Fantasy Familiar (1 on 1) (CLOSED)

[Minteafresh]

Aster gave a small hum to show that he was listening. Ayo as a tailor sounded pretty realistic, though it'd be a real waste of his powers. Tailoring as a side job was a lot more plausible. Though it was Ayo's future, and as long as he was doing what he wanted, that didn't matter. Unless Ayo aspired to be a mass murderer; that would probably matter alot.

When the door opened, Aster followed Ayo out into the living room. He hoped that there wasn't anything specific he needed to say or do. Was there a proper greeting thing? Humans had changed so much. While that was a good thing, not being in the loop about humans and their newly acquired behavioral changes was not so much of a good thing. There was nothing he could do but watch Ayo share a hug with his mother. Aw, humans still carried such strong bonds with their kin; that was nice.

He couldn't help but be slightly offended when the suggestion that he was some weird human came up. For starters, humans weren't even his height; they were all tiny and small. Of course, with that being his only reasoning as to why he wasn't a strange man, anyone could've been fooled. He however, thought that it was a totally valid reason. He shifted from one leg to the other as they spoke, eyes landing on the little bird. Huh, look at those bright colors. It seemed to be happy to be here; guess this house was pro - familiars are people too. Aster could easily guess that not all houses were like that.

"Don't you need help?" Aster asked in slight concern. Really, he wasn't sure how he felt about just standing here awkwardly like this. Why Ayo, why would you leave and not take him with you? He had no idea what to say. What if it was rude to not say anything? A part of him was used to that 'don't speak unless you're spoken to' policy that alot of humans had, but it seemed like that policy had changed to some kind of 'do whatever you want as long as it's not illegal lol' one. It left room for alot of confusion really. But, he wasn't about to stand here in silence. Ones like that were the worse. "Hello ma'am" He said simply, because oh yeah, silence no more.

 

[eirastrid]

“Ayo - Ayo take Aster with you-“ his mother called, flinging her hands up when she heard the door shut behind him. “Well. He’s gone.”

She craned her head to look up at Aster, appraising him with a hand on her hip before looking away, evidently having decided something about Aster. “No need to be so formal,” she said. “My name’s Lori, you can just call me that. And don’t look so tense! As long as you don’t destroy the apartment and you keep Ayo out of trouble, you’ll be good.”

Lori’s smile was soft as she started taking off her shoes and putting her work bag away. “He’s a good kid. I’m very proud of him. I mean, a dragon-shifter? I was worried when he kept trying to do magic without a familiar, so I’m glad he was able to summon you. You take care of him, ‘kay?”

Ayo burst through the door, panting and sweating, carrying multiple bags of meat. “This is - very heavy -“ he wheezed out. He dropped them, bracing his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

Lori raised an eyebrow. “Then don’t lift all of them at once.”

“No I’m fine. Oh god my lungs.”

“Uh huh. Sure.”

Lori took the bags. “Hopefully you’ll like some of this Aster. It’s raw meat.” She took it over to the kitchen, out of sight of Ayo and Aster to put it away.

Ayo grinned up at Aster, standing up straight again. “Have you had cake before?” he asked. “Or ice cream? Or literally anything that’s not raw?” He began meandering to the kitchen. “Because if you haven’t, I’m gonna blow your mind.”

 

[Minteafresh]

"I'll do my best to watch over your son" He said with a small nod. At least she didn't hate him. Not that he thought she would, he just- Just was strangely nervous. Like, meeting Ayo's mother and making a good impression was a big deal after all. He wanted to reassure her that Ayo was infact, in good hands. And it seemed he had done just that with pretty much no effort. Good job him.

When Ayo burst in, Aster was concerned at first. With a judgmental look, he agreed with Lori. If they were so heavy, why carry them all at once? Though Ayo seemed like he was suffering from his choices enough; breathing all hard and heavy like that. He must've ran. What a not good idea; hopefully Ayo didn't make more of those. Or if he did, at least Aster was here to make sure that that number was significantly smaller then it would be had he not been here.

Oh? Aster glanced over at Lori. Raw meat? He liked raw meat. Though he was aware that some humans were really squeamish about it. He'd hate to make anyone uncomfortable though . . . no . . . he's sure that it was fine. As long as it wasn't some cursed salad, he'd be more then happy to eat ten times his weight in meat.

At Ayo's question, he shook his head. "No? Well, I've eaten wild fruit sometimes. But my diet usually consisted of raw meat and fish." Whatever he could hunt was what he ate. "I know what fruit pies are though. A woodland fairy . . ." Actually . . . it was better to not tell the actual story. "Well she had one, but I never tasted it" Why? Because his stupid older brother ate the fairy. And the pie too. But he wasn't about to say that. Minor details, very minor details. "I've heard humans were into making lots of sweets though" He added, to switch the topic. "Something about teeth and sweet?" Sweet tooths, but he was just doing his best.

 

[eirastrid]

Lori clearly relaxed at Aster’s reassurance. She trusted Ayo, but a familiar was a big deal, and she wanted Ayo to be safe and happy. She knew that she had to be a little more hands-off now that he was older, let him leave the nest so to speak, but it didn’t stop her from fretting over him. She had seen Ayo struggle with magic for years and suffer with the social ramifications of insisting to continue to do magic without a familiar. Maybe she was a little protective of him.

