Catboy and Lizardman (Amori!)

[Anonymous]

Long white talons clicked against the tile floor in odd rhythm. Tap, tap-tap, tap, tap-tap. Malachi Xanthe hardly paid any attention to the sound of its own walking, but it was certain it unnerved the hell out of the little mage it led around.

It was good to be a six-legged lizard-being, sometimes. It inspired respect.

Maybe that was why the mage was walking beside it, comparatively obediently. Either that or the set of slightly smaller claws attached to humanoid fingers that rested on his shoulder.

It couldn't have resisted picking this mage... he was just so cute. An unbonded catboy, with a feminine build and hair Malachi's very favorite shade of turquoise. What a catch, it thought, a smirk on its face. Without a doubt, he needed a Mordecai who would be taken seriously, and who better for the position than myself?

"Now, I'm not sure you know what you are in for," it said coolly, looking down at the mage out the corner of its eye. "You've probably heard about the mind-link process, though... you get a metal band bolted to your head." It smiled, showing pointed fangs... Malachi was certainly a forbidding creature, sharp at most ends.

"Don't worry, though, you'll be under anesthesia. Won't feel a thing." It gestured with its unoccupied hand as it talked, a habit it had that annoyed close friends and provided a surreal juxtaposition of appearance and demeanor to strangers. "You'll be fine."

Malachi looked its new possession over again, pleased with its choice. A mimic... he would certainly be fun, especially with the arrogant attitudes of certain Mordecai who thought their mages were one-of-a-kind. "What are you dallying for, child? I can move faster than that on two legs..."

[Anonymous]

Tap tap tap-tap tap tap..

Each and every tap caused at least one ear to twitch in slight annoyance. It was hard for him to block out the noise with his ears. Ears that picked up even the lowest of sounds. He even tried flattening his ears against his head in an attempt to block out the sound. Wasn't working. Even in his nervousness at being chosen out of who knows how many others, the annoyance of having to listen to the tapping over powered it.

He said nothing about it though, a bit frightened that if he did those claws on his shoulder would cause pain that he did not want. Now that might not happen at all but he would be mindful of all of the things that could happen. It was the best thing to do to avoid problems.

Adel kept his eyes forward, doing his best not to think of what was to come. That didn't work out as the person that had picked him out started to talk. Being as short as he was, compared to his Mordecai of course, he had to look up when he glanced at him for a second as he spoke. The words though caused his face to pale slightly and quickly look forward again. A metal band bolted to his head. That certainly didn't sound...desirable.

Even with anesthesia.

Now he couldn't stop thinking about it. Lovely. His eyes stayed forward, not looking up or around. Now even the annoyance was gone. He was even more nervous than he had been a few seconds ago. He even started to feel a little faint. Too much thinking. His faint feeling was obvious too as he started to stumble a bit or walk out of line.

He tried to keep his pace up but it wasn't working and apparently his Mordecai noticed. "Dallying? Delaying having something so undesirable driven into my head, maybe." he mumbled. "Do we really need to rush it anyway?" Rushing to the area would probably be best though because at his rate he'd either trip and fall, or start to anyway, or just faint. At the moment fainting seemed the most likely thing.

[Anonymous]

The mage's ears were certainly freaking out. Malachi watched them, amused, taking their antics as a coping mechanism, or something. They moved forward, to the sides, back, up and down... quite an interesting turn of evolution they were! Whatever it was that made them move so, it was the cutest thing Malachi had ever seen.

For all the antics of the boy's ears, he himself was rather sedate. Malachi's first reaction was a sort of dissatisfied look, but then it rationalized that the child would probably be afraid, and thus less talkative than its usual conversation partners. So Malachi decided to stop rambling, if only momentarily...

That is, until the mage started tripping over his own feet. The dragon-centaur slowed down a bit, giving the boy a look usually accompanied by a snicker. "Well, if you get it over with, you won't have to think about it anymore. Maybe we can get you a green one, to match your pretty eyes." That was wishful thinking, of course. If the boy wanted it decorated, that would have to happen later or not at all.

