[Duncan/Indraneel] - are you for real
Who:
Duncan
Indraneel
When: Sometime after Ravi visited the hour
Where: The Golden Hour
Ratings & Warnings: PG
In which I have to post a log because LJ hates Chibi!
This time Duncan remembered to bring back that dissertation on the four humours when he was done with it. That englishwolf wouldn't be able to mock him for it this time! Next time he went into the library looking for the book, he'd find it, because it wouldn't be still on his desk!
But he had other things to look for in the meantime, so he was scouring the library's shelves for a few anatomy books to bring back down to his study. These, also, actually find-able. No need for the creepy wolfwoman's help here. Excellent. He had three books tucked under one arm and was searching for the fourth and last, running his index finger along the rows of book spines as he passed by in search of the correct title.
Indraneel wandered through the library, eyeing the vast collection of books as he passed them, though he couldn't make out most of the titles. Words are hard! At least anything that wasn't from India, which it was unlikely many of these books were. There were a lot of them though! Perhaps he could find something that didn't use so many big words that would help him learn how to read and write English better.
As he poked at some books on one shelf, he noticed someone on the other side, and watched the man through the shelf. Well, he didn't look too upset... some of the people in the Hour looked really angry or jumpy! He didn't like bothering those people.
After watching for a while, he moved to the side of the shelf and peeked his head around to get a better look, curiosity plastered across his face. Was this another non-human or one of the humans who lived or worked here? He smoothed down his new clothes and stepped out, smiling pleasantly. "Hello."
Duncan glanced up. "Hi." And went right back to the shelf.
And then he stopped, looked again, and straightened. This was new. He'd never seen somebody who looked like that before, except maybe that Guard who came by to see the clockwork girl once in a while. "Who are you?"
Indraneel's smile grew. He clasped his hands in front of him and offered a short bow of greeting. "I am Indraneel." He was about to ask if this guy was a non-human but decided against it. Most seemed intent on keeping it to themselves, even from other non-humans. "You, em... work in the Hour?"
Totally foreign. Weird clothes, the bowing, thick accent. Duncan wasn't quite sure what to think of this guy. Was he an Other or just some strange new addition? You never could tell in this place. "Yeah," he answered, adjusting the books under his arm to sit more comfortably. "I'm an Adept here. Name's Duncan Evandros. Lord Duncan Evandros, really, but let's not get crazy."
"Ah!" Indraneel's eyes widened, mildly surprised! Lord was an important title. Though he wasn't entirely sure what it meant. He did, however, give the man a deeper bow before righting himself once more. "Lord is..." A pause. "We call Vishnu Lord, but I do not think you are a God. What are you Lord of?"
Duncan's brow furrowed. "...Are you for real?"
The question caught him totally offguard. Moreso because he had no idea what Duncan was even asking why are humans so weird. "Em..." Indraneel felt down the sides of his sherwani, which he still kept open because it was more comfortable that way, then patted at his chest for a brief moment. He felt real so he pretty sure he was! He gave the guy a really perplexed look. "I am sorry. I not understand."
"Oh for--" Duncan facepalmed. Ironically, the guy's reaction only made him want to repeat himself. He sighed, dropping his hand, and said, "You don't understand a whole hell of a lot, do you? Where are you even from?"
The drag - human, right, he looked human - shook his head. "I not talk to... em." Pause. He wasn't sure if it was wise to go around announcing that he WASN'T HUMAN even IN the Hour. "New to Tyrol. Fest was still going. Am from India. Is very much, em, not like here." He paused a moment. "English not so good. I am sorry." He apologized a lot when dealing with humans, he realized.
"Right." Yeah, Duncan could tell. Dealing with foreigners who spoke broken English was kind of a chore, but what the fuck else did he have to do tonight. Besides reading these goddamn anatomy books, and who could blame him for putting THAT off as long as possible?
He shrugged. "A Lord is somebody who gets to sit around and be important because his father was a Lord and his father's father was a Lord and his father's father's et cetera." He turned away, resuming his place on the shelf to continue searching for the last book he needed.
