Sitting With the Dragon|~Open~

[DUSTIN MEYERS]

Dustin was not used to people crying, but he wasn't going to run away from her just because she was crying. He reached out, his arms wrapped around her hugging her, just letting her cry. Even if he wasn't one of those kids who did this very often, but he was there for her, and plus it seemed like she really needed a good friend. "If you have to cry then cry...everyone has to...and you aren't alone..." Dustin smiled, running his right hand through her hair, doing his best to keep himself calm while letting her cry. He was not going to judge her that wasn't how he was and plus he really cared about her and it was not something he was going to hide, but yet part of him was so nervous about showing it, becuase he had never really cared about anyone like this before. "everyone can find positive in the situation if they look for it, and you know what I found mine I'm looking right at her..." He smiled, keeping her close wondering if she actually heard him, and it really didn't bug him if she didn't hear him at all. He was only here becuase he really wanted to be, and she needed him and he wasn't one to ignore a person who needed help much less a friend.


Dustin had a light blush coating his cheeks, but he didnt' really care if she saw it, it was kinda a thing if others saw it, but he was doing his best not to care about that either, because that was something that didn't have to matter, because if he cared about her he wouldn't care about that.

[ARADIA PETERSON]

Aradia pulled herself together very quickly, that was another item in the knights’ code: number five, never show a weakness that may weaken other people. She wiped the last remnants of tears from her amber eyes and blew her nose in a rather girly and unlike her handkerchief she kept in her pocket. She replaced it in her pocket, making a mental note to clean it later, and huddled just a bit closer to her newfound friend.
“I’m sorry… I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to break down; I just remembered how I ruined Dad’s life, and my life. But I shouldn’t be gushing to you or just using you as a shoulder to cry on. After all, you’re a friend.” Aradia looked off across the camp again, bathing in his warmth for a moment before she pulled away. A friendship without pain was what she wanted this to be, of course she knew it would be impossible, but she’d try.

[DUSTIN MEYERS]

"Look its fine everyone breaks down...and my shoulder is always open for you if you need to cry..." he was always one for taking care of others, and not caring about himself at all, and he was the same in this situation at least for the most part. Part of him wanted to be more than a friend but he couldn't make her be that, becuase he wasn't the one who was really forceful. "You know just because you don't want people to see you cry doesn't mean you can't find someone you can cry on..." His father had told him that before he had to leave, and the kid had taken it to heart. He was so strong but still this boy has seen his father break down, and plus this boy was just the same way but he always helped others, but never really let them help him. He was so happy that she was able to cry on him, even if it was just a little bit, and he wasn't going to let anyone use that against her. 'I will not let anyone hurt her...I failed with my sister, but with her... I will not fail...' He thought to himself his heart aching slightly as he thought about his sister, who he wished to save, but he hadn't been able to. He always said he could have tried harder and in a way he was right. He was so close to her and nothing was going to change the first friendship he had made here, and hte only one he really wanted to keep.

[ARADIA PETERSON]

"Then, if you don't mind, could I spill to you? I've heard it helps to tell people about troubles you have or have had." Aradia smiled weakly, putting her modified utility belt on and adjusting her clothing self-conscientiously. Why? the redhead girl asked herself innocently, Why is it always the bad memory you remember? Maybe it's just me and my failed outlook on life. No, I can't be telling myself this. I'm as good a person as anyone else. I've just had a bad past. I should be thinking about how to make it better, not just moping around and whiling out life. Aradia opened to the page in her poison recipe book where she'd written that poem. Maybe she could cheer herself up with it, she usually could.

