so I like to set fires...

#slightlypyromantic

[slightlypyromantic-blog]

sanityleavesme

Morticia blinked a few times as the spikes swung near her, yet none of them hit her. That was one of the more pleasant abilities she had. Without replying, to begin with, her eyes followed him as he made his way down from the tree. 

Her arms folded loosely under her chest, and her head tilted slightly to the right. “Never seen a dragon. Never seen spikes like that, never seen green skin. At least… Not in reality.” She replied simply, taking another small group of seconds to study him, before deciding that she liked it. Liked how different he was. It was refreshing, and that brought a gentle smile to her lips. 

Gerhardt tilted his head, hood looming over his face.  He pushed it back, revealing his pointed ears and black hair.  “Well I supposed it’s a first for many,” he replied, glancing back at his tail briefly.  “The spikes can be troublesome.  Haven’t killed anyone with them yet though, so that’s a plus.” He kicked his heels against the ground.  “So I doubt you’ve seen anyone breath fire, right?” he added with a smirk pulling at his lips.

[slightlypyromantic-blog]

ofreclusion

       He bounced around a bit, adrenaline forcing him to move        before he could start shaking. “I’ve never stolen from a store        before.” He said in response, tucking his soda under his arm        and tearing open the Gardetto’s bag. A frown tugged at his        lips when the other boy mentioned finding a recycle bin,        doubting there was one nearby.

      “Just hold it for now, man. We should lay low for a little bit.        If my dad found out about this, I would be dead.” He said,        popping a rye chip into his mouth before offering the bag        to Gerhardt. “Thanks,” He laughed, leaning against the        fence and looking the other over again.

     “Really?” he wrinkled his nose and narrowed his eyes at the boy, “you coulda fooled me back there.”  He pulled a pack of icebreakers from his pocket and tore them open as Stuart offered a bag of... oh I guess it wasn’t candy.  He plucked a  pretzel from the bag and ate it.        “Is your dad a police officer or something?” he laughed and rubbed the tip of a pointy ear.  Suspenders dangled at his thighs. “So,” Gerhardt breathed and kicked at the cement under their feet, “why’d you tag along and not rat me out?”  He glanced at his shoes; they were a few months old, but they already had holes worn in them. Maybe if Stuart had been a narc, his parents would’ve been called.

[slightlypyromantic-blog]

sanityleavesme

     Gerhardt glanced down from the tree he was perched in, tail swinging from the branch.  “Sorry,” he called down to the figure below, “sometimes I forget about the spikes.”        He rolled onto his stomach and carefully slid off the branch.   After he landed on his feet, he raised a brow.  “What?  Never seen a dragon before or are you just taken back by the green skin?”

[slightlypyromantic-blog]

ofreclusion

       Stuart didn’t think the clerk looked much like he could keep        up with two much younger, much more in-shape boys, but        he wasn’t going to risk it. He ran as fast as he could as the        cashier yelled after them, chasing as far as the store’s small        parking lot before giving up. The cops could be called though,        so he followed the other boy for several blocks before coming        to a fence.

       He stopped on the other side, panting more from adrenaline        than exertion, looking at the other boy slightly bewildered.        How many times did people meet and steal together? He let        out a slightly hysterical laugh himself, juggling the bag and        bottle of soda as he climbed the fence and hopped down        beside Gerhardt. “You did handle that with quite a bit of        finesse.” He said, glancing around before chugging a fourth        of his soda.

     A laugh bubbled from his throat as he saw the other boy struggle with his drink and candy.  Gerhardt pushed his hood off of his head and brushed his fingers through his thick black hair.  His tail flicked behind him happily.  “I’ve had plenty of practice.”  He took another long drink from his bottle, emptying it.  He squeezed the bottle in his hand and shoved it back in his pocket.      “Now to find the nearest recycle bin,” he mumbled to himself, peering around the alleyways to find the best escape route.  No sirens sounded in the distance (or angry yells from a grumpy older man) so the coast was as clear as Gerhardt could ask for.  “You’re not so bad yourself,” he added in Stuart’s direction.

[slightlypyromantic-blog]

ofreclusion

       Stuart gave a small ‘oh,’ when he saw the boy stuffing the        mints in his pockets, heart thumping a little harder at the        realization. He’d stolen before, sure, but it was mostly from        houses. He’d never actually stolen from a store for fear of        getting caught and ultimately ending up in trouble by his        sheriff father.

      “I’m just saying!” He hissed, eyes going to the clerk that        wasn’t paying attention to them.  He gaped at the ass        comment, going to clarify that he’d been staring at the tail,        but Gerhardt was already making a run for it. He yelped,        grabbing a bag of Gardetto’s on impulse as he sprinted        out after the other boy.

