Pondering Purchases of Particularly Pleasing Pythons [Æros, Khyan]

[Hilana Chenzira]

Early Frost, Year 122

[Closed - Æros and Khyan]

When Hilana had spotted the clutch of hatchling pythons on her daily trip around the Forum, she had immediately - that night, anyway - informed Æros. She had checked them out and screened them already from a heath standpoint and she was satisfied with the little babies, but the next step was up to him. While there was a great deal that the servii of the household could do with regards to the shopping, selecting a pet wasn’t one of them. Not as far as Hilana was concerned, and that was especially true with these snakes. Some were notoriously shy, so it depended in many ways on the building of a connection between handler and serpent. On the other hand, Æros was a master Mesmer; he wouldn’t have to worry about much. It was just seeing if they had colours that he liked and a symphony that resonated with him. Everyone liked different morphs and styles, and the girl was flirting with adding another python to her collection… there was something addictive about them, and the fact that her apartment held an awful lot of mesmerized venomous serpents, though they were for work, said something to the fact. Still, Finn had them in tune with her so that they wouldn’t dream of biting the girl, just what she gave them to bite. It worked nicely for making antivenin.

“Salve, Dominus, how are you?” she greeted him when he came in. “Hello, Khyan,” she beamed at the two of them, pleased to see her friends. Vasilei inclined his head in respect and greeting to the Fae and his accompanying servus, though he was in conversation with an elderly Vastian man who was having some sort of issue, Founders knew what. Whatever it was, he was attending to it himself. Hilana was pouring some sort of solution, ruby in colour, into a number of glass bottles before capping them. Once she finished, the bottles were wiped and the labels applied, and the contents were ready for the shelves.

“How are you both doing? Are you excited?” Hilana asked the Fae cheerfully, lifting Tiaz off of his driftwood basking perch and putting him on her shoulders. “With luck, we’re going to find a new pretty baby just for you, and they’ll grow to a good size like Tiaz.” She gently rubbed his chin, and his tongue flickered out. The snake was still appearing to be a snake, and no amount of Semblance or Mesmer had shown another slip-up. Granted, he was interested in people and especially interested in lessons, to the point where he liked the vantage point the horned hybrid offered while Hilana was learning with Palaemon, but hopefully they would find him one that was just a snake, and not something suspicious pretending to be one. She was about to let her mentor know that they were leaving, but Vasilei just gave her a little movement with his hand, encouraging them to head out as Hilana took up her rucksack, easing it over her shoulders while Tiaz also stretched for Khyan. It had been a while since he’d seen him last, after all, but they were good to head out into the Forum.

[Aeros]

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New seasons always brought new beginnings; some large, some small. After last season and now with his current position in the senate, Æros found himself quite pleased to slow down and enjoy things of a nature quite a bit more mundane. So when Hilana contacted him about a clutch of little baby snakes that she had stumbled across, his interest was very much piqued. He had always liked her serpent, Tiaz, and had found himself growing quite fond of the snake's weight on his shoulders. Since he had ample resources with which to care for the animal and people to consult in terms of constructing a habitat for it at home, he saw no reason not to acquire one of his own. The only thing about that is he wanted, well, just a snake. A snake without…whatever strange passenger Hilana's had tangled within its æther.

To that end, he had no idea what, exactly, was off about Tiaz, just that he'd detected anomalies in its Symphony more than once and, as a master, he did respect his own skill well enough. The serpent's Aura appeared normal, for the most part, but if ought was amiss, such things could easily be hidden by means similar to whatever it was that suppressed his strange Symphony. Strange, so surreptitiously strange. Nevertheless, there was little he could do but wonder…for now.

Given that this was, for all intents and purposes, a social outing, and one with somebody they both knew, Æros saw little reason not to drag Khyan along with him. Really, if he had a reasonable excuse to make it so, he would opt to have his lover at his side. Busy as he was, he quite valued what time they could spend together.

When the two of them arrived at Sweet Remedies, Hilana promptly greeted them and Vasilei offered his recognition but was kept busy dealing with another customer. "Salve," he offered back to her in greeting. "I am well, and…yes. I am quite a fan of serpents and Khyan won't transform for my amusement as often as I would like," he sniggered, words said teasingly. "Do lead the way; I've not a clue where the little ones you found are."

