Finders Keepers [m]

[Draconian]

[Cheesi!]

As a man of money and means Seraphim could do just about anything he wanted.

That included sending probes down to the bottom of the toxic ocean in search of anything and everything that could be excavated and sold. Mostly it was muck. Monsters. Sometimes though, it sent back interesting images. The currently one that was of a dragon shaped thing. Sera was far enough south that the Aedolian's couldn't be too bothered with him. All the proper licences on his ship kept him from sending up any red flags and he was always more than willing to add a few credits to pockets that could turn an eye.

Money - or credits - really could buy anything.

He'd been planet side for a few days, frowning at how gross the planet was. Sera would prefer to never set foot here but this Whatever They Found could set him up for a while. Dragon shaped at the bottom of the sea. Pretty interesting. It was dusk-ish when he was notified that the thing had broke in half but that it was made of a beautiful stone, expertly crafted. The torso had been dragged up, the other half sinking down into the muck at the bottom.

Sera could only frown and order the rest of it broken down and sold for parts. Maybe crafted into fancy counter tops and tables. Leave what details they could for potential collectors but use the rest. Not exactly his usual drug and weapon toting fair but what he should have probably turned in to a museum in Aedolis he was going to keep and profit off of.

It was when he was in his quarters, fixing his hair and making faces at himself in the mirror that he got the notification that his men had found something interesting. Sera looked at himself in the mirror, his lavender eyes, the flippy dark hair. He'd never been fond of his horns - decorated to be pretty as they were - but the idea of getting rid of them sucked so there they remained. It was late, almost midnight by the planets time and he was in loose pants and a silky shirt. Then finally, when he went out into the elements to the 'dig' site, he was wearing shoes and a respirator.

"Sir," one of the employee's said once he entered the work area, voice soft and a little concerned. A plain woman, brown hair, brown eyes, unassuming and easy to fall into the background.

Sera eyed her, looking at his neck and shoulders before he tilted his head, a silent 'what'.

"Sir, there's something ... Interesting... In the statue. We think it may have been... A tomb or something. We wanted you to check it out." She eyed him before stepping aside so he could see for himself and... Sure enough. In the Jade dragon's throat was a woman. Interesting looking and encased in the stone. Sera's breath caught in his own throat and he moved closer. They'd chiseled some of the stone away, leaving a hand exposed.

Perfect skin. Not decomposed. She didn't smell dead.

His hand reached out and he placed his own around hers, thumb brushing at the pulse point. It was faint. Barely there. If Sera wasn't so naturally in tuned to heartbeats ( so he knew when to stop almost literally sucking their soul) he probably would have missed it. "Get her out and then send her to my quarters." The looks he got were odd ones - the person was dead - but he was the boss. If he wanted to fuck a corpse who were they to judge?

Sera returned to his room and went to bed, falling asleep quickly.

Also woken quickly.

The knock on his door woke him up and for a moment he was full of blind rage, rushing to the door to slam his fist on the button that opened the door. Angry, tired, irritated, Seraphim just glared at the people who were waiting for him but... There. In the bare arms of one of his crew was the body from the statue. Sera frowned deeply. Angry that they weren't wearing gloves and were touching what was his with their bare hands. Sera took the body away without a word, holding the woman bridal style and looking down at her.

Should he set up a bed? She'd survived in a statue for the gods knew how long - would that last now that she was free?

First thing was first though. He could smell the stink of his crew on her and he didn't want that in his room. Creature comforts like beds could wait. First, he was going to bathe her.  Sera frowned before he placed her on his bed and he went to his washroom to the soaker tub, filling it up with semi-warm water. Throwing in a few oils to help with the smell of his disgusting crew.

They weren't that bad. Sera just hated them and the way they smelled after a long day of hard work.

Tub filled and smelling much better, he went back to his bed to finally give a better examination of the woman. Pulse was still there, however faint. Smudges of dirt were on her body and he couldn't tell if it was because she'd been around dirty people or manhandled by dirty people.  His hand moved over her shoulder, taking her chin and turning her head to face him.

Sera wasn't usually taken in by beauty but he found her to be quite lovely and he drew his thumb over her lip once before he picked her up again and brought her to the tub. Feet first. Slowly down to her shoulders and he was careful to keep his hand under her head and neck so she didn't sink. Who knows, maybe now that she was out of the water she could drown.

"Who are you?" He whispered softly, leaning over her while he ran the washcloth over her arms gently. Sera worked quietly - he had no intentions of doing anything completely untoward - his hands gentle and his movements slow. Enchanted, Sera placed the cloth on the side of the tub and moved his hand to her cheek, pushing her hair from her face and just... Gazing. Taking in the image of the strange woman that was found in the statue.