Well that didn't sound very important to him. Though that last part confused him. "Eh..." He paused, not wanting to mispronounce it too badly. "Et cetera?" Was he being annoying he didn't know he wasn't a mind reader hopefully this guy wasn't too easily annoyed or at least not too mean if he is.
Indraneel leaned closer to peer at the books Duncan was scanning, curiously. "What you study?"
Oh, Indraneel! Duncan was always annoyed! You had absolutely nothing to worry about.
"'And the rest.'" He glanced over, narrowing his eyes at the man's proximity. "I'm a surgeon," he answered. Duncan didn't know if he liked this dude's curiosity; chattering was not what he came to the library for.
Hey nobody explained what a library was to this guy he didn't know. He smiled as he glanced to Duncan, though didn't notice the discomfort. Fortunately, he'd lost interest in trying to read the titles and righted himself. "Surgeon?" he asked.
Duncan turned an incredulous look on him, and was just silent for a long moment. Really? Really? Was he going to be asked to define everything he said in this conversation? Ugh, this guy probably wasn't an idiot, Duncan, he just didn't speak the language and it made him seem like an idiot. Fine, fine, he'd be polite.
He turned back to the shelf--there it was, damn, how had he missed that? Sliding the book off the shelf and double-checking the cover to be sure it was the right book, he answered, "A surgeon is a type of doctor. A healer. Do you understand that?" If not, he was so done with this.
Ah, if Duncan knew how uneducated Indraneel was, he'd certainly think he was an idiot. But it wasn't his fault! Humans are weird, man!
'Doctor' he didn't get. But he understood the concept of healing. "Ah, you fix people!" He seemed rather excited at figuring that out! He smiled wide, nodding, and glanced to the books Duncan held. "These are books on healing?"
"Yes." Flat stare. "I fix people."
He took the books from under his arm, shuffling the newest to the top of the stack. "Anatomy." And then, realizing with an eye-roll that this guy probably had no idea what that meant either, "They're books about how bodies are put together."
Indraneel grew very confused. He gave the books a quizzical look, then turned it on Duncan, giving him a quick look-over before asking, "You need books to tell you where the arms go?"
"Occia's tits, are you stupid?!" Sorry Indraneel, Duncan has a tendency to snap if you're irritating enough. "I'm a fucking surgeon, no, I know where arms go. Medicine is a little more complicated than that."
Indraneel's smile faded, what was left of it, and he just stared at Duncan for a long moment. That's the first time anyone's reacted quite like that to his questioning. He supposed that's what he got for asking questions of random people, even in the Hour. Especially in human form. Maybe he should just stick to drakon form around here.
"I..." He paused, not really sure what to say. "I am sorry. My family do not use healers. It is... strange. We not get sick. We get hurt, we sleep and get better."
Fuck. He was upset, now. Duncan really needed to learn to keep his temper in check. He heaved a sigh. "Look, forget it. What'd you say your name was, Neil? Look, Neil, I'm sorry I snapped at you, okay?"
As for the bit about his family just sleeping off injuries, well, Duncan didn't even notice that.
Not so much upset as timid. He didn't like confrontation. It was scary! Scary people needed to be left alone so they wouldn't be scary.
"Indraneel." He bowed his head to Duncan, offering a timid smile. "It is my mistake. Not good with humans. Ah..." He paused briefly. "You are human, yes?" Even in human form it was really hard to remember he looked human to those around him this was probably going to get him in trouble sooner or later.
Duncan raised an eyebrow and quickly lowered it. Of course the guy wasn't human. Of course. They never were. Well, that explained an awful lot though, didn't it? "Yes," he replied flatly. "I am human." He could honestly say it was a question he'd never been asked before. (Though now that he thought about it, he wondered why, considering where he worked.)
"What are you?" he asked. He didn't quite share his wife's feelings about Others--most of them were just a nuisance--but that didn't mean he wasn't curious about them from an academic perspective.