- - -

'Thoughts'

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

[Khyan Nykara]

Khyan followed a bit behind Æros on the journey to the shop, and remained thus as they entered. It was becoming second nature, now, to demur from rather than court attention. He masked his Aura with notes of dissuasion that brushed aside the interest of most bystanders, though the Sentinels employed many Semblers of greater prowess than himself who were not fooled by the feint, and the Vigilia Imperialis that patrolled the more exclusive neighbourhoods of the Luxium had a few as well. As the Solar Sovereign's jubilee festivies drew to a close, one was seeing fewer Silver Sentinels aboveground and fewer Imperial Constables below. Once faintly drawn battle-lines were now writ large and bold, since the dragons descended upon the opening ceremonies and threw a khopesh into the works.

Whatever the case, they crossed the threshold between the realm of the Umbrian Crown into that of the Luxian without incident. The crossover points were more heavily guarded by agents from both camps, but aside from their greater numbers, not much was different. At least not yet.

"Well enough, domina." Khyan replied with a faint smile and a cant of his head. One thing that was common between noble and slave was the expectation of stoicism in social situations. That hadn't taken much in the way of adaptation, though his smile broadened somewhat at Tiaz' attention. He extended his hand and shifted the tongue in his mouth so that when it flickered forth it was forked and able to explore the serpent with the same sense Tiaz used to explore him.

He cast a sidelong glance to Æros at his comment and chuckled, shaking his head.

"I've told you, it'th a lot of work and quite painful! I can't jutht change my bone thtructure like it'th a pair of thubligaculum..." Flickering his serpentine tongue once more, he shifted it back upon realising belatedly that he'd given himself a speech impediment. He cleared his throat.

"Anyway. I follow at the pleasure of my betters." And he gestured forth for Hilana to lead the way.

[Hilana Chenzira]

While Hilana didn’t bounce to hug him or try to touch him, she might have liked to had there not been anyone else around, or they were in the privacy of Dominus Æros’ domus. But the fact of the matter was that she still remembered his comment the season prior when they had had a picnic in the Umbrium. No, far better to leave him alone and not court trouble. How many times had she been told ‘never trouble trouble until trouble troubles you?’ by various guardians? Too many to count. “I’m glad to hear it. You’re keeping busy?” Her gaze included both of them. “Out we go. I like to check in with him when I take my walks in the Forum for new blooded cobras and whatever else he has. He had a giant yellow and white constrictor from Ecith last month… but she had already been sold before I got there,” she almost sounded wistful. ‘Giant from Ecith’ probably meant she needed at the very least a wagon to move it around. And something like that was probably right up the girl’s alley. She was content to try to ignore the chaos over the last month for the time being because it only added stress to her that she was not in the mood for. She had tasks and other things to do, and until she could genuinely talk to someone about it… it was all she could do to hope that cooler tempers would prevail. Or that perhaps her title of ‘Herald’ meant that siding with her friends and primary wasn’t blasphemy against the Gods.

As Khyan spoke, or tried to, with that forked tongue, Tiaz made the rest of the transition onto Æros’ own pet to let the slender Vastian carry him around for a change rather than his owner. His tongue flickered against Khyan’s skin, and the thick python was content. One thing was for sure, whatever Hilana was feeding him was serving him well. But nothing seemed remiss in his aura either…

Her hands were on the straps of her rucksack as she led the way out into the forum, weaving past people without getting too far from her friends as she brought them through the lines of the stalls. Where they were going wasn’t too far from Sweet Remedies, a few minutes’ walk at a decent enough speed, and Hilana pushed open a stall that was encased within a tent. Inside was all kinds of reptiles, from tiny, brilliantly-coloured toxic tree frogs to diminutive geckos of all in a variety of textures and colours, to wooden enclosures holding multiple juvenile tortoises. There were terrariums and baskets of snakes, some of which Khyan would certainly be familiar with thanks to his Animus rune - cobras and asps. But it was towards a large glass terrarium covered in a fine mesh screen that Hilana led Æros and Khyan over to, and inside was over a dozen different little pythons. “Salve, Julis,” the girl greeted the Vastian merchant, who was coming over to them. Julis was a sturdy, solid exemplar of a Vastian, with dark hair shorn close to his scalp. “How are you today? This is Dominus Æros, he’s interested in a python like Tiaz,” she made the introduction. “Dominus, this is Julis, and this is his shop.” It may have been in a fairly large tent, but that meant to the girl it counted.

