Hopeless ((open))

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica was very tempted to scoop him up in a huge hug. Then he'd bring Jay home, cook him lots of food, and fawn over him. Sometimes his maternal instincts went into overdrive - especially when faced with kids who could be the little brother (or son) he always wanted. To keep his urge in check, he put his hands in his pockets and bit his lip. How terrible would it have been if he kidnapped some random boy off the streets? Awkward. Not to mention that Rosie already thought he was a homicidal kidnapper for bringing home an unconcious Sophie. Awkward.

When Jay asked how he knew that he wasn't a monster or worthless, he wasn't quite sure how to respond. He used to feel like a monster, but really only when he accidentally brought Barbies to life and his kindergarten peers would yell and scream. "In my experience, saying that one is worthless reduces the amount of pain when rejection comes. As for being a monster..." he bit his lip, shrugging lightly. He was feeling way too serious for an Ithica. "Everybody has redeeming qualities. That means that nobody deserves to be given up on."

He lowered his eyes to the ground, unable to meet the painful gaze of such a small boy. He didn't know much about this kid, but he did know that he had gone through some sort of rough patch he hadn't gotten over. Probably due to his being weak and his being a war dragon. He had never had a problem - after his mother left, his father awkwardly tried to teach him about his Trait, but his father had eventually given up after Ithica accidentally brought the kitchen table to life.

"Yeah." He looked back up at Jay, excited now that he realized he was right. "My mother used to be friends with a..." he trailed off, realizing that Jay probably wouldn't be too interested in how he knew about dragons. Ithica would have made another comment about his brother, but the words died when Jay looked away. What if he was angry that Ithi had... done something? What if the boy had a pet spider and was not too thrilled that Ithi was an arachnophobic wimpy half-demon thing?

So when he chuckled, Ithi tilted his head slowly. Normally whenever he heard somebody chuckle it was a menacing villain doing the chuckling. This guy wasn't a menacing villain, and his chuckle wasn't deep and condescending. When Jay began laughing, Ithi allowed a look of pure confusion to cross his face. Normally when people laugh it was because he had made a joke (most people didn't laugh at his jokes) or because he had done something stupid or clumsy.

Having done neither of the aforementioned two, he was even more confused when Jay started to question him. He was about to answer, but then he realized that the boy wasn't literally looking for the information. He dropped his confusion and was just plain old happy Ithica again. He wasn't sure how to respond, and he thought it inconvenient that this boy was making that happen to him exceedingly often.

"I believe that when you're kind to someone, you can change possibilities." Ithica smiled at him. He knew that his acts of kindness were noticed by a few people, but he also knew that they never change a person. Being the optimist he was, however, he could only hope that he had brightened up their day a little bit. Or in this case their night.

"Your hands look sticky." He would have offered Jay a napkin if he had one. And he didn't want to offer the kid another pastry when his hand was all pastrified. "Why were you squeezing it?" He chided, going through his bag in hopes of discovering a hidden towel. Instead all he found was a random bottle of hand sanitizer which he held up with great excitement. "You can use this if you want to get all the nasty sticky stuff off."

[Jadyn Amethyst]

A spark of hope in the depths of darkness.

The words flowing from Ithica didn’t really make sense to him mostly because well he was being so nice. There were nice people out there sure but not this nice this was otherworldly nice, or at least that’s how it felt to Jadyn. A stranger, a complete and utter stranger, had come out of the darkness and was spouting out almost words of wisdom to him. Even after his rudeness about the race thing. The emptiness that usually dwelled in his black hole known as his chest suddenly didn’t feel so empty. Usually when it didn’t feel empty it was because he was ticked off about something, but now it was different. He didn’t feel… hated.

Ithica had trailed off and not wanting the stranger to feel uncomfortable around him he stepped forward lifting a hand to lay on the guy’s arm. Then remembering the pastry squish he stopped but his gaze softened as he attempted a smile up at him. “She was friends with a what? Was it a dragon? Is that how you know?” Feeling as though he might be pressuring him he pulled back a bit twisting his left thumb in his hand. Just because the stranger asked personal questions didn’t mean he should. The guy’s mother was none of his business, especially if he looked so unhappy to talk about it.

Staring at the ground he was so confused and tired, and just wanted to curl up on a stoop and sleep. He stifled a yawn before looking up again as Ithica spoke about kindness. Change possibilities? Hmm, I guess… Inquisitive about this odd man he stared up at him wondering how a person ended up like that. How did a brain get wired to think so highly of mankind? Jay thought very little of intelligent beings and hardly thought that many of them were intelligent. Some animals were smarter than a lot of people he’d met. And even though at first he’d thought very little of the stranger he was quickly changing his outlook on this man. A kindness unchallenged before, wisdom to match that of an elder, and he gave seemingly unthinking of getting anything in return. People like this just didn’t exist, or at least not in the real world. Not in his world.

Jay’s eye widens then looks down at his thoroughly messy hands and chuckled softly. “Yeah, usually that sort of thing would drive me nuts.” He lifted his hands to eye level seeing the crumbs of the pastry, the sweet stickiness, and in a flash of his mind’s eye he saw blood. But in an instant the blood was gone. His expression didn’t change because it wasn’t the first time he’d seen blood on his hands when there was no blood to be seen. It’d been happening to him for as long as he could remember, and he wished he knew why. Suddenly realizing that Ithica was asking him a question he looked beyond the hands to the gentle face behind them.