Aster seemed like a good person (dragon?) though. At the very least, he seemed much more reversed and logical. Hopefully, he would rein Ayo back when he decided to go crazy with magic. And it was a bonus that he was polite too, she mused as she rearranged the fridge to put the meat away, listening to Ayo chatter away at Aster.

Ayo gasped, and dramatically went onto his tippy toes to pat Aster on the shoulder sadly, wiping away fake tears. ”Oh, you poor thing. No spices? Have you ever eaten a spice? You are going to be so happy that I summoned you.” He clapped his hands. “You mean a sweet tooth? It just means that someone really likes sweet foods. I have a sweet tooth. Pie’s alright, I like other kinds of pastry more.“

He gently took Aster’s sleeve, leading him over to the dining room. ”If it’s not gonna hurt your stomach, you can have some of my food to try! We got soup dumplings, chocolate cake - Ma made it last night - and some ice cream too. It’s birthday celebration food.”

Ayo squinted at Aster. “How old are you anyway? Your human form kinda looks like you’re in your early twenties, but you’re also a big ass dragon so…”

 

[Minteafresh]

"Spices?" Aster echoed, confused about what that was. Did he mean like, cinnamon or something? That was just a nice smell really, he wasn't sure why that would go on meat. Or why it would, seemed a bit strange. He allowed his shoulders to be patted, even if he wasn't sure why. Spices were apparently very important to humans, he'd have to figure out why though. Must've been an essential part of their day to day life, like air conditioners.

He trailed after Ayo, looking around the dining room. He personally, had never heard of one. Usually when he caught a moose for dinner, he ate it there. Sometimes bring it home if he wasn't hungry yet, but cleaning up the blood was a bit time consuming. He supposed that humans felt the same, which was why they were all about eating while holding little metal or plastic bits. It seemed like that out of all the things that changed, forks and spoons weren't one of them.

"It is your birthday." He muttered, remembering that fact. Humans were all about birthdays. Those were big deals to humans, if he recalled that fact correctly. They liked celebrating, feasting and getting presents. He wondered if Ayo would be getting a present, or if he even wanted one. Had the art of celebration changed? Humans were always switching things up, it'd be easier on his brain if they just kept things the same.

"I'm about two hundred years old in human, give or take" He said simply, like that wasn't a huge bomb. "We dragons mature at a different rate then humans. Human years go really fast for us, so we age slower in comparison. By the time I was ten, my wings had come in, and mother was throwing me and my siblings off cliffs to fly. I left home a few years later, which was when I was fully grown. Must've been two or three decades in by then. We don't really count our years since they go by so quickly, but every half a century me and my siblings meet up at home; so I think I'm two hundred? I'm not sure" He just like, didn't know man. Doing the mental math in his head was a bit tricky, but it's cool. "All the same I suppose it doesn't matter. I've still got a bit of growing to do; we dragons usually stop growing at the five hundred mark, though after your a hundred years old; you grow really, really slowly."

 

[eirastrid]

Ayo looked at Aster with mute horror. “You know. Spices?” he asked again, slower, like maybe Aster was just pranking him. “Salt? Pepper? Garlic? All the other spices? You put it on your food so that it tastes better? Without it food is bland and bad?” He studied Aster’s face, coming to the horrifying conclusion that Aster really had no what what he was talking about. “Oh no.”

”Ma! Aster’s never eaten a spice!”

”What?!“ Lori poked her head out of the fridge, confused. “That is sad. That is genuinely so sad. We are going to fix this.”

Ayo nodded along sagely. “Yes. You’re welcome in advance.”

Two hundred in human years? That just made that even sadder, honestly. Two hundred human years of eating sad, bland food.

Wait, two hundred human years?

”You’re old!” Ayo said, pointing an accusatory finger at Aster. “You’re so old! Oh my god! I thought you were maybe thirty! And you’re gonna get bigger? You’re already as big as a house!”

Ayo was starting to be grateful for the slow growth of dragons. He wasn’t sure he could handle Aster being even larger. Was Aster’s human form going to get taller too? Was Aster going to be too tall to fit in most ceilings by the time Ayo was thirty? It already made Ayo’s neck sore trying to look at his face. Nope, he was not thinking about it. It hurt his brain too much.

“Hold on.” Ayo went over to one of the take out bags, getting out a soup spoon, one of the soup dumplings and a pair of chopsticks. “I need you to eat this. Use the chopsticks to poke a hole in the dumpling, drink the soup, then eat the dumpling. Just do it.” Admittedly, Ayo wanted to see his reaction to eating something with flavor that wasn’t gross, raw meat. He thought it’d be funny.

 

[Minteafresh]

Out of all the spices listed, Aster knew exactly one. Salt. Ocean water was pretty salty, he couldn't imagine how that would make food taste good though. The salty water made his mouth really dry and even more thirsty though. Surely, that couldn't be what Ayo was talking about, right? It seemed like a very big deal, even Lori thought so. Just what was he missing out on? Something very important it seemed.

