Hot Headed

Örjan || Dragon Shifter || Orvunos Dependent APH Ladonia blog for Hetopia Written by Amertsi

[hotheadedchild]

"I hope you're going to put that back," Abel muttered, mischevious lilt to his tone as his arms folded over his bare chest.

“Uhhhhh–”

Örjan put on a look of innocence, peering up at Abel. “Put what back? I dunno what you’re talking about.” He did, in fact, know what he was talking about, but he certainly wasn’t about to admit it. Not a chance.

[hotheadedchild]

lost-in-lethe‌

Huh, Abel took a little longer to properly read the words himself; he could read and write perfectly fine but… in an archaic language, sometimes it took him a second to fully recognise the new letters and symbols. 

A beat.

“Sure,” Abel murmured, “is that everything?” 

He hoped it was, for Abel hadn’t pocketed enough money to be throwing around but he at least wanted the boy to have a full stomach by the end of their trip out. 

Once again, Abel had disappeared, going to order the food and returning just a short time later, “they said it won’t be long…” 

“Yeah, that’s all!” 

Luckily for Abel’s wallet, Örjan wasn’t so hungry that he’d want to order more than one meal. 

“I haven’t eaten at a restaurant in a while,” he said once Abel had returned. “Have you? I don’t usually have lots of money so I just buy snacks if I need to when I’m travelling.”

[hotheadedchild]

visionsofbeauty‌

“If you don’t mind,” they said. With clothes in hand, Liu rose fully out of the water and tugged them on over still wet skin and sopping hair. It was a warm day, so they weren’t too fussed about properly drying off. They sat down comfortably on the shore of the lake next to Örjan and pulled their hair over one shoulder, wringing some of the excess water out into the ground. “Now, what is it you would like to know?”

When Liu exited the water, Örjan turned away to give them privacy, then sat beside them at the lake’s shore. He was quiet a moment, pondering over his possible questions. There was a lot he didn’t know about dragons, after all. 

“...Where there really all sorts of kinds of dragons before? Not just ones like me?”

[hotheadedchild]

"I hope you're going to put that back," Abel muttered, mischevious lilt to his tone as his arms folded over his bare chest.

“Uhhhhh–”

Örjan put on a look of innocence, peering up at Abel. “Put what back? I dunno what you’re talking about.” He did, in fact, know what he was talking about, but he certainly wasn’t about to admit it. Not a chance.

[hotheadedchild]

lost-in-lethe‌

With a nod of his head, Abel left the boy for only a minute or two, later returning with the demanded apple juice and a drink of his own; water, which was actually a surprise to himself. He’d never chosen water, but given that he had a child in front of him, he thought better than to show his bad habits. 

“Here,” he offered the drink over, then a menu, “choose whatever you want.” 

As he waited for Abel to return, Örjan sat on his knees upon the chair, looking around at anyone passing by, though he was quickly brought back to attention by the arrival of his juice. “Thanks!” he chirped, grabbing the menu, squinting at the words. He’d been taught to read by his parents when he was little, and friends he’d made on his travels had occasionally helped him with reading and spelling, but it always had caused him a little bit of trouble.

Finally though he found something he thought he might like, and pointed at it on the menu. “I want this!” It was a simple mac and cheese with a side of fries, quite the delicacy, in Örjan’s humble opinion.

[hotheadedchild]

themightypebbles‌

Internally, Pebbles’ brain was just saying there are dragons, there are dragons !!! on repeat, but externally she held it together fairly well. After all, if they were all young kids like Orjan, maybe they could be friends. and then I’d be friends with a dragon ! Okay, so maybe she wasn’t holding it together the greatest, but she nodded her head like she understood. 

“Hm… would you help me find out what I’m good at maybe? I mean yeah I’ll need lots of practice, but I gotta find something I’d like to do, too… I don’t think I have instincts like you, but maybe there’s something out there that I could do. Like you’re good at hunting, maybe I’m good at… see, I dunno. That’s what I wanna find out. It’s… probably not exploring. Abel wouldn’t’ve had to help me if I was good at it, but I do kinda like being outside.” 

Örjan thought for a moment, tapping his foot against the ground. “Well, a good way to find what you’re good at, I think, is to start with stuff you like to do. So what do you like to do? I like to hunt and steal things, and climb trees and run around. So I got good at all those, ‘cause I did them lots.”

[hotheadedchild]

floral-nihilism‌

Whilst Örjan was off trying his best to think of a way to shake the not-exactly-all-there Ivan, Ivan was off wondering about what a farm in Utopia might look like. He’d lived in a place in Utopia where they had tried their hand at farming, but it’d been little more than a couple of haphazardly placed fields that really weren’t properly maintained at all.

“What brought you all the way into the city, today? It seems an awfully long way to walk.”

“I was, uh...”

There was a longer than average pause as Örjan thought of his next excuse. “I was just... visiting a friend. I like to walk so I’m used to long distances. It doesn’t bother me if I have to go places and it takes a while to get there.”

Well, at least it wasn’t all a lie.

