[003C - Text]

[loverofinnocence]

[G-guess who's back, bitches.]

Freedom:

1. the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint
2. the power to determine action without restraint
3. political or national independence
4. personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery

What a foreign concept for many. The word cannot be defined if individuals never truly suffer the experience.

[And with that said...]

Dragon.
You had words. I shall hear them.

Comments

[monotreme_101]

[......screw this guy. What's with this philosophical dictionary quote stuff? GRRR.]

So, when do you want to clean Harley's area of the roof. Community service n all.

[loverofinnocence]

[U mad, bro?]

I was unaware I had the 'opportunity' to choose when.

[monotreme_101]

OK, lemme rephrase. When are you not doing something for someone else already. As gross as his nesting area on the roof is, it can wait if they've got you scrubbing toilets or stamping license plates or whatever else it is they're doing to make use of you.

[loverofinnocence]

Well, if I knew I was going to be on schedule for 'beck and call', I would have asked them for an appointment book. [The secret is that he doesn't even know what that is.]

How about you tell me when you need it done and I will fit it into the time put aside for my services.

[star_punched]

[............]

[loverofinnocence]

[I can do this, too.

............]

[ends_in_ashes]

Right this moment?

[She was going to class, man.]

[loverofinnocence]

[DRAGONS DON'T NEED CLASS.]

At your convenience. It was you with the words.

[ends_in_ashes]

I see then.

[Now the device matters little because Angelus speaks to him via their connection. Her voice reverberates in his mind.]

I wish to show you the highest of honors, Caim. Understand this, for what I tell you is not to be given lightly. It is for you and only you.

Do you understand?

[loverofinnocence]

[The highest of honours. For him? Him? He's a lowly murderer. He's a stained being. He's practically a pile of shit and she wants to bestow upon him honours? What the hell has he done to gain this?

His head tips curiously.]

I hear you, Dragon.

[Who is he going to tell, really?]

[ends_in_ashes]

Then call me Angelus, at least in this manner.

That is my name. You are the first of your kind to know it and the last of your kind to know it. Remember it well.

[loverofinnocence]

[Angelus. He will commit this to memory.]

What is it that you are doing at this moment?

[Because suddenly, he's compelled to see her. If only to put her name and face together.]

[ends_in_ashes]

Me? I was going to a class.

[loverofinnocence]

I know.

[That's not what he meant, dragon.]

Do you really need to go?

[Because he'd rather have her come spend time with him. Jus to put her name to her face.]

[ends_in_ashes]

Of course not. It seems you mortals love enforcing stupid rules that say I ought to.

[Required attendance is dumb.]

Shall we meet somewhere? If you are so desperate to see me.

[She sounds amused.]

[loverofinnocence]

[She cannot see it, but he is smiling. How like her to complain.]

Your class can afford to miss you for one day.

[That is a yes.]

Meet me outside at the courtyard.

[ends_in_ashes]

The courtyard then.

[That's all that needs to be said. She's true to her word too. She circles the courtyard a time or two before she goes to land, weight shaking the nearby buildings as she touches down.]

[loverofinnocence]

[He probably arrives after her. It's hard to get away from the trouble with being a felon on house arrest, honestly.

He sees her from afar, eyes her with a quiet admiration, and says her name to himself a few times in that Caim way.

And then he approaches.]

Do you like this form more?

[He gestures to her dragon glory indicatively.]

[ends_in_ashes]

[The dragon spots him as he makes his way over, lowering her head. This is the first time they've gotten to greet one another not behind bars. She isn't about to go gooshy or sentimental but well... it's good. It's very good.

Angelus makes a contemplative rumbling sound, then replies aloud.]

What could be more superior to this form?

[Though... her voice is a touch chagrined.]

I must admit that a human guise does have it's own advantages, of course.

[She pauses a moment there, then questions while considering the man with one golden eye.]

And what of you, hm? Do you prefer the dragon to the woman? Or the woman to the dragon?

[loverofinnocence]

[Her response makes him smile just the slightest bit. Of course. Dragons are superior to humans in every way.]

Of course. I expected that.

[He's rendered a momentary pause as he thinks. He is more accustomed to her as a dragon, but there is a degree of... foreign beauty to her as a human. Caim's unsure if he could - or should say any such thing.]

Is it important what I think?

[ends_in_ashes]

Perhaps. Perhaps not.

[And she says nothing more on it. If she was looking for any sort of praise, she's not seeking it that badly.]

[loverofinnocence]

[He seems to understand it well enough. A hand lifts and he gently pats at her dragon snout.]

As long as you are you, that is all that matters, Angelus. Not the flesh you wear.

[Surprising words of wisdom from the young prince.]