“Hello, Hilana. Welcome, Dominus,” the man bowed to him. “These pythons are all under a month old, and they are eating young rat pups presently,” he lifted the screen off of the terrarium, lifting aside a couple of the plants so that Æros could get a better look at them from the top. Hilana stepped to the side to make sure that the horned Fae had the best viewpoint. “Are there any that catch your fancy?” There were some that were shades of green, others that were almost a lavender hue, including some mixed with yellows colours and patches, one that was surprisingly white mixed with huge patches of orange, another that was a steely grey… “Keep in mind, Dominus, that their colours get brighter with each shed,” he added by way of explanation.

[Aeros]

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To Hilana’s question, “Busy? Aye,” Æros laughed. “Been a little bit of a pain to find much time for myself since the start of the new season…I wouldn’t mind aside from the fact that it makes learning swordsmanship harder,” he shrugged; the half-elf sounded ultimately indifferent. He liked that which his time was occupied with; he just wished he had more of it. “...and a bit of a shame we won’t be seeing this ‘giant’ serpent.”

And then to Khyan’s retort, Æros feigned deep disappointment. “Alas, I am aware of the anatomical strain put on the body when one shifts shapes with Animism,” he sighed, though in jest. “It is a remarkable magic, really– and it’s fun to engage with it with you,” words follow up with an impish sort of smile.

The walk from Sweet Remedies to the merchant of many reptiles was a brief one. The wide array of species and types was fascinating; Æros had never seen a great many of these strange little beasties before. Distracted by them, he was, until he was pulled back into the present moment by Hilana’s greeting to the Vastian man who ran the stall– apparently called Julis. Raising his hand briefly in greeting, the elf then stepped forward a bit to look over the fairly freshly born serpents within.

“I’ve an interest in the little ones that appear almost purplish,” he said, noting that there were a few like that. Their Symphonies were all quite soft, much as one would expect from any animal so young, so small, and all of them looked really rather similar when one peered at them with Semblance, minor differences between each. They, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be normal snakes. Nothing strange, just cute little sentient noodles. As such, choosing one in particular might be a bit difficult.

- - -

'Thoughts'

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

[Khyan Nykara]

Khyan sighed, nodding at Æros' comments about his Animism.

"I really ought to practise more. Especially since you're so encouraging... there's really no excuse not to." A silly notion crossed the servus' mind that he might have played the role of Æros' pet snake, had Hilana not planned this outing. But ultimately, he supposed, that would add an unnecessary layer of complexity that their already convoluted relationship didn't truly require.

As they travelled, Khyan took advantage of his servile role as he enjoyed bearing the weight of Tiaz. It was a proper task for him to execute in public, and a pleasant one for him personally that didn't feel like work at all. As the other two carried on conversation in front of him, he lagged back and doted on the snake.

Upon entering the tent, Khyan's attentions were divided in so many directions. In another setting, he'd have browsed on his own and gotten the lay of the land. Such as things were, it wouldn't really be appropriate for him to behave so independently, so he followed the others and peered from a few paces back to regard what was being displayed to his two companions.

His eyes clouded over a bit as he engaged his Rune of Semblance to do a bit of the exploring he wanted in a more furtive fashion. The shopkeep, he could quickly tell, was not equipped to assess Khyan's arcane potential and, occupied as he was with the others, was unlikely to notice a slave seeming to zone out for a few minutes.

There were so many interesting new Auras all around him and, of course, a few that were passing familiar. His focus, for the moment, lay with those of the more reptilian bent and those that were more remote to his frame of reference.

[Hilana Chenzira]

Hilana had resolved herself not to ask Khyan anymore about his practice of Animus, considering his systematic answer was consistently no. But perhaps Dominus Æros could get him into a more regular practice. Hilana could certainly provide something to help with the pain if he wanted to avail himself of it; but she knew it was not her place to keep nudging. Otherwise she was going to cross a line and damage her friendship with him, and the Vastiana didn’t want to do that.

