Day 32: Sun Room (2nd shift)

[heraldric]

After the couple glasses of water Leon managed to gulp down during breakfast, the mage felt immensely better. He was still a bit tired, but that was nothing a little lounging on one of the sofas wouldn't cure. Stretching his arms above his head, he couldn't help but wish he'd had the chance to grab one of his new doctor's coats before leaving his

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[manhattan_red]

[Awaiting the other wing-ed one, a.k.a. Keman]

Brooklyn left the lunch room feeling particularly sorry for one Danny Phantom. Despite the fact that he'd been nearly beaten to death by glowing green energy the night before last, it was hard to stay angry at someone when they hadn't been completely responsible for their actions. And he was so young! It was going to mess with him terribly, having to deal with the aftermath of what he'd done then. At least Vlad seemed forgiving, and he'd been hurt far worse.

The gargoyle made himself comfortable somewhere he'd be easily noticed. That patient who was supposedly a dragon outside of the Institute had wanted to meet him this shift, and far be it from Brooklyn to disappoint. He couldn't help but wonder what a dragon turned human would look like. Probably huge and muscular with deep brown skin. Could you really be a creature like that originally and not still look fearsome even when you were made human?

[manhattan_red]

"You're...?" Brooklyn sat up straighter, giving the other boy a once-over. So much for the 'big and muscular' theory. Maybe once he got older... "Ah, yeah. That's me. I'm Brooklyn. And don't worry about it! It's cool." He'd made a couple small attempts to claim he was simply human, but really - with all the strange people and creatures turned into people here there wasn't much point. The problem was getting anyone new to believe you.

He patted the seat beside him. "So what was it you wanted to talk about? I don't know how much in common gargoyles have with dragons, really. We don't breathe fire or sleep on mounds of gold..." A weak chuckle followed that statement. He didn't even know if Keman fit the usual dragon stereotype.

[manhattan_red]

Brooklyn blinked. That question had been rather unexpected, and he wasn't sure how to answer it. "Hey, I'm not the one to ask! That's just what I see in cartoons and childrens' books." He'd missed a thousand years worth of evolving storytelling and was still trying to keep up. That was hardly fair.

"The dragons are always shooting big jets of flame from their mouths." He shrugged. "Sorry if it doesn't fit."

[manhattan_red]

"Other... changes..?" Brooklyn raised both eyebrows, trying to discern what Keman could possibly mean by that. "I'm not sure what you're getting at... I'm not as strong as I used to be, but that's a physical change too, isn't it? Um..." He scratched his head in thought. He wasn't thinking any differently, was he? Not as far as he could tell...

"My eyes still glow when I'm angry? That's not a change, though. That's something that stayed the same." The gargoyle frowned. "I... can't think of anything. I've only been here a couple days, though, if that helps." He could only hope nothing else had changed. Being stuck as a human was bad enough!

[manhattan_red]

"Lost control?" Brooklyn didn't know if he should really ask about something Keman might be uncomfortable with, but the dragon had brought it up. What happened when a dragon 'lost control' anyway? Nothing good, probably. Best to turn the subject to something more light hearted.

"Well," he cleared his throat, then smiled. "When a gargoyle's eyes turn red, it usually means... they're a girl." There were some special cases, such as the clones. Their colorations were altered by whatever process they were created with, however, so it wasn't too surprising. In any normal situation a male gargoyle's eyes would glow white when angered and a female's would glow red.

[manhattan_red]

"Huh." One could say that some gargoyles could go on rages - heck, Goliath had quite the temper himself - but they weren't necessarily uncontrollable. Not the way Keman was describing this, at least. He supposed it was a good thing he wasn't a dragon.

It was normal for others not to have heard of gargoyles, though the fact that this boy was supposedly a fantastical creature himself said something about the decline in population of their race. That, or there was that whole world issue... "A guess a gargoyle is like... a smaller, more humanoid dragon. We're usually a little bigger than humans - just a little." And not always, if one considered clan members like Lexington. "We come in all shapes and sizes, though. Depending on what region of the world we live in. Some are more animal-like than others..."

How did one really go about describing the gargoyle race anyways? "Well, long story short, we fly and turn to stone during the day. And protect people." Classy, Brooklyn. Real classy.

[manhattan_red]

"We usually walk on two, but it depends on the gargoyle, really. One of my brothers often finds walking on all four more comfortable because of his wing design. Running is usually faster on all four depending on the terrain. Oh! And there are gargoyle 'dogs'... they always run on all fours, but they don't have wings." Well that was a bit more into the life of a gargoyle that he'd expected to explain already, but he supposed he shouldn't be surprised.

"Um... about the whole stone thing. It just kinda happens. Always has. I guess you could say we become statue versions of ourselves. It's how we sleep, and it heals all wounds. At night we break out of it again. It's not really something we have much choice over." And it left them more vulnerable, as they could simply be shattered. That wasn't something he was going to just point out if it wasn't necessary, however.

[manhattan_red]

But of course Keman had to go and ask about that anyway. What was he supposed to say? That their stone forms were super resilient and it wasn't worth trying to shatter them? No, he'd surely realize the truth. There weren't any gargoyles here at the moment anyway, and even if they did arrive they'd most likely be turned human just as he was.

"Yeah, it does," Brooklyn sighed. "That's why gargoyles often make deals with humans. One can protect while the other sleeps." That was usually the way it worked, anyway. Betrayal often ended up in catastrophe for both sides.