“It was a reaction to my emotions, sorry. At least I didn’t…” Not something that needed to be shared. He didn’t want to scare the friendly stranger with stories of how his nails turned black and into claws. “At least I didn’t get it on my clothes.” The boy took the sanitizer gladly squirting some on his hands while wiping off as much of the pastry into a trashcan as he could. It didn’t get his hands completely clean but he didn’t care too much. Staring at his hands for a moment he shrugged and rubbed them off on his pants. He hated feeling dirty and though he hated getting his clothes dirty it was better than feeling that grime on his hands.

“Now that I’m done being an idiot…can we keep going to Central Park? Or..do you not want to help me anymore?” Still rubbing his hands on his pant legs he gazed up at Ithica hopeful that he’d still help him out to meet his brother. By now his brother was probably gone however, but he had to at least try.

((ooc. I'm sorry for the wait and I'm sorry for not giving you the amazingness I promised...))[/size][/color][/font]

[Ithica Pettineo]

When Jay lifted his hand, Ithi cringed. It wasn't that people normally hit him, it was just that he didn't seem to be able to read this boy well. Not that he could ever read people well, but Jay went from hatred to remorse rather quickly, and that boggled his mind. However, the kid wasn't going to hit him, and Ithica was grateful for two reasons. The first being that he didn't like pain, and a dragon could cause a lot if even mildly pissed off, and the second being that he had just taken a shower and didn't want sticky hands all over him.

As Jay inquired further about his mother, his smile widened. "She was friends with a dragon. It's how she met my daddy!" He would have continued rambling had a pang of sadness not mad his smile falter a teensy bit. He had used the past tense again. "She used to tell me about the dragons because I was scared of them.." Ithica looked at the small dragon. "They were always so big in movies and books, and I'm small. Not as small as... others." He said, grinning playfully at Jay. He was going on the assumption that he didn't Ithica, and wouldn't char him to a crisp. A delicious crisp.

Ithica was once again resisting the powerful urge to scoop the dragon into his arms and give him a huge hug. Or at the very least ruffle his hair. He had always wanted a little brother, and Jay was perfect little brother material. Well, except that Ithica had always heard that younger brothers were annoying. Ithica had gotten frustrated with him briefly, but not enough to call the boy irksome. He had been frustrated because he was afraid that Jay was going to find someone else and leave him all alone in the dark and scary city. And because he thought Ithica was smart enough to poison a pastry. Weird.

"Yeah. That's why I don't eat pancakes with syrup." He said, wriggling his fingers around. "I feel all gross with my fingers sticking together." Ithica admitted, looking back to see that the boy looked like he was spaced out. Well then. Ithica mumbled something about grapes and how effective they were. Not making much sense to even himself he stopped talking in a trailing off of his words. He could be quiet, sometimes.

A reaction to his emotions to twist and snarl pastries? Poor little pastry. Ithica grinned at how Jay was relieved he was not to have gotten it on his clothes, and his grin dropped a little when Jay promptly rubbed the remaining pastry on his clothes. "You're funny." He wasn't sure which definition of the word he meant, he just knew that he meant it.

"Duh I'm going to keep helping you." Ithica was a little surprised that the other wasn't completely sure if he was going to. Wasn't it obvious by now that Ithica was a lonely creeper demon who needed the company of lost little boys to keep him less scared of the creepering boogeyman who was just around the corner in that alley over there? "Let's go! It's just around the river bend!" He sang a lousy rendition of the Pocahontas line. "Well, not literally. But metaphorically. I mean, if there was a river RIGHT here, it'd be just around it. If it bent.. that way.." Ithica rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry.."

[Jadyn Amethyst]

Just around the riverbend!

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Normal people might not notice a flinch like the one Ithica gave but to a person who was actually used to getting hit it was obvious. His face fell and when he pulled his hand back he pulled it in tight to his body. Unless someone attacked him first he made it a point to never physically hurt someone. To have this kind stranger think he was going to hit him stuck a knife right into his chest. Bowing his head he didn’t know what to say to make Ithica believe he wasn’t all that violent even if he was a war dragon.

“Your mom met your dad through a dragon?” That was an odd matchmaker. “What kind of dragon was it?” It most likely wasn’t a war dragon but he could be surprised he often was as of late. Ithica’s reasoning toward fearing dragons made Jay grin a bit his expression lightening from the before misconception. At his last comment about not being as small as other Jay gave a fake glare and pointed a stinky finger at the half demon. “I get bigger when I turn into a dragon thank you very much!”

Grinning still he shook his head glad that most of the serious stuff was fading away. It was like he was just standing there talking with a friend, or his brother. That thought hit him and he bowed his head again wondering if he’d ever see Jeremy again. But this guy was going to help him and even if he missed his older brother at least he tried his best. He lifted his gaze again staring up at Ithica not feeling at all threatened by him even if he was a half demon. Guess it really was who you made yourself to be and not what your genes said you would be.

The hand sanitizer was a welcome offer as he scrubbed at his hands. Sure he hadn’t wanted to get his clothes dirty but he didn’t really see a choice in the matter. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I don’t understand how people eat barbeque or hot wings. Getting that sauce all over? Eegh.” At least he wasn’t the only neat freak in the world. With the gunk off of his hands he started walking a bit in the direction they had been going. If Ithica chose not to help him then he could at least start in the correct direction, maybe he could stumble upon the park.

“Funny? Eh, sometimes.” He didn’t really know what he’d done that was funny but he didn’t much care either. His feet were throbbing, his eyes burned, all in all he was dog tired. Shuffling along he was extremely glad to hear that he wasn’t being abandoned. At the man’s outburst he laughed softly shaking his head in disbelief. “Where do you get all that energy? I’m about to drop dead right here.”