[hotheadedchild]

floral-nihilism‌

Farmers…that made sense in Ivan’s mind. Any normal person would ask Örjan why he’d thought his house was in the center city earlier, if he was from a family of farmers, but Ivan was not a normal person and so he did not ask.

“Oh, no no. I’d love to see your family farm, I haven’t been on a farm in years!”

At this point, Örjan was starting to run out of ideas for how to get this guy to leave him alone. At some point, he’d probably realize they were going way farther than they needed to go, or they’d pass all the farms. Örjan didn’t even know where any farms in Utopia were. Maybe he could turn into his dragon form and hide in the bushes. But that’d be giving away his identity...

He was so caught up in thinking it took him an extra moment before he responded.

“...Oh? Oh. Cool. I guess.” It was decidedly not cool, as there was no farm to show off, but Örjan hadn’t quite figured out what to do yet.

[hotheadedchild]

themightypebbles‌

“No, I–” she was cut off by his insults, but she had been about to say ‘I was told that they didn’t exist.’ She didn’t continue the thought, even when she was able to, however, because she didn’t know if it was rude to say that to a mythical creature. She figured she might be offended if someone asked her if she was meant to exist. It’s not like she had a choice in the matter.

“I guess maybe it’s different for dragons than it is people…” she shrugged, “Um, my tribe had specific people in charge of hunting and I wasn’t one of them- it was adults mostly. I tried a lot of different jobs amongst those that stayed in the tribe proper, though. I wasn’t very good at… really any of them. I’m sure there’s something I can do good, though, just maybe not a traditional job.” 

With a roll of his eyes, Örjan shrugged. “Whatever. There’s not a lot of dragons left, so it’s fine I guess if you didn’t know much about them.”

“Huh. Well, everyone’s good at one thing or another. You gotta practice lots at everything though sometimes. I’m only good at hunting cuz it’s part of my instincts and stuff, but it was hard to learn on my own. I betcha you just haven’t tried enough things yet. Or maybe the thing you’re good at doesn’t exist yet and you gotta figure it out yourself.”

[hotheadedchild]

"I hope you're going to put that back," Abel muttered, mischevious lilt to his tone as his arms folded over his bare chest.

“Uhhhhh–”

Örjan put on a look of innocence, peering up at Abel. “Put what back? I dunno what you’re talking about.” He did, in fact, know what he was talking about, but he certainly wasn’t about to admit it. Not a chance.

[hotheadedchild]

lost-in-lethe‌

“Really? No wonder you’re still small,” Abel murmured, a sly smile on his face. 

He didn’t have time to say anything else, nor give the child an opportunity to reply, for he spotted an empty table ready for both of them. Abel rushed over, then placed Örjan in one of the empty chairs, “I’ll go get us some menus… what drink do you want?”

“I’m not small!” Örjan protested, though he quickly stopped pouting once he was placed upon a chair at what he assumed was a restaurant. Already he was seeming excited again; he didn’t think he’d eaten in a restaurant in a while. Usually he ate on the go, so bringing food that friends made him was the easiest thing to do.

“Apple juice if they have it,” he stated with a nod. “If not any kind of juice is fine.”

[hotheadedchild]

"I hope you're going to put that back," Abel muttered, mischevious lilt to his tone as his arms folded over his bare chest.

“Uhhhhh–”

Örjan put on a look of innocence, peering up at Abel. “Put what back? I dunno what you’re talking about.” He did, in fact, know what he was talking about, but he certainly wasn’t about to admit it. Not a chance.

[hotheadedchild]

lost-in-lethe‌

“Still, stealing isn’t right,” Abel reminded, as he kept walking. The village they’d been in wasn’t too bad for eating; they had a good collection of restaurants and cafes. Craning his neck up, eyes barely glancing at the boy on his shoulders, Abel continued talking, “so, what kind of things do you want to eat? I’m starving.” 

Örjan only rolled his eyes. Lots of things weren’t right, he thought, but people still did them anyway. That vendor surely wouldn’t have missed a single apple. But either way, he didn’t want to make Abel disappointed, so he didn’t say anything more on the matter.

 “Anything that’s not vegetables,” he answered bluntly. “I don’t like those.”

[hotheadedchild]

"I hope you're going to put that back," Abel muttered, mischevious lilt to his tone as his arms folded over his bare chest.

“Uhhhhh–”

Örjan put on a look of innocence, peering up at Abel. “Put what back? I dunno what you’re talking about.” He did, in fact, know what he was talking about, but he certainly wasn’t about to admit it. Not a chance.

[hotheadedchild]

lost-in-lethe‌

“Now, that wasn’t hard, was it?” Abel huffed, as he raised an eyebrow at the other. He was quick to toss the apple back to the vendor, before moving to scoop Örjan up and place the younger dragon on his shoulders. 

“Anyway, if you’re hungry, you should have just said,” Abel scolded, though quite lightly, “I can feed you, you know.” 

With that, Abel began to walk, “proper meals, not just an apple.” 