When all is lost, and you know all is lost, what is there left to look for? When all humanity has turned its back on you, what is the point in doing anything but turning your back on them? What is the point of looking for a heart lost hundreds of miles back, on a dusty stretch of island road, in a castle no one’s ever heard of? What is the point of searching for magic that never existed as even a spark in you? What is the point of rising to meet expectations? Or standards others set for you? The point of keeping on keeping on? What is the point of continuing on dark roads that you know someday will lead you to your death? The point of staying alive when everybody is slowly dying anyway? The point of falling in love, or becoming friends with someone when there is no permanent “tomorrow”? The point of walking on when you’re just wearing down your shoes in some gruesome pattern of blood and ash and soot? The point of staying with a family that never cared? That only wanted you to marry a prince? The family that decided you weren’t good enough once you failed and brought home only tears? The point of stopping, when the sunset’s only that far away… the point of sleeping when you know you’ll only wake up robbed? The point of breaking promises, or keeping them? What is left to look for in a haystack with no needle, a sky with not one star? What is left to care about when there’s nothing left to lose?

Some would say there is but one answer to each and every question listed above. Some would say each must be answered individually. But I have only one answer. My answer? My answer is something so fragile that it could be lost with the slightest slip, but can overcome the freezing tundra or the restless desert. My answer?
My answer is Life.

[DUSTIN MEYERS]

Dustin nods looking at her. "You know I will listen...so tell me whatever you wish..." he wasn't going to look over her shoulder and see what she was doing. She would tell her, that was what they had always said, and he knew that she would tell him. He pulled his jacket tighter around his shoulders, feeling it pull at the skin of the wound he had on his shoulder, but he was concerned about that he was concerned about her. Part of him wanted to open like she was, but his heart was not ready to do that, so he just stopped and listened to what she had to say. "so what has happened to you? The whole time I've been here you seemed sad..." He was saying this out of concern, his eyes misted over slightly as if he was going to start crying, but that wasn't what it was. The thing that was causing his eyes to do that, was the emotions he felt coming from her. 'She has pain...and maybe now she will tell me...' He was waited and didn't want to push it out of her as he had said before.

"You can tell me whenever you are ready...I will do my best to help you...I am your friend after all..." he smiled at her, the kinda of smile you would show to a friend who you really cared for. Even though he didn't smile much around anyway, she seemed to be able to bring that side he thought he had lost out of him, and he was very grateful for that, now it was his turn to help her.

[ARADIA PETERSON]

Aradia didn't waste time beating around the bush, she wasn't that kind of person. If she was going to tell the truth, she'd tell all of it. The small redhead girl turned around and lifted her shirt high enough for him to see the end of the four-inch thick scar that stopped at her left hip. Then she started.
"That happened not long ago. A man attacked me when I was at Scarborough fair... He used a sword he'd stolen from Dad's stall earlier. But he'd dipped it in poison. It wasn't bad at the beginning, only a scratch, but the poison got the best of me and ate away at the wound. It was so bad I lost most mobility in my right hand, and I couldn't work at the fair anymore. I got depressed and he, being a good father, quit with me. I ruined his lifelong dream of being a knight, of being who he was... I can't help but feel guilt for that even if it wasn't entirely my fault." Aradia pushed back the tears, she wasn't gonna cry for this again. She wasn't.

[DUSTIN MEYERS]

"Well your father loves you...so of course he did that...dont' blame yourself for what happened..." he put his hand on her back, touching the scar. "As I said don't hate yourself for what you can't control, it wasn't yout fault...and he cares about you..." he was one for making people happy and that mark on her back didnt' scare him at all. "then share the guilt with someone else...."he had never said that to anyone, but he felt like he had a good reason to say it, since it came from his heart and he meant it. He knew that poison hurts, but the guilt that comes from the after affects is even worse, since you can do nothing about it, but she didn't deserve that, even if others said she did. 'She's not alone in this anymore...I will be her friend...something to help her stand...' He smiled again. "You have me to help you...when things get to hard...don't you forget that..." he reached into his pocket pulling out a anklet that was always in his pocket. He had gotten before he left,and he had called it his good luck since his little sister had left it on his bed. "You know what I think you need something to realize you have friends...because you are loved by your father, and your friends care too." And in his mind that was the truth even if sometimes he didn't really think about that. He was so blushing and he was barely ever the one who blushed and plus he didn't know why he was, but he had a good idea. "Even if you think that it's all your fault...people are always going to be there to slap you in the face, not literally, and tell you it's not your fault...like me..." He laughed and rubbed his cheek, feeling the red mark he had accidently left on his face. "well that was embaressing..."