     Gerhardt didn’t stick around for small talk.  Hell, he was outta there before the clerk could look up from the disappointing waste of cash on the counter.  Footsteps thudded heavily behind him, followed by heavy breathing.  After running a few blocks, he climbed over a short fence.  A few heaving breaths later and he laughed.      “Adrenaline rush,” he wiggled his fingers in the air and stuck his tongue between his lips.  When he glanced over his shoulder, Stuart stood on the opposite side of the fence.  “Are you trying to decide  whether you wanna climb or are you enamored by my grace under pressure?”

[slightlypyromantic-blog]

ofreclusion

     Stuart was a bit surprised when the boy continued talking        to him as he walked  toward another aisle,  eyeing the        aforementioned drink in his hand before shrugging and        following Gerhardt. He had time to kill anyways. He opened        his own drink and took a sip, the carbonation burning his        nose.

      “Yeah, well, people are stupid and don’t appreciate the        good things in life.” He said, realizing how odd it was        of him to be following the other boy through the store. A        frown settled on his face at that question, not certain what        the boy was hinting at. “No? I mean, as long as you’re not        planning on holding the place up at gunpoint or something.”

     He glanced over the packages of gum with a quick look at the  clerk.  Busy fretting over a scratch off.  He grabbed a few bundles of icebreakers and stuffed them in his jacket pocket.  “Fanta is  hardly the good stuff,” he replied as the approached the end of the aisle.  A good ten feet away stood the door, with the clerk just four feet from it.      Gerhardt whipped his head back at Stuart and narrowed his eyes. “Oh, right, sorry.  Lemme just pull the gun from the secret compartment in my tail.”  He groaned.  “I’m gonna run for it so you can either narc, run, or stand here and gawk at my ass.  Good luck.”  As soon as he finished, Gerhardt dashed out the door, tail trailing behind him.

[slightlypyromantic-blog]

ofreclusion

       Gerhardt. What a strange name. But then again, Jaroslaw could        could be considered weird by others too, so he didn’t have room        to talk. He couldn’t help but look the boy over, knowing he definitely        hadn’t seen him in town before because he would remember such        a unique individual.

      “Wonderful part of refrigeration. It’ll only take a few minutes        to get cold again.” He scoffed, feeling more than a little foolish for        being reprimanded for staring. He took his time picking his own drink,        the cool air welcome after sitting outside in the sun for so long. He        finally settled on a strawberry Fanta, half expecting the other boy to have      gotten impatient by now and slammed the door on him.

     Gerhardt smirked.  Someone as much of a smart ass as him?  Rare. Or maybe not.  He didn’t really care.  When the other boy finally picked out a drink, Gerhardt let the door close softly.  It was polite, right?  He  glanced at the pink drink in Stuart’s hand and walked around the next aisle with slow steps.        “Not a lot of people drink that anymore, yanno?”  He twisted the lid  off his drink and brought the mouth of the bottle to his lips.  Downing half the bottle in one go, he quickly stepped down the last aisle before the  clerk would see him clearly.  Getting out without paying for his drink would be easy.  He’d done it a million times—a million and one—but he’d never had a witness either.  “You’re not a narc, are ya?”

[slightlypyromantic-blog]

ofreclusion

      He’d gotten used to supernaturals, sure, but most weren’t        as obvious as this one. It was a little difficult not to be startled        when he walked into the convenience store and almost stepped        on someone’s tail. A tail, jesus christ that must be weird to have.

              “—Uh,”

       He wasn’t expecting the boy to say anything, maybe just glare        at Stuart for staring. He gestured awkwardly to the shelves of        drinks in front of the stranger, planning to grab something.

             “I’m Stuart. And you are?”

       Someone Stu should have noticed walking into the store since        he’d been sitting outside on the sidewalk for almost twenty minutes.

     Gerhardt raised his brow.  He hadn’t actually expected a response. When nine-tenths of people ignored you, you learned to stop having expectations.  He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together four times before he opened the door to the drinks.        “Gerhardt,” he murmured while scanning the available drinks.   He grabbed a bottle of orange juice and stepped aside, holding the  door for Stuart.  “You’re gonna let all the cold air out,” he licked his lower lip with his forked tongue, “if you keep gawking.”

[slightlypyromantic-blog]

ofharbingers

    He dropped the hood from his head and exhaled. Small flames spewed from his lips and he smiled. Gerhardt hated trying to live alongside humans.   He might look similar to them, but he wasn’t.  He was a dragon, and he should feel proud because of that, right?    He licked his lips with his forked tongue and glanced over his shoulder.  Of course I’m not alone.  “What do you want?” he threw his arms down in front of him, “Want to  poke fun at the freak show again?”

[slightlypyromantic-blog]

ofreclusion

     Gerhardt glanced over his shoulder at the pair of glasses that were dead set on him.   It was the tail, wasn’t it?  He blew a breath between his lips, a wisp of a flame escaping him, and tugged at the hood over his ears.   If he could hide his tail as easily, he might actually make friends.        “Who’re you?” Gerhardt asked, turning around from the drink aisle of the convenience store.

[so-pale-girl]