Malachi fancied itself a patient being, on the whole. However, the mage's missteps and slow pace were getting a bit out of hand... worse as he went along, it seemed. "Would you like me to carry you? That might be more efficient. Of course, if you want to keep tempting fate with those feet of yours, by all means, go ahead..."

[Anonymous]

As a way of getting his mind off of the band being bolted in his head, he quickly started to think of the color of it. He of course knew he would get the standard colored one of course but thinking about something like that made the nervousness ease a little. Not enough to correct his walking though. It was probably too late to fix that since the light headed feeling, that came along with one ready to faint, had already set in.

The mention of being carried caused his tail to fluff out a bit and his face to turn red. He would absolutely not agree to something like that. He had his pride to think about. He'd rather risk falling and hurting himself. So no no no that was definately out of the question! Never ever in his life would he consent to something like that. Even if he couldn't walk!

"I can walk." he said rather quickly. Adel even tried so much as to hide the fact that the suggestion had sort of thrown him for a loop. He glanced over at the opposite wall so that his face couldn't really be seen. All that really would give away that moment was the fact that his tail was still fluffed out, making it look larger than it was obviously. He tried to will that down but it didn't work out so well so he settled for swishing it in a rather fast fashion.

Being so concentrated on those things though left him open for mistake. That was exactly what happened too. He managed to trip himself and when that happened he of course stumbled forward nearly falling. His desperate and feeble attempt to keep himself balanced was flailing his arms about. It of course didn't work out too well.

[Anonymous]

That boy just kept getting worse at walking... it would have been hilarious if Malachi didn't feel sorry for him. It pulled a bit ahead of him, its strong tail swaying gently behind it. Malachi hoped the boy would have the presence of mind to grab it if he really did fall...

The mage's agitation at being asked if he would like to be carried was interesting indeed. From Malachi's experience, it was common for young human males to show their toughness by declining any help offered to them... a catboy is still close enough for that to be in effect, I think. It fell silent again, walking at a reduced pace for the child's benefit.

Malachi should have known the youth's attempts to hide his... embarrassment? Anger? Desiiiiire? ... would trip him up one of these times. As soon as it saw him pitch forward, it stopped moving altogether and snaked out its tail to support him, angling it a bit so the ridge of its spine on top wouldn't cause the mage undue discomfort. It caught the boy about the waist and wrapped its tail around him, lest he fall to one side or the other.

"Now, this may be a misdiagnosis, but you look like you would benefit from a ride." Its face was twisted into a wry grin. "I don't even have spikes on my back to deter you." It twisted its tail to place him back over his center of gravity. "Honestly. You have a lot of pride, for a mage."

[Anonymous]

Adel wasn't expecting to hit the floor. He was pretty sure he'd be caught in some way. He didn't expect that would be done with the Mordecai's tail though. In fact he hadn't even realized that was what had stopped him from falling until he was upright again. That was only because the tail was still firmly in place around his waist rather than moved back to it's original position.

Once again his tail fluffed out and if he had looked completely like a cat, fur and all, this was a perfect moment to imagine him with fur sticking straight up on his back. Ah but he didn't have that so he just stiffened up a bit. Now it didn't seem like he had too much of an option of walking or being carried or in fact, as recently offered, getting a ride. At least the last option would save his pride and keep himself from hurting himself.

Adel kept his eyes on the ground for a second before looking up at the Mordecai, weighing out his options in his head still. "Fine...I'll...take that..ride..." he said, though hesitant obviously. He puffed out his cheeks a little at the last part, his tail still fluffed out but now swishing back and forth in an irate manner. "Is it a bad thing to have a lot of pride?"

[Anonymous]

Malachi couldn't keep from laughing a bit as the mage puffed himself up again. It looked cute when cats did it (at least it did to Malachi; it wasn't sure how other cats felt about the whole thing), and doubly cute when the catboy did it. For all it knew, the action was fearsome indeed, even to humans... but Malachi was no human, and he certainly had no fear of cats.

A pleasant smile lit the dragon-centaur's face as the mage acquiesced. It knelt, in a way slightly different from a horse, and unwrapped his tail carefully. "I won't walk too fast. Just get on and hold the back of my shirt..." From this point, Malachi was shorter than the mage, which must have made him feel better.

