A Golden Opportunity

[Aurelia]

February 7^th, Year 1

Delicate fingers carefully graze across the wall, golden tail sliding almost silently across the floor. While Aurelia could see silhouettes through her blindfold, that didn't help much when it came to navigating a new place. And this palace was certainly new to her. It was so.. warm here. Much more so than her slew of seaside cavern 'homes'. Admittedly, she wasn't sure why she'd stuck next to the coast. It was always so cold, and people always intruded... 

There's a soft noise of surprise, as the wall ends and her fingers meet nothing but air. Her hand grabs gently, only for her to realize it's a hallway she's passing. The surprise passes with a sigh, and she turns to meet the wall again, heading in a new direction.

Admittedly, she'd heard stories about the Blackblood Legion, and few were ever good. But when she heard stories of herself, they were never good, either. Maybe she belonged here, with the rest. It made sense, really, and she was happy they'd taken her in, even if it meant utilizing her curse in a way she normally wouldn't agree to. She'd serve as their new Executioner, doing as they asked of her. But...

Fingers pass over a doorway here, her nails gently dragging over the curtain that hangs to separate room from room.

... Where was she supposed to go? No one had given her instructions, or directions. Was she supposed to report to the prison? Did she have quarters to go to? Was there a specific room to report to for executions? The gentle gorgon was.. very lost, and it showed on her blindfolded face.

[Tabs]

The propagandist was still recovering from the drained state he’d gotten himself into a week ago. Color had mostly returned to his body and he wasn’t quite as skinny. He wouldn’t let it happen again. He just needed to work harder.

The room he’d made his office was very much fine tuned by him to be his sanctuary -- especially given it was also his sleeping quarters. It was filled with his tools of the trade; many books and journals, paper, pens, quills, even stone tablets tucked away in a corner. He had a collection of broken typewriters scattered around. The room was also filled with more than its fair share of drapery and throw pillows.

Behind the desk near the center of the room, tied up in front of the arched window, was a large hammock which held the creature. Tabs was scribbling away in a notebook with a feather quill, lightly kicking the window frame so that his hammock rocked back-and-forth. He seemed uncharacteristically relaxed, at least until the rustling of the drape over the entrance alerted him.

“The door is open,” he called.

There wasn’t actually a door; Tabs was only using a figure of speech, as is his tendency to do.

[Thomas]

Thomas was on his way to the infirmary for work. The young ghazi had been under Edgar's tutelage for a month now, and his new life did not feel as impossible as it had in the beginning. When that - black-hearted, blasphemous devil in queen's clothing - handed him off to Edgar, Thomas had been so mortified that he wanted to flee from Agrabah and run as far away from any Blackblood who knew about his negligence. On top of being shamed, Edgar gave him bad vibes. Thomas had been convinced that it was only a matter of time before the jerrah-bashi did something ghastly with him. It was just going to be another joke at his expense.

But, to Thomas's surprise, Edgar had actually turned out to be a better mentor than he expected. If Thomas forgot what thyme did or what a bronchoscopy entailed, Edgar would just calmly explain it to him again. Ratcliffe would yell at him until he was beet red in the face, and Maleficent was, well, evil incarnate. It was a nice change. Even so, he found it hard to believe that he would ever become a good jerrah. 

The red-headed ghazi turned a corner and froze, seeing the gorgon. The Blackblood Legion was full of monsters, but he had never seen this one before. He would have just kept on walking, but something compelled him to stay. Thomas had no love for the Blackblood Legion, and for all he knew, she probably beat up puppies and stole money from orphans in her spare time. But he could not help but feel a bit of pity for her. She was obviously blind and lost. It would be wrong to pretend he didn't see her. 

So Thomas circumspectly approached her from behind. "Oh, um, hello," he greeted her meekly. "Are you lost?" 

"The door is open."

Thomas recognized Tabs' voice. They just so happened to be right outside the propagandist's office. Joy.

[Aurelia]

The Ghazi’s soft voice seems to jolt the golden Gorgon from her thoughts, earning him a surprised peep, which is only echoed when a voice also sounds from behind her. Tail slides hurriedly to coil at her base, hands retracting carefully to fold at her chest.

“A-Ah, I’m sorry. Yes, I’m, ah... a little lost. I’m the new, uhm... executioner? I don’t know where I’m supposed to go...”

When she shares her new job, one can’t help but notice the hint of sorrow in her startled voice. While she had no regrets, it would take a while for her to get used to her position. And despite Thomas’ meek greeting, she still seems rather nervous about him, be it due to his Blackblood title or some other factor. Aurelia instinctively shifts, leaning back towards the door behind her.

The door that isn’t there, mind you.

There’s a sharp yelp as she ends up falling backwards into Tabs’ office, landing on her rear with a light thud. It’s here she seems to give up on attempting to maneuver proper, giving a soft groan as she tilts her head. What a grand impression she’s gone and made...

They’d eat her alive here, for sure...

[Tabs]

Tabs had stopped kicking the wall and the hammock slowly began to stop swinging. By then, any hopes of continuing what he’d been working on had been abandoned. His paper and pen were set down to one side of him as he looked toward the doorway in anticipation of someone coming in. Claws began to tap as his brows furrowed, wondering what was taking so long. He leaned up, although he didn’t want to actually remove himself from his nest.

As his eyes were fixed on the doorway, he immediately caught when the gorgon fell past the curtain and into his room. His eyebrows lifted in response. It was in his best interests to be helpful, since public relations primarily rested on him. That, and good nature wasn’t completely missing from his conscience. Though, he hesitated a few seconds nervously, looking at either side of his hammock.

“I’ll be right down,” he said reluctantly.