His made a face at Ayo, brows drawn together. He was . . . offended? "I'm not old" He argued. "Dragons live close to their thousands. I have plenty of long decades ahead of me." Rude, Ayo. Aster was in the prime of his life. "You can call me old when you're here-" And rose his hand half a foot above Ayo's head. "But you're not, meaning I'm not old" Ok yeah Aster, be petty. But . . . was he really that old? In human terms probably. Their lifespan was usually a hundred years or so. And they got all old, fleshy; nothing too exciting. Still, being called old was weird. It never happened before. He didn't know how to feel about it-

Though bad or good feelings were put to the side as he was presented with . . . something. A big spoon, some round blob, and chopsticks. Aster obviously had no idea how to use chopsticks, so he stabbed the dumpling rather awkwardly. It was obvious that there was liquid inside the dumpling; so he took a little sip; though more went in his mouth then he intended. He ended up choking at the non-water like liquid inside; his taste buds confused cause nah what is this??? It was warm and uh . . . not bad? He felt strange. Was this good or not? He couldn't be sure. Instead he went for the dumpling part. Kinda fleshy, he didn't know how to describe the texture in his mouth. As he chewed it, his facial expression bordered on confused, delighted and neutral. There was meat in it, he could tell. But it was warm meat, he'd never tasted that before. Juicy, and very . . . he wasn't even sure what the word was. It was just alot of things happening.

When he was finally finished, Aster looked at Ayo; struggling to put his feelings into words. "It was . . . new" He said simply because that was the best he could do really.

 

[eirastrid]

”Hey! That’s not fair! I’m not even gonna grow anymore!“ Ayo reached up to swat Aster’s hand. “Besides, what does my height have to do with my age? That doesn’t stop you from being old! It just means that you’re gonna get even older. Ancient even. I’m gonna have a wizened old man for a familiar.”

He folded his arms and stuck out his tongue at Aster in a childish gesture. “I can’t believe you’re bullying me. My own familiar, bullying me for my height. So mean. It’s not my fault that I’m short!“ He laughed. It was funny, seeing such a serious personality get so offended over being called old. Ayo tucked that little piece of information away for when he wanted to poke fun at him a little.

Aster’s use of chopsticks was comically bad, and Ayo went into a fit of giggling as Aster tried the dumpling. “Your face!” Ayo clapped his hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. “You look like you’re having an out of body experience!“ He bent over the table, hitting it with his fist.

“New? Yeah, ’cuz it tastes good, unlike your food,” Ayo said, taking the utensils from Aster, still occasionally laughing. He got out one of the trays with dumplings, sans the dumpling he gave Aster, getting his own set of utensils and starting to eat.

He blew on one of the dumplings. “Oh, tomorrow, I’m gonna have to take you to the registration office before class starts.” He sipped the hot liquid. “You have to resister familiars. We’ll go before it gets too hot.” He popped the dumpling in his mouth.

Lori opened up a container on the counter filled with bird seed, putting a handful into a bowl for her own familar to eat. “If you don’t, you can get fined pretty heavily. They’ll put you on file with Ayo’s information. Mages have some pretty heavy restrictions on magic that they can do. I had to get licensing for doing spell work at the tailor’s shop,” she explained, sparing a fleeting glance at Aster. “Are you hungry? I can get you some of the venison if you want deer. I can also spice it.”

 

[Minteafresh]

"I don't have it any better, with a little munchkin as the person I'm bound to" Aster replied matter of factly. He wasn't one to argue, but letting Ayo have the last word was a big no-no. He was already too big for his britches, as the saying went. He wrinkled his nose in distaste at Ayo, though let him have his moment. Short people's feelings were invalid anyway, he didn't care.

He couldn't help but be a little disappointed. "It's going to be hot again?" Really just silently mourning. He couldn't stand the heat, that didn't seem fun at all. At least they'd be gone before it got too hot. He'd be fine, just had to suck it up. The sooner it was over, the better. A little curious about school though, and how that would work. It was really the only thing he was looking forward to tomorrow.

Lori's explanation made sense, and h gave a small nod. He supposed it made sense, even if he didn't totally agree with the thought of magical restrictions. For the safety of the people, because humans were so important and whatnot.

At the offer he gave a small nod. "If it's not too much or a bother" He said. Normally he ate in his dragon form, though there was no logical way to do that without ruining everything in here. Oh well, human form meant smaller portions and no razor sharp teeth, but he'd manage. It was something he'd have to learn if he expected to be here for awhile anyway.

 

[eirastrid]

"I'm not- I'm not a munchkin!" Ayo protested, pouting up at Aster, looking very much like a small angry munchkin. He went back to his soup dumplings, grumbling into his spoon. "I'm not a munchkin. You're just really tall. I'm making you clothes, you gotta be nice to me."

He nodded. "It's early June. It's not too bad, but it's pretty hot. Lemme check the weather." He pulled out his phone, swiping to the weather app and frowning at it. "It's gonna be up in the late 80's tomorrow, so yeah. It'll be nasty. Luckily, the classrooms have air conditioning, so you'll be fine."

Behind him, Lori got out the slabs of venison chuck, putting them on a cutting board and removing large pieces, putting it onto a plate. She washed her hands, opening up a spice cabinet, spicing one of hte pieces with salt, pepper, garlic, herbs, paprika, and other various spices. The rest were left unseasoned so that it would be close to what Aster was already used to. She set the plate in front of Aster as well as a fork and knife. "You can get food yourself later, but it's your first day here." She sat down across from Ayo, getting food herself and starting to eat.

