Paradise Lost

Aiden pulled his hand out of his jacket. His form was relaxed, despite what he had said. It was a nice night. It’d be a shame to spoil it. As the Brigadier looked at him with a strange expression, Aiden raised an eyebrow at him slightly. The other male might want to try a better look if he wanted to make Aiden look stupid because that look wasn’t doing him any favours. But then again, Aiden was to put it bluntly, a straight shooter. No stupid games. And he wasn’t stupid either. Belittling him or trying to make him look like a fool wasn’t the smartest thing to do. He could see through that straight away. And on his bad days, he would return the favour with more ferocity than one could ever imagine. But it was a good night. And he was in a good mood. Aiden guessed the Brigadier’s reaction had been because he was worried about the Queen, his significant other. That he could understand. He had been in love too once. He understood how protective one could get. But the other male, Connor, had to trust him. He didn’t have to like him but he had to trust him to have good intentions, not bad ones. He had to trust him to not seriously hurt the Queen or the clan. Aiden wasn’t the type to give his loyalty easily. He was a drifter, a loner who walked his own path. So when he did give his loyalty he did it earnestly. And besides, it would’ve been stupid to hurt someone who was part of the clan who he wanted to join. Unless they gave him a reason. But he thought the other male, Connor, was smarter than that. Aiden could have just walked straight past the borders when the Brigadier hadn’t been here, then transformed into his cat form and attacked the Queen. He wouldn’t have been lugging around a guitar to slow him down. And if he had really, really wanted to hurt the Brigadier, he would’ve done so the second he got into his face instead of standing there. He wasn’t part of the clan, not yet. He was just a foreigner. But here he was with the guitar and the clothes on his back. Aiden straightened, not breaking his gaze with the other Mora. Tightening his hand around the strap of the guitar case to adjust it on his shoulders, he replied, “I’m strong and fast. I’ve been in my fair share of tussles in my life so I can fight well. I’ve also had some training in hand-to-hand combat. I’m loyal to a fault. I have no reservations about getting my hands dirty. I have no fear when it comes to fighting and I will fight with my life to protect the clan and the Queen. You need an extra body to send into battle to fight, I’m your man.”

- Forgive me for the lack of quality/quantity, I assumed you would want this out of the way to allow your character to prosper.

Roaming his fingers gently through his human, dark lochs of hair, the man breathed out a fogged cloud of air, to what then faded with the rest of the world around him. He stared into a glass reflection of himself, his eyes, his features completely relevant and alive, though plastered behind nothing more than worrisome. Behind that barrier of himself and the glass itself, stood a wondrous amount of rings, shapes and sizes varying as well as the colour of stone. As his hand drifted down over his eyes and cheeks, he paused for a moment to recollect himself and breath slowly. So the man turned, distracting himself from the thoughts to which stayed aloft his mind for several days now. He'd leave it at just that, there was still time, lots of time, for him, and her, even. Still so much to know, so much to learn, yet the thought remained there at ease and bright, like a beacon of hope. Connor had begun to walk home from work that day, only to be stopped at the sight of a shining diamond settled behind the glass wall, there, he was reminded easily of his Queen and what had become of them in such a long while. The idea of perhaps wanting to become more than just that in their relationship made him stay longer than what was intended. But there were things to be done, and Valentines day was just around the corner. He would bring her flowers, as he had last year for her. And spend the day with her as planned. In both of his hands, he held bags of chinese food, being that it was a favourite for the two of them, and the day was to spend it watching movies at her house. Being that he was only in his work uniform, consisting of a black, company fitted shirt and normal jeans for comfort, he didn't have any intentions of changing, though a shower would suit him in order to get rid of the smell of hay left on his skin. But as the Brigadier entered the lands of his beloved home, he was stopped abruptly be the attention of a foreigner just short of his presence. As his spine elongated into that of a long black tail with a white ring around the end, and from his hair, sprang two large black ears. A disruptive hiss rolled out of his mouth, seeing that the male was another Neko like him. The last that had ever happened, Connor did not favor the lad, who was too much of a coward as it was to slack off and run away from the kingdom. He hoped that this one had a sense of courage and respect in him though this time. The tom bit first, "Who're you and why're you here?" His hands gripped around the handles of the plastic bags as he worked into a stance so that he was in front of the man. The olive eyes of the Brigadier searched the other up and down slowly with mild interest, ears up and alert as the end of his tail curled hesitantly. "I am Brigadier Connor, the Queen's right hand and significant other. What has become of you to walk onto my Queen's kingdom's borders?"