Claws clung to the sides of the webbing as he tried to scooch his legs over the edge. The hammock shook and then began to tremble as Tabs’s arms struggled to keep it from swinging. Despite that the hammock was jittering side-to-side rather violently at that point, he managed to get two of his legs over the side. Then, as his last leg swung over the edge, the hammock tipped over, dumping the creature faces first onto the floor. As he was heavier than he looked, it resulted in a fairly loud crash.

[Thomas]

"I wouldn't have guessed," Thomas said gloomily, the irony no doubt lost on the newcomer. So the Blackblood Legion had an executioner now. Thomas swallowed hard and looked away, feeling ill. He would have liked to believe she was only for prisoners of war, but that would have been wishful thinking. Thomas glanced at her suspiciously, his brown eyes roaming over her yellow tail. She was just another monster then.

Thomas realized he was being stupid. No, she was not a monster. She was scared too. Thomas looked away again, feeling rotten for being so quick to dismiss her as "another monster." She was not her job, and he had judged her before he knew her. He did not even know her name.

"...it's okay. Really," Thomas awkwardly assured her, raking a hand through his hair. "We, uh, I mean, an overseer usually tells us what we're doing. There's five of them." His brow furrowed. "I think. Hm. No, no, there's six now. Mortaray's a good on-"

She suddenly fell backward, abruptly cutting off Thomas's babbling. For a moment he just stood there, frozen in shock. Then he rushed to her side. "Are you okay?!" 

A loud crash briefly stole the ghazi's attention. Tabs had fallen from his hammock and lay sprawled on the floor. Thomas stared at him in disbelief.

"...are you okay?"

[Aurelia]

“I’m okay.” Comes the soft sigh, only to be cut off by a loud crash! Golden tail rapidly wraps around Thomas, Aurelia’s shoulders going tense. Thankfully, she’s not crushing the breath out of the human, it seems to be on the same level as grabbing someone out of fright. The loud noise has startled her, and she’s instinctively grabbed onto what seemed to be the nearest ally. Though, after a breath, her coils finally loosen, and she glances around.

“Ah, I’m sorry!! Did I break something? Gods-damned blindfold... I’m so sorry...” The last line is murmured as she carefully shifts to investigate the noise, hand delicately pressing against Thomas’ shoulder in something of an unspoken, apologetic thanks. Though, instead of finding something, she finds someone. Teeth seem to worry her lip as she recognizes the silhouette of... something? It’s moving, so it must be alive. At least, she hopes so.

“Ah... did I knock you over? Are you alright...?”

[Tabs]

It took the creature a fair amount of time to get balanced again. The first thing that moved were his legs, bending so his hooves would be stable on the ground. His screens still flat against the floor, claws splayed as he began to lift himself. His legs seemed to have difficulty supporting his weight, trembling and readjusting with all the inexperience of a newborn fawn. With a great effort, he pushed himself upright. He swayed for a while, swinging his arms as his tail seemed to be doing nothing to help his balance.

His faces began to change from anxious and dazed to something more neutral, implying he had recovered from his fall. He stuffed his tie back into his suit.

“It’s fine,” he said, “I just… do that occasionally.”

Black tail began to twist around, almost as if it was looking at the guests. The gnarled jaws at its tip parted, but since it lacked any real means of vocalization, the only sound made was a wet popping.

[Thomas]

Thomas stiffened as the gorgon's long, scaly tail suddenly enveloped him like a snake would. He had always found snakes terrifying. In England, a harmless grass snake was enough to send the boy sprinting back to his mother. In Jamestown, a copperhead slithered over his boot, causing him to almost fall backward in a latrine pit. Ben and Lon thought that was the funniest thing in the New World. And the palace gardens had a snake problem the higher-ups never got around to fixing for some contrived reason. If there really was a rat problem, why not use cats?

But she was not all snake. The coils around him loosened, and the ghazi felt he could breathe again. "No, that's just Tabs," Thomas answered her question. "He fell off his hammock."

"Gods-damned blindfold..."

Thomas looked poleaxed. "Wait, you can see?!" he spluttered stupidly. Why was she wearing a blindfold? Maybe she just had surgery, and her eyes needed to recover. He wondered what color they were.

He realized that what he just said was rude and apologized profusely, "I-I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have assumed..."

"It’s fine. I just…do that occasionally."

Thomas tugged at his shirt collar. "I see," he said slowly, not taking his eyes off of Tabs' tail. At least, he thought that thing was a tail...

[Aurelia]

While she doesn’t touch, once can observe Aurelia’s dainty hands carefully held upwards as Tabs rights himself, a motion insinuating she’d try to catch him if he stumbled, despite their size difference. When Thomas asks his question and promptly apologizes, a gentle, ringing giggle escapes the Gorgon.

“It’s alright, Sir, I promise! Yes, I can see, I just can’t... take the blindfold off.” One hand motions to her face, tapping the edge of the fabric, “It’s far too dangerous. Ah, for those that have eyes, that is. But I can see through the fabric, if just a little bit! I’m just not used to so many noises, or hallways, or... any of this. I’d adapted to living alone in caves over the last few centuries. It makes me rather... ah, clumsy!”

When Tabs rights himself, little hands tuck in front of Aurelia’s body, folding neatly over blue fabric, “There we go, right as rain, Mister... Tabs, was it? I’m so sorry for the intrusion.”

When the strange tail gurgles at the visitors, the Gorgon’s attention shifts, ever so slightly. There’s an almost hopeful smile, and she leans down, offering a hand towards the figure, “And hello to you, too.”

Despite her being able to see, it’s obviously not very well. She seems to be treating Tabs’ tail as a separate entity. That, or she’s very accepting of the strange.