[ARADIA PETERSON]

Aradia couldn't help but smile, it was nice being around Dustin. He gave her a warm feeling in her gut that was something new, an inexperienced feeling. It made her nervous, not being able to put a finger on it. Still, she was happy and wasn't going to say anything about the weird feeling to Dustin. She would just be happy about his presence as a friend.
"Thank you, really. I can't thank you enough for all the comfort you've given me. I hope we can be together for as long as possible." Aradia didn't want to say forever. She had said she wanted to do fairs forever, and look where that got her. No, forever was impossible; it didn't exist. Then it struck her, the other time this feeling had plagued her and the other time she'd heard 'forever.' The memory flooded back for a moment, a sightless darkness within the shadow of all the oak trees on the fairgrounds, her conscientiousness just a flickering candle as that poison took her and through her against the edges of her own body and mind. And those clear blue eyes looking down at her innocently. Damn. Better not think of that or she'd be down again, she pushed the thoughts away and set her amber eyes on her new friend. She'd protect this one, she'd do a better job than with him, she'd actually protect Dustin.

[DUSTIN MEYERS]

Dustin laughed slightly, his hair was falling into his face and he was still blushing but that soon faded from his face, well sorta, for the most part it made him look a little sick which was kinda how he felt. He had been feeling off all week, and he was not quite sure what it was, but he decided to let it go, and since then he had begun feeling better, and even know he didn't feel quite as sick as he had when he had first shown up. He nods adjusting his body laying back in the grass trying to get his stomach to settle. "Forever does exist...even if we aren't here in our body form we are still there...you just have to believe..." he yawned slightly turning to look at her. "Plus your friends always stay with you no matter what happens or where they go..." he could tell she was thinking about something, and when he said thinking he meant she was really trying hard to think about whatever it was, but he was going to bug her as much. 'I wonder why this is happening...and why now of all times i feel like crud... oh well it's nothing i bet...as usual...' He was still awake and not tired which was a first cause usually he fell asleep out here, but then again he was here with someone else this time.

[ARADIA PETERSON]

"I suppose you have a point... your friends can't just go away. They're always in your heart. Then I hope we can be together forever!" Aradia's smile grew. She turned to Dustin who seemed to be uncomfortable. "Am I doing something wrong? I'm sorry if you're mad at me for something I did. I didn't mean to be mean if I was." She looked at him with uncovered amber eyes, eyes she only showed to people she trusted, and knew something besides her was wrong. He was feeling sick, maybe. Hmmm, she was sure she had some stomach medicine somewhere on her utility belt. She searched through the rows of vials until she found a large one containing three pills. It was marked SP.
"Uhh.. take one of these. If it's bitter, tell me and I'll find the antidote. I'm pretty sure it's safe though... unless that SP stands for Strychnine Powder, but let's not worry about that until we find out if it is." Aradia handed Dustin a pill, rummaging on her utility belt for the antidote-just in case. Strychnine Powder was one of the most bitter substances known to man, a deadly poison that causes the inhaler or ingestor's muscles to spasm wildly until they die of exhaustion. Yes, not the prettiest substance ever, but a good poison. She just hoped she hadn't turned it into some pills without remembering.

