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[vulcanblazer]

[...It has not been a good few days for Adell.  Horrible Malnosso experimentation and emotional instability.  Not fun.  Also, they've seen fit to deposit him unceremoniously in the village unconscious.

After getting some help at first... he'll be trudging around the village, heading back to his house briefly.... and then to the bar that night.  He

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[vulcanblazer]

[He keeps going on his way for a short while before he stops. He takes a measured moment... he feels like he's being followed. It's a gut instinct his elevated state of power is giving him, and at first he's not sure to check or dismiss it as paranoia.

Still... it never hurts to be safe.

Adell slowly turns around to look for what might be tailing him. And he'll see Mami and end up locking eyes with her.

He doesn't say anything in that instant, but he seems to be waiting to see how Mami is going to react to his... rather scary appearance.]

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[vulcanblazer]

[He can kind of tell she's unnerved. Maybe not panicked level, but he does catch a certain unease in her.]

...I've been better, yeah. It's just been one thing after another.

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[vulcanblazer]

It's been a number of things over the past few months. ...But most recently, the Malnosso kidnapped me and I came back... looking like this.

[Yup. Looks like a demon.]

Before that a lot of people that I... [He stumbles here, for some reason finding it hard to admit. Was it his Mana power making him overly guarded, or was it pride or shame? He couldn't quite tell.] cared about [Loved] a lot got sent home.

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[vulcanblazer]

[His wings twitch a little when he's patted, but there's no sign of actual discomfort or annoyance.

His expression actually softens a bit when she says the last part of that.]

...Yeah. I think this will go away after a few days. Don't like the idea that I look like... a monster, though.

And I'm sorry that you... had to experience that kind of loss.

[He has no idea what sort of loss it was. But it doesn't matter what happened; a loss of someone important to you is still tragic, no matter the circumstances.]

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[vulcanblazer]

I guess. But it's... a little different when people are used to seeing you one way, and then this sort of thing comes out.

[Meaning it's not as simple as 'they just changed me because they liked this color scheme.' Like this is somehow tied to him.]

...I'm not sure how much talking about other people leaving would really help. ...But I used to live in a house with eleven other people, all of them I cared about a great deal.

[He pauses, and looks over his shoulder... actually in the direction of his house, which isn't quite nearby.]

...I live there alone now.

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[vulcanblazer]

[He looks at her while she speaks, and then slowly sits down on the grass under a tree next to the path. He motions for her to join him.]

...There are a few. The Malnosso might've found it funny. Or maybe they want to show people what I "really" am.

[He looks over to her. Living alone? At her age? She had to be younger than he was. Not by... too much, physically, at least. But still. Why would it be that way? He can't imagine.]

I only just got back today. I haven't even really had a chance to live there alone yet. Charlotte was sent home a few hours before I got taken.

[And he hesitates at admitting this himself. He wondered why of all people he was able to talk to her about this. He liked Mami, but admittedly, he didn't know her nearly as well as other people in Luceti. But...]

It's... not something I want to get used to. I lived alone for a couple of months when I first got here. Didn't mind it, but...

[Times were so much... easier when people he cared about were living with him.]

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[vulcanblazer]

[He looks over to her, expression... surprisingly gentle given his features.]

In a sense. [He snorts a short laugh, and something of a sad smile.] A lot of people don't expect... that the hero from a storybook who defeated a demon and broke a demon's curse... might actually be a demon himself.

[He brushes a hand through that unusually vibrant red hair as his expression becomes a little more serious.]

...Don't worry about it. I'm still a person, even if I'm not human. Where I'm from, humans and demons... are much more alike than they might care to admit.

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[vulcanblazer]

[Adell smiles when she makes the first comment. He actually takes it as a compliment, though he'll take a moment to explain some things.]

Problem is, they seem to be different in every world. ...And most of them, they tend to be... evil. Very evil.

The demons in my world like to talk a big game about being evil... but really, they're mostly selfish. And there's a matter of pride in a lot of things. There's a lot of fighting that goes on, as you might guess. But they don't simply kill humans or anything because they can. ...They're more likely to steal or just bully someone because they can. And even then, sometimes they don't. ...The more I've been in Luceti, the weirder demon culture has become to me.

Not that I ever really cared for it to begin with. It's not my style.

But even demons where I'm from rarely look anything like anything like... this. Only the most powerful or most evil demons end up like this, and even then it's not a sure thing.

[A bit of a bitter look comes over his face for an instant.]I guess