Not literally but his body sure wasn’t happy that it was still up and walking around. Most nights he stayed up later but it wasn’t like he did much during the day. This day had been spent constantly walking. Tired was an understatement by now. "No, need to be sorry. It was kinda funny." He smiled innocently at the guy as they walked along so happy that he wasn't alone.

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[Ithica Pettineo]

What kind of dragon? Ithica tried concentrating on his memories from fourteen years ago, but only remembered vague details such as names, birthdays, and the fact that the dragon had a cat named Slurp. "I'm not sure." He admitted, putting his hands in his coat pocket. "I don't remember much about her." He shrugged, trying to make his voice light enough so that Jay didn't assume she was dead. Because she wasn't. She would come back eventually, after all she had promised.

At Jay's fake glare, he stuck his bottom lip out in a childish pout. "Don't eat me, Mr. Dragon." He teased, trying to hide the actual fear that Jay would randomly burst out in dragon form, be as tall as eighty Ithicas, and spurt out fire from his mouth. He stopped pouting, and, still harboring guilt from seeing the boy's reaction from earlier to him cringing, bit his lip apologetically. "Sorry about flinching like that earlier." He may have explained himself in different circumstances, but the reason would have just made him dig a deeper hole of awkwardness.

Ithi smiled as Jay talked about barbeque and hot wings. "Oranges are terrible, too. They taste so delicious but I end up getting the juice all over me." Or the people beside him, but Ithica decided not to mention that part. It was why he stuck to orange juice. "Bah! And tacos! They always break and I get the stupid innerds all over my clothes." Ithica sighed, genuinely upset. He loved food even if he didn't need to eat it. It was just so delicious, so when he couldn't eat it for fear of ruining his clothes, he was mad at himself for being a klutz and made at the inventor of tacos and other such items.

Drop dead? If it hadn't been the laugh proceeding that, Ithica would have rushed him off to a hospital. Perhaps the half demon was just a bit too literal. "I'm sorry. You can get on my back if you want." He offered. He had sort of carried Sophie before, and although his arms and back hurt like hell afterwards (he was a lover not a weight lifter!) he prided himself on not dropping his girlfriend down two flights of stairs. And Jay looked a tad lighter than Sophie (he would never ever tell her that) -- and he wasn't unconscious. That was always a bonus.

"My energy is something I get when I draw on my inner awesomeness. I have plenty of that." He declared, nearly jumping up and down. "And I'm really happy that you're nice." It didn't have anything, not one little bit, to do with the fact he hadn't taken his ADHD medicine. He had taken the blasted medication for nearly a week because it always made him so sleepy and unIthica. But it also made it harder to control his random impulses.

For instance - hugging Jay. Ithica had tried not to, he really had, but at the innocent smile that was just too cute.. he had to. He pulled back from the initiated hug, instantly making up stories about aliens briefly taking over his body and controlling his arms and Hugging Sensors. Ooh, and there was the Loch Ness Monster nomming on the hugging part of his brain. The truth sounded creepy though. 'You're just so cute, little boy. Hohoho.' At least Ithica didn't have thick eyebrows and a mustache. Ithica decided to not say anything about the hug. If Jay was super distraught over it he could just stop being cute and hugable. Hmph.

[Jadyn Amethyst]

Sleep little baby don't say a word.

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Poor Ithica didn’t sound all that happy to be talking about his mom in any way so Jay decided to drop the subject. He understood how talking about one’s family could be a sore spot. Besides the guy didn’t remember so why push it anyway? And the pouting thing made him a laugh a bit shaking his head at the taller fellow he felt much better than he had less than an hour ago. Things were certainly turning up for him ever since Ithica had wandered into his life. At least for the moment things could always go wrong.

“I’m not going to eat you. I’m a very picky eater.” He pointed a finger at the man walking along with his head held high. In all actuality he wasn’t all that picky when it came to food one learned to eat what one got in his family. If you didn’t you’d get a good smacking and then would go hungry until you did eat it. It taught him to eat things served to him, and over time he acquired tastes for many things he’d once hated. He glanced at the half demon at the apology and shrugged and waved a hand at the man to signal that it was no big deal. “Don’t worry about it I flinch like that too sometimes.”

As their conversation turned to lighter topics he grinned madly at the mentioning of oranges. “Kind of like watermelon? Hate trying to eat watermelon.” The tacos didn’t make too much sense to him he didn’t find it so difficult to eat tacos. Though there was one food that no matter how he ate it he could never get away without it on him. “Ice cream. It’s evil and has a vendetta against me or something. Always end up with it all over me. Horrid thing…ice cream. So tasty yet so messy.” He sounded somewhat demented but he meant every word.

His feet dragged as they made their way through New York. The night seemed to be getting darker if that was possible and his eye lids felt heavier. The park felt as though it was on the other side of the world and like he’d never get there. At the offer to be carried he shook his head with a yawn. “No, I’ll be okay. Just worn out from the stress of today.” Spotting a somewhat clean stoop he drifted over to it and plopped onto it. “I just need to sit for a minute. I know I’m in a hurry but just a minute.”

Jay crossed his arms and dropped his head onto them fighting off the fatigue that had been plaguing him. He often got tired anymore some days he’d spend the entire day in bed not wanting to get up. But none of that mattered now he needed to find his brother, somehow.

Even with the hopping half demon in front of him he didn’t get any of that energy back. He could fall asleep right here, but he wouldn’t because he couldn’t. Maybe he should just go back to the academy and hope for a second contact from his brother. “I’m nice?” Laughter erupted from him hard and angry. “I’m far from nice. Ask anyone I’m a jerk.”

He lifted his head to rest it on the metal railing on the stoop his face sagged with exhaustion and his eye sparked with a small flame of rage. Being mean protected him from people but it took too much energy so he’d decided not even try. After he’d gotten some sleep he’d turn back into an ass but for now he was too tired.