[DUSTIN MEYERS]

Dustin looked at her, not that he was scared or anything but ya know he didn't trust pills or drugs at all. He was shivering, but he might as well take it, she had given him so much that he might as well take the medicine he hoped that was what it was. And plus she had offered it to him. Dustin had to take a chance so he took it from her, sniffing it, backing up slightly, he hated medicine but he knew he had to be nice so when he slipped the pill into his mouth, he did his best to swallow without spitting it out. He had stopped taking medicine alongtime ago so it took a lot for him to taste it, even though to him it tasted funky, so he just thought it was him. "Well that was interesting...I had medicine or anything that you get from a doctor's place or is in a bottle..." He wasn't trying to say it to be mean, but it was gross to him, and he hated things like this, and he had nothing to do, but his stomach still hurt slightly and for the most part he hated it, he just did his best to ignore it as he sat up smiling. "thanks ...I feel a bit better..." he grimaced to himself shivering as he looked up at the sky yawning. He began to feel at least a bit better but something didn't seem right to him, but he didn't care at least not now. "Well let's see if it works right...Thanks..." He placed his hand on her shoulder smiling for the most part.

[ARADIA PETERSON]

"As long as it wasn't bitter, you should be fine in about fifteen minutes. Sorry about the pill, but I want you to feel better. I don't like to see my friends hurting." Alamo waddled over and flopped down in Aradia's lap, stretching one wing out over her protectively as if to say "This is my girl, you can't have her." Aradia giggled at him and stroked his hackles. Hmmm, maybe she could distract him from his stomach. Something to pass the time...
"Let's learn about each other some more. Wanna do a questions and answers round or two?" Aradia pulled out the ponytail holder she'd had in her hair and put it around her wrist just as a little breeze picked up and blew her red-dyed hair away from her little body. She was truly content here with Dustin.

[DUSTIN MEYERS]

Dustin laughed at the bird, which distracted for a moment from his stomach. "Sure why not...I mean heck I like questions and all the stuff..." He was in a bit of pain, his stomach was aching and well a few other things, but he was going to ignore it because well she was the one he was thinking about and he wasn't going to think about anything else. His father had been feeling a bit crappy when Dustin had left his house, but he hadnt' thought he would have gotten it since he had no contact with his father and he was gone shortly after he had gotten it. "So where are you from? I mean those fair things...were they all in one place... or what?" he sighed and bit his lip, trying his best to ignore the pain that didnt' seem to be going away. He was tired and was starting to want to sleep, but he wasn't about to fall asleep on her because that would be rude.'Man i can't believe I'm falling asleep...' he shook his head as he felt himself wake up just a little bit.

[ARADIA PETERSON]

"Hmm... No, the fairs traveled around a lot, they go on all summer in a specific order to different places. Sometimes there's more than one at a time, but then the workers split up." Aradia continued petting the rooster. She fiddled with the bottle on her utility belt. She watched Dustin as he nearly dozed off with a tiny smile.
"You can sleep after this one. Hmm... random question, random question... Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Aradia laughed at herself for thinking of something so unrelated to the topic of discussion, but she had to give it to herself for truly being a girl with the question. Still, she prided herself in not being one of those annoying girly-girls who crowd public schools and clog creativity with conformist tactics. Aradia was not a conformist, no, she had fun seeing how many weird looks she got in the hallways for bringing a note to school saying that as a mental tool, she had to at all times have her chicken with her.

[DUSTIN MEYERS]

"uh no...I have never had a girlfriend..." He sighed and wondered why he never had a girlfriend but then again no one really liked him because of how he was. And right now his body was aching and hurting and he couldn't really think. "Well girls didn't really like me very much so uh yea...I had a lot of issues with that and I had a lot of things I had to do...and was never really able to have the time for a girlfriend." He shivered moving closer to her as if he wanted warmth but he just wanted to move, he was beginning to feel really uncomfortable, and his stomach pain was kinda going away, but he didn't really know what it was.

"Ow..." he whispered but shook it off. "Can we just keep talking? If i sleep now I won't sleep later..." he was always going to live with what had happened to him, and he knew that he had the will to stay awake and he could use it, even if things were great and she was the one he was always with. 'My thoughts they are getting so confusing...i feel a bit out of it...haha here we go again...' He laughed and then stopped thinking about it, as he thought of another question to ask her. "hm have you ever had a boyfriend?"