"Not... in a normal sense, no." Malachi thought it over. "You'll have to prepare yourself to have it crushed frequently, often not by me. Pride comes before a fall, as they say..." it grinned over its shoulder at the boy, hoping he would catch the joke without assistance. "I mean, we care enough about you to drill a metal band into your head... that should tell you what pride is worth among mages."

"Ah!" The humanoid section of Malachi's spine straightened visibly. "How unbelievably rude of me..." He rotated around as much as he could without knocking the mage off his back, and extended a hand. "My name is Malachi Xanthe."

[Anonymous]

The laughing only caused him to fluff out his tail and puff up his cheeks even more. He couldn't quite figure out what was so funny. He saw nothing funny about what had happened or what he was doing. So why laugh? He obviously didn't believe it was funny because he wasn't laughing.

Adel watched as the dragon like creature knelt down so that he could get on his back and only then did the tail unwrap from around his waist. So he was right? He never really had the option of attempting to walk again. He said nothing as he did as he was told. 'Definitely better than being carried.'

He frowned a little at the next words though. None of that sounded desirable at all. Actually none of it was. "If not by you then who else?" And then the joke. It went way over his head. The confused expression his face held proved that too. It would need explaining. "I get it."

He arched a brow and stared at the hand that was extended out to him after the sudden introduction. Why hadn't he bothered to do this sooner? Why hadn't Adel bothered to think of it sooner? He just stared at the hand for a second longer before finally taking it in his own and shaking it. "Mine is Adel....Adel Wright." He paused for a second. Best commit his name to memory because he would obviously need to remember it. "Nice to meet you."

[Anonymous]

Malachi calmed itself quickly. Its laughing obviously wasn't helping the situation any, and it didn't want its mage to completely hate it on the first day. Cats certainly have an odd way of showing their ferocity, it thought. Puffy cheeks really wouldn't do him any good in a fight. Doesn't he have claws or teeth?

It felt the boy mount it and bury his hands in Malachi's shirt, and as soon as he was steady, Malachi rose smoothly onto its reptilian limbs and resumed walking, slowly at first, working up to its normal speed once he was sure the mage wouldn't fall off.

"Other Mordecai," Malachi said with a shrug of the set of shoulders that wasn't presently helping it walk. "You'll find I'm a very agreeable person, at least comparatively." It didn't need to turn around to pick up on the mage's confusion. Malachi let it go. "It's good to have some measure of self-respect, though. I've seen some of the dullest mages, who just let their Mordecai walk all over them."

Malachi waited patiently for the boy to take his hand. Not that it could blame him at all... a scaly, blue, clawed hand was probably not very welcoming to someone as warm and soft as the mage. "Adel, right?" Another pun. Malachi was on it today. "Well met." It smiled and turned back, glad not to have hit anything while not looking where he was walking.

[Anonymous]

Adel held on tightly to Malachi's shirt when he...she...Wait what was he..she? Nevermind that...he'd just refer to him as a 'he' until proven wrong since he didn't really look like a girl nor necessarily sound like one either. He was more in the middle but either way that was how it was going to be for now. He shook his head to get the thought away and just continued to hold tightly onto the shirt, fearing me might fall with one simple movement.

"Okay." Adel mumbled. He blinked at the last part and huffed slightly. How could anyone have enough self respect to allow that to happen? Really? "You don't have to worry about that happening." he said simply. It wasn't like he'd be completely unreasonable though. After getting used to things he'd probably not be as mouthy or anything as he normally was.

His ears flattened out against his head at the pun. Yea he had gotten that one. "Very funny." he mumbled, huffing slightly. When Malachi turned around again, he tried to see around him or over his shoulder or something to see if they were almost there. He was curious..and frightened at the same time. "How much longer?"

[Anonymous]

The dragon-centaur moved at a smooth trot, nothing too severe. It would have been hilarious had the boy fallen, but that degree of clumsiness was hard to imagine. That and it was a good four-and-a-half-foot drop from Malachi's back, and would doubtless put a rip or two in its shirt, which made the scenario less funny. Malachi resolved to be careful.