He returned to his feet just in time to be hugged by the stranger, who was quickly becoming an “not stranger” in Jadyn’s mind. Before he could lift his arms to return the hug it was overwith. Blinking he stared up at Itica for a moment then chuckled. “You’re an odd one, but you make me smile.” Something that didn’t happen nearly as often as he’d like, but ca sera sera.

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[Ithica Pettineo]

At the picky eater comment, Ithica rolled his eyes. He had a pretty good feeling that wasn't true since he had eaten a pastry and a half from a complete stranger. He himself had been a picky eater when he was smaller, surviving off Debbie cakes and bologna until he was eleven. Then his father had demanded he spread his food repertoire, resulting in Ithica developing an obsession with food. Ithica did get OCD about a lot of things -- hopscotch, cracks in the sidewalk, brushing his teeth, washing his hands, eating.

"You flinch?" He inquired. Ithica knew that if he was any smaller than he was he'd cringe a lot. Of course, Jay had also said 'like that', leaving Ithica wondering if he knew the reason for his flinching or not. But if he did, was that an admittance to him being hit a lot? Because Ithica would not stand for him being hit. There wasn't much he could do in the way of preventing it, so he figured he could just mentally beat up who it might be. But like always he was probably just overreacting and the boy hadn't meant anything by his statement more than 'dude it's okay'.

Ithica's grin fell as he reminisced on ice cream. He used to have so much trouble with it when he was little, to the point that he had thrown a cone in frustration at his cat. "I find that if you lick ice cream really fast it doesn't melt as bad!" But you also had to worry about squishing the cone when you become frustrated, and if that pastry was any indicator Jay was not so good at that. "I don't like sandwiches because the innards fall out. I'm not so good with food that have insides..."

As the dragon sat down on the stoop, Ithica remained bouncing in front of him. Was it human of him to have this much energy? Was it some weird demon thing? Maybe it was just an Ithica thing. The hyperactive half-demon slowly stopped his hopping, still wriggling his body from boredom. One would think that for a guy who moves so much that he would enjoy gym, however he found himself, back when he went to the 'normal' school, hiding behind the bleachers having a mini tea party with Rosie.

At the thought of Rosie, he looked around, almost expecting to see the doll saunter around the corner. Did porcelain saunter? Would Rosie saunter? All Rosie seemed to do was walk wobbly from point A to point B. Ithica shook his head, trying to focus his mind. At Jay's apparent fatigue, Ithica wished that he could give him some of his energy. "You sure you don't want me to carry you? Or something? I could always find a.. a cart or something that would hold you." That would be nice, then all Ithi would have to do is bring the cart to life and hope that it didn't decide to run away with Jay inside.

"Yeah right." Ithica said to the 'jerk'. "You haven't been one to me so I refuse to believe it. And even if you are jerkish--" was that the right word? "--to other people, that doesn't mean that you mean it." He was having a hard time believing that his favorite dragon friend could honestly be 'far from nice'. Those other people were probably mean to him first. How rude.

Then he thought about the earlier demon incident, and Jay's angry and accusing tone. He had not been Ithi's favorite dragon friend right at that moment. Perhaps that was why people called him a jerk. But that wasn't being mean, that was being... protective of yourself due to prior bad experiences. It hardly mattered to Ithica. He would get along with the worst of jerks if it meant that he didn't have to be alone. "I like you even if you are far from nice." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Odd? Ithica smiled, scratching his elbow nervously. "Don't people often hug you?" He supposed that, due to Jay's earlier response of how people usually think he was mean that they didn't hug him, but the dragon was adorable so how could be resist the hug? Ithica only had a few people that would randomly hug him. It made him a little sad. Spontaneous hugs were always very fun. "I like hugs. They're warm! Unless the person is cold. Or wet. Or both." Ithica was almost never cold except when people clung to him because he tended to be a heat generator.

[Jadyn Amethyst]

Sinking into the depths of despair.

Nodding at Ithica's question about flinching he didn't really think about how that could be taken. Until the man had bothered to ask him. "Um, yeah force of habit I guess." He shrugged not wanting to make it a bit deal. So he was hit a lot as a kid, and beat up a lot by bullies. All in all he was used to physical violence aimed at his body, sad to say he was kind of used to it. One either learned to deal with it or became big and bad enough that no one would mess with him. And seeing as he was a total shrimp one could obviously see which path he'd chosen.

Shrugging yet again at the ice cream comment with a slight grin he kept shuffling along. He'd tried everything to not get dirty when eating ice cream and it never worked. The only thing he'd found to keep himself clean when eating the food was simply to not eat it. There were so many foods that caused a mess when eating them and to cover them all would take them all night. Or until he passed out whichever came first. He was guessing that the latter would come first.

The stoop felt so good to his tired feet and his body instantly sagged into the cement and against the pole. Though Ithica's over was tempting there was no way he was going to stoop so low as to be carried. The gentle man had already given him food, being persistently kind to him, and was leading him to the park. To ask to be carried would be going way too far. Blinking up at Ithica his vision was a bit blurry but he'd fight it off. After getting to his feet he grinned at Ithica, and after getting hugged he started walking as an answer to the offer of carrying. He was a wimp to be sure but darn it he wouldn't be treated as a frail child.

Hands deep in his jean pockets he continued to shuffle along listening to Ithica defend him. He sighed not knowing how this guy could act the way he did. It was truly mind boggling. "No, I'm pretty sure I mean it. People tend to steer clear of angry midgets." It was funny in his head as he grinned at the half demon though a part of him did twinge a bit. He was mean most of the time for a reason or in retaliation, but Ithica didn't need to know that. What the overly nice guy needed to know was he was helping out a jacka**.