[ends_in_ashes]

[Just take the wind out of her sails, why don'tcha? The pat is bad enough. She ought to be ashamed for enjoying those so much. Perhaps her one regret the last time they had met is she hadn't been able to receive this 'warming' of his.

But then he has to make sense and in a surprisingly nice way too.

The red dragon gives a low grumble that bears no real venom to it, her next breath an amused one as she lays her chin against the ground before him.]

You make me glad I do not wear such a guise at present. Foolish man.

[She's not elaborating.]

[loverofinnocence]

[Her reaction, both physically and colloquially pleases him. A moment's pause and he offers her a very sincere smile. He waits her her head to lower and he moves to mount her back, so he might wrap his arms around her neck to the best of his ability.]

Do not sound so displeased.

[Because he knows better, silly dragon. But does she know precisely how much he does so much depend on her? For more than simply his life, by this point. She's become a rather important part of him in more ways than merely one.]

[ends_in_ashes]

[Angelus doesn't really look pleased until Caim's settled on her back, arms wrapped around her neck. Then she allows herself to look content. And she even grumbles her reply in a milder tone.]

I am not.

[Her back rises and falls with her sigh of a breath, neck still beneath him. Scaled as she is, dragons seem to be somewhat like snakes. She's leathery and soft to the touch, warm beneath that. Her voice reverberates through her throat as she speaks.]

We dragons are a solitary sort. We know one another and respect one another, there is little else beyond this though. Before I was taken by your troops and we began our travels, I had not spoke with a human in many, many years. I had no spoke with others of my kind in just as long.

[Another sigh of breath.]

I have grown used to company, I think.

[loverofinnocence]

[He has never truly believed he would be able to do this again. He had thought before they would never again meet. Caim's inner anguish is sated a bit and covered by a form of contentedness that is foreign to him. And like a child, the need to cling to it is vaguely present.]

It is quality over quantity. One reliable companion can make a world of difference. I cannot say how I would have been against the Empire without you.

[It's an admission on a smaller scale, but he thinks it gets the point across well. Teasingly, he adds more as an afterthought.]

I suppose if I must, I shall become more of a dragon for you.

[ends_in_ashes]

[Oh now that earns him a good, rumbling laugh.]

More of a dragon, hm? Well. If you wish it, Caim, I am sure you will be able to succeed. In some very small way.

And we both know how you would have done - very poorly. It is not something I would blame you for though. To fight such a battle on one's own, even with troops, is something of a stretch.

[loverofinnocence]

[It's impossible for him not to smile at her response. It earns her another hug about the neck. She cannot possibly how much he's missed this, honestly.

To think he almost lost her... He certainly has an unrivalled appreciation for her. And 'appreciation' is certainly an understatement. -- Or simply a cover for something greater.]

No truer words have been said.

[A pause and suddenly...]

Do you regret it, I wonder?

[ends_in_ashes]

Regret?

[The dragon turned her head enough to look back at the man clinging to her neck. Quiet for a moment, she offered:]

Perhaps. If I do, it is regret for what I once knew as fact, what I once felt. There is nothing left behind that one does not feel some regret for leaving.

[loverofinnocence]

[He nodded as he eyed her.]

Too wise of me to say, however, nothing is ever stationary. An ever changing world and ever inconsistent beings. Even dragons as stubborn as you, I would think.

[Caim was still smiling, however. At least a little bit.]

[will_be_god]

What you claim is that freedom cannot exist without oppression. How foolish!

[loverofinnocence]

I claim that mankind is not free from oppression. Ever.

[will_be_god]

Only when we fall under the boot. When we no longer fight and only accept mindlessly.

[loverofinnocence]

No. There are times when fighting yields nothing and loses everything.

[will_be_god]

You speak of fighting in the most direct sense, of violent opposition. And yet the struggle to reveal truth in the face of lies is also a fight. To maintain the uncorroded self in the wild current of the world.

[loverofinnocence]

Even the 'struggle to reveal truth in the face of lies' may as well lead to violent opposition. Few other things work to resolve such matters.

[will_be_god]

Unfortunately I know this all too well. There is much that incites hatred in the world, and the act of exposing all that we do not know is among them.

But to go beyond that! To surpass the urge to act in violence and to quell it in the world...that is what I aim for.

[loverofinnocence]

An impossible feat. Although I shall not stop you from the foolish attempt.

[will_be_god]

Interesting. You speak of the constant oppression of our species and yet you accept it, refering to any attempt to rebel against it "foolish" and "impossible". You have taken it within yourself and are poisoned by it.

[loverofinnocence]

I enjoy it. Nothing else matters.

[Caim thought everyone knew this by now.]

[will_be_god]

Then you as well will fall. I will not spare any who delight in suffering.

[loverofinnocence]

Best of luck to you, then.

[will_be_god]

Luck is an arbitrary concept having no basis in reality.

[loverofinnocence]

Of course. As you say.