Adel certainly didn't sound very enthusiastic. Of course, Malachi couldn't exactly expect enthusiasm from someone about to have several bolts put in his skull... "That's good. I'd rather have the odd argument than a soulless drone of a mage." Those were no fun at all, in Malachi's opinion. A mage with a sense of self-worth makes a better conversationalist.

A grin spread across Malachi's reptilian face as Adel reacted to the pun. It rolled its eyes and kept walking. "Serious business..." it felt Adel's weight shifting around on its back, and wondered what was going on until the mage spoke. "Ah. We're practically there, don't worry. A hundred feet, tops."

Almost before it got the words out, Malachi stood at the door of the surgery room. It opened the door and ducked its head, taking Adel through with him. Its shoulders and hips just barely fit through the door, but once it was through, it moved to the center of the room and knelt again, allowing Adel to dismount. "Here we are. I'll stay with you..."

[Anonymous]

"And I'd rather provide an odd argument than be a soulless drone. So I guess we have an agreement there." Adel said simply. Being a soulless drone just didn't sound fun at all. Not only that but it just didn't fit his personality. Even if his pride would be crushed he would never become like that. He'd still hold onto a bit of it at least.

He huffed a little at Malachi's comment. "Not all of the time. Besides you wouldn't like it if someone turned your name into a pun, now would you?" he said. He felt the nervousness come back when Malachi said they were almost there. No more curiosity then.

As they went through the door, he was almost as stiff as a board and stuck in place. He didn't want to move. He didn't want to get off of the Mordecai's back then. Maybe if he closed his eyes the completely untrue principal of "If I can't see you then you can't see me".

He stayed quiet, looking around the surgery room a little, his ears flat against his head. He hesitated a moment before getting off of Malachi's back. He was more afraid now than anything and it showed in the shaking of his body. It wasn't something he could easily hide. "...Not sure what good that will do...but...okay.." He actually liked the thought of having someone there with him. It made the thought of having bolts put into his head just a little less intimidating because, just in case, there was someone else there in case anything went wrong.

[Anonymous]

"Very good." Malachi smiled pleasantly. "I believe we're going to get along fine." It had barely spent any time with the mage at all, and already it had seen Adel's personality at work. He was strong-willed, but obedient for his own sake. A bit thickheaded, but that would just make things interesting. Malachi was very patient.

Malachi turned its head, just enough to see Adel out the corner of his eye. "I dare you to try that, Adel... nay, I invite you." It knew its name, and Malachi Xanthe was a hard one to make fun of. It had been hit with "Xanthe is a girl's name", but Malachi could function as a female, so the point was invalid.

The boy's tension was palpable. Malachi stayed mostly still, and moved one arm to pat Adel's thigh consolingly. Before it could say anything, though, the surgeon swept through a door on the other side of the room, a rather sterile-looking woman with her hair up in a bun and a black box in one hand that held the mind-link band and all its necessary parts. It nodded at her, and, after a raised eyebrow and half a second, she nodded back. "I'll be with you in a second." She disappeared back through the doors and emerged with a long-needled syringe. "Have a seat, mage."

Malachi moved back a little, so not to be in the way, and sat down on its hind legs, using its height to hopefully intimidate the surgeon into doing a good job. That and I want to see, he thought. It's been quite a while since I last saw a mage outfitted for a mind-link.

[Anonymous]

"That's good." Adel said though he didn't smile anything. It was a good thing though, a very good thing. Nothing would get done right if they didn't get along now would it? Not only that but he could only imagine there were be a lot of problems for him if he didn't decide to get along with him.

"Well now that you invited me to, I'll think of something. Just to prove there is something." he stated. It would no doubt take it quite a long bit of time to come up with something but he was persistent. Even if it was totally lame, he'd figure something out.

Upon feeling the pat on his thigh, he quickly looked up at Malachi, eyes slightly wide. He didn't say anything though. He couldn't find the words to say. When he heard the door open on the other side of the room, he looked over at the surgeon and nurse that walked in. He swallowed dryly as he eyed the box. It no doubt held the band.