"Believe me, I taunt people. Insult them. Be rude to them and get angry at people for little or no reason. Instead of other emotions I get angry. It...It's what I do." He kicked a soda can left on the sidewalk not looking up from it for the longest time. The next question made him pause for a moment pain flashing over his face before he continued walking. Maybe talking wasn't a good idea after all.

"No. I don't." He couldn't even remember the last hug he'd had. Had that crazy lady hugged him? She'd gotten in his bubble so much he wouldn't doubt it, but he couldn't remember. Ithica's enthusiastic response lighted his mood a bit once more but a smile didn't come. It felt like he was in sinking sand suddenly but he kept moving forward. "If you say so." The last hug he remembered was one of farewell and it hadn't been warm. It had been heartbreaking.

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[Ithica Pettineo]

He could understand forces, and he could understand habits, and he could even relate to forced habits. What he couldn't understand was flinching as a forced habit. He had encountered a lot of used, abused, misused, pretty much any negative word rhyming with 'used'. It was the one thing that really pissed Ithica Pettineo off, no matter who was doing the abusing whether it be mommy or daddy or the kid down the street. He hated it because it was wrong, a subjective word to be sure, and because it hurt so many people in so many ways.

"Sorry I'm so nosy, but how did you end up so lost?" He knew that Jay was looking for the park and for his brother, but not how he had ended up in Brooklyn. If he had gotten lost in Manhattan, that would have been such a shorter trip, but Brooklyn? Sheesh. One practically had to try to get this lost. "I mean, we're close to the park now. Well, closer." He pointed to the 4th Avenue sign, although he figured the gesture would be useless seeing as Jay seemingly had no clue about how to navigate New York. "Maybe like an hour or so.."

His memory of a map of New York faded temporarily when he heard the phrase 'angry midget'. He blinked, not realizing he had only been vaguely listening. Something about people not wanting to be around angry midgets. His confusion settled into amusement as he imagined Jay as a drunk Irish midget. "Yeah." Ithica responded, trying not to burst into a fit of laughter. Maybe Jay was just having a day where he decided to be nice to a random stranger and Ithica had been the stranger. Ithica used to do that, but then 'random stranger' eventually evolved into 'everybody'.

But Ithi could be mean, as much as he would like to deny it. There was an incident where an aunt had tried to take the last of the mashed potatoes at a family outing, and the half-demon, in a fit of anger, had broken her jaw and threw her across the park. He hadn't meant to actually hurt her, and he certainly hadn't wanted to hurt her over something like mashed potatoes. It had just happened, an accumulation of Ithi being hungry, tired, and angry already at her jabs about his mother's departure. It had resulted in a year of therapy, fourteen weeks of apologizing profusely, and he was still technically grounded.

Ithica raised his eyebrow as the small dragon admitted his pugnacious nature. "Then I'm blessed at seeing this side of you." It's not like he could really reprimand him for being rude or angry, because although he couldn't be sure, he was going on the assumption that at some point in his life he had been abused by rude and angry people. He would have voiced his suspicions out loud if it hadn't been for Jay's actions that were telling Ithi that he was regretting getting so personal.

He knew he was not the best person to tell things to. Ithi wasn't so good at serious conversations, nor was he even mildly okay with others' feelings. He wished that people could just push their pain on him and take some of the good emotions that Ithica seemed to have randomly stored. That would make everybody happy. He also wished that people would stop hurting each other, but that was as likely as winning the lottery without purchasing a ticket.

Ithi bit his lip when he noticed the melancholy way the answers were given. If at all physically possible, he would have banged his head against a wall several times and then dragged himself into a dumpster. He was just saying the wrong things, all the time. Once he had taken a vow of silence, when he was five, because his kindergarten teacher had put him in the silent napping corner for giggling too loudly. But thirty minutes after his vow, Ithica was on the lunch table, a glass of grape juice in one hand and his uniform's tie in the other, singing about men in tights.

He patted Jay's back softly. He would have said something like, 'don't worry your brother is there' or something of the sort, but Ithi had trouble with promising things beyond his control. Although he had been doing it increasingly often. "Want to talk about your brother? You don't have to... I mean, if you think I'm prying too much or getting way too personal. I am just a weird demonthing." Bah! If only he could think about what he was going to say before it came tumbling out of his mouth.

[Jadyn Amethyst]

Giving up is sometimes the hardest thing to do.

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"I have the worst sense of direction on the face of the planet. Number get switched in my head. I forget where I'm supposed to get off of a bus or subway. People tell me directions and after three turns I forget the next one." He shrugged continuing to kick the can as they walked along. "After asking so many people where to go I just gave up. And no big on the nosy thing...everyone has a nosy streak in them."

The fact that they were probably an hour away from the park didn't lighten his mood at all. At that news he kicked the can as hard as he could and it went sailing into the night. He didn't see where it landed but he was pretty sure he heard a cat meow loudly which probably meant he accidentally had hit it with the can. Flinching at the sound he leaned against another light pole and lifted his hand to check his watch. It was already one am there was no way his brother would still be there at two. He let his head fall back to hit the pole not remembering the last time he felt such despair.

"Blessed? Ha, more like I'm too tired to make fun of you out loud. You should hear the things I say in my head. It's like instantaneous anymore to just make fun of or insult people. Get into a habit...ya know?" He closed his eyes wanting the world to disappear. Things had been going so smoothly before this stupid letter from his brother. A part of him wished that his brother had just stayed away. His life wasn't great but if being here kept his brother's life in a better light then he didn't mind.