Well, at least they could still sell those fancy countertops. Maybe he'd redecorate his bathroom.

[Cheesigator]

Where are you?

Hearts pounding like drums as brothers and sisters feared for their lives, the future, and what would become of them, sneaking through back alley streets, trying their damndest to look normal. To hide, to run for their lives.

Where did you go?

She remembered hearing of their capture, one by one. They either made it off planetside, escaped to the stars, and abandoned their home... Or they were assimilated. Snatched up, screaming and fighting, sucked into an envisioned mass of mutated creatures that called themselves something they weren't and would never be ever again.

What happened?

She remembered the way her lungs burned, the taste of iron on her breath as her heart pounded in her ears. She ran with all her might, with the enemy, those Pilots, on her tail. They'd found her, they'd found her. She ran, she ran and ran and she had no clear idea of where she was going, what she was going to do, until she realized her feet had carried her to a cliff where below the sea crashed against the craggy rocks in waves.

The sea, her lovely, lovely sea.

Magic had never been her forte, probably never would, and she'd always been fine with that. But the sea had always called to her, because it was as much a part of her as she was of it. The fish had always been her friends, the water her closest comfort and confidante. She didn't think twice when she jumped, didn't think at all--just did.

She remembered the feeling of being airborne in that human body, free falling with the wind hurtling past her ears, whipping her hair back as she dove. The yells of her enemies disappeared into nothing as the world spiraled around her and all she saw was the spray of the sea. When she hit the water she was transformed, and like a sea snake she slid through the depths. It was freedom, it was escape, but it was also her death sentence and in the strangest of ways, while her heart sang it cracked with every beat of its wings.

And she sank.

Where am I?

It was so quiet at first she almost didn't notice it, until it kept gradually growing louder in the distance. In the seemingly endless black void where she couldn't feel her body, couldn't feel any temperature, any wind on her face, or the tickle of her own hair on her skin, it was the first sensory thing she'd experienced in a time frame that was unable to be measured.

It sounded like moving water, swirling around her as if she were swimming?

It kept growing steadily louder, and she noticed other things that came with it--the black was turning colors, turning to the deep burgundy that was the back of her eyelids closed against the light. She felt warmth--steam, and moisture. Water, trickling down over her, until the movement of waves turned almost roaring, deafening in her ears save for one softly spoken sentence--

"Who are you?"

Suddenly she felt the tickle of air against her nostrils and instinctively her body knew what to do--her lungs sucked in the air and she gasped, and all of her senses were flooded at once. Scents, tastes, the taste of water on her lips, the smell of water and metal, sounds, the heartbeat of another individual, and her eyes snapped open and when those bright lime green hues did she saw tiles and felt the solidness of a tub around her and then hands--hands, hands on her, touching her, the warmth of another person, breath, breath oh gods all she was naked--

Instinctively she shot up, the water sloshing over the walls of the tub making her head pound, and muscles too stiff from not moving for so long made her fumble as she grabbed the nearest long thing that could be a weapon from the corner of her eyes and turned to face the person, creature, whatever, that was holding her captive and pressed the weapon just under his throat, pushing his chin up and keeping him at arm's length.

Her heart was hammering in her chest, her breaths rushed and panicked, eyes wide until she glanced down and saw that she was holding a........

She was holding a penis, in her hand. To his throat. This guy. Who was....

She glanced down.

Bathing her.

For some reason.

Yeah okay but why was she holding a disembodied dick in her hand--

A rushed glance to her right and she saw that there was a chunk of plastic, roughly the same color as the appendage she was holding in her hand, adhered to the wall, and another quick glance at the penis and yeah it looks like she'd broken it, torn it, whatever, from the wall... Was this a living creature they were inside of?! That had penises growing inside it?!

No matter--no matter--where was she. Where the fuck was she. Who was this.

Of course she was too panicked to really think of how to put that into words, and he didn't look like anybody she'd ever seen before so even if she did speak would he understand!? IT DIDN'T MATTER.

She just chucked the penis at him and bolted, barely managing not to slip and fall on her face as she got water literally everywhere and took off running. Where to, she didn't know. All she knew was that her heart was in her throat, this place smelled NOTHING like anywhere she'd ever been before, this was NOT where she'd been last time she checked when she went to... Sleep? Hibernation? Die? Whatever the fuck she did she didn't know, she just knew that HERE was where she was NOT supposed to be.

