Filth in the Beauty

Ruined sighed as he walked along the street, a puff of smoke escaping his lips as he does. It had been another long day of boring classes, and he was tired. He hated school, but knew he needed to go, if only to get out of the house. He had lingered in the art room even after club ended, and was now deciding he should probably head home. Otherwise he would get in even more trouble than he probably already was. His father hated when he came home too late and didn't have food ready for him, and a drink. Mostly the drinks. He would need to clean up as well. His clothes had become a little splattered with paint, and his father would complain about that as well. Not like they were expensive or the man bought them. He just didn't like his son's clothing having evidence of the 'gay' hobby he has. Takanori though, didn't mind at all. His clothes were cheap and worn in, and far too big for him, what could a little paint hurt.

He paused on a bridge, looking over the edge. He often stopped there, and more often wanted to jump in. It was a good height for that in the wrong way. He leaned over the edge, his cigarette still between his lips, almost smiling fondly. With a gust of wind, his balance was lost and his hand slipped, plunging him forward over the railing and into the shallow water. At least it should have been shallow. Takanori gasped in a mouth full of salt water in surprise and swam to the surface, coughing. He tried his best to look around in the waves and found a shore near by. He desperately swam to it, making sure to keep holding onto his bag, even though he was pissed the entire contents were now soaked.

He'd really only wanted to enjoy a day by himself. No people he didn't know about, no hunting in the mountains in territory that wasn't his for flowers, no writing out everything he wanted to say but couldn't, none of that. But he was an unlucky dragon, it seemed, and he ended up a little wet from someone splashing out of the river. Minki runs off, hiding himself. He wasn't about to get yelled at again for being somewhere that another person didn't want him to be.

Takanori coughed as he crawled out of the water, eventually turning into gagging and the water he had swallowed coming back up. He almost just wished he let himself drowned. He wiped his eyes and looked around. This was definitely not the river he had fallen into, or anywhere near it. It looked more like a little foresty island in a bay. He sighed and then gasped, immediately emptying his bad and laying things out in the sand. He knew it was useless to try, but maybe it could still dry decently.

Minki stays right where he is, curling up a little. As much as he wants to go over and see if the person is okay, or if they need help, he won't. It just isn't worth being chased off or yelled at. He fidgets with the hem of his poncho a little, watching the guy that had crawled out of the river. He definitely hadn't been there before...maybe he was human?

He sighed, looking genuinely upset that all his drawings were now mere smudges on paper Thanks to the water. After checking his pencils, he just flops back in the sand, looking up at the sky. "I should have let myself drown..." he mumbles at no one in particular.

His head tilts, and he looks at the things that the human had laid out from the bag. A sketchbook, sopping wet and ruined, pencils, and a few other things. Minki frowns, eying the sketchbook. Chances were that a lot of time and hard work had gone into those drawings...maybe he could use a little magic to fix them. He stays put, carefully formulating the spell and mouthing the words for it. It takes a couple minutes, but he finally releases the magic. It settles itself on the sketchbook, restoring the drawings to how they should be and drying the pages. The book shuts itself with the soft sound of pages rustling.

Takanori had resigned to pouting about his book until he hears the sound of the book. Sitting up, he raises his eyebrow, looking at thwart book in Awe, flipping through the pages. Everything was just how he drew it. He looked up and around for a sign that someone else was there.

The dragon boy curls in on himself again, hoping that he's quite hidden from the human. It wasn't as if he could Change and fly home at this point, since that would alert the other to his presence. Hiding was really his only option now.

Taka sighs, looking down at his book again, then at his other things. It would probably be a little while before they dried as well. Since no one seemed to be around, he decides to get up and takes off his oversized uniform shirt. No sense staying in wet clothes he figured. He lays it out in what's left f the sunlight, shivering slightly. He would probably end up sick again, but clothes took longer to dry when you were still wearing them.

It was kind of cold, wasn't it? Minki notes this as he watches the human, frowning a little when he sees that he's shivering. The river being cold didn't help much either, he figured. Maybe he shouldn't hide...he frowns more, pulling his poncho off and creeping out of his hiding place. He carefully pokes the guy's shoulder, offering his poncho to the human.

The human blinks, looking up at who poked him. He was shivering quite a bit, with his arms wrapped around himself. He looks at the poncho for a moment. "For me...?" he mumbles a little. It wasn't usual foe someone to offer him clothes.