At the back pat he opened his eyes and though only one stared at Ithica both felt tired. "My brother? Heh, no I don't really wanna talk about him. Not now...I...I think I'm just gonna give up. Hopefully he'll contact me again. If not then at least I tried. I think it's best I just get back to the school." He didn't know where the school was or how far away from it he was but he didn't care. He'd find it, somehow.

((ooc. sorry so short....))

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[Ithica Pettineo]

[ooc; so I rewrote this maybe like eight times but Ithi still sounds depressed and not Ithicaish. :/]


When the boy explained himself, he felt a little amused. He bit back his smile when he decided that in this case Jay's sense of direction (or lack thereof) was more melancholy than merry. Ithica couldn't imagine being able to get that lost. "Why would you brother want to meet you at the park?" He asked, watching the can that Jay was kicking. Ithi almost suggested turning into a dragon and flying, but he supposed that New Yorkers wouldn't take so kindly to a dragon in Central Park. At the abrupt silence from the can, Ithi perked his head up in time to see it soar into a nearby alley. He turned to the boy and took a step closer.

He could guess why Jay felt so defeated. If he hadn't seen his mother and she sent a letter to him telling him to meet her, and Ithica couldn't find her.. well, the half-demon would probably crawl into a corner and await death. Ithica wished that he could do something helpful and useful. But instead he had worthless Gift he didn't like, and a Trait that was pathetic. "I'm really sorry." He apologized, biting his lip nervously. He had wanted to help, wanted to do something nice for Jay, and stupid New York had to be so large. He wrung his hands, scratching at the healing skin out of habit.

Ithica shrugged as the boy explained that he was mean inside and out. He couldn't argue that Jay had been kind to him, because how did he know that he wasn't just being nice to get where he wanted? Ithi rubbed his elbow wearily, too afraid to talk lest he sound disappointed. It wasn't as if the only way Ithica would have helped was if the other was nice. He'd help out anyone that needed him, be it the kindest person or someone who berated him constantly. Ithica was a pushover like that.

"Thanks for being too tired to insult me out loud. And whatever bad you've been saying about me in your head is true." The half-demon shrugged, figuring that he'd take what he could get. He didn't know why his mood had dropped so considerably. Perhaps it was the lack of food, the lack of sleep, or the lack of a tearfully happy reunion of Jay and his brother. At the rhetorical question about Ithica knowing about habits, he playfully scoffed. What didn't he know about? "Habits. Yeah, I have a lot." He held up his raw hands a little hesitantly. When he was washing his hands, Ithi would just see such filth all over him, and he'd scrub and scrub and scrub, but it never did seem to come off, only legion and skin.

At Jay's declaration that he just wanted to go back t the school, Ithi tilted his head. To go back was to give up. To give up was to have wasted time. He wanted to argue and to persuade Jay not to. "I understand." He knew how bitter those words could taste - especially when they related to missing family member. Ithica himself had said them many times but never quite meant it. "He will contact you again." He gave Jay a confident grin. "But maybe you should hire a guide next time."

He was inferring that the school that Jay was talking about was the Academy. He said 'the' like Ithi should know about it, he was a dragon, and he knew Aponi. The last two bits were a bit of a clue-in. "Do you need help finding the Academy? I live at the.." What was that university's name? Ithica frowned slightly at the relapse of memory. "Other school." Ithica finished lamely, a lazy smile crossing his face at the prospect of soon being snuggled into his bed. But how could he forget Jay's looks of pain and the obvious despair? Perhaps he could have prevented all of it if he had just found Jay earlier. He murmured another apology,

His sadness was forced to the back of his mind and his cheerfulness was brought to the front. Ithi's psyche often tugged at him like a violent game - one instant his feelings had decided to be extremely happy, but then a few seconds later he was just so... exhausted. Not just from lack of sleep, but he found everything to be annoying. At the lack of control over his emotions, sometimes Ithi felt akin to the stereotypical teenage girl. It was quite the blow to his pride.

[Jadyn Amethyst]

Just...stop...stop being nice to me.

Once the can was gone he was left bored and nothing to do but talk and walk. He needed something to keep him awake as they made their journey. Simply walking and talking was not going to do the trick. Not seeing another can he decided to start counting doorways in his head as they went along. That wouldn’t be nearly as annoying as him kicking a can, and it wouldn’t break anything if he decided to kick it like he was trying to score a cup winning goal for soccer. He glanced up at Ithica when he took a step closer but didn’t say anything he didn’t know why the half demon wanted to be closer but he also didn’t care. “I don’t know why he wanted to meet there. Maybe because it’s a public place so if we were being followed they wouldn’t attack.”

Growling at the apology he rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. “Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault I’m an idiot. Apologizing when you’re not at fault is a sign of weakness and low self-esteem. Also it’s a form of pity so either way don’t do it. Only apologize when you sincerely think you’ve done wrong.” He spit out the small lecture as though it wasn’t his mouth or his words because well, they weren’t. His brother had told him that and so had his vile father, words that had been hammered into him every time he said he was sorry. He used to say it every time his father hit him, every time his mother cried, every time his brother came home with fresh wounds because he was defending Jadyn’s honor. Because back then, everything was his fault, and a part of him still believed that it was.

His eye narrowed and he stopped in his tracks to turn and outright glare at the half demon. Apologizing, reassuring him that he was a good person, thanking him for no dammed reason, he just couldn’t take it. “Stop it. Stop defending me, thanking me. It’s…it’s just…” He jerked his gaze to the sidewalk his eyes suddenly burning. “Just stop being so dammed nice to me I don’t deserve it. And all the things I’ve been thinking about you, you keep proving wrong. So don’t even begin to try and tell me you’re what I think you are.” Jay pointed angrily at him before storming off in the same direction they’d been going for what seemed like hours now though he knew it was merely an hour tops.