Now that the introductions were made, Hilana just eyed the neonatal hatchlings and had to resist from making stupid sounds of happiness. She was a sucker for baby snakes, and these pythons were horribly tempting for her to get another one of. Still, she had Tiaz, and eventually she’d find one that she wasn’t able to resist. The steel grey one was calling her name, but for now, she would be strong and see what the Dominus was interested in.

“The lavenders? They are nice, aren’t they?” Julis agreed, and gently lifted one of the balled-up creatures out, checking out the base of the tail first. “This one is a boy,” he told him, offering the python that was predominantly purple to Æros, with bands and blotches of pale yellow mixing up his skin. The snake would uncurl in the fae’s four-fingered hands, his tongue flicking as he checked out his scent. His symphony suggested he was a little shy, a little nervous, but that did make sense considering his size. He, unlike Tiaz, fit quite easily in his hand. Hilana was smiling, and Julis just passed her the grey one she had been looking at to occupy her before she went to peer around everything else at the tent. He would pull out two more, holding them in his hands in case the horned hybrid liked their markings better. One of them was almost solid purple, with thin slices of yellow, and one was almost equally split between the lavender and the paler hues.

“Do you have any experience in keeping snakes?”the Vastian wanted to know, not wanting to offend the noble in his tent. Clearly the servus did, what with the way Tiaz was perfectly content to be carried around and supported by Khyan, so there was that. Plus he knew Hilana, so she was on hand and she knew her husbandry well, too.

With his sembling sight, Khyan would find all kinds of creatures tucked away. There weren’t just snakes, either, though there was a fair few varieties he might not have come in contact with before, and numerous local ones that he had. There was a good-sized rock python that Hilana was side-eying from where she was cooing over the little hatchling, letting it move through her fingers. There were any number of lizards, from little ones where he could have fit two on his thumb, to the dwarf tegus and plenty of species of geckos, to larger, more jagged-scaled looking iguanas. There were club-tailed lizards that were rather thick and chunky, and a juvenile dune tegu, though what that monster was doing in there was another thing entirely, because once it got big... It was easy to see why Hilana liked this place so much, though, and that she was a daily visitor.

[Aeros]

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"If I've the time, I'd be happy to keep you company during your practice of the craft; Animism is fascinating in and of itself and I'd love to watch your skill with it grow." Perhaps the sentiment sounded a bit saccharine, but Æros very much meant it from both an affectionate perspective and one of arcane curiosity.

Now within the reptile merchant's demesne and standing before the habitat of the newborn snakes, the half-Fæ found himself quite enchanted with all of the little ones, though he definitely biased towards those with purplish scales. He was delighted to hold one of the tiny beasts when Julis offered the opportunity, gazing down at one whose scales bore a lavender base and with patterns of pale yellow. "They really are lovely," the starlit elf almost cooed.

The little snake slowly uncoiled itself in the palm of the Færie's hand; tiny, beady little eyes looked around his new, elevated position and a tiny forked tongue flickered out to inspect the scent of the large, starlit creature that now held him. The trepidation Æros read in the animal's Symphony was not unexpected given how new this one was to the world and how large the creatures that now surrounded him were by comparison. Nevertheless, he did opt to soothe what worries the little creature had through use of Mesmer.

Other than the one he now held, there were two more lavender serpents; all three were quite pretty in terms of patterns, with Æros shifting his gaze between all of them as the tent's proprietor posed a question to him. "Personally? No, but I've the means to acquire anything the snake will need and am intending to follow Hilana's instructions. She's a student of my cousin, so she's around often enough to help make sure I am giving the snake the best possible care. And my servus will help look after the little one when I am busy, too." In this scenario, he had no reason to lie about his own skill in animal husbandry; he was wealthy enough to provide more than adequate care and fully intended to have Hilana convey to him everything he needed to know.

Turning his head towards the aforementioned servus of his, "Khyan, what do you think? Of the three little lavender ones? It is…ever so difficult for me to choose."

- - -

'Thoughts'

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

[Khyan Nykara]

"I'm shy about transforming in front of people. It's... not pretty." And Khyan cultivated his appearance very painstakingly, even now that he was a servus. "But once I've made the shift, that would be fine." He glanced to the shopkeep, remembering himself. "Er... As you please, Dominus." He amended. And then the attention of his social betters turned to the task at hand, leaving him to explore a bit.

