"Woah, hey! Hold on!" Charlie swiftly reached out and grabbed the sketchy guy's shoulder. "What the fuck is that thing?!" He asked quieting his voice but still leaving harshness in his tone. He needed to hear the person say it to determine if the dude was actually lying or not. I'm going to flip my shit if that's an actual dragon.
Gij shied away from Charlie’s outstretched arm, as though he were afraid Charlie was going to hit him.
“It-it’s nothing! Don’t worry about it!” The lump stirred and gave a faint cry.
"Jesus Christ man, I'm not going to hurt you," Charlie growled lightly when the guy moved away from him before he pushed himself to his feet. He held a hand out for the man to take it as help getting up. "I just need to know if you have an actual dragon with you. I mean, I don't think any natural creature on Earth has four legs and wings and sounds like that."
Gij stirred himself off of the ground, not accepting Charlie’s hand. He tightened his grip on the lump and he felt the little dragon stir against his chest.
“No, I don’t have any type of dragon. It’s just a puppy.”
"Odd, I don't remember any puppies being blue in color except for Blue from Blue's Clues," Charlie called Gij out for his lie almost instantly with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He quickly bent down to pick up his bags of groceries he had dropped in the run-in with the guy. "Look, you're the caretaker of that creature, correct? You're the worst liar I've come across today. And since you managed to bump into me of all people, it seems like you need some amount of help. I'm heading home, follow me or don't. I don't particularly care. But if you manage to screw up and get that baby killed, I'm going to find you, kill you, resurrect you, and then kill you again." Charlie took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and shove his feelings back where they came from. "Have a nice day!" was all Charlie could manage to get out and he began to walk away from the guy and his cute little creature. Not cute! I haven't even seen if fully yet!
Gij bit his lip as the sarcasm brayed him. He dipped his head slightly (this is so weak I apologize), not responding to Charlie.
“You wouldn't mind if I came with you?” He asked his question louder than what he expected, then winced.
Charlie took a deep sigh and fixed his glasses. "No, I wouldn't mind at all," he answered the guy honestly, in a softer tone which betrayed his 'trying to be tough' facade. "Come along, my flat is only a few blocks away and I currently have no other resident with me," He attempted to sound comforting with that information as he began to lead the way towards his home.
Gij rolled his shoulders back nervously and glanced around. “Er… alright….” He scrambled to go after Charlie, adjusting the grip on his lunp-of-blanket. He flicked his long dirty blonde hair out of his eyes as he followed, not wanting to loose sight of his new companion.
"If you're going home with me you'll probably want to know my name. It's Charles; Charlie if you prefer," He paused his walking for a second to look behind him at the guy. "So what's your name?" He shifted the groceries in his arms from one side of his body to the other.
Gij avoided Charlie’s look. “I’m Gij. Nice to meet you.” He allowed himself to trail behind Charlie.
"So Gij, was I right?" He asked as he turned back around and continued walking, getting closer to his flat. "That creature, was I right about it? It's a dragon?" He asked curiously as he fiddled around his pocket, searching for his keys in preparation for the doors.
Gij glanced around, looking out for someone. “Yes. It is.” He spoke in a softer voice and tone than his already extremely quiet voice was. Doing so made it rather hard to understand what he was saying.
(Reeed)
(OH SHIT SORRY)
Charlie sighed, hearing a quiet 'yes' from behind him as he finally fished his keys out from his pocket. Spotting his apartment building, he made an obvious shift in direction towards the flats. "Here we are," he announced, stopping at the doorstep to unlock the front door to the complex. "I hope that thing isn't too heavy, cuz there are a few flights of stairs to go still."
(Das oki.)
Gij followed Charlie inside nervously, jumping occassionally at non-existent noise. He looked at Charlie, blinking as he asked the question.
“O-oh, no, he’s not heavy. It’s just a pup, so… I’ll be able to make it up the steps.”
"Okay… just two flights to my flat. Not much longer," Charlie chuckled softly under his breath. This poor guy seemed to be so nervous and way over his head. And he had the unfortunate luck of running into me. He thought as he continued up the stairs, passing up two doors with quiet rooms before reaching his door, number 177.
(Senior stuff is just killing my free time and I hate it lol)
(Ooooooof)
Gij crept up after Charlie, jumping and looking over his shoulder down the flight of steps nervously as they climbed. He almost bumped into Charlie when they stopped, and Gij let out a breath of relief. They’d made it.
Charlie unlocked his door, trying to ignore the jumps and noises coming from Gij. He stepped aside to motion Gij into his flat first before following in and closing the door behind him, his groceries still held in one arm. "There's milk in the fridge if that thing is still a baby. I also have some deli meats in one of the door shelves."
Gij shuffled in, looking odd and out of place in Charlie’s flat.
“Right. Thank you.” Gij bowed slightly, his sweater (not the lump, the one he was wearing) drooping down to reveal an odd glimmer. Human skin didn’t glimmer.
Charlie made sure to lock the door behind him before turning to place the keys on the stand near the door. When he finally faced Gij, he noticed the odd glimmer on his skin. That… is his skin… He couldn't help but stare, gulping nervously before forcing himself to look everywhere else besides Gij. "Kitchen is this way," Charlie brushed past the man quickly, leading him through the flat to the kitchen.
Gij straightened up hastily, wondering what had caused the sudden shift. He gve a tiny nod anyway and scrambled after Charlie, making sure he didn’t knock anything over in the process.
Charlie led Gij through the house, pointing at several routes that also lead to the kitchen as he rounded the corner and popped out of the hallway. The kitchen was a nice size with a small dining area that opened into the living room. The floor was of dark brown tiles that didn't creak when Charlie walked across them to place his groceries on the middle island counter. "If you continue down that hallway, you'll run into two bedrooms with connected bathrooms. The one on the left is mine. You can crash in the bedroom on the right."
Gij nodded a little, shifting his grip on the dragon pup. “Er… do you have a fireplace or heater?” He glanced around the kitchen, shifting his weight slightly as he did so.
"I have a heater disguised as a fake fireplace in the living room. This way," Charlie walked through the kitchen and dining room to turn the corner into the living room. He walked up to the fake fireplace and changed the settings to a warmer temperature. Fake flames lit up the front panel as it kicked on.
Gij tailed after him a few steps back and watched as he kicked it on.
“Okay, thank you.” Gij shifted slightly. “What did you say your name was?”
(Beep beep)
(thanks…)
"Charles. Charles Winston. Though you can just call me Charlie," He stood back from the heater, giving plenty of room for Gij and the baby dragon. "Make yourselves comfortable," Charlie nodded to Gij before disappearing into the kitchen again to put away the groceries he left out.
Gij nodded and sat down on the couch. He glanced around and pulled the sweater away from the pup’s head. It was more or less a puppy (in size and approximate weight). It was a sleek dark-blue with emerald colored eyes with a bright green tongue lolling out of its mouth. It had two small horns protruding from its head that was a light blue. It yapped softly when Gij revealed it.
“Are you okay, Sobex?” Gij asked it gently, rubbing it’s head.
Charlie paused rather dramatically in the kitchen, making his movements stop completely. "You named the dragon Sobex?" he called incredulously from the kitchen to Gij. He slowly went back to putting the groceries away into the fridge, scowling to himself. He began to mutter to himself, "Could've named it Spot or Trixie or Oreo or some dog-like name but instead he names it 'Sorbex'?!"
Gij huffed. “You can’t name a dragon a dog name. They’re two totally different things.”
Sobex yapped softly and nuzzled Gij’s chin. The pup seemed to like Gij a lot.