Oh, hello again., Nathair

[Judas Kiss]

It'd been awhile... a long while. Carys was rather startled the first time she felt him actually on the mansion grounds. She'd wanted to go see him... but for once in her life she'd actually been rather busy. Devoting herself entirely to work and training, spending time with Adam, going into the city to see if she could find Octane. Those meetings were actually getting rather interesting. He was trusting her... more and more each day... even though he didn't remember her any better than ever before. Her guess was that it was some sort of underlying instinct... but she couldn't be certain. In any case, she certainly wasn't complaining. She enjoyed his company, in spite of having to repeat the same information several times. And in the case she dared to let herself hope... it seemed he enjoyed her company, too.

But now it was a weekend, and she'd finished up her homework. There was nothing for her to do except hang out with the few friends she had... so in order to keep Adam from feeling smothered, and giving Octane a break from trying to remember someone he couldn't, she decided to finally go see the newest mansion resident who would remember her. It wasn't difficult to find him, in spite of the endless woods. As she'd spent quite awhile in his mind before, she knew the pattern well. He wasn't too far out from the lake it seemed, so she'd decided to wear her swimsuit underneath her clothes. Might be a little cold out, but she hadn't been swimming in ages.

The walk wasn't far, and she smiled as she came within sight of him. "I thought that was you I'd been feeling." She stated, as a way to announce her presence, even though she wasn't sure how much English he understood now. Considering he'd been around the mansion for at least a month now, and even in the mansion a few times, she assumed he'd learned at least a little bit more than the last time they had seen each other. She'd soon find out.

[Nathair]

"Hello Caryssss," He spoke, glancing at her with a strange snakey smile, and not seeming the least bit suprised, "Niiicce to ssssee youu agaaiin."

He could smell her coming. He rarely forgot a scent, particularly one that seemed to be a void of scent. Her's was, really, perhaps the most memorable. His golden eyes examined her carefully, his black tongue flicking out to taste again. She seemed cheerful, which was good. There was another couple of scents he didn't know that seemed to be male. That was normal. Even on Dia he could smell other people. He was good at telling the difference between intimacy and non-intimacy. This was not intimacy, though with at least one of him he suspected a possibility.

"Howw are youu?" He asked curiously, his golden eyes still watching her unblinkingly.

He had tasted her many times during his time at the Mansion. He'd thought about finding her, but had been busy and preoccupied. Dia, learning, and hunting dominated his time. As did the interactions between himself and the two young ones. He decided he'd bump into her when he bumped into her. And it had, apparently, happened.

[Judas Kiss]

Carys smiled at his softened version of her name. She actually rather liked it… it wasn’t so much of a reminder of her parent’s irony. And it seemed to fit her more than Octane’s “Carrie”… which she didn’t even bother correcting him on. Not like he’d remember anyway. “Doing alright. You seem a bit different than the last time I saw you.” She replied to the snake’s greeting, stepping a bit closer as her eyes took him in. There was no sign of fear or hesitance in her, like there had been the first time she saw him. But that had been before she’d spent a good deal of time in his mind. She trusted him now, that much was obvious. Perhaps she even considered him a friend. There actually seemed to be a lot of those coming into her life now… Okay, so to any normal person three would seem like a rather small amount of friends… but it was more than she’d ever had at any one time in the last eight years. Perhaps life was finally looking up after all.

“So, why exactly did you move to my back yard?” Carys asked him, a teasing note in her voice as she settled down on the ground, her back against a tree. “You’re not stalking me, are you?” Of course, she really had no concern over his following her. It was actually kind of nice, having him closer. She didn’t have to make excuses to leave the mansion to go see him, she wouldn’t have to look very hard to find him. It was convenient. And it didn’t take someone who knew him very well to tell that he was happy here. Or at the very least, he was happy now… whether that stood for every day around the mansion or if she’d just caught him in a really good mood remained to be seen.

Of course, Carys had no idea just how much English Nathair understood now. But there was something about him that hadn’t been there before. An… awareness? Something that told her he’d gotten accustomed to people. Though that really wasn’t all that surprising. A giant talking snake moves into the mansion behind the forest, and someone’s gonna notice. Once they noticed, they were going to talk. Then others would want to go see the giant talking snake. She actually rather felt sorry for the amount of attention he must have been receiving lately. Though he didn’t seem to mind it too much… and knowing him, he was probably able to get away from any approaching onlookers if he wanted to.

[Nathair]

"Diiiaaa brought meee," The serpent replied, his body vibrating in laughter, "Iiii liiivvee wittthhhh herr now."

