In the Nest

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

I had been sitting here for over an hour, and Azen had yet to stir. Seriously, how could this guy sleep so long? Everyone else in the Nest was talking, moving around, or dancing. It wasn't what I'd call 'quiet'. Azen was probably the only serpent still sleeping; hopefully he wasn't ill. I reached forward and jabbed him in the shoulder for what had to be the hundreth time. "Wake...up...you...lazy...serpent," I said, jabbing him with each word. I had half a mind to dump water on him, but that would probably just give him a reason to attack me [again].

My stomach growled, so I finally gave up on waiting for him to eat and ate my part of the food, gulping it down in a few quick bites.

[Azen]

[Azen]

My magic must be nearly recharged by now, for I felt someone poke me. Well, at least I thought I did...was that a dream too? Ah...too lazy to get up yet...

I was in that weird subconcious phase where I go from completely and totally out to kind of awake, kind of not. I was still able to catch one more spirit...but I instantly regretted contacting him. It was the white falcon Ahnmik himself.

Do you know how very easy it would be to kill you right now, with your body sleeping soudly away?" He 'said' to me in that omnipotent tone of his. Get away...I've kept my promise, I haven't returned to your city...just leave me alone..."

Ah...but you're a fool to make a promise without making the other party promise something as well. He reached out to me with that awful magic, and I could feel my actual body react to it. I wouldn't even be surprised if I was actually saying the words I sent to him. D****t, what do you want from me?! Let go......leave me alone.....!

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

As Azen [finally] stirred, he began to speak. "D****t, what do you want from me?! Let go......leave me alone......!" I backed up slightly, not sure if he was completely awake or not.

"Azen? ...Are you...awake?" I leaned forward again and layed my hand on his arm, shaking him slightly. Hopefully he didn't forget where he was and attack me; I wasn't really in the mood to be attacked.

[Azen]

[Azen]

I felt a touch on my arm and screamed out loud, finally joining the living world again. I pushed whoever had touched me away from me as hard as I could manage being so tired, and tried to stop my shaking body. My eyes were still toghtly shut, and I felt like every inch of me was on fire. I tried to summon that wonderful fire from within me, but Ahnmik had smothered it and wouldn't let me at it. I couldn't think. I couldn't move. It was all I could do to breathe.

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

As Azen shoved me away from him I fell, letting out a startled yelp. "Are you...okay?" I asked, sitting up slowly. He definitly didn't look all right. I didn't know what to say, so I sat there, waiting to see if he was going to answer me. I pushed the food I had gotten for him aside; he didn't look like he could stomach anything right now.

[Azen]

[Azen]

Ahnmik eventually let go of me, melting back to the spirit world with a chiding laugh. I was still shaking like a madman, but by breath starting coming back to me and I gasped, filling my lungs with much-needed oxygen. Ahnmik had filled my lungs with his magic, so no oxygen could have gotten to them when he had hold of me.

Finally my body started to relax a litle. I had the shaking down to a minimum, and I had stopped gasping, although I was still breathing heavily. I caught sight of Jaydn not too far away from me, and I realized he must have been the one I had pushed. "....S-Sorry....." was all I could manage for an apology. I spotted the food he must have brought off to one side, and quickly grabbed it and gulped down what I could.

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

"It's...fine," I said as Azen gulped down the food I'd brought. I blinked, not sure what to say. I wanted to ask him what the heck happened, but I didn't know if I wanted to know the answer; it was probably something to do with magic [and I've had enough of it for now].

"So..." I said, trying to think of something to say. "Why are you so hard to wake up? I've been sitting here for nearly two hours."

[Azen]

[Azen]

I laughed , though it still sounded pretty weak. "Magic takes a lot out of me, and talking to spirits in my dreams kind of occupies my brain." I still felt weak, but the food and oxygen were helping greatly. "Thanks for the food."

I then looked around and noticed that there were a lot more people in the nest now. And quite a few of them were looking over this way. I made eye contact with some of them, and they flinched and looked away quickly. Darn it, I wish I had my sunglasses. "Uh-oh, I hope I didn't cause a scene..."

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

"They'd probably be staring even if you hadn't screamed," I told him. "We don't get many snakes that aren't from around here." I shifted so I was sitting cross-legged instead of on my knees; that position got painful after a while.

I ignored all the others that were watching us, screaming at them mentally to go do something else. I hated it when people stared at me; it's annoying [and rude].

[Azen]

[Azen]

I watched Jaydn shift position and his expression. Something about this really bugged me. JAydn really seemed like he was unhappy here. I didn't know if pointing that out was crossing into dangerous ground, but the cobra just looked miserable here.

Seeing a few of the other serpents looking over made me realize just why. "I agree with you...I don't think they're looking at me. I think they're looking at you."

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

I was wondering how long it was going to take him to realize that. "Yeah. I know." I dropped my head slightly, not meeting his eyes. I didn't want to see how he was looking at me; he probably felt bad for me. That's the last thing I needed; pity.

I waited for him to say something, the awkward silence seem to go on for hours.

[Azen]

[Azen]

I stared at him for quite a while, and I knew the silence was probably awkward for him. But he didn't offer to break it, and neither did I, so it stayed in place.

Finally I just got irritated and stood up, fixing him with a hard stare. "THen why don't you do something about it?"

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

I shruged, still not looking up at Azen. "What can I do?" I asked him quietly. As Azen stood up I glanced at him quickly, wondering what he was doing.

[Azen]

[Azen]

I couldn't help but sympathise with him, and that probably meant that he was going to hear some things from me he really didn't want to hear. Look....I'm not really a people person myself but...I can't stand masochistic people." I fixed with a stare that was somewhere between sympathetic and irritation. I'm not going to pity you...but I'm not going to stand to watch you mope about something easily fixable."

I thought about offering him a place on the island. Maybe that was going too far.

[Cujo - Jaydn - Kurt]

[Jaydn:]

"I'm not masochistic," I grumbled, standing up slowly. I met his gaze; despite what he said, he looked like he was pitying me. "How is it 'easily fixable'? I've been trying to 'fix' it since I was four. As you can see, I haven't gotten very far," I said. I turned and walked away from him and outside the Nest, not caring if he had followed me or not.

It was pretty bright out today; I stuck to the shadows.