"Ayo, hon," she started. "When you're done, your present's in my work bag."

Ayo nodded. He gave her a thumbs up and a smile, and started to eat faster. After eating a soup dumpling whole and burning his throat, he grabbed the work bag, finding a small box and holding it up to confirm that it was the gift. He sat back down and ate his last dumpling before opening it up to revealing two golden sets of jewlery for his cartilage piercings. They were intricately engraved with swirls and other patterns.

"They each have a one-time little protection spell in them," Lori said. "Don't go jumping off any buildings, but it'll help with more minor dangers."

Ayo took out his old jewelry, putting in the new ones. "These look really pretty Ma, thank you so much!"

"Mmmhmm. Happy birthday."

Ayo put his old earrings in a pile, leaning back and stretching. "Oh, Aster. You said you don't sleep for ages, right? Do you need anything for when I do sleep? I also snore...so..."

 

[Minteafresh]

'Yeah, alright' Aster thought, though left it at that. Leave it to a short person to get all defensive. Of course he said that as though he hadn't just been arguing against his age. Whatever, the past was in the past and it so far there that he couldn't even remember it happening. Actually, it was more like pretending it never happened, because he was far too mature and grown up for that sort of thing. Totally.

There were ups and downs. It would be hot, but at least there would be air conditioning, which made things significantly less hot. What a good human product, he was sure that without it, he'd be dead. Well maybe not dead, but laying on the floor and groaning pitifully. Well not quite that either. Probably that, but in his head. He wasn't sure how he'd feel about this whole school thing; but at least it'd be cool inside. He'd definitely despise school if it was all hot and sweaty; gross.

The spiced meat looked . . . very interesting. "Thank you" He said as soon as it was put in front of him, picking up the knife and fork. Surprisingly - though maybe not really considering his past - he knew how to use them, and cut off a piece of the seasoned meat to slowly chew. It had his taste buds tingling in a happy way which he figured meant that he liked it. And you know what? He did like it. Spices were a good human creation. They really made things taste better. He tasted a unseasoned piece and there wasn't any comparison. The seasoned one obviously tasted better; though the raw and plain one was more familiar. He wondered how this would work if he was hunting his own prey. It just seemed a little wrong to kill a dear and then bust out spices to shake over it.

His eyes flickered to Ayo when he spoke, giving a small shake of his head when he finished his mouthful. "I don't think so? I think I'll be fine" I mean really, Aster planned on being nice and quiet; slipping into some meditation. It was normally a way he focused on his power; but when you live alone for several decades, you adapt. He was used to - and actually enjoyed - quiet times; so he'd be fine alone for a couple of hours. Maybe process everything that happened too.

 

[eirastrid]

The rest of the evening had gone smoothly in Ayo’s opinion. He ate an obscene amount of sugar via cake, gotten ready to sleep, told Aster to please let him sleep but to kick him if he slept past his alarm, and then promptly passed out. Shockingly fast too. He had bundled himself up in a pile of blankets with his head poking out and then he was out like a light.

That tangle of blankets stopped being nice when his alarm started blaring though, bright and early. He flailed, freeing an arm and turning it off before groaning. He blearily looked around the room and saw Aster, and then promptly fell out of his bed, yelping. Barely awake, he had assumed that maybe he dreamed up that he summoned a powerful familiar. He was wrong about that. That was real.

Holy shit, he had a fucking familiar.

Oh god, he had to get up to get him registered before class.

He dragged himself up, waving and rubbing his eyes. “G’morning…” he mumbled, stumbling over his own feet. He went over to the dresser and grabbed his clothes for the day, keeping things casual and lightweight for the weather. “I’m gonna go…” he paused, blinking while his brain caught up. “Teeth. Brush. Wear. Clothing. Yeah.“

He gave Aster a thumbs up before making his way to the restroom and getting ready for the day. Afterwards he didn’t go back to the bedroom right away, grabbing identifying paperwork for resignation. ”Aster…you want breakfast? There’s your meat in the fridge, we gotta head out in like fifteen minutes if we wanna be there soon enough to get to class.” He got himself some fruit and ate it while packing his bag with the papers and his school supplies.

 

[Minteafresh]

Ayo just seemed to be the biggest hazard ever, mostly to himself it seemed. Aster has taken the night to peacefully be quiet and peace. He closed his eyes, opening them at the sound of the alarm. He hadn't really known what to expect from the other, but Ayo falling out the bed was strangely just what he had expected. He just . . . seemed the type to do it. Though that didn't help his concern that the other had hit or broken something. "Are you . . . ok?" The way he just kept moving like that was interesting? This probably happened alot, he guessed.

He watched Ayo get ready for the day, already being ready himself. Well the only thing he had to do was comb a hand through his hair to make sure it was still all nice and proper looking. Which it was, of course.

While Ayo multitasked with fruit and paper, Aster got a little cup of water. "I'll be fine" Really, he didn't need to eat much. A little something here and there was more then enough for him. Dumping a few cubes of ice into his water, he looked out the window. What a nice morning, he might've enjoyed it if he had known it wouldn't be hot.