"Ah. I am drakon." Oh Indraneel you are so trusting you fool. "Em, you might say dragon." Though that was heavily accented to sound closer to drakon so not really much of a clarification. He looked down at himself, then back to Duncan. "Was told human shape is safer, yes?"
"A dragon." He raised an eyebrow, looking Indraneel over. Nope. Didn't look very dragony to him. Wasn't even puffing smoke or anything. Well, half the Others here had perfectly good human forms, anyway, so it wasn't that weird.
"Yeah sure, human shape's safer. People hate your kind around these parts." He tucked the stack of books under his arm again and started walking for the front desk where the librarian kept her files. He fully expected the dragon(?) would follow, and he didn't really care at this point.
Indraneel opened his mouth to ask a question, though closed it once Duncan turned away from him. He wasn't really sure the guy wanted him following along or not, after how he'd reacted earlier. He glanced to the books. Yeah there probably wasn't anything in here he would find very useful...
With a faint shrug, he followed, catching up easily before asking his question. "You, ah, not hate non-humans, yes? Or dragons?"
Oh look at that he'd followed what a surprise. "Nope. Don't care about 'em, either way." He walked up to the desk--looked like the wolfbrarian was missing at the moment--and filled out a card for each book to go into the check-out record. ...Hopefully none of these would be pulled out later to show him he was an idiot, thanks Reilanin.
"Ah." Indraneel took pause for just a moment before continuing to follow. He watched as Duncan checked the books out, having never, you know, used a library before. Though he was a little uncertain now. After the silence started to hit awkward stage, he asked, "You want I go now?"
"If you feel like it, buddy." Finished with the cards, he turned around, holding the stack of books out toward Indraneel. "But if you're gonna stick around, might as well make yourself useful."
Indraneel perked up, smiling happily. He liked being helpful! After giving Duncan a light bow, he took the books, holding the stack against him with one arm wrapped around it and the other hand atop it to keep them from tumbling. He even went so far as to say, "Thank you!" Yes, he was appreciative of being given a task. Humans rarely gave him things to do for them!
Eeexcellent. If Indraneel was going to shadow him, then he was going to act like a proper shadow. And Duncan didn't feel quite as bad about shoving menial tasks off on a dragon as he did about shoving them off on Linda. She just...looked so downtrodden all the time, augh! How do you force a girl to carry your books when she always looks like she's about to break?
"So." Duncan shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking, leading the way from the library back to his study. "You're a dragon. From India. Why Tyrol?"
He followed, of course, keeping those books secure in his arms. Though his gaze did stray to this and that as they walked, it would quickly snap back to pay attention to where he walked. "Ah. Not come just to Tyrol. Flew a lot, lots of places, see lots of things, then come here. Not know why." He thought about that. Why Tyrol, exactly? He didn't even really like it here with all the fear and killing and such, but for some reason he didn't really want to leave. And it wasn't just because of the few people he'd met so far. "Not friendly place, but is something here."
"'Is something here.' Hah. That's a good way to put it." He pulled one hand out of his pocket to rub the bridge of his nose, an idle motion that didn't even register in his conscious mind. "That's what most of them say. Don't know why they came, they just kind of did."
'Them?' He must have be referring to other non-humans. "Many come here?" he asked. He knew something about the non-humans showing up, but not how many, or any reason for it. Much like why he was here. He was already starting to hate the place. He'd have to find more fun things to do... or more people to help! "Is maybe this place bring here. Is safe place, yes? With humans who are nice to non-humans. Other places, humans not so nice. More like... out in city, but not many who will help."
"Sure, yeah, tonnes of 'em," he replied with a dismissive wave. His hand dropped back into his pocket. "It's pretty obvious there's something about Tyrol that's drawing you folks in, but who knows what. I'm sure it's not the fact that the Hour's a safe place. You're just lucky that happens to be the case."
Indraneel thought about that, giving Duncan some reprieve from his random questions while he did. Before too long, likely just about the time Duncan thought he'd run out of things to say, he asked, "You have met many not humans?"
