2010 06:56 am (UTC)It'd be really interesting to see how Marland met all these people. =P
Haha, and then I'd be thinking, Saisha? Saisha from the drawing you drew??
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Date: Nov. 30th, 2010 07:13 am (UTC)XD Yeeeep.