"How far is the registration office anyways?" He asked, glancing at Ayo. "I assume it's close to your school?"

 

[eirastrid]

"Yep, all good," Ayo mumbled. "Is too early..."

Aster's rejection of food initially worried Ayo, but he brushed it off. Aster was a dragon, he reminded himself. Just because Aster looked mostly like a human didn't mean he actually was one. "Kinda,
he replied, tying the shoelaces on his shoes and putting his backpack up. He opened up the door for Aster. "It's pretty close but it's a little out of the way. It's just that I can't actually take you into the school and into my classes if you're not registered, so we're doing it now."

He shut the door behind Aster, scuffing the ground as he walked. He yawned loudly, taking Aster's sleeve again so that he wouldn't get lost. He seemed to be making a habit out of that. Aster just seemed a little clueless about how modern society worked, and he didn't want him to freak out. The streets were already bustling with activity with people trying to get to their various workplaces. Chatter and the sound of rolling cars filled the air. The weather was a little on the humid end, but it hadn't heated up yet, making for a tolerable climate. Ayo looked up at Aster, and did a double take.

How the fuck was his hair so smooth still? Ayo knew that he hadn't directed Aster to any hairbrushes - not that any of his combs and brushes were really suitable for Aster's hair type. Maybe it was dragon magic? Regardless, suspicious.

But man, was he tired. It wasn't fair. He had to do two steps for Aster's one. And Aster got to fly - he had mentioned it last night, Ayo recalled - so it was double unfair. Ayo tapped Aster to get his attention. "Heeey Aster?" he asked, giving him his best puppy dog eyes. "We can't do any magic until you're registered, but after we do that, you should fly to the school carrying me. Pleeease? I've never flown before. And you'll get out of the weather faster."

 

[Minteafresh]

Aster followed Ayo out the house, grimacing at the weather. It wasn't by a whole lot, and thankfully not as bad as yesterday, but he still didn't like it. Curse whoever made the summer season, it was really unneeded. He'd prefer two winters as a matter of fact. All those people surrounding him made him a little uncomfortable; used to living most of his life alone in his little comfy cave. But there were no caves, and he decided that over-populated areas were the absolute worse. Ayo's presence was very nice, he probably would've died internally if he were alone.

He rose a brow, an unsaid 'what?' in the air as the other made a weird face. What was he looking at? Don't be weird Ayo, literally nothing was wrong. Aster didn't have anything on his face, did he? That was impossible, he hadn't eaten. In the end, he brushed it off as weird human behavior; which was a totally valid response. Humans were weird, and Ayo wasn't exempt from that statement.

He was looking around when he got tapped; only to glance down at the others little puppy dog eyes. Ok, weird. Why was he doing th- oh. He gave Ayo a very unimpressed look, even if inside he wanted to just squish the others face together. "Alright" He sighed, even if it was a great idea. He'd get to stretch his wings, less humans, not be as hot, and overall a far easier journey. There were no cons about it. Well, maybe one.

"Just please be careful" He said. "And no letting go either. You can imagine how bad that'd be. I know that murder is illegal, but I will infact leave you atop of a building if you throw up on me" He wouldn't actually, but the idea of that happening sounded awful. For one, the smell. For two, the cleanup. And for three, those together would be simply awful.

 

[eirastrid]

"Really?! Score!" Ayo cheered, bouncing on his toes and grinning. Oh he was so excited. Who didn't want to learn to fly as a kid? This was like a childhood dream come true for him. He started speed walking, only stopping for red lights. "I promise that I won't let go or vomit on you! OhmygodI'mgonnagettoflyonareallifedragon-"

Ayo really liked heights. As a hobby when he was younger, he had picked up parkouring (a reason for his many, many scrapes and bruises), and he loved getting high up. No one bothered him up there, he was completely separate from everyone below him. Rooftops became a solace during some of his worst periods of life. Greif, rejection, dysphoria, it all lessened the pain of that. It was soothing, to see the world be far bigger than just him.

So the chance to get to fly? With a familiar? One that he liked as much as Aster - he was a little bit of a stick in the mud, but that was okay - was great. Plus, what a kick ass way to get to school. If a small part of him wanted to rub in the fact that he had a dragon familiar he could fly on in everyone's faces, he wasn't going to say anything about it. Even if it was a large part of him. A very large part.

The pair reached a large building with a bronze sign that read, "Bureau of Magical Regulation." Ayo stopped at the foot of the stairs. A few people were entering in and out of the large double doors, but it was pretty empty at this time of the day. "You ready? They have some magic that lets them physically see a familiar-mage bond, but they'll probably ask you a few questions since you can speak."

 

[Minteafresh]

'Did you even hear me?' Aster shot Ayo a glance, noting that the other seemed very excited. Had he heard what Aster said? It seemed like it had gone in one ear, out the other. It would probably be better to recite everything he just said so that no one could say he didn't try. Though he doubted Ayo would fall off and die. Aster had never let anyone use him as a ride before, but as long as he was careful; nothing could go wrong.

When they arrived at the big and very important building; Aster glanced over the name. Very professional; and nicely not full. When he headed inside, he noted the very wonderful air conditioning thing going on. Ahh, he never wanted to leave. Well, ish.