He tapped his fingers on his knee slowly as some chords from a song trickled into his mind, leaning back slightly. He was right at the border. A grey and black ear twitched. He finally heard footsteps and the rustle of plastic bags. He looked in the general direction. Now what would he see? He had no expectations. No, it was another male. Seemingly younger than him carrying plastic bags of food in a black shirt and jeans. He had to be a Mora. Cat, dog or fox? It’d have been comical if he was a dog Mora. But that wasn’t meant to be. When he saw him, he saw the ears and tail spring up. Hmm, hostile. Was that supposed to make him scared? Aiden did not respond or say anything, waiting to see if the boy would say something. That was all he was interested in. The hiss was strange. But no punches had been thrown. No kicks. No violence. Just a random hiss. Perhaps Aiden reminded him of someone he hated. He was used to being an outsider. Besides being able to see things from the outside, it gave him a healthy amount of indifference towards strange things people did or said towards him. Other people’s issues weren’t his concern. Whatever they thought of him, then that was their problem not his. And if this other male attempted to engage in a fight, Aiden would have no choice but to retaliate with equal force. He did not care who the other male was. If he intended to pick some pointless fight, Aiden would finish it. It was as simple as that. But it seemed as if the hiss had been a natural response to seeing another on the border and not because of some strange, misplaced hostility. Or maybe it was. Aiden did not care to entertain why. It was none of his concern. As the other stood in front of him, Aiden said not looking at him,“It must be my lucky day.” He picked up the handle of the guitar-case with a hand, lifting it off the ground and then glanced at him with dark eyes, unsmiling,“A boy with Chinese food come to greet me.” He straightened listening to his words, standing up his hand not leaving the strap of the guitar-case with his fingers wrapped around it while the other slipped into his jacket pocket and replied.“Well Brigadier Connor, the Queen’s right hand, I’m a lone wanderer come here to join your clan after hearing it is a home for Moras. My name is Aiden.”

Connor rolled his eyes at the petty comment, but relaxed enough to the point to take it as it was without replying argumentatively in return. There were a couple things which he could say about the inconsiderable fool, though he left it that, he had a Queen to return to, surely he did not need this... thing on his hands to deal with later. Nothing new seemed to seep from the man's mouth, just a bunch of talk and no explanation, at least, nothing to which he hadn't heard before. The brigadier looked at him with a dumb expression, leaning his head to the side before he exaggeratedly sighed, as if he had seen enough already. "And you can offer.. what exactly, other than a snide comment and a name?" He raised his eyebrows, wondering if the man would really say something upon his question rather than what he was truly asking of the other Neko. Connor did not need another screw up on his hands, especially now with the previous cat-man leaving a bad reputation for the rest he'd eventually have to deal with upon future time. He knew not all were bad, at least, from what he knew at some point in his past, but with all which had happened, he could not find who he could really trust around his Queen. She was still injured from their one gathering, and even then, the brigadier was wary of those whom had come forth through the kingdom since. Interviews with joining members were becoming a lot rougher for foreigners when he would question them, and Nikolai, too, was in on it, as a brother's loyalty would. It wasn't that he was purposely trying to be rude before the other male, Aiden, his name was, it was only out of distrust and his sudden need to protect the love of his life which caused such anger to arise. Connor's expression softened, as did the color of his eyes. His ears flattened back and his tail uncurled to a natural, swaying position, though it remained high behind him out of dominance.

Aiden pulled his hand out of his jacket. His form was relaxed, despite what he had said. It was a nice night. It’d be a shame to spoil it. As the Brigadier looked at him with a strange expression, Aiden raised an eyebrow at him slightly. The other male might want to try a better look if he wanted to make Aiden look stupid because that look wasn’t doing him any favours. But then again, Aiden was to put it bluntly, a straight shooter. No stupid games. And he wasn’t stupid either. Belittling him or trying to make him look like a fool wasn’t the smartest thing to do. He could see through that straight away. And on his bad days, he would return the favour with more ferocity than one could ever imagine. But it was a good night. And he was in a good mood. Aiden guessed the Brigadier’s reaction had been because he was worried about the Queen, his significant other.  That he could understand. He had been in love too once. He understood how protective one could get. But the other male, Connor, had to trust him. He didn’t have to like him but he had to trust him to have good intentions, not bad ones. He had to trust him to not seriously hurt the Queen or the clan. Aiden wasn’t the type to give his loyalty easily. He was a drifter, a loner who walked his own path. So when he did give his loyalty he did it earnestly. And besides, it would’ve been stupid to hurt someone who was part of the clan who he wanted to join. Unless they gave him a reason. But he thought the other male, Connor, was smarter than that. Aiden could have just walked straight past the borders when the Brigadier hadn’t been here, then transformed into his cat form and attacked the Queen. He wouldn’t have been lugging around a guitar to slow him down. And if he had really, really wanted to hurt the Brigadier, he would’ve done so the second he got into his face instead of standing there. He wasn’t part of the clan, not yet. He was just a foreigner. But here he was with the guitar and the clothes on his back.  Aiden straightened, not breaking his gaze with the other Mora. Tightening his hand around the strap of the guitar case to adjust it on his shoulders, he replied,“Strength and courage is what I can give you. I’ve been in my fair share of tussles in my life so I can fight well. I’ve also had some training in hand-to-hand combat. I’m loyal to a fault. I have no reservations about getting my hands dirty. I have no fear when it comes to fighting and I will fight with my life to protect the clan and the Queen. You need an extra body to send into battle to fight, I’m your man.”