Sleeping Giants (Private; Theo, Rin)

Job: Sleeping Giants

The dragon clawed his chest, doing nothing but making him giggle like a schoolgirl. Ha! Try to shred jello, the only reward is a lovely fruity smell! It did tickle, though, hence the giggling instead of something more becoming of a taunting treasure hunter. That's right! Fly away! Theo shook his fist in victory, prematurely celebrating his survival. Too late he noticed the creature perch above, not in an act of retreat or admission of defeat, but in malicious intent! The ill-prepared man wallowed in his riches, making jewel angles as if the mass of wealth beneath him was snow.

Opening his glowing hues just as the beast closed in, it was far too late to move. A large glass dragony snoot was thrust into his middle, squeezing every last inch of air from his lungs. Would he die? was this the end? Death by counting the chickens before they officially hatched! Rin would mourn him and curse his very name as an idiot! What if they wrote that one his tomb stone? Idiot Killed by Glass Treasure Bank Dragon. Oof. It had better at least be jewel incrusted. Theo would come back and haunt a fool if after all his life risking for shinies, that none made it into his casket or onto his grave marker. Rasping in a short breath, followed by another, his hands lashed out like claws at the creatures back. They searched for a way to injure or deflect, maybe he could get a grip on a wing, or maybe use his fingers to pry some glass scales off...

~~

Theo's groggy laugh sounded more drunk than victorious, and his fist shaking actually earned himself a bop on his own face as if his appendage was heavier than anticipated. No matter! The pile of plushes he was laying in needed to be swept into the vague impression of a human with wings. Oblivious to largely everything, Elvira's people's elbow landed squarely in lung territory, transforming the onyx haired man beneath her into a mentally challenged gold fish. He flailed, gasped, and wheezed. The sleeping body squirmed and kicked, his hands reaching over her shoulders to try and find some sort of leverage. Instead of scales or leathery wings, perhaps he'd grasp whatever garment she wore on her top half. Thinking he'd found a finger hold in the dragon, he savagely yanked upward. Maybe a good chance to pull a shirt over her head and tangle everything up? Then, and only then, could he get a good breath of air before he passed out!


[1,276/4,000]

Nice try! Keeping the home intact might have been one of her sleepy concerns, but Theo was still in the throes of fighting a treasure dragon hoarding valuables from him. A sleepy laugh of triumph rang out, sounding almost drunk. Sleep beast Theo had two modes, really. Grouchiness or endearing loopiness.

In this case, grouchiness was winning out, and he certainly wasn't any closer to waking despite the treasures dangling in front of his face. He'd just tangled its wings! Now it'd been forced to retreat, putting him at the advantage. Those treasures he'd revealed... how dare the dragon keep them hidden like that. For them to have been kept so close, they must be the most valuable. Point was proven even more when the foe suddenly started getting serious, blasting him with energy and speaking his name. Oof, it could talk? "ARG!" the man snarled. Lithe feet danced him around the treasure piles gleaming and sparkling under his booted feet. As if something like that could hit such an experienced tomb raider such as he! As a counter, Theo lobbed balls of jello at the dragon, hoping to hinder its movements. Being glass and all, though, he didn't want to crack it open just yet, so he robbed the jello chunks of much of their force and damage in favor of bogging the thing's movements down. Maybe trap some limbs, or slow the movements. Just enough to get it gummed up so he could swoop in smoothly and snatch what he wanted...

But then the floor gave way! The pile of riches he'd been standing on avalanched itself over his attacking motions, sweeping his foot away! Reeling off balanced, a beam hit him. He expected pain, but there was nothing but harmless force...and then some pain as he crashed through the glass wall of the glass cave he'd been apparently fighting the glass dragon in. "Hrrrrnnnnggggghh..." he groaned, wondering why it was so much brighter and colder outside the piggy bank tomb. Perhaps he should cut his losses and come back later? He did seem to have a golden dragon statue in his grasp, so that would have to do! Raising up, Theo began wandering through the forest of ruins, not recognizing anything.

~~

Sleep drunk Theo seemed to think he had the upper hand, and also may have been trying to get a handful of what he didn't think was part of a human female's body. Elvira recoiled away like any decent human would at being exposed, even if undergarments were present. Granted, Theo wasn't seeing what was actually there, fortunately for both of them most likely. "ARG!" he responded beastishly, mildly confused but undaunted. She fired upon him, and that skillful footwork he swore he had looked more like a drunken noodle. Being a jello man as well as extra loose-y goose-y from sleep, his body wiggled and contorted so that most of the attacks missed him by accident. Bare feet sank and rolled over plushie and furnishings alike. Balance was non-existent, but Theo seemed pleased with his performance. However, a particularly round plush shaped a little like a bear rolled suddenly against the couch cushion he stood on, precariously in front of a window. Arms flailing at a feeble attempt to catch his balance, the gust of wind caught him and was just enough to alter his body weight in the direction of aforementioned window. Crashing through it, he landed hard but somehow avoided being sliced up by broken window glass. "Hrrrrnnnnggggghh..." Theo groaned, acknowledging the pain but still not coming out of his sleep beast mode. He rose to his feet, grasping an emo horse plushie as if it was precious. Turning his back, he made his escape, which was a terrible idea since Theo was basically asleep and would cause who knew what kind of chaos aboard the Crystalli. Surely he wouldn't walk off the edge of the ship and plummet...right?