There was a nice looking secretary who was probably only in a good mood because the day had just begun. A twin tailed cat rested on the desk and aww the cat was wearing a little suit and hat, fancy pants little dude. She pointed them to a specific area of the building; tap tapping away at her keyboard. What a nice lady.

The area they were directed to wasn't super busy; since it was early and all. And the familiar registration office person seemed a little surprised to see them, mostly because both Ayo and Aster seemed . . . human? Like ya'know, not animal like, which was how most familiars looked. Not like the cat with two tails or the speckled blobby thing in it's personal chair looking all round and soft.

"Have a seat" The man said kindly, motioning to the two seats in the office across from him and his blob.

Aster got nice and comfy, though all tense and stiff because he never really fit anywhere, ever.

"This registration form is very simple. A few questions and you'll be all set" The guy said, and slightly turned to the computer.

The questions weren't really hard, honestly. What was his name, species, abilities, all that natural stuff. Maybe Aster was over-thinking it, but he could've swore that a certain look flashed over the guys -who shall be dubbed Mr. Smith- face. Was that surprise? Nah, couldn't be. He was probably just making things up. Or maybe he wasn't. Though the little hums and quick glances being thrown his way as if Mr. Smith was trying to figure him out certainly weren't.

Aster just shrugged it off. Strong familiars were probably just a surprise, that's all. They were rare after all, so the glances made sense. Totally valid. After all the information needed was asked, Mr. Smith handed over a small card with a number to call if they ever needed help. There was even a website to visit if needed.

"You boys take care, and be careful" Mr. Smith said in a non-ominous tone. Aster was mostly just ready to go, standing up from his chair.

"Ready to go?" He asked, turning to Ayo as a means to try and pretend like he didn't see the awkward goodbye smile Mr. Smith had thrown his way.

 

[eirastrid]

Ayo tried to make the process as smooth as possible, taking out his paperwork like his address, birth certificate, and government ID. The form was easy enough to fill out - and he knew Aster's last name now, that was cool. Aster got his power ranking. Grade A, no surprise there. It made Ayo feel special, to be honest, having people be surprised about Aster's human form. The employee had double checked Ayo's age, but Ayo laughed it off with an explanation that he was a very late bloomer.

He didn't like the way that the man looked at Aster though. Almost like he knew something about him. Ayo relied a lot on his gut, and he had discovered that his first impressions of people were right on the money most of the time. But surely, this was Ayo being paranoid. He was still a little tired, and riding off of the high of meeting Aster in the first place. He was probably just being a little over protective, which was silly, since Aster could definitely handle himself better than Ayo could.

Ayo pocketed the card with a small thank you, and nodded at Aster, having forgotten that uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Let's go! I wanna fly, come on, come on!"

When they had left the building, Ayo took Aster's wrist, looking to find a large enough area that he oculd transform in without hurting someone or something. In his eagerness, he didn't quite realize that it was the first skin to skin contact they had had, not counting him in his dragon form. Aster's skin was cool against Ayo's warm hand.

Ayo perked up when he noticed a mostly empty parking lot. He pointed. "There! Let's go there to fly! My schools over to the right of here, you should be able to see it pretty easily. I'll tell you. Come on, come on! It'll be so awesome!"

__

In the office the pair had just left, the man put his phone to his ear.

"Yes," he said. "No, I'm not one hundred percent sure. But the name and the powers match up."

He paused.

"Are you sure? We can go after them now-"

"Yes ma'am. I understand ma'am. Thank you ma'am. We'll make sure someone's keeping an eye on them."

The call ended and he put the phone down, sighing. Behind him, his glowing jellyfish familiar left it's chair, floating around and above his head. He idly played with one of its tendrils, flung up a sound barrier and called another number.

"Hi? Yes, it's me. May the hand of the mage guide you. Anyway, I need you to go track someone named Ayo Kouri. He may have summoned Aster Hollows. Yes, that Aster Hallows. Lay low. That's a direct order from Rossi herself."

He ended the call, dropped the barrier, and straightened himself. With a flick of the wrist, his familiar went back to its seat. "Next customer please!"

 

[Minteafresh]

Was this how parents of hyperactive children felt? Aster had no choice but to follow after Ayo who seemed to be getting more and more hyped up as they walked. Aster supposed that for humans, flying was a big deal. After all, they couldn't do that kinda thing. But of course, they made little planes and whatnot to fly in anyway, because someone just didn't listen to mother nature telling them no.

When his wrist was grabbed, Aster let out a little sigh. How impatient, though it'd not like he could just change his mind and tell Ayo no. For starters, that was mean. And, the other would be crushed, very crushed. For some reason, Aster didn't like the sound of a sad Ayo, that sounded very sad. So he allowed himself to be dragged over to the parking lot; stopping to give Ayo a very serious look.

"Remember what I said" He warned. "No letting go, throwing up or doing anything remotely dangerous. Now stay right here" And gave him a warning point before marching to the center of the parking lot. Yeah, this seemed good enough. He was very careful when transforming; a poof of the winter wind filling the air momentarily as he shifted. Ahh, nice. Aster stretched out his wings before looking down at Ayo. Huh, how was he . . . oh it's fine. He supposed he was a little worried since he didn't really have spikes to make the climbing experience easier; just feathers. He supposed he'd just have to pick Ayo up.