He asked just as they came upon the staircase that led down to the level Duncan's study was on. Stairs. He sighed, leaning a hand on the banister, and turned to face Indraneel. "You really can't take two steps at the Hour without running into one. Even people I thought were human turned out not to be. Like the librarian." He nodded toward the direction they'd just come from. "Turns out she's an Englishman." Ha ha oh he cracked himself up.
He sort of expected that. Thus far he'd only met one non-human that he knew of, and that wasn't even at the Hour. He just knew they were around, and pondered how to figure out who was human and who wasn't. Outside of just asking everyone he met, at any rate.
Indraneel, of course, grew confused at the joke, not recognizing it as such. "Englishman is not human?" he asked. Yes he was serious.
Duncan, of course, failed to realize Indraneel seriously didn't get the joke. Unfortunately, his brand of humour was the deadpan variety, so he sounded perfectly serious when he replied, "Oh, man, have you even seen one? I'm surprised they think they can ever pass for human."
Indraneel shook his head. "Have not met any, no." He'd have to keep his eye out for these ones! So many different non-humans he's never heard of before! He still didn't even know what Alex was! He briefly entertained the idea of asking Duncan what sort of creature was like Alex, but decided against it, as that might bring about questions.
He decided to avoid mention of Alex entirely. "Have not met any non-humans in the Hour yet." Rather surprising, if they were so common, with how long he'd been here.
Duncan raised an eyebrow. "None? Really? You probably just haven't noticed." Sometimes Duncan felt like there were more Others here than humans.
Anyway. There was that staircase to be tackled. They couldn't just stand on the landing forever. He looked down at it over his shoulder, eyes narrowed. It was just you and him, staircase. You and him. And the dragon. The dragon didn't count though.
With one hand on the banister, he started down slowly, eyes on his feet. With all the crazy contraptions people at the Hour kept coming up with, how had nobody invented a non-stairs method of transferring between floors yet? Luckily, this time, he made it to the bottom unscathed. Take that, staircase!
He nodded. "Yes. If they look human I would not know."
Even though Duncan made it safely down the stairs, Indraneel hadn't gone around in human form very often, and certainly not a whole lot any time recently. And certainly not on stairs. And most certainly not while carrying books. So he, of course, tripped. Duncan probably just got lucky because there was a new victim for the evil stairs to claim.
He was, however, quite agile, and managed to land on his backside and only slip down a few steps, all the while keeping the books from tumbling out of his arms, though it took a bit of effort. Then he sat there, dazed and blinking, a pained look across his face, and muttered, "Too squishy..."
Oh man. Oh man. Duncan had really never been in this position before. It was great. He felt so smug. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, he turned to look up at the victim they'd claimed in his stead. He was trying, so hard, not to smile, and wasn't quite managing. "You okay, there?"
Other than the wincing as he stood, and now very cautiously taking each step, which seemed to cause further wincing with a minor limp, Indraneel looked perfectly alright! He paused long enough to offer Duncan a smile and a nod before he continued, eventually making it to the bottom. "Hurt, but is okay. Will be fine shortly." Then he beamed. "Not drop books!" He was so proud of himself!
Yeah he'd be fine. What kind of dragon would he be if he let a staircase defeat him? "Good job," Duncan replied with a smirk, stifling a laugh. It was only funny because on any other day that would be him.
He led the way down the hall toward his study, watching over his shoulder to make sure Indraneel followed. "If you broke anything, though, I can fix it for you."
He followed, though he was limping. It wasn't a major limp, at least. "Em. Not think broke anything. Bones is strong, like dragon. Is just human flesh is squishy. No scales." Oh how he hated being human more now than ever before he'd never fallen down stairs before it hurts!
He did a good job of hiding his discomfort, aside from the limping, smiling pleasantly, his attitude still fairly upbeat. Especially since he got praise! It may not have been very enthusiastic praise and he did catch the laughing but he figured if he made someone laugh by having an accident then it wasn't such a terrible accident.