He continued storming his eyes burning along with his cheeks for acting so childishly. Even with Ithica trying to be reassuring once again he knew it wasn’t going to be. This was most likely a one in ten chance meeting and he didn’t even know for sure that his brother had sent the letter. It could have been a set up all along, but he had to try. Then he heard the offer to help him find the academy and he slowly in his storming and eventually stopped.

Chest heaving he rubbed his long sleeve over his eye making sure to not face Ithica. He nodded afraid to voice that yes he needed help. Otherwise he’d be wandering for days until a school official bothered to notice he was missing, and with the faculty at that school he might never be found.
“Please…if you don’t mind.” Jay choked out having finally reached a breaking point.

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[Ithica Pettineo]

Followed? Attacked? Was his new found friend some sort of drug overlord that many people wanted to kill? "Public places can be safe." Except after midnight when no one was around to hear you scream. Well, no one except for the homeless guy hiding in a trashcan. Ithica wasn't sure how else to respond to that statement. Jay was a war dragon. Maybe it was some weird ritual that other dragons crept around waiting for the perfect moment to strike. At this thought, Ithi looked around nervously, only seeing some guy sleeping in a bench.

Not used to being reprimanded, Ithi stared at the boy. Should he apologize for apologizing? But that'd be apologizing! And he couldn't very well apologizing for apologizing about apologizing. Weakness? Low self-esteem? Pity? Ithica did have a lot of weaknesses, but he had self-esteem! And he only pitied Jay because of the distressed look on the dragon's face. Ithica was then torn between angering his friend and apologizing, or not doing what he would normally do. He chose to remain silent, hoping that Jay wasn't too mad at him. He didn't want to make enemies, only friendly acquaintances and friends.

His hopes were crushed when he saw the withering glare. Ithi cringed as once again the dragon was harsh with him. What had he even done wrong? The dragon seemed to get mad at him at whatever he did. If he agreed with him, or if he disagreed with him. There wasn't any winning with Jay, was there? He didn't know how to respond to this outburst. Should he apologize? Let it go? Everybody deserved to be treated with kindness unless they did something. Jay hadn't done anything - at least not to Ithi.

Why did he have to be so confusing? Why did Jay have to get angry because Ithi was nice? And what made him so sure that Ithi wasn't what he was thinking? What WAS the boy thinking? Why did Ithica even care? "I.." He paused, mentally flailing and stumbling over what he was going to say. "Jay, I'm sorry." He meant it, just like he meant his other apologies, and it wasn't a 'pity' sorry either. So it seemed legit to him. "For being so annoying.. and nice.. and apologetic.."

Ithica followed, eyes fixated on Jay's heels. How could he not be nice though? It was how he was raised, it was believed in, and it was what he wanted to be. He hadn't done anything worthy of Ithi being mean, as if Ithica could even pull off being mean. And it's not like it mattered now, what with him storming off in a manner that clearly said 'stay away from me'. Ithica, however, was not about to be abandoned at night. And that's why he was glad when Jay slowed to a stop, even if he still refused to face him.

When Jay spoke, Ithi wanted to sweep him up and squeeze him in a huge hug. Or at least ruffle his hair. Again. He had obviously been having a rough day - what with getting hopelessly lost while looking for his brother he hadn't seen in years. Ithica was clearly not helping, only causing unnecessary frustration. This, and also because he did not want to be alone and he was going near there anyway, is why he rolled his eyes at the content of the question.

He laid a hand on Jay's shoulder, smiling at him. "Of course I don't mind." He would have rubbed his back comfortingly, but he figured that since he wasn't exactly Jay's favorite person at the moment, it was better not to tempt fates in case he made a delicious snack. Ithica dropped his hand, holding them behind his back. He walked, following the general direction of the school, not thrilled at the idea of going back to Rosie. Ithi wasn't too comfortable making small talk anymore, because he had no idea where he stood with the dragon.

And that was never a good thing to be unsure about.

[Jadyn Amethyst]

Rambling is the best policy.

After ranting, lecturing, snapping, and acting as an all around ass he was officially worn out. They walked along in silence the very few words that Ithica had said being left hanging there. All he did was say mean things to the kind man so maybe it was best that he didn’t talk at all. Sure he wasn’t a nice person to begin with but he wasn’t evil either. And as much as he talked big and bad he really wasn’t as horrible as he tried to make people believe, or at least he hoped that he wasn’t. Most of the time it was just the natural reaction to have toward the way people treated him. To be confronted with such unwavering kindness made him hesitant.

What he needed to do was let his guard down or at least his defenses. There was no need for them to be up with someone who was obviously not aiming to hurt him. It was hard to let go though hard to let anyone see how truly weak he really was. Sighing he glanced up at the hand once again on his shoulder amazed at the man beside him. If it had been him he probably would have let whomever it was to rot in the back alleys of New York. No one treated him like he’d treated Ithica, not and get away with it that was. Surely the man had a limit as to how far he could be pushed before he lashed back, but did Jay really want to keep pushing till he found that limit?

He lowered his gaze again following Ithica once again in silence. He truly was the scum of the earth. Swallowing nothing his mouth and throat utterly dry he opened his mouth to speak, but found that no words would come. So he closed his mouth once more pulling his hands out of his pockets he wrapped his arms around his waist in a self hug. “Thank you for helping me. I’m just…I’m not used to it. I don’t know how to act…nice.” Wow, that sounded intelligent. “Gah, where I come from you have to be tough. Tough usually means you have to be well intimidating. The only way I know how to do that is to be mean.”