[1933/4000]

Glancing behind, the dragon was chasing him! Crap! Sleep Beast Theo made some sort of throat noise, making an abrupt turn that nearly toppled him into a fruit stand. Somehow in his sleepier form, the fluidity of his unrestrained body kept him from being too clumsy, though he seemed like he had drunk luck. Careening into an alleyway, he shot forward blindly, kicking trashcans with enough force to bend them in half as they flew. In his mind he was navigating the shimmering world between candy and gold, and coming up on a cliff sporting a sodapop waterfall. He couldn't lose to a dragon, not out of all the more dangerous things he'd fought to get the shinies. Pouring on his speed, of which he had a surprising amount really since Theo was much stronger and faster than he looked, he made it to the edge and eagle jumped off without hesitation.

In his mind, he was falling toward a pool of syrupy fizzy drink, but in reality he was paffing through floof clouds. The roar of the wind still didn't rouse him, but his dreaming brain did recognize the dissonance between what he had perceived as a high but normal waterfall and the actual distance he was plummeting. Drawing on his magic, his body became jello just before he impacted the uninhabited grassy meadow below an splattered, only to reform and bounce back up halfway and down again. This continued until whatever math equation formulated it would, leaving a dazed and bruised guild Ace flat on his back and solid once more. Perhaps he'd hit his head a little hard. He'd been jolted from his sleep, so he was no longer that type of beast...yet he was becoming another type, now. An actual beast.

Sitting up, Theo snarled and shook his head irritably. Bleached horns began a slow sprout from his head, bringing some claws with them. A nastier growl oozed from his parted lips, stained by the blood trickling from his forehead down his face. While it should be the most subtle change of the potentially coming ones, his unusually blue eyes made this trait all the more notable since ice was flickering between gold. Sure, a self aware Theo jello boy could have taken that fall much better, but a half asleep one hadn't been so lucky. Perhaps Drathir saw an opportunity to come out and play?


[2334/3500]

"HRRAGH!" he responded, the dream shattered. Theo was awake...sorta. He'd become aware just in time for the impact to jar around his brains around. Despite his distressing appearance, it was painfully clear to see he was dazed and disoriented. Her hand was slapped away with the back of one of his, which was heated to the touch. Heat radiated off his entire bruised body. Rolling over, he struggled to his knees where he then ripped his shirt clean off his body with both his brute strength and claws. It might be a shock to his friend, who had never seen him without his shirt, let alone manifesting some disturbing traits. It was common for flesh to be occasionally visible on his arms, which sported some pale scars that didn't look super out of place on someone who explores all manner of terrains and caves as both a job and hobby, but his torso was riddled with them. Some shallow, some very deep and painful, but all covering him from the base of the neck down with barely any unaffected flesh. In particular there was a fist sized one over his heart that had a mate on his back, looking particularly gruesome with the inflamed skin and just the general deepness and size of the scar and the melted looking flesh around it from burns. The original wound had gone completely through him.

The appearance of his torso's skin was in stark contrast to what most knew of the goofy young man. It laid out a map of past regrets and mistakes. It was a beacon to the hardships he'd endured but rarely spoke of. The angry red mark had just been the beginning to his current predicament, the demon who was taking advantage of his rang chimes. Icy eyes slid to Elvira's, narrowed in pain and a small bit of panic just before the colors inverted. Frosty blue turned to gold, the whites switching like a lightbulb turned off. A fangy grin spread across Theo's lips, but really he wasn't much Theo anymore. Gold flickered to carmine. The air around him felt different, and everything about his countenance was off, as if he'd become someone else. The skin was his, but the soul inhabiting it had shifted. Leathery wings sprouted to complete the look.

"Mmmmm...it feels nice to stretch my legs! I didn't think he would ever knock himself out," came a low voice, smooth like an expensive brown liquor. Crimson eyes gazed over the girl before him. This wasn't small, flat chested Rin. "Oh ho ho, what have we here?" Drathir asked, demonic orbs dipping and quite enjoying the assets the short haired woman possessed. "And who might you be? Theo rarely introduces me to his friends...so rude. You're definitely someone I could know~"

[2800/3500]

What was he doing with Theo's body? "Hm...whatever I please at the moment," the demon replied cheekily, doing another dramatic stretch of his arms before setting into a laid back stance, loosely crossing his arms over his stolen chest. "You see, the idiot and I have an....agreement. A contract. It was the only way he could survive something like this," Drathir paused to tap a claw at the former hole where Theo's heart was, "wouldn't you think? Neither of us are thrilled about it, but it happened so at least I have a foothold to manifest here in the land of the living and sow some chaos once in a while. Watching him squirm is nice, too. Oh, and it's delicious when we both just go nuts~" purred the evil creature, mind wandering to all the delicious things they could be doing right now. But no, he was standing here talking to the sexier of Theo's friends.