From the bathroom she bolted and found herself in what... Seemed to be a bedroom. There was a fishtank and for a moment she paused, distracted as she recognized not a single species of fish in it but felt drawn to it nonetheless, and they to her as they all swarmed to the same side of the tank, facing her through the glass. But that didn't distract her long as her gaze was wild eyed and full of fear, looking all over the room, seeing the door shut, possibly locked, and then her eyes fell to his nightstand.

Those... The shape vaguely looked like a revolver and who knows maybe that was what it was, who knew how long she'd been asleep, so she lunged for it and grabbed one and held it up to point it at him the moment he showed his face. She'd always hated guns, preferring swords at best since those didn't always mean certain death, but she knew how to use one!

... Or she used to. She glanced at it and saw it had no hammer for her thumb to pull back to cock it. Where was the gun powder supposed go? She didn't know. But it was still dangerous (probably) so she still kept it trained on him, shoulders set and the look in her eyes as fierce as she was terrified.

"Name, tell me your name! Who are you?!" She snarled, in... Old common. Because that was the only language she knew that she could hope he would speak.

[Draconian]

There were a few things that Sera didn't feel.

Deep emotional attachments, guilt, pity and finally shame. Sera washed the strange woman carefully, frowning and curious about what exactly she was. Why she was in a statue. How she was alive. He contemplated taking her to a doctor of some kind, getting her checked over by someone who knew medical crap but... Nah. They thought he was fucking her corpse in here. Bringing in a doctor would get him unwanted attention from his crew and while they didn't worry him, the last thing he wanted was to have his crew question him and - oh holy shit.

"uuuuh,"

Sera blinked his eyes eyes widely, lavender going to lime green. His breath caught and his hands went lax while he watched the newly awoken woman.

"Well there goes all the corpse fucking I was going to do," He said simply, more for his own entertainment than anything else. Who would be an audience to his quip?  Not this chick! Sera sighed and lifted his hands to explain more fully but then she moved quickly and... Was threatening him with his own dildo. He stared confused for a moment before his cheeks actually heated and he'd cleared his throat. "You know, I meant to put that away after I was doing with it," Still, he leaned away ever so slightly and moved a hand to try to bat it out of hers.

That had been in his ass. No fuckin' way did he want it by his face. Sure he'd cleaned it but... There was no passion right now to blur the line between 'sexy' and 'gross' and he made a lame attempt to bat it away again, ignoring the panic and stress the woman was feeling. Mostly he tried to recall if he'd closed and locked his door and once he'd done that he just... Watched.

Sera grunted when the rubbery penis hit him in the chin and he growled slightly at the ensuing wave of water from her frantically getting out of the tub. Eugh. Now he was wet. His arms were wet and now his entire bottom half was wet and the floor was wet and... Sera sighed and closed his eyes, tipping his head back and standing up to follow the frantic run into the bedroom. Lazily he followed her, expression neutral.

"Now listen," Sera said, hands up in a mock show he had no weapons.

Though her outburst of old common made him confused. The fuck was that? Was this chick for real? Sera frowned at her, blinking widely. He knew some of the language but he frowned while he tried to remember it. Eeeh? Eh.

"My name?" Sera said, tilting his head before he looked over at the wall, ignoring her held gun and moving to press against the wall. A compartment opened up and he withdrew a fluffy blue towel, holding it open in his arms like he was expecting a hug. His eyes ran up and down her form, he wasn't hungry but he could still appreciate a sexy living body that super duper wasn't a corpse - Score.

"Sera." He nodded his head at her, lifting an eyebrow.

"It's cold," He looked her over again, wiggling the towel at her. "C'mere and we'll get you a meal and a nap or.... Whatever you want." Another wiggle of the towel and he sighed. Now he was cold and his ass was cold and his junk was cold and he was suspecting bringing this girl here was a mistake.  She already broke his favourite shower buddy.

[Cheesigator]

Holding the gun as steady as she could in her trembling hands, heart racing and pounding in her very veins, she tensed as he moved to the wall and started to search for something. She trained the sights on his hand, until he produced a towel, and she followed it with the nose of the gun until it was focused back on his face as he opened it up.

Sarah. "... Sarah?"

She tested the name on her tongue; she could've sworn he smelled like he had a penis, but maybe where he was from that was a male name. Okay. Whatever.