Duncan
Indraneel
When: Sometime after Ravi visited the hour
Where: The Golden Hour
Ratings & Warnings: PG
In which I have to post a log because LJ hates Chibi!
This time Duncan remembered to bring back that dissertation on the four humours when he was done with it. That englishwolf wouldn't be able to mock him for it this time! Next time he went into the library looking for the book, he'd find it, because it wouldn't be still on his desk!
But he had other things to look for in the meantime, so he was scouring the library's shelves for a few anatomy books to bring back down to his study. These, also, actually find-able. No need for the creepy wolfwoman's help here. Excellent. He had three books tucked under one arm and was searching for the fourth and last, running his index finger along the rows of book spines as he passed by in search of the correct title.
Indraneel wandered through the library, eyeing the vast collection of books as he passed them, though he couldn't make out most of the titles. Words are hard! At least anything that wasn't from India, which it was unlikely many of these books were. There were a lot of them though! Perhaps he could find something that didn't use so many big words that would help him learn how to read and write English better.
As he poked at some books on one shelf, he noticed someone on the other side, and watched the man through the shelf. Well, he didn't look too upset... some of the people in the Hour looked really angry or jumpy! He didn't like bothering those people.
After watching for a while, he moved to the side of the shelf and peeked his head around to get a better look, curiosity plastered across his face. Was this another non-human or one of the humans who lived or worked here? He smoothed down his new clothes and stepped out, smiling pleasantly. "Hello."
Duncan glanced up. "Hi." And went right back to the shelf.
And then he stopped, looked again, and straightened. This was new. He'd never seen somebody who looked like that before, except maybe that Guard who came by to see the clockwork girl once in a while. "Who are you?"
Indraneel's smile grew. He clasped his hands in front of him and offered a short bow of greeting. "I am Indraneel." He was about to ask if this guy was a non-human but decided against it. Most seemed intent on keeping it to themselves, even from other non-humans. "You, em... work in the Hour?"
Totally foreign. Weird clothes, the bowing, thick accent. Duncan wasn't quite sure what to think of this guy. Was he an Other or just some strange new addition? You never could tell in this place. "Yeah," he answered, adjusting the books under his arm to sit more comfortably. "I'm an Adept here. Name's Duncan Evandros. Lord Duncan Evandros, really, but let's not get crazy."
"Ah!" Indraneel's eyes widened, mildly surprised! Lord was an important title. Though he wasn't entirely sure what it meant. He did, however, give the man a deeper bow before righting himself once more. "Lord is..." A pause. "We call Vishnu Lord, but I do not think you are a God. What are you Lord of?"
Duncan's brow furrowed. "...Are you for real?"
The question caught him totally offguard. Moreso because he had no idea what Duncan was even asking why are humans so weird. "Em..." Indraneel felt down the sides of his sherwani, which he still kept open because it was more comfortable that way, then patted at his chest for a brief moment. He felt real so he pretty sure he was! He gave the guy a really perplexed look. "I am sorry. I not understand."
"Oh for--" Duncan facepalmed. Ironically, the guy's reaction only made him want to repeat himself. He sighed, dropping his hand, and said, "You don't understand a whole hell of a lot, do you? Where are you even from?"
The drag - human, right, he looked human - shook his head. "I not talk to... em." Pause. He wasn't sure if it was wise to go around announcing that he WASN'T HUMAN even IN the Hour. "New to Tyrol. Fest was still going. Am from India. Is very much, em, not like here." He paused a moment. "English not so good. I am sorry." He apologized a lot when dealing with humans, he realized.
"Right." Yeah, Duncan could tell. Dealing with foreigners who spoke broken English was kind of a chore, but what the fuck else did he have to do tonight. Besides reading these goddamn anatomy books, and who could blame him for putting THAT off as long as possible?
He shrugged. "A Lord is somebody who gets to sit around and be important because his father was a Lord and his father's father was a Lord and his father's father's et cetera." He turned away, resuming his place on the shelf to continue searching for the last book he needed.