"I'm Drathir, berserker demon of the bad place," the low voice rumbled an introduction, eyes flickering with barely contained devious urges. Well, barely contained was starting to be untrue, since the longer he stood the more he seemed to have a flurry of horrible ideas. "Elvira, you said? Gothic for 'all true and trustworthy'~ I feel like that isn't all true. Your face says a lot of complex things. Demons can read you simple humans like children's books. As for why you'd want this damaged hunk of boy, I have no clue. He lacks all the charms, but a girl's heart doesn't care much for just that, hm?" mused Drathir, seemingly deciding on something. He wavered between two ideas for the eye-candy lady before him, neither of them good. Either way would end in the spilling of that lovely crimson blood humans had. Drathir's bloodlust was palpable. "You wouldn't want to work out your frustrations with me, would you?" he asked with feigned politeness, flashing his fangs in an evil smile. Claws twitched at his side, yearning to scratch his murderous itch. After he had a little fun, of course.


[3147/3500]

The conk on the noggin did wonders for the young man's predicament. Drathir had been caught up with the rushing of so many terrible ideas that he hadn't noticed the spirit with the frying pan behind him, and it was his turn to have his brains beamed. Now that both inhabitants of the tomb raider's body were forcefully sent on a trip to dreamland, he posed no more threat to her as she came close. Almost instantly the demonic traits disappeared, leaving bloody reminders of their former places. This day had not been filled with Theo's finer moments so far.

As Elvira worked her magic on him, his recent wounds healed up real nice, including the nasty concussion the fall had blessed him with. Within a few moments, arctic hues were flickering open, for the first time today undazed and awake. They were a little confused, though. Trying to piece all the bits of dream and reality together to formulate what happened was tough. Staring up into Elvi's face was comforting but raised even more questions. "What happened?" he asked dumbly, shifting around to sit up. He looked down at the card in his hands, but something more alarming met his view. "Oh....Oh no..." grimaced the ace, seeing his bare chest with all the implications. Leaving the card for her in the grass, he scampered back in a panic, looking for anything to cover up his marred chest. All he saw was his torn shirt, which was useless, and a few small leaves caught in the tall grass under him. Slowly his eyes rose to meet his guild mate's, knowing she'd had plenty of time to soak in his visible secret. The sorrow in his expression was nearly palpable, and there was a dash of fear in there, too. What would she think of him now that she'd seen his greatest regret? He cared what his friends thought...very much.

Dropping his eyes to the ground, he resigned to his fate. "I didn't hurt you, did I?" asked a quiet voice, braced for whatever reaction from her was to come. He sat here not as the goofy explorer, but as a broken mercenary from many years past.


[3514/3500 - WC met]

"I probably should, shouldn't I?" he responded, summoning enough of his usual mirth for a hollow wheeze of a laugh. He patted the top of her head in intense relief that he hadn't harmed her. Usually when Drathir managed to sneak out, he wasn't so lucky and came back to himself soaked in someone's blood.

"Hm...this story is alway hard to start. I'll give you the shortest version. I used to be a mercenary in Desierto...around three hundred years ago. Due to some very selfish and poor decisions on my part, I started a battle that got my heart ripped out by an ignited fist. My girlfriend at the time was also in a particularly tough spot that looked like impending death, so when I died a made a deal with a demon. But he's a dick, so he brought me back possessed by him and I ended up killing her and nearly everyone else, too...before killing me again, naturally. In an even more misguided attempt to get revenge on anyone but myself, I made another deal. If I beat Drathir in battle, then he'd have to let me back with my own wits about me. Somehow I managed to do so in time, but time works wonky in the land of the dead, so it'd been a long time. Plus, he was so mad he lost, he sent me back as a coffee bean, so that took some time for someone to buy my bag and try to brew me. But Granny finally did, and that was two years ago..." Theo tried to explain. Long or short, the story was always painful to hear. He'd made so many bad decisions, he wondered if he'd ever escape the after effects. "I guess...maybe this is what I deserve. Anyway, I try not to let others in Crystal Swan know, since I'm an ace and all. Might make us look bad. I'm really just a liability, but I guess I'm still selfish at heart--if I still had one-- aren't I? I don't want to leave. Not yet." Even as he fell silent, the uncharacteristic frown was still pulling his lips down. His tension carried in slightly puckered brows and the subtle clenching of his jaw. If only she could imagine how stupid and awful the old Theo had been, and how much he still struggled to change.