She didn't miss those eyes moving up and down her form and for the first time in many years she felt as if she were the prey rather than the predator; it was a disgusting feeling, that coiling stench of fear as it tightened in the pit of her stomach, every hair standing on end and telling her to fucking run. She didn't know this man, this creature, and something told her she likely didn't want to. Mostly based on the comment earlier about 'corpse fucking' (utterly disgusting) and the way he was looking at her now, as if she were some simple toy to do with as he pleased.

She grit her teeth and kept that snarl on her face, steadying her hands further as she took in a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart but her mind was still going a thousand miles a minute. What year was it? Where was she? Who was he, really? Sarah was his name but that told her nothing--how did he get her from the bottom of the sea? What happened to the sea? What happened to the earth?

She swallowed down a lump in her throat, finding she recognized some of the vowels and consonants he spoke, and the words sounded somewhat familiar, but also largely not so. She narrowed her eyes, keeping that gun pointed right at his face as she glanced down at it. The trigger felt familiar, same spot as older guns she was used to. It was relatively simple in design, and she noticed that instead of a hammer there were other switches, with most of the mechanisms encased inside the casing.

She aimed it to the wall to the left of him, a small enough movement he might not even have noticed had he not been paying such attention to her. Her finger hovered near the trigger as her other hand came up to play with the casing, finding that the top part slid, and when she did so with enough force it clicked and locked into place with a sound that very much reminded her of the old guns she was used to. She tilted her head, watching his reaction when she trained it back on him to see if she'd guessed right. She hoped she did.

Because she wanted him to know that she was just as much a goddamn threat as he was. She had teeth, and she was not afraid to use them.

"Where. Are. We?" She growled, her voice as cold as the space just outside the ship's pressure sealed walls.

[Draconian]

If there was one person in the entire universe that was difficult to intimidate it was Sera. It wasn't that he was completely immortal - at least he didn't age, healed quickly - he'd been shot a time or two but he was pretty sure one good boop to the head and he was pretty sure he'd be super duper dead. He frowned at the girl, holding the towel out and just watching her. What exactly was he supposed to do to ease her fear?

Already he was unarmed, standing there and ready to play nice and be nice and whatever and... He frowned when she figured out the gun part of this whole situation and despite the fact his face was mostly stoic and unmoving he felt his pulses spike and he just lifted his head higher and looked at her. 

Again with the weird language.

"Aren't you cold?" He said softly, daring to take a step with the towel still in his hands. How could he be gentle and comforting for someone who clearly had no idea what was going on? Sera pondered briefly, eyeing the gun before he rolled his shoulders and did his best to look relaxed and easy. Sera knew he looked a little intimidating. Did she think so?

"We're in my room. On my ship." He spoke slowly, doing his best to help the poor person understand a language she didn't understand by speaking slowly. Or something. Shit. Sera sighed and looked down and off to the side. What exactly was he supposed to do? "Just... You're naked. Get into the towel." He wiggled it again impatiently and lifted his eyebrows.

[Cheesigator]

She caught it, the slight move upward of his chin, the flash of flesh at his throat and as she listened real closely she could sense it, the pickup in his heartbeat. There was something else about him she noticed too, something ebbing and tugging at her senses, keeping all of her focus right on him and she didn't like it.

Not one bit.

He took a slight step towards her, saying something and she reprimanded him like she would a goat, snapping a sharp "Ah-ah!" And making a motion with the gun that she knew now damn well what she had in her hands (supposedly, unless if he was bluffing) and she was not afraid to shoot him.

He answered her question though, and while she didn't understand most of the words she narrowed her eyes at one that did sound familiar.

Ship?

Ship--No. This was no ship.

She stared hard at him, glaring, feigning that she was keeping her attention on him as in reality she turned to her other senses. A ship? Had this been a boat she'd have felt it. Felt the rock and pull of the waves, heard the water licking the sides, felt the life teeming below, the fish she was so connected with.

But the only connections she got were from him, and the aquarium tank right behind her. Which she now finally pried her gaze from him to throw a hard glare over her shoulder at; every single fish was floating in front of the glass, hovering in a small school, all turned to face her, wiggling to try to get closer. Not a single one looked familiar.

She drew her gaze slowly around the rest of the room, keeping an eye on him all the while to make sure he didn't get any ideas other than more towel wiggling, which to her was simply stupid. Intimidating? Sure he was. That was why she kept the gun trained on him. But really the towel just made him look more a fool than anything, and as she got her wits about her and really started to focus on her environment, he became less scary by the minute.

Whatever he was, he was a living, breathing thing. One of so few in the vicinity that her ears could pick up. The scents were stale and clinical--it smelled like a home without the life of one. There were no breezes, no scents of home cooking or of strangers who'd come by. Just his scent. All him. Warm, inviting, mildly threatening as every hair raised on the back of her neck.