Well that didn't sound very important to him. Though that last part confused him. "Eh..." He paused, not wanting to mispronounce it too badly. "Et cetera?" Was he being annoying he didn't know he wasn't a mind reader hopefully this guy wasn't too easily annoyed or at least not too mean if he is.
Indraneel leaned closer to peer at the books Duncan was scanning, curiously. "What you study?"
Oh, Indraneel! Duncan was always annoyed! You had absolutely nothing to worry about.
"'And the rest.'" He glanced over, narrowing his eyes at the man's proximity. "I'm a surgeon," he answered. Duncan didn't know if he liked this dude's curiosity; chattering was not what he came to the library for.
Hey nobody explained what a library was to this guy he didn't know. He smiled as he glanced to Duncan, though didn't notice the discomfort. Fortunately, he'd lost interest in trying to read the titles and righted himself. "Surgeon?" he asked.
Duncan turned an incredulous look on him, and was just silent for a long moment. Really? Really? Was he going to be asked to define everything he said in this conversation? Ugh, this guy probably wasn't an idiot, Duncan, he just didn't speak the language and it made him seem like an idiot. Fine, fine, he'd be polite.
He turned back to the shelf--there it was, damn, how had he missed that? Sliding the book off the shelf and double-checking the cover to be sure it was the right book, he answered, "A surgeon is a type of doctor. A healer. Do you understand that?" If not, he was so done with this.
Ah, if Duncan knew how uneducated Indraneel was, he'd certainly think he was an idiot. But it wasn't his fault! Humans are weird, man!
'Doctor' he didn't get. But he understood the concept of healing. "Ah, you fix people!" He seemed rather excited at figuring that out! He smiled wide, nodding, and glanced to the books Duncan held. "These are books on healing?"
"Yes." Flat stare. "I fix people."
He took the books from under his arm, shuffling the newest to the top of the stack. "Anatomy." And then, realizing with an eye-roll that this guy probably had no idea what that meant either, "They're books about how bodies are put together."
Indraneel grew very confused. He gave the books a quizzical look, then turned it on Duncan, giving him a quick look-over before asking, "You need books to tell you where the arms go?"
"Occia's tits, are you stupid?!" Sorry Indraneel, Duncan has a tendency to snap if you're irritating enough. "I'm a fucking surgeon, no, I know where arms go. Medicine is a little more complicated than that."
Indraneel's smile faded, what was left of it, and he just stared at Duncan for a long moment. That's the first time anyone's reacted quite like that to his questioning. He supposed that's what he got for asking questions of random people, even in the Hour. Especially in human form. Maybe he should just stick to drakon form around here.
"I..." He paused, not really sure what to say. "I am sorry. My family do not use healers. It is... strange. We not get sick. We get hurt, we sleep and get better."
Fuck. He was upset, now. Duncan really needed to learn to keep his temper in check. He heaved a sigh. "Look, forget it. What'd you say your name was, Neil? Look, Neil, I'm sorry I snapped at you, okay?"
As for the bit about his family just sleeping off injuries, well, Duncan didn't even notice that.
Not so much upset as timid. He didn't like confrontation. It was scary! Scary people needed to be left alone so they wouldn't be scary.
"Indraneel." He bowed his head to Duncan, offering a timid smile. "It is my mistake. Not good with humans. Ah..." He paused briefly. "You are human, yes?" Even in human form it was really hard to remember he looked human to those around him this was probably going to get him in trouble sooner or later.
Duncan raised an eyebrow and quickly lowered it. Of course the guy wasn't human. Of course. They never were. Well, that explained an awful lot though, didn't it? "Yes," he replied flatly. "I am human." He could honestly say it was a question he'd never been asked before. (Though now that he thought about it, he wondered why, considering where he worked.)
"What are you?" he asked. He didn't quite share his wife's feelings about Others--most of them were just a nuisance--but that didn't mean he wasn't curious about them from an academic perspective.