Minki gets his pencil and notebook out of the pocket before writing something and offering the poncho to him again. -Yes, for you.- he writes, looking at the other male silently. He would Change and let the other cuddle into his fur, but, he doesn't exactly want to scare him.

"Um, tahanks..." he bows politely as he takes it, then looks at his shirt. "It's going to take a while for that to dry though...I don't want to make you wait around. Maybe, you could tell me where the hell I landed? And if there is a coin laundry near by I could use?" he spoke quietly. The stranger looked harmless enough, but he knew looks could be deceiving. And he also knew where he was, wasn't where he was before. He couldn't explain it, but he almost felt like he was home, if that didn't sound /too/ crazy.

He smiles a little and nods, sitting down beside the other male. The dragon boy writes an answer carefully, holding it out for him to see. -Don't worry about the shirt, it'll dry a lot faster than you think. You're in Wonderland.- He seems thoughtful for a moment, then adds something. -What's a coin laundry?- Minki had never heard of such a thing before.

Takanori puts the poncho on himself as he watches the boy, almost carefully. "How will it dry faster? Or, do you mean like my book...? Did you do that?" he asked, thinking maybe it could happen. Though, it was hard to say because sometimes he had done strange things like that. "Oh, Sorry to bombard you with questions. I'm sure as a mute that's frustrating..." he looks at the boy apologetically. "Um, a coin laundry is a public place that has washing machine and dryers for your clothes," he explains. It seemed odd that the other didn't know what he was talking about. But, he did say this was wonderland, so maybe everyone is off their rockers just like in the stories. Though, they were supposed to be just stories, but Taka found himself believing this stranger so easily anyway.

He waits patiently until the other male has asked all his questions, then smiles a little and carefully writes out his answers. -Yes, like your book. I'll dry it for you. And yes, I fixed your sketchbook, too...you looked really upset about it. And it's alright, I don't mind. Thank you for not being mean about my lack of speech.- Minki holds the notebook out for him to see when he's finished writing, tilting his head a little bit.

"There's no reason to make fun of you, it's not your fault," he answers simply. "Thank you for my book, it means a lot..." he bows slightly as he thanks him. There was no way he knew that could show how grateful he was. His sketchbooks meant everything to him. They were practically diaries. "You said wonderland... you mean like the place Alice supposedly visited?" he asks. He remembered his mother telling him all the tales of Alice and the wonderful things she had done in wonderland. Though, her stories never matched up fully to the books, so he was a little confused when he read them.

Minki just smiles at him, nodding. He hadn't minded helping out. Everyone had things that were precious to them, things that they shouldn't go without. -You're welcome...uhm...wait. You know about Alice? How?- He stares at the human curiously, tilting his head a bit and completely forgetting to actually answer the question he was asked.

"Mm, my mother told me stories when I was little, before she died, he answered, blinking at the boy. He figured fairy tales were common to grow up to, but he knew not everyone was raised the same. And, it was apparently an alternative would, so it could be different. That or a dream.

-But she told you about Alice? How did she know...?- he writes quickly, showing him the page again. Real information about Alice herself was hard to come by, since all the important books were locked away in the White Queen's Castle. But how did this human's mother know about Alice? It was confusing to Minki, to say the least.

Takanori shook his head a little. "I don't know," he answered. "When I asked her, she just told me she was there, but, that doesn't make sense, right?" he shrugged a little. He knew his mother took medication foe a mental illness, so her stories were blamed on that. When she stopped taking them is when she disappeared and was proclaimed dead.

The boy tilts his head, looking a tad bit confused. -It could make sense, if she was actually here. But...that was a really, really, really long time ago. Even the Elder Dragons weren't here when Alice was...so it's impossible for your mother to have been here...- Minki frowns a little bit, the expression mixing with a pout.

He nods a little in agreement. "She would have to be immortal for that, and mentally stable to last that long. But, she was just a silly lady from what I remember of her..." he smiled almost fondly at the memory of his mother. Sure she was crazy, but he remembered being actually /happy/ before she left.

-No one that I know of is immortal, aside from vampires...but even they can die. Was your Mom nice to you...?- He bites his lip a little, showing him the notebook almost hesitantly. Minki really doesn't want to upset the human.

Takanori blinks at the note, then smiles slightly. "Yeah, she was always nice," he nodded a little as he spoke. His mother was the only one who was ever truly nice to him, and he still kept fond feelings for her.