"What do you mean by hunting species, that they would just hunt and kill anything they would see? Well, I mean, species or people that do hunt here?" That made him feel slightly nervous, as if maybe he wasn't completely safe out here, "I mean, that's okay, I'm glad you found me too." The thought of that still made him feel really uncomfortable though, "Do other species hunt other species? Is that a thing here?"
"Well, there are only a couple, and even they have a strict set of rules. They aren't secretive about it either. They won't just kill anyone, including people considered prey to them, until it is confirmed they don't have family in the area or consent to it. They also don't attack children. If they attack someone in a village, it's often predetermined with the elders, and they can last on a single kill for a good solid month. They live alone or with a mate, and children are kicked out fairly early." Matthew shrugged a bit.
"We keep things civil, even with a couple species that need to hunt."
Dominic shuddered, trying to not think about the information he had just been given, "T-that's horrible, I don't like that. Do they kill just to kill, or just for the fun of it?" But still, curiosity was getting the better of him. As usual, and it was bothering him a lot. Nervously he rubbed Sir Fluff's head, as he waited for Matthew to respond, "ASre they at least a little nice whenever you see them or are they scary?"
"They keep killing to the bare minimum, never for fun. And it's very, very regulated, by them and us. Usually it's the elderly giving themselves up to provide for them. They might look scary, but most of them are really nice, and they get along with others really well." Matthew reached over, gentle patting Dominic's shoulder.
"You won't have to worry about getting hurt, because your have someone to vouch for you to say they care." Matthew smiled gently.
Dominic nodded slowly, "Oh, uhm, that's uhm. . .that's good?" He mumbled, not exactly sure if it truly was, "But, I'm glad that you'll be here to protect me, I hope that they'll believe you." He mumbled softly, feeling very tense and nervous.
Matthew moved his chair right next to Dominic, wrapping an arm around him in comfort.
"They will believe me," he said softly. "More likely than not, you won't ever run into them."
Dominic nodded slowly, still scared, but trying to act brave for Matthew, "Oh, uhm, o-okay. .." He said with a small smile, then looked up Matthew, his smile growing a little more. "That's good." He mumbled, resting his head on Matthew's shoulder, "Thank you."
Matthew held Dominic close, smiling back a bit.
"You're welcome…" he wrapped one wing around them both, resting his head on Dominic's in turn.
Dominic began to space out alittle bit, enjoying the quiet, but soon a loud knock on the door was heard, "Uhm, Matthew, I think someone is outside." He said in a quietly, his voice was almost a whisper. "Do you want me to move out of sight, just in case?" He moved little bit and looked up at him, his cheeks a light shade of pink, "I don't mind."
Matthew looked up when he heard the knock. He turned to Dominic again, gently placing his hand on Dominic's head.
"You don't have to," he said gently, wanting to keep Dominic calm. Matthew stood, leaving his hand on Dominic a moment.
"Okay then." He said with a cheery smile as he did his best to stay calm. Honestly, it wasn't that he was nervous, moreso confused. Well, a bit of both. Back home, he had no cares in the world, other than bills, but here, the littlest things got him nervous, like someone knocking at the door. As the knocks began to grow louder, Dominic just looked down at Sir Fluff and began to cuddle with him again, although he wasn't sure the griffin liked the sudden attention.
Matthew drew away from Dominic after a moment to answer the door with a soft hum.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Someone said you brought an outsider to your home," a man said gruffly. He was a few inches taller than Matthew, with hawk like wings.
"Since when was that a crime?" Fluff let out an indignant sound, but he settled into the attention.
Dominic stood up and inched his way closer towards the two, peering around the corner and at the other man. Still holding Sir Fluff in his arms.
The other man simply looked down at Matthew, a cool detached look on his face, "You know that we do not just simply allow anyone into our village, no matter how "cute" they may be." He said with a slight chuckle as if he thought that the idea of that was absurd, "Matthew, if you want this outsider -who doesn't even have wings- in our village, you know what needs to be done."
Matthew let out a soft huff, crossing his arms a bit.
"But he's really really cute," he mumbled quietly. "Fine, fine, whatever. Even though I've brought others into the village before and had no trouble. Like the centaur, the mermaid, hell even the hunter! But the moment I bring a, when, whatever this man is, into town, suddenly it's not okay."
"That's exactly right, we don't know what this man is, and apparently, he is from another world." He shook his head, an amused smile on his face, "Matthew, you're a grown man, it's time to stop bringing strays -or whatever you call them- back into the village. The others were sort of alright since you were planning on returning them. But how would you return someone who cannot fend for themself in our world? Or someone who isn't from our world. If you hand him over peacefully, the council will decide on what to do with him, and he may be returned to you, but if you decide to fight against it, the odds of you getting him back are very slim."
Matthew let out a soft sigh.
"Is it so wrong for me to want to help people?" he shook his head a bit. "You said it yourself, he's not from this world. He doesn't know how things work. Might I at least stay with him while the council decides?"
"It's not wrong for you to help people." The other man said with a bit of an exasperated sigh, "You know the rules, he needs to be kept away from the others until he's approved, now, are you going to make things easy for me, or am I going to have to get the boy myself?"
Dominic moved away and sat back down at the table, still cuddling with Sir Fluff, Oh dear lord, how am I going to stay safe here? I want to stay with Matthew.
"Can my griffin at least stay with him?" Matthew asked, begging at this point.
"Please, he won't do well left on his own. He's already scared enough as it is." Still, Matthew stepped back, moving to go get Dominc.
"Come on," he said softly, putting his arms around Dominic and helping stand up. "You're going to be okay."
The other avian shook his head, "He'll be alright, no one will hurt him, but the griffin might be a bit of a distraction." He did feel a bit bad for the two boys, and he knew that Matthew wasn't lying. Giving the boy a reassuring smile, he gently patted Matthew on the shoulder, "I'll talk to the council and see what I can do, alright?"
Dominic looked up at him, trying to smile for him, "I'll be alright Matthew, I'll see you later?" He managed to choke out, his eyes brimming with tears. "A-are you coming too?" He said, his eyes down cast when he saw the man enter.
"Thank you," Matthew said softly to the other avian. He held Dominic close a moment.
"You're going to have to go on you're own for a bit," Matthew said gently. "But I'm going to make sure you come back soon, okay?" He reached up, cupping Dominic's head gently in comfort. Still, he lifted Fluff out of Dominic's arms, setting the griffin down.
Dominic nodded a little bit, confused as to why someone was coming now, ruining his peace, his one time actually being happy around someone who seemed to care about him. He wanted to say something, anything that might make this easier, but he could think of none. Thankfully his manners kicked in, and he mumbled a soft thank you. Then, his tears began to fall when Sir Fluff was taken away, Now I'm all alone. . .
The other man sensed the tenseness of the situation and just decided to end the goodbye right then, "Alright, I'm sorry Matthew, I'll try to sneak you in later, alright?" He said as he grabbed Dominic's eyes, "Come along now."
Matthew gave Dominic one last hug when he started crying, arms tight around him. He reluctantly let go, nodding a bit.
"Thank you…" he wiped Dominc's tears away one last time, and then they were gone.
((Okay, should we timeskip or something, or do you want to have them interact a tiny bit while he's there with the council or something?))
(I'm thinking just skip to when Matthew sneaks in to see Dominic? The council is pretty… relaxed? They probably won't even meet Dominic until they decide what to do with him, and even then it's not like he's gonna die or something. Probably just end up with Matthew being his legal guardian or something)
((OOf, I made them sound mean, so uhm major oof. That sounds good though, would you like me to start it?))