Jay tried to swallow again but failed which made him wonder when the last time he’d ingested liquid. “You see my brother...he’s the heir of my father’s large estate, business, all that jazz. We have a very old fashioned way of life. Almost a mafia type of thing back where I live.” Why was he spilling the beans? “And for my brother to visit me is to risk him inheritance, and well, my life.”

Once again he reached into his pocket to clutch the stone he kept there. “If he’s really in New York then that might mean he’s come to warn me that father has found me, or that I can come home, or that he’s in exile now too.” He licked his dry lips shuffling along unable to stop the flow now that it had started. “This meeting was a dangerous risk and will most likely never happen again if the first or last of those three options are true. If he’s been exiled he’ll think he’ll have to protect me, so he’ll go far away from me….and I’ll never see him again.”

Tilting his head back his chest twisted into knots along with the pastries in his stomach. “So you see I had to try to get to Central Park, and I had to try alone. To risk other people’s lives…but I thought it wouldn’t do any harm if someone just showed me. Get me to the park and I’d wander around till I found the exact meeting point.” He bowed his head his arms wrapping around his stomach once more. “I shouldn’t have asked for your help, or accepted your kindness. In my father’s eyes both of those are a sign of weakness. Heh, being kind is weak. That’s why I don’t understand you. I don’t understand why…”

He was officially rambling and he was also officially crying and trembling
slightly. It had been a long day and his frail body couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’ve done nothing to you to warrant these kind deeds, or words. So why? From what I was taught it just doesn’t make any sense. People are only nice to get something from you, to make a deal, to get a favor, or to trick you. Anything else is just stupid, and weak, and useless. Or…it’s all a lie.” Stopping once again he stared up at Ithica and gave a sad, sad smile.

“I hope you understand now. And…heh…I’m sorry.”

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[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica never liked silence. He surrounded himself with noise, with people, with objects, so that he didn't have to bare witness to it. He blamed his cat for being afraid of silence and of being alone. It was the night after his mother left, and he wasn't in the mood for talking to anybody or anything, so he was just curled up in his bed. The lights were off, the door was shut, and you could hear a pen drop. Unfortunately, you could also hear The Magnificent push open the doorway with a long eerie creak, creep over to the bed, and pounce on Ithi's six year old side.

It had been the first night he had fled to his father's room in terror, and also the first night Ithi discovered that screaming as if you were being murdered at two in the morning will get your neighbors to call the police. Ever since that night, although there were plenty of more times when thinks had been just deafeningly quiet, Ithi considered silence to be one of the scariest sounds ever. And if one of them didn't start talking he was going die.

That being said, he was visibly relieved when Jay started talking. This was probably as much of a 'sorry I was being such a jerk, Ithi, you're the best and most awesomest person alive' as he was going to get from the dragon. He wasn't sure how to respond, because he had actually never consciously thought to himself that he needed to be nice. And he didn't know the first thing about being tough. The only thing he'd ever done that was physically 'tough' was done out of extreme anger and that was generally caused by taking his food. Nobody ever took his food.

"I...I'm not that nice." He shook his head, rubbing his elbow. Ithica was still a little afraid to talk to him, but the other male wasn't shouting or being harsh anymore, and that was always a good sign. And yes, Ithica was kind, but the truth was he would have helped even if Jay had slung him around charred him. Not because he was nice, but because he was lonely. "I don't know much about being tough... especially not a war dragon's standard of tough."

He bit his lips to refrain himself from saying something about how that just wasn't right to separate somebody from their family because of some small stupid matter. Actually, Ithica had no idea why Jay had been 'exiled', such a harsh word, and for all he knew could have murdered somebody in his sleep. Or maybe it was just because that Jay.. wasn't quite like the other war dragons? Because he knew how that felt. His mother's side of the family had essentially stopped speaking to him because he was different than the long line of 'pure' demons.

Ithi frowned, thinking about the options and explanations. "Those all sound kind of shitty to me." He said softly, not accustomed to thinking pessimistically - or cursing for that matter. "Would you want to go home? You'd have your brother.. but you'd also have your father. And your father hit you a lot, didn't he?" He ventured a guess. Jay had mentioned flinching a lot, and he was talking about a father who abandoned his son for some reason.

"I understand," he murmured about getting to Central Park. He sighed as Jay continued to talk his father. He wanted to say exactly what he was thinking, every twenty six curse words and forty two adjectives and there were even a few adverbs thrown in there for good measure. But you didn't just go around insulting somebody else's father. That was just not even almost nice.

At Jay's comment about not understanding him, Ithi raised his eyebrows. Ithica wasn't exactly a mystery. He would have said something to this extent had he not noticed that Jay was crying and trembling. His heart ached at the sight. He stopped walking, listening carefully to each word. "I-I don't know.. about any of that," Ithi admitted, lowering his eyes sheepishly. "My reasons for being kind are.. stupid, and weak, and useless." He started to wring his hands again, scraping at the raw skin. He looked back up again, visibly unsettled by the 'it's all a lie' statement followed by the smile..if you could even call it that.

He wished he could turn back time and erase his snarky thoughts about that being the only apology he'd get. Ithi stared at him for a long time, uncertainly. "Can I keep you?" He questioned, a small smile reappearing. Ithi would feed him, and love him, and hug him, and...well, he'd bathe him, but that would just be creepy so he was drawing the line at loving him - in a brotherly sort of way. After all, Ithi did already have a girlfriend, and Aponi would turn him into a statue for betraying Sophie.

He tentatively walked closer to him, wrapping the small dragon in a hug. "I forgive you, Jay."