When the nurse left and came back with a needle, he stiffened up again. He eyed the needle like he had the box and started to shake a little bit more. Adel looked over at Malachi, only to see him move back. He then looked back at the nurse for a second and took one small step towards where he was supposed to sit. He stopped then and stared at the needle for a little bit longer. '..It'll be over soon...won't feel anything....it'll all be okay...'

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly even though it didn't help him any. He was still shaking as he walked over to where he was supposed to sit down and did so after looking the needle and nurse over once more.

[Anonymous]

What remarkable tenacity! Malachi smiled at Adel. He was glad to have picked a mage that could rise to a challenge. A pat on the back for you, Malachi.

Malachi felt sorry for the boy. That kitten-eyed stare of his melted its heart (which would have felt weird to anyone else, considering Malachi's heart was nowhere near its humanoid chest). All he wanted to do was make the poor mage a hot cup of tea and read him a story, or something. That was out of the question, though. For now.

The nurse tapped her foot impatiently as Adel stared, and sighed when he sat down, as if to say "finally". She moved closer and held up Adel's arm, swabbing the crook of his elbow with cleansing solution. "You won't even feel this," she said, and then jabbed the needle into Adel's arm and depressed the syringe, diluting the mage's veins with morphine.

Malachi looked distastefully at the needle... it was certain the nurse had used more painkillers with the last mage it had seen. Maybe this one is just smaller, he thought. For now, it stayed in its spot, nearly immobile, watching.
 
The surgeon now had latex gloves on her hands. She opened the box and slid the band out, and the bolts after it. There was a device on the inside of the band that looked like a dart: that would burrow through Adel's skull and bury itself in the mage's brain... the thought made Malachi shiver from across the room. The surgeon hid that part from the mage; no need to freak him out unduly, since he wouldn't feel it. "Are you ready, mage?"

[Anonymous]

Adel's ears twitched a little at the sound of the nurse tapping her foot. Such impatience. Maybe he should've made her wait a bit longer just to irritate her? That would've been funny for him but he probably would've gotten himself in trouble by doing that so he didn't delay it anymore.

He closed one eye, holding back a wince when the needle was more or less jabbed into his arm. 'Not feel it...yea right..' He rubbed his arms a little after the needle was out and frowned slightly. At least it wasn't that long before the morphine started to kick in. He made his thoughts fuzzy so he couldn't really focus on worrying about the band being bolted in his head.

Really the only thing he could think about was the fact that everything was a little off set. It was a sort of trippy feeling, making him feel as if he were falling off of his seat and occasionally seeing two of things. To fix that he just blinked a bit and he saw one of things for a little bit of time.

When he heard the surgeon he looked at him or well attempted to look at him. When he moved his head, he actually swayed a little and had to hold onto his seat so that he wouldn't fall off. After that he just settled for answering any questions they had without looking at them. "..Yea.." he mumbled, a bit hesitant again.

[Anonymous]

Malachi watched Adel's reactions intently, making sure the boy doesn't register any major discomfort. He frowned as the needle came out, but Malachi was beginning to suspect that was his default expression. It could tell when the morphine kicked in; Adel seemed to have forgotten which way was up. Still, something seemed a little off.

The surgeon positioned herself behind Adel and measured the mage's head. Then she stepped aside for the nurse, who held a razor in her hand. She quickly and expertly shaved the part of the mage's hair that would be covered by the band, leaving the longer layer on top of it, to cover the band. She clipped Adel's hair to the top of his head, so it wouldn't get in the way, and moved aside.

The surgeon returned, holding the band, and positioned the barb at the right part of the mage's skull. Malachi's eyes were locked on Adel's face. The surgeon snapped the band shut around Adel's head, and the barb immediately shot deep into the mage's cranium.

[Anonymous]

Adel sat still or well as still as he could anyway. He blinked and tried to look up to see what was going on when he felt his hair being shaved away. Of course it didn't work but that didn't mean his tripped out mind wasn't going to try and make him do it anyway. Just the action of trying to look up without moving his head was like when he tried to look at the doctor. He sway a little in the other direction this time though. He didn't fall over because he was still holding onto his seat.