So he did, but with his tail. It sounded alot more quicker then trying to figure out any other way. He crouched down to make the lift as short as possible, but keeping his limbs and limitations of the space in mind was a little challenging. But he managed to curl his tail around Ayo's waist and lift him onto his back, doing his best to look at the other and ensure that he was safe and sound.

Being mindful of the little human on his back, Aster lifted into the air as smoothly as possible; feeling alot more comfortable in the open air and space. "You're holding on ok right?" Aster asked once they were up pretty high. "No feelings of throwing up right? Not even in the slightest?"

 

[eirastrid]

Ayo nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes, I promise! I’ll be super super careful!” He waited patiently for Aster to transform, going up and down on the balls of his toes. He shivered at the cool gust when Aster transformed. Now that he wasn’t in shock, he could actually take a good look at Aster‘s dragon form.

Pretty. He was really pretty. Definitely majestic for sure, with those ombré feathers combined with black horns. Ayo idly wondered where the scar was from. Hopefully, nothing too bad.

Ayo let out a delighted shriek when Aster’s tail coiled around him. He landed on Aster’s back, running forward to get a good grip on him, burying his hands in the soft feathers. When Aster turned back to look at him, Ayo giggled and grinned, practically drowning in Aster’s feathers.

Aster beat his wings and smoothly took off. Ayo yelled, with a mix of a little bit of nervousness coupled with amazement. The wind blew on Ayo’s face, and Ayo gripped onto him a little tighter so that he wouldn’t fall off. “I’m all good! No vomiting!” he called over the wind. “Holy fucking shit!” he whooped, looking down at the ground as it got smaller and smaller. People turned into little dots.

He was wrong. Yesterday wasn’t the best day ever. This was. Flying was exhilarating, to say the least. He leaned into Aster more, resting the side of his face against the downy feathers, enjoying the view of the sky around them.

He pointed down at the school in the distance. ”It’s over there! You can land wherever!“

 

[Minteafresh]

Aster was quite glad that Ayo was ok. Some might say he was more worried of the other throwing up, and those some people would be correct. I mean of course, he was glad that the other was enjoying himself; it'd probably suck to have been summoned by someone who had a fear of heights. It was actually nice, though Aster would never outright tell anyone that, ever. But he was glad that if he wanted to go stretch his wings; Ayo wouldn't have to stay behind.

As one can imagine, flying is pretty quick; so getting to the school really didn't take that long. Aster was only maybe slightly disappointed, taking his time to do a lazy circle in the air before making his descent to land. Later was always another time to fly after all. But he'd feel real bad if he made Ayo late. Humans needed to absorb as much of that knowledge as possible, even if they never really showed that they had retained any of it.

Aster aimed for the courtyard in the front of the school. It looked big enough for him to land, though he'd need to be careful where he put things. Those pathetic things they called trees would get uprooted if he wasn't watching his tail. He would've liked to land immediately, but for the obvious reasons one might expect; there were kids. It really just bothered him because they just stared, didn't move or anything. Murder was illegal but for dumb little children, it should be made an exception.

In the end, he gave up and figured it was obvious where he was landing. He even took the time to do slow spirals so the humans could move their little feet and move. But . . . there they still were! Holding little things in their hands, pointing at him. Phones, not like he knew. 'alright well if I crush them, no one can say it's my fault' he assured himself mentally, touching down on the ground. He whacked his tail hard on the earth; and kids got the memo to move. Or maybe freak out. There was alot of them screaming, pointing and running to get out the way.

"I'm glad you aren't like that" Aster grumbled as he stretched one of his wings; angling it downwards to the ground. "Feel free to climb down. Now, or you'll be late for school"

 

[eirastrid]

Ayo snorted at the small crowd of other kids below Ayo and Aster. Some people were coming running in, trying to get a look at the enormous beast. Others had taken out their phone, recording videos and taking photos. Kids were whispering to each other, pointing up at Aster. Kids scrambled out of the way when Aster beat his tail, forming a small crowd around the pair.

"I'm moving!" Ayo grumbled, reluctant to get off. He stood up on Aster's back, wobbling a little, his legs shaking from all the adrenaline. He slid down Aster's wing, landing on the ground with a small "pap". Brushing himself off, Ayo got a good look at the crowd, filled with kids from freshman to fellow seniors. It felt good, being the center of attention. He stood up and brushed himself off, holding himself up tall and proud.

"You can transform back," he told Aster, giving his feathers one last pet. Did Aster shed? If he did, maybe he could make a pillow out of discarded feathers. He also wanted to see if there was some way to make a harness for himself that would transform with Aster, so that he could be more secure when flying. Just in case he lost his grip. He could see about grabbing onto Aster's horns for a longer flight. Easier to hold.

He turned back to the crowd with a smile that bordered on a sneer. "What are y'all looking at?! Haven't yall seen a familiar before? Quit gawking at him!"

Slowly, the crowd started dispersing. Some stared at them openly, others did side-eye glanced. Ayo reveled in it.

"So I have a political history exam first, then a free period - I can do some basic magic practice then - and then I got a practical magic exam. Which I kinda need to do well in, because the only reason I'm not flunking is that my teacher's been giving me extra credit outta pity."