Örjan grumbled a half hearted protest as he was picked up, mumbling something about how he wasn’t a baby, but quickly gave in to his fate, gripping onto Abel’s horns to keep himself steady.

“I like apples,” he huffed, pouting. “I just wanted it as a snack for later.”

[hotheadedchild]

themightypebbles‌

“…you’re a dragon? Like a real one? Is that why you have scales and horns and stuff?” She tilted her head in a confused manner. It took her a moment, but finally registered the rest of his answer, “oh, I’ve never gotten to go anywhere with our hunters… not since I was really little. That must be why you have so much more practice than me.”

“Of course I’m a real dragon,” Örjan said with a huff. “What, did you think the scales and horns are fake? That’d be dumb. And I never got taught to hunt either, I just learned it myself. It’s not hard if you try.” He frowned at her slightly. “How come you haven’t gone out hunting more often? Sounds like since you’re older now you’d be able to do better.”

[hotheadedchild]

floral-nihilism‌

But Ivan had reached the end of his list. So the Thinking part of his brain began to calm down a bit and he became more aware of his surroundings. They seemed to be rapidly approaching the edges of the city and the houses had all disappeared. 

“Are your parents farmers or something?”

Örjan really needed to stop hoping for anything to go his way.

“...Uh. Yeah, sure. They’re farmers,” he lied, in what he hoped was a convincing manner. “So if you don’t wanna follow me out even farther, then that’s fine. We’re out of the city so there shouldn’t be any problems with bad people, right?”

[hotheadedchild]

floral-nihilism‌

Ivan just continued on as if he hadn’t heard Örjan’s comment. He was too busy concentrating on Thinking, he had no more brain power left over for Listening as well.

“…Capers too…and bananas,” Ivan continued, trying to think of more examples.

Yeah, this was really annoying.

Grumbling, Örjan sped up his pace, wondering if he could just walk faster than the guy and lose him. He didn’t seem to be paying attention to him much now, too busy listing whatever facts it was about flowers.

Hopefully, Ivan hadn’t even noticed that they’d past all the housing by this point, and were growing very close to the city’s limits.

[hotheadedchild]

floral-nihilism‌

Ivan was enjoying himself. He decided that he really didn’t go out enough, spending all day cooped up behind the register was taking a toll on his body. He’d left Uazha behind to man the shop in his absence and he just desperately hoped that his brother hadn’t managed to burn the place down already.

Ivan nodded in response, falling back into silence for a little moment. He was never much of a big talker and trying to think of conversation starters took him much longer than a normal person, but surely whatever he thought of would be perfectly normal-

“…Did you know that pineapples and broccoli are technically flowers?”

Örjan was perfectly happy having no conversation at all. It was frustrating enough that this guy was still following him, but having to talk to him would be even more annoying. Unfortunately for the boy, it just wasn’t his day, apparently.

“...What?” He frowned. “...Uh, no. I dunno if it really matters, though... I don’t like broccoli either way.”

The sooner he reached the edge of the city, the better.

[hotheadedchild]

themightypebbles‌

She frowned, but nodded, trying to learn from Orjan despite his bluntness. “I’ll do better next time.” She pointed away from the door they’d snuck into, indicating that they should leave. As they left, she asked, “how do you walk so quietly, anyway?” 

Örjan shrugged. “I dunno. I guess it just comes with practice. I’ve had to sneak around a lot, so I got used to it. Plus, dragons hunt, so it kinda comes in-stinct-tually too.” He sounded out the word slowly, and hoped he hadn’t said it wrong. “If you practice enough you get better.”

[hotheadedchild]

floral-nihilism‌

The longer and longer they walked, the more the department stores surrounding them melded into apartment blocks.

Ivan hummed to himself as they strolled down the street, trying to think of something to say until he realized that he hadn’t even introduced himself to the kid. It was pretty on brand for him to miss social rules like that, but oh well.

“My name is Ivan, by the way. Forgot to introduce myself earlier.”

Örjan kept his eyes on the road in front of him, listening to try to see if the guy ever stopped following him. So far, no such luck. And now he was introducing himself. The boy held in another long sigh.

“...I’m Örjan,” he replied after a long pause. “Nice t’meetcha, I guess.”

Even if he was entirely annoyed by the situation, he could at least still try to be polite. He really didn’t want to be, though.

[hotheadedchild]

floral-nihilism‌

A quick glance down at his phone confirmed that the criminals he’d heard of previously had still been caught. There was no way, in good conscience, that Ivan could just leave this actual child alone when danger still lingered in the city. Well, he could but he’d feel pretty rubbish about it if something bad happened to the kid in his absence.

“Well, um er…I’ll come with you. The people from earlier still haven’t been caught.”

“Fine, whatever. Do what you want.”

Örjan wasn’t particularly concerned about petty thieves and criminals. He had to worry about much worse people, after all. And so long as he kept his hood up, no one would know he was a dragonshifter anyway. He shifted said hoodie, shoving his hands in his pocket as he walked.

As he got closer and closer to the city’s edge, he glanced back at his follower. Hopefully he gave up once it became clear that Örjan was planning to move on to another city all together.