Every pause in the changes between surgeon to nurse unnerved him a bit because he couldn't see what they were doing. He knew what they were going to do but he couldn't see the preparations for it. He glanced over at Malachi who was watching the two intently. Well with him watching he didn't have much to worry about..did he? He hoped not.

His body stiffened up immediately and his eyes went wide as the band was shut around his head and the thing on it went into his skull. It hurt! It didn't hurt as much as it probably could have but it still hurt quite a bit because the thing was going in his head after all. Besides that he thought the morphine was supposed to keep it from hurting.

When tears formed in his eyes, he shut them tightly and his body started shaking again. "S-Stop! It hurts!" he yelped, reaching up to try and take the band off but stopped short. If he took it out then it would hurt more, wouldn't it? His hands shook a bit as he settled for holding onto his head tightly where the band wasn't at.

[Anonymous]

The nurse put a hand on top of Adel's head as she shaved the ring of hair, trying not to miss with the razor. She rather liked his hair, and he probably liked his scalp, so things would work out a lot better if his head didn't escape her.

Malachi stood up immediately when it heard Adel's pained cry. "Doctor," it said, voice still calm, "are you sure he is properly medicated?" An honest mistake, it assured itself. I won't jump to conclusions... maybe catboys are impervious to morphine or something. It shuddered, the motion going all the way down its spine. Still, that goes right into his brain...

The surgeon looked at the nurse, who looked at the floor, then up at Malachi. The dragon-centaur's eyes were narrowed, its stance a bit more threatening. The nurse planted her feet. "I don't see why it's necessary to waste any morphine at all on mages, sir..."

That was not a satisfactory answer at all. Malachi took a step toward the nurse, talons tapping, lowering his head. "He is still human... or close enough, anyway."

"It won't harm him," she said adamantly. "By the looks of you, he could use some pain tolerance." There was a snippy, entitled edge in her voice of which Malachi wanted no part.

Malachi snarled viciously at the nurse and held its clawed hands in a threatening position. "Give him the dosage he needs. I'll pay for it, if that's how you want to be." The surgeon's eyes darted worriedly between the two, but she kept silent. Malachi certainly looked about to rip the nurse's throat out.

The nurse retreated into the back room, and the surgeon glanced apologetically at Malachi. Malachi looked over its shoulder at Adel, to verify that he was still alive. "Sorry," he said softly.

[Anonymous]

Adel faintly heard the voices of talking but couldn't concentrate on them even though the people the voices belonged to were near him. They seemed so distant because of the pain. It was really the only thing he could focus on even if he didn't want to. It was the only thing his body was registering. He couldn't see where everyone stood either because he had his eyes closed and refused to open them, as if clamping them shut would somehow relieve everything.

Tears continued to slide down his cheeks as he desperately held onto his head, wishing this ailment would just stop so he didn't have to deal with it. So he didn't have to hurt so bad. Pain really was an awful thing and though he was somewhat used to it because of his clumsy ways, little bumps and scratches were vastly different from what he was feeling now.

He heard the one word apology, faintly still, and tried to figure out who it had come from. He was so disoriented that he couldn't be sure if what he was hearing was really being said or not. He had heard of people who had been put through vast amounts of pain, how they heard things as they were crying out for help before eventually the pain became too much and they either died of some form of shock, their wound or just passed out. Passing out...he really didn't want to do that and he wasn't sure if dying was something that could happen in this situation. If it could...he definately didn't want that.

Adel didn't want to stay sitting anymore. Just sitting and holding his head wasn't helping out. If anything clutching his head was probably only making it worse. Even if he fell after getting up it'd be so much better than sitting and waiting for the surgeon to do something else that would cause him more harm. He didn't want that. He wanted someone to hold onto. A person to seek comfort in so that they could ease everything is some way.

His eyes weren't opened yet and as soon as he was on his feet he did indeed stumble forward. Keeping his eyes closed and the morphine made him light on his feet and it was going to happen. At least the closest person, as he just lost his footing and pitched forward, was Malachi. Rather than falling and hitting the floor, he fell into him and immediately, just having contact with someone, Adel held tightly onto whatever he touched first which felt like a shirt and buried his face into it. "Take it off...take it off..please...make it stop hurting." he whimpered.