"Ah. I am drakon." Oh Indraneel you are so trusting you fool. "Em, you might say dragon." Though that was heavily accented to sound closer to drakon so not really much of a clarification. He looked down at himself, then back to Duncan. "Was told human shape is safer, yes?"
"A dragon." He raised an eyebrow, looking Indraneel over. Nope. Didn't look very dragony to him. Wasn't even puffing smoke or anything. Well, half the Others here had perfectly good human forms, anyway, so it wasn't that weird.
"Yeah sure, human shape's safer. People hate your kind around these parts." He tucked the stack of books under his arm again and started walking for the front desk where the librarian kept her files. He fully expected the dragon(?) would follow, and he didn't really care at this point.
Indraneel opened his mouth to ask a question, though closed it once Duncan turned away from him. He wasn't really sure the guy wanted him following along or not, after how he'd reacted earlier. He glanced to the books. Yeah there probably wasn't anything in here he would find very useful...
With a faint shrug, he followed, catching up easily before asking his question. "You, ah, not hate non-humans, yes? Or dragons?"
Oh look at that he'd followed what a surprise. "Nope. Don't care about 'em, either way." He walked up to the desk--looked like the wolfbrarian was missing at the moment--and filled out a card for each book to go into the check-out record. ...Hopefully none of these would be pulled out later to show him he was an idiot, thanks Reilanin.
"Ah." Indraneel took pause for just a moment before continuing to follow. He watched as Duncan checked the books out, having never, you know, used a library before. Though he was a little uncertain now. After the silence started to hit awkward stage, he asked, "You want I go now?"
"If you feel like it, buddy." Finished with the cards, he turned around, holding the stack of books out toward Indraneel. "But if you're gonna stick around, might as well make yourself useful."
Indraneel perked up, smiling happily. He liked being helpful! After giving Duncan a light bow, he took the books, holding the stack against him with one arm wrapped around it and the other hand atop it to keep them from tumbling. He even went so far as to say, "Thank you!" Yes, he was appreciative of being given a task. Humans rarely gave him things to do for them!
Eeexcellent. If Indraneel was going to shadow him, then he was going to act like a proper shadow. And Duncan didn't feel quite as bad about shoving menial tasks off on a dragon as he did about shoving them off on Linda. She just...looked so downtrodden all the time, augh! How do you force a girl to carry your books when she always looks like she's about to break?
"So." Duncan shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking, leading the way from the library back to his study. "You're a dragon. From India. Why Tyrol?"
He followed, of course, keeping those books secure in his arms. Though his gaze did stray to this and that as they walked, it would quickly snap back to pay attention to where he walked. "Ah. Not come just to Tyrol. Flew a lot, lots of places, see lots of things, then come here. Not know why." He thought about that. Why Tyrol, exactly? He didn't even really like it here with all the fear and killing and such, but for some reason he didn't really want to leave. And it wasn't just because of the few people he'd met so far. "Not friendly place, but is something here."
"'Is something here.' Hah. That's a good way to put it." He pulled one hand out of his pocket to rub the bridge of his nose, an idle motion that didn't even register in his conscious mind. "That's what most of them say. Don't know why they came, they just kind of did."
'Them?' He must have be referring to other non-humans. "Many come here?" he asked. He knew something about the non-humans showing up, but not how many, or any reason for it. Much like why he was here. He was already starting to hate the place. He'd have to find more fun things to do... or more people to help! "Is maybe this place bring here. Is safe place, yes? With humans who are nice to non-humans. Other places, humans not so nice. More like... out in city, but not many who will help."
"Sure, yeah, tonnes of 'em," he replied with a dismissive wave. His hand dropped back into his pocket. "It's pretty obvious there's something about Tyrol that's drawing you folks in, but who knows what. I'm sure it's not the fact that the Hour's a safe place. You're just lucky that happens to be the case."
Indraneel thought about that, giving Duncan some reprieve from his random questions while he did. Before too long, likely just about the time Duncan thought he'd run out of things to say, he asked, "You have met many not humans?"