 

[Minteafresh]

Aster felt a smidge uncomfortable. So many people staring; he wished they wouldn't. Honestly, he was glad that he hadn't been summoned earlier, imagine going here more then a few times? That would suck big time. Or maybe, after coming here enough times, they wouldn't be staring so hard. But really, they probably found him weird rather then the other way around. He didn't fear them - I mean really, what self respecting familiar would? - but hadn't anyone ever told them that staring was rude? He was really just grateful for Ayo, telling them to scram. Though it was clear that Ayo was enjoying this. Understandable. He'd only bring it up later, and judge him silently right now.

There were less people then when he originally landed, and Aster allowed himself to return to his human form; leaving a chilly wind in his wake. Ah. Now, back to towering over all these short humans while complaining mentally. Gotta get into the mindset obviously.

"That sounds . . . fun?" He offered up very little enthusiasm, already imagine the a hundred and one ways that things went wrong. Ayo could set something one fire, blew up the school, blinded someone, caused a explosion, accidentally killed someone and so much more. Forgive Aster for not having too much faith in the almost non existent amount of practice Ayo had. He didn't know how long s free period was, but would it be long enough to get Ayo's magic moderation under control? Probably not. But boy would he try, try real hard infact.

"Do you know what will be happening during the exam? They don't want you making fireballs or anything right?" For uh, obvious reasons. Just a little worried. A tiny bit really. "Also-" he flashed the other a suspicious look. "Why didn't I see you studying for an exam last night? Aren't human schools important?"

 

[eirastrid]

Ayo led Aster through the hallways to his first class. Once again, people stared, mostly at Aster, who towered over everyone else, wearing his out of date clothes. "It is not fun!" Ayo said. "I really don't wanna do it, but then it'll be done and I won't have to think about it. For the practical, we don't really know what it is? We're going to get some kind of problem and we have to find a magical way to solve it. And no one can see how everyone else is doing. But you can confer with your familiar!" He nudged Aster with his elbow playfully. "Which means you can help me for it!"

"And," he added, holding up a finger. "I did not study last night because it was my birthday. The birthday boy does not have to do anything he does not want to do. I already studied. Except for the practical. I just kinda assumed I was fucked and studied for my other classes instead."

He led Aster into a small classroom. Some students were already sitting down. Some had no familiars, but many others had their familiar close by them. Ayo's teacher, a tall lanky man who was still shorter than Aster by a few inches eyed Aster and then settled his gaze on Ayo, giving him a questioning look.

Ayo stuck out his thumb at Aster. "Familiar," he explained.

"Familiar," the man echoed, dubious.

"Yep," Ayo replied, popping the 'p'.

"Really?"

"Yep."

"I saw him," one of the other students piped up, petting a small glowing rat. "The tall one was a dragon."

"...Huh. Well, get another chair for him then," said the teacher, giving Aster a lookover.

Ayo brought a chair over next to his desk, offering for Aster to sit, even if it was a little too small for him. He dug into his backpack and pulled out headphones and his phone. "Here," he said, passing them to Aster. Put the headphones over your ears, make sure it's plugged in." Ayo pulled up his music app, bringing up his playlists. "Here, pick one of these to listen to. That way, you won't be bored during the exam."

 

[Minteafresh]

Aster listened to Ayo talk, giving a small sigh. He couldn't say he was particularly excited for the exam that seemed like it'd go wrong in so many ways; but at least he had a say in it. Hopefully, carefully mapping out - otherwise known as overthinking - everything, no untimely deaths or not good things would happen. All he had to do was be positive and hope for the best.

"Well, I hope that you studied enough to pass" He said simply. He couldn't help Ayo in that, so there was slight concern in that field. Not as much as the magical one, since you really can't kill someone with history. Honestly, he was probably worrying more then Ayo; so he inhaled and exhaled. Everything would go well. If someone died, that was simply unfortunate. Wasn't the world overpopulated? In that case, it didn't matter if one or two - maybe a school full - of humans kicked the bucket too soon. Humans seemed to enjoy creating more anyways. Every cloud had a silver lining, even if that lining wasn't too perfect.

He followed Ayo into the class; glancing at the teacher in slight surprise. No way, someone who wasn't tiny. He bet this human drank their milk and ate their vegetables. He supposed it meant that not all humans were the same size. Maybe Ayo was going to be forever short, or maybe they grew like dragons, really slowly over several years. He had his doubts that Ayo - or humans in general - would ever be really tall. No particular reason, they just were small, and really . . . well Ayo-like.

He sat in the chair, not a hundred percent comfortable but it was pretty then being outside in the heat. At least this place had air conditioning; he was grateful for that. Flashing Ayo a very confused look, he took the phone and headphones, putting them over his ears as he'd been told to. His hearing was instantly muffled and he decided he hated the feeling almost instantly; wondering what the point of it was. Humans were so weird, what did they even make this f-oh.

After plugging the headphones in, he had just tapped a song at random; and was even more confused when there was music playing. How strange. It was coming from the headphones, but playing from the phone. He gazed at the thin cord connecting them in wonder. Was this small thing making sound travel? Amazing, humans surprised him more and more everyday.

"Good luck on your exam" He said, fumbling with the icons to pause the music. "I hope you studied enough and pass"