Red was not sure which was distracting him more...The fact that this city seemed to remind him of everywhere and nowhere at once, or the fact that he was now wearing a skin-tight suit that seemed to pulsate with living veins but smelled of plants
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Red's thoughts came to a quick halt as he looked the humanoid up and down, sniffing. He smelled of...rocks? That was odd. But that fitted with the peculiarity of the city here. And the humanoid's confusion might be because he was a local, and Red an intruder in his home city.
He did his best to assume a nonthreatening pose, tail dropped and head moderately low. "I'm sorry, I was simply exploring your city. But I seem to be a bit lost."
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He still wished, uselessly, that he had his hood. Not that it would exactly hide him from curious nostrils, too. In a way, he was almost glad he hadn't run into any humans yet.
"No, no. I just came out of one of the pod caverns. I literally have no idea what's going on here." Frustration was evident in his voice. "You're the first person I've seen." And just as clueless. Fantastic.
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"I am known as Aish-Kar-Yan. And you'll forgive me, but I don't recognize your species. May I inquire...?" He left the question hanging. Awkward. But he didn't know that.
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"Aish-Kar-Yan." Zel repeated the name, carefully pronouncing the syllables, perhaps making sure he'd done it correctly. "I am Zelgadis." It wasn't like the reptile was the only one with an odd name.
Species.. and suddenly a heated flush managed to cross Zel's face, though out of anger or shame, it was hard to tell. "I'm human." He spoke, tightly, trying not to overreact. "My body is also part brau demon and part stone golem." The less said about that, the better. He was averting his eyes, then, fingers slipping up the back of his neck.
At least nobody had pointed in his face and screamed, or.. anything.
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Zelgadis seemed nervous about it, though. That was a gesture Red had grown quite accustomed to- Humanoid nervousness. He'd let it go, for now.
"Zelgadisss, pleased to make your aquaintance." He held out a clawed hand, unaware of the slight harsh mangling he'd given the chimera's name.
"So you have heard Stacy. I think she may be some kind of telepath...though where she is, or what she intends to do, I'm not sure." Looking Zelgadis in the eye, he hoped the understood danger of a telepath would sink in. That speaking ill of her aloud might bode ill for both of them. But he could never tell if Humanoids picked up on those hints or not...
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There was a short clicking grunt sound as Red looked down as their hands shook. No, deffinitly not Human, no matter what he said. He broke off the handshake after what he assumed was the polite length of time. Zel at least acted Human.
"Magic...huh." He turned and gave the city a glance. So much of it was familiar, and so much utterly alien. There was something very odd about it. "I'm not sure most preformer's tricks would extend to quite this range. It could be possible we were implanted with a communication device while we slept..." He grew silent. Apparently the thought hadn't dawned on him until this moment. His head jerked backwards as a wuff escaped from his snout ( ... )
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"Tricks?" Blue eyes narrowed coldly, for a brief moment. "No, I suppose you're right. No charlatan would be able to create something like this." The tone was mocking, but then again, he was a sorcerer. He didn't like the sound of any implanted devices, though. "What do you mean?" How unsettling.
It didn't get any better. "What? Why?" The words had come out almost blurred together, and the chimera had actually moved back a step. Weird requests made him uneasy. They usually ended up with him being humiliated in some fashion.
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He took a tenative step forward. How was he going to offset the humanoid's nervous reaction? Promises would mean nothing, given that neither of them knew the other well yet... "You are more than welcome to check me in return. I assume that were a device input, it would be close to the ears, or possibly at the base of the skull."
The Tiss'shar didn't have any visable ears, but maybe that was besides the point.
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"Fine." That came out with a sufferer's sigh. No, he didn't feel like picking over Aish-Kar-Yan's scaly scalp. Knees folded, and he just dropped himself into a sit, trying to not even think of what came after. "So what do we do if there's something like.. that? I mean.." Breaking communications with the wise and powerful Stacy might just piss her right off.
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And anyway, Zelgadis might have liked a droid examining him even less than another sentient.
"If there is evidence of an communications implant, we do nothing. It will answer one major question - is Stacy a true telepath, or someone simply trying a fast con. Which it is will determine our later ac..tion..."
He paused, claws closed around Zel's hair. It wasn't at all what he expected, though. It wasn't soft like normal Human head-fur, it felt like the bristles on an industrial cleaning brush. Intruige overcame him a moment and he clacked his jaw in interest. "Is this really your hair?"
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"This seems like a lot of work just to trick someone. Considering where we came from, I imagine this Stacy to be from a world foreign to my own." Then the lizard had grabbed a handful of his hair, and then speech began to trail off.
The question.. well, he hadn't quite expected it, but his head turned up to one side, managing to peer angrily upwards from one cat-pupiled eye. "It's coming out of my scalp, isn't it?" An obvious question got an obvious answer. "My body is part golem. Which is why it would be difficult to plant anything under my skin." Unless one had a chisel and some careful aim. Stone skin and wire hair. There was even a faintly metallic glint to the latter. "Can you just get this over with ( ... )
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"I'm willing to agree that Stacy is alien. That this," he waved a claw at the city, "is all alien. It's not your planet, and it's certainly no planet I know of. Maybe it isn't even Stacy's planet."
He couldn't keep the subject shift up long. Looking over Zel's skin he clicked idly, "It really is stone, isn't it? Not stone-like, but living rock." Red seemed to be speaking mostly to himself as he searched. "This feels like it would have needed a laser cutter, and that should have left a mark. Unless these discoloured patches are marks..." He shook his head. There were too many, they were likely natural. Or close to it ( ... )
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He watched Zel's actions quietly, filing it away. Impatient, and on edge. But restrained. That restraint didn't come naturaly to such a personality, it had to be learned. Maybe Zelgadis himself was military, or ex-military. "Not entirely pointless. And we do now know something. We know that either Stacy is a legitimate telepath, or her medical capabilities incorperate great finesse. Given neither you nor I seem particularly thrilled with our garments -nor the way we recieved them, I presume- I believe 'finesse' may not be one of her strong points. The technology of this place appears primarily organic, nearly floral. Laser cutters likely do not play a major role in it." More click-barks...He was chuckling to himself, but the ( ... )
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