He asked just as they came upon the staircase that led down to the level Duncan's study was on. Stairs. He sighed, leaning a hand on the banister, and turned to face Indraneel. "You really can't take two steps at the Hour without running into one. Even people I thought were human turned out not to be. Like the librarian." He nodded toward the direction they'd just come from. "Turns out she's an Englishman." Ha ha oh he cracked himself up.
He sort of expected that. Thus far he'd only met one non-human that he knew of, and that wasn't even at the Hour. He just knew they were around, and pondered how to figure out who was human and who wasn't. Outside of just asking everyone he met, at any rate.
Indraneel, of course, grew confused at the joke, not recognizing it as such. "Englishman is not human?" he asked. Yes he was serious.
Duncan, of course, failed to realize Indraneel seriously didn't get the joke. Unfortunately, his brand of humour was the deadpan variety, so he sounded perfectly serious when he replied, "Oh, man, have you even seen one? I'm surprised they think they can ever pass for human."
Indraneel shook his head. "Have not met any, no." He'd have to keep his eye out for these ones! So many different non-humans he's never heard of before! He still didn't even know what Alex was! He briefly entertained the idea of asking Duncan what sort of creature was like Alex, but decided against it, as that might bring about questions.
He decided to avoid mention of Alex entirely. "Have not met any non-humans in the Hour yet." Rather surprising, if they were so common, with how long he'd been here.
Duncan raised an eyebrow. "None? Really? You probably just haven't noticed." Sometimes Duncan felt like there were more Others here than humans.
Anyway. There was that staircase to be tackled. They couldn't just stand on the landing forever. He looked down at it over his shoulder, eyes narrowed. It was just you and him, staircase. You and him. And the dragon. The dragon didn't count though.
With one hand on the banister, he started down slowly, eyes on his feet. With all the crazy contraptions people at the Hour kept coming up with, how had nobody invented a non-stairs method of transferring between floors yet? Luckily, this time, he made it to the bottom unscathed. Take that, staircase!
He nodded. "Yes. If they look human I would not know."
Even though Duncan made it safely down the stairs, Indraneel hadn't gone around in human form very often, and certainly not a whole lot any time recently. And certainly not on stairs. And most certainly not while carrying books. So he, of course, tripped. Duncan probably just got lucky because there was a new victim for the evil stairs to claim.
He was, however, quite agile, and managed to land on his backside and only slip down a few steps, all the while keeping the books from tumbling out of his arms, though it took a bit of effort. Then he sat there, dazed and blinking, a pained look across his face, and muttered, "Too squishy..."
Oh man. Oh man. Duncan had really never been in this position before. It was great. He felt so smug. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, he turned to look up at the victim they'd claimed in his stead. He was trying, so hard, not to smile, and wasn't quite managing. "You okay, there?"
Other than the wincing as he stood, and now very cautiously taking each step, which seemed to cause further wincing with a minor limp, Indraneel looked perfectly alright! He paused long enough to offer Duncan a smile and a nod before he continued, eventually making it to the bottom. "Hurt, but is okay. Will be fine shortly." Then he beamed. "Not drop books!" He was so proud of himself!
Yeah he'd be fine. What kind of dragon would he be if he let a staircase defeat him? "Good job," Duncan replied with a smirk, stifling a laugh. It was only funny because on any other day that would be him.
He led the way down the hall toward his study, watching over his shoulder to make sure Indraneel followed. "If you broke anything, though, I can fix it for you."
He followed, though he was limping. It wasn't a major limp, at least. "Em. Not think broke anything. Bones is strong, like dragon. Is just human flesh is squishy. No scales." Oh how he hated being human more now than ever before he'd never fallen down stairs before it hurts!
He did a good job of hiding his discomfort, aside from the limping, smiling pleasantly, his attitude still fairly upbeat. Especially since he got praise! It may not have been very enthusiastic praise and he did catch the laughing but he figured if he made someone laugh by having an accident then it wasn't such a terrible accident.