Khyan blinked, his head snapping toward the direction of the Dune Tegu. He didn't approach it outright, though zoomed his focus in upon the details, physical, ætheric and beyond. Musing into the Echoes of what brought such a creature to such a place. He was only distracted from this, when his dominus took a smalls serpent in hand. At this point, he took a few steps closer and got on tiptoe to peer over the shoulder of the half-fæ to claim a glimpse of the wee thing.

"Of course, Dominus. I have ample experience with snakes and the care they require." That was an understatement, but felt more appropriate than the sort of boastful claims he might have made in another life and other caste.

When he was called upon directly for input, he pursed his lips and looked to the three options his eyes clouding over with grey as he inspected their Auras. Their temperaments were all quite similar, truly. He could glean that one was like to grow larger than the other two, if it kept a regular diet. But that one had a flaw in the lungs that might truncate its lifespan, and another had a predisposition toward deadly tumours that might do the same. Pursing his lips he leaned forward whispering to Æros.

"The one on the left is healthiest and like to lead the longest life with proper care applied." With that, he stepped back and clasped his hands behind his back, observing on with interest.

[Hilana Chenzira]

As she listened to Dominus Æros and Khyan, with the gentle way that Æros encouraged and reassured his servus, and how Khyan responded to it made her feel a little warm and gooey inside. It was kind of sweet to see, and she was glad that the two of them had each other. They may have seemed an unlikely pairing, but they did complement each other well. But she kept her mouth shut. The girl seemed to understand it wasn’t her place to comment or remark on it, and certainly not in public as they were. She might have gushed about it with Æros when they were alone, but around others? She knew better.

The echos of the juvenile dunes tegu showed Khyan that it had been trapped and brought to a market by someone, and kept in a fairly small wire cage. Julis had bought it, and now it was in a much larger, more suitable enclosure. It was not very old, perhaps two months at the most, but it was large and growing rather rapidly. Before it would be much larger than it should be in the enclosure inside the tent, as roomy as it was; but dunes tegus needed more space than this, and rarely did well in captivity.

She held the grey snake up, letting the little agile python move and weave through her fingers. It was lissom for such a sturdy snakeling, and Hilana tipped her hands up towards eye level so that she could inspect the base of the tail and the vent. Khyan and Æros could use Semblance and Mesmer; Hilana just went with what she knew about snakes and anatomy. Female. Faex. She was going to have to gird her resolve lest she also be leaving with a little hatchling. This wasn’t like the giant white and yellow boa that she had considered, and subsequently didn’t get because she took too long to decide on it, but this was far more doable. Especially if Tiaz could behave himself around her... And she did have the coins in her bag...

When Æros and Khyan reassured him that the experience was there, Julis was satisfied. He had only inquired to see where the horned Dominus’ level was with these creatures, and what advice and guidance he might need on husbandry and handling. And it seemed that Æros was well-informed and certainly capable. Tiaz was still lounging on Khyan’s shoulders, and if anything, nudged his chin with his head, his tongue flickering. The thickly-built python was apparently wanting more pets since Æros had attracted Khyan’s attention. Hopefully Hilana’s prized beastie wasn’t the jealous sort, but he only saw Khyan every so often, after all. “Very good, I just wanted to ensure that you had all of the information you might need towards their care, but you are in good hands,” he smiled at Khyan and glanced at Hilana. “You’re going to take her, aren’t you?”

“You sold the Banana Behemoth out from under me,” Hilana reminded him, and while she was frowning, her tone was at least teasing.

“Be serious. You live in a two-bedroom apartment with almost 30 snakes now by my count, all of them venomous except for him,” he nodded at Tiaz.That number might have been a surprise to both of them; Hilana had not shared that fact or number with them. “Where in the Kingdom were you going to put her? She was over 25’ long and still growing.”

“I’d have figured it out,” the Vastiana was cheerful. She knew full well it wouldn’t have been possible, but all the same...

Julis just shook his head at her as if to suggest she was positively crazy; though Hilana’s friends already knew that. Whatever commentary Khyan had whispered to Æros about the pythons in hand, neither he nor Hilana had caught it. “Would you like to hold one of these ones?” If Æros wanted to see the one that Khyan had recommended, or even the other one that the trader had in his hands, then he could certainly switch the lavender noodles to give him time with the one that the former Patrician approved the most of.