A ship.

She glanced at the tank again, watching the sway of the fish in the water who were doing little to move. It was largely still. She listened closely; heard no birds, no outside din, no sea.

So they must be in space, then?

A cold chill settled over her as the realization dawned on her that if this was true, if they were in space, then there was no way she was escaping here alone. Despite her name, she'd never been up in the stars before, only looked at them. And knowing she was up here, so far away from her home--now that sent another chill that froze her heart right over, and she took in a deep breath to keep the sudden urge to cry at bay for now.

How did she get here? This wasn't where she wanted to be, where she was meant to be. What happened to her home?

And this guy, this... Thing, as pretty as he was to look at, to smell, to listen to, might be her only chance of getting back home.

If there was a home to go back to.

Slowly, warily, she lowered the gun and kept it in her hands but pointed at the floor, distrust clear in her shining eyes as she stared at him and asked with the slightest waver in her voice,

"What happened to the earth?"

[Draconian]

Thank all sorts of fuck that she'd pointed the gun away.

Sera watched her, trying to keep the weariness from his eyes and his posture relaxed and unassuming. If he was calm, collected and not afraid, she would... Also be that? Hopefully? The incubus even did his best not to look at her parts that were just out there in the open still, even moved to hold it up to cover her better. 

The question caught Sera off guard and he blinked at her, eyes wide for a moment before he just frowned at her. What happened to the earth? Sera took a hesitant step forward, shoulders back and calm and he moved towards the woman slowly because he was very interested in putting her tits away.

"Well, a lot's happened." He said softly, more slow steps towards her before he was right in front of her and placing the towel against her shoulders. There was something sexier about someone who was only partially dressed. The boobs were put away now, but having the towel draped over them and the naked shoulders. Sera stared at her throat, watching her pulse before he remembered he was answering a question. "Pollution. Killed all the life-stuff. And then it kinda snowballed. Dragon's took over. Made a dome. Now they're the leaders, Edanith is sorta green but not really and Libra is a space station."

Sera pat her on the shoulders and took careful steps back. "So... How long were you in that statue for?" He pat at his chest, slowly moving down, patting the pockets of his butt before he finally found a chunk of that jade he'd taken earlier. "We found you in this and you were kinda dirty so i gave you a bath," Sera shrugged like it wasn't a big deal and she was totally able to process all of this. "My room is your room. Welcome to your new home?"

[Cheesigator]

Stardust hesitated for a moment, and the hand that held the gun twitched as he came closer. She was still on guard, still didn't trust him or know who he was--but what other choices did she have for now, other than to try and use her wits to get her out of here? And that meant at the very least pretending to trust him.

The closer he stepped the more she was directly engulfed in his scent, his invisible aura. He was definitely a demon of some kind, because she recognized the warm feeling trying to blossom in her gut amidst all the confusion and fear. She couldn't tell if he was doing it on purpose, or if it was just an inherent feature of his person.

She let him drape the towel around her obediently, lifting her chin with mock confidence as she caught him staring at her throat. If he dared do anything, she wouldn't hesitate to claw him. Not that he knew that.

"Dragons..?" She inquired, narrowing her eyes as she glanced away, trying to ignore the irritating 'come hither' urges rolling off of this stranger in waves as she searched the depths of her memories.

She scoffed a little, eyes a bit distant as she remembered the last few years she'd been awake.

"Are they really dragons? Or are they those abominations?" She asked, looking at him directly with some sort of a defiant look in her eye, almost as if she expected him to be the mastermind of it all, as if she expected him to say 'Aha! Yes! It was I, all along, who brainmelded the dragons and destroyed all of earth's society!'

Maybe she'd picked it up from a movie forever ago or something, but she wished it would've been that easy. To just punch him in the face and be done with it.

But from the sounds of it, there was no undoing however many centuries had passed--and it sounded like it had definitely been centuries. Changes like that didn't occur over the course of six months.

She stepped away from him, holding onto the towel with her free hand, gun by her thigh although she'd taken her finger from the trigger. Instead she moved closer to the fish tank, peering at the little creatures teeming with life inside curiously. They were unlike anything she'd ever seen before.

"Who's to say?" She answered him with another question, looking over at him as her wet hair fell over her bare shoulders in a mess. "The only way a person knows how long they've been asleep is by the time on their alarm as it rings. I've no watches or other timekeeping devices on my person now, do I?"

Stupid.