His grasp of English was far better than Carys had left him with. It was perhaps further proof of his intelligence. He'd only been here a month, and already knew how to speak regularly. Of course, he only used simple words and terms, but he got the point across. And he was also good at understanding things, even if he didn't know the exact words they spoke. He got the drift, usually at least.

"Whyyy arre youu heere?" He asked, his golden eyes examining her closely, "Jussst to vissssit meee? Orr to sssswiim?"

He knew students often came down by the lake to swim. He'd met Maiya here, He'd seen several others come here as well. In fact, one day he was quite certain he'd seen a party here. They'd made sure to take all their bottles, so the serpent never figured out what it was, but it tasted terrible to him. And something told him they were supposed to have it. That was not the present at the moment though. Carys visiting was the present. Or perhaps she was just here for a swim, and he was here by chance. Then a thought occured to him.

"We could ssswim," He stated quietly, "And sssspeak like beffffore."

[Judas Kiss]

He lives with Dia? That was enough to lift an eyebrow in curiosity. Did he actually live with Dia? As in, in her room? Or was he trying to say that he spent of his time with her? It confused her, but she knew that his and Dia's living arrangements were really none of her business. So she let it drop, focusing her attention instead on what he asked of her. "Both." It was the truth. While she wasn't always much of a swimmer, every now and then she got into the mood. And it gave her a reason to be in the forest in case he was busy. Such as talking to Dia. Carys always hating intruding on other peoples' conversations. She felt out of place enough as it was.

At his suggestion, a broad smile lit her features. "Works for me." She replied, standing and dusting off her pants. Slipping off her sandals, she deposited them at the base of the tree where she'd been sitting, before pulling off her shirt and dropping it on top of them. Her pants were next, leaving her in a simple light blue and white bikini. If there was one thing she could say about herself... she wasn't self-conscious about her body. Of course, it wasn't like she flaunted it... and someone would have to do a helluva lot of convincing for her to be nude around them for any reason... but when it came to her figure she knew she didn't have much to worry about. After all... even if people didn't like it... it wasn't like they would remember.

Speaking of which... there was something she'd been wondering since she met him. "How do you remember me?" It was an odd question, she knew... and one that would most likely require a bit of explaining before he could answer... but he'd been able to remember and follow her even before she had touched his mind. She'd just attributed it to his senses not being the same as humans'... but she was still curious. Stepping away from the tree, she moved down the steady embankment, stopping as her feet entered the water. The cold sent and immediate shock through her body, goosebumps rising all over her flesh, a violent shiver forcing her to consider the best way to procede. Slowly to let her body adjust? Or just dive in head first, risk the shock, and get so numb she could no longer feel the cold?

[Nathair]

He cocked his head, looking at her curiously, "Whyyy wouldn't Iii?"

Yes, she was a void when it came to scent, but that didn't mean anything. Actually that made her scent the second most memorable to him. Naturally, Dia's was the most memorable, and recognizable. Particularly now. Particularly after everything they'd done together. But that was to be expected. And Dia's scent was still not as strange as Carys. And the colors she emitted were also different from most, as it was almost as if the usual colors did not exist. Just the ultraviolet.

The snake came in behind her. He slid around to the side, but his tail moved forward. He wasn't affected by the cold water like smoothskins, but he knew about their tenderness to cold water. He slid further still, as his tail curled around the back of Carys legs. The hot muscle and warm scales radiated heat to the back of her calves. He didn't know if it'd help, but it was worth a shot.

[Judas Kiss]

Carys looked over her shoulder at his return question, giving him a wry smile. “Let’s just say very few others can.” She wouldn’t say no one else remembered her, even though it was a generalization of the odds. The X-Men remembered her… though that was really for the sake of convenience rather than actually caring. But Adam remembered her because he wanted to. She couldn’t help but smile softly as she thought of him. When they were together, she felt almost normal.

He moved around behind her, his tail pressing against the back of her legs. It was warm, which helped her legs, but she knew it likely wouldn’t do much good for the rest of her body. “Bittersweet numbness, here I come.” She muttered under her breath, having made up her mind on her method of entry. Surging forward, she waded deeper into the water, before taking a deep breath and diving forward. Submerging for several moments, she allowed her body and hair to get completely soaked before surfacing for a breath. A shudder wracked her body from the cold, but she ignored it, looking around for the snake.

[Nathair]

The transparent scale that acted like a snake's eyelid protected him while underwater. It also made it so he could see fairly decently, and he never closed his eyes anyways. His lungs, expanded much like a snake's to fill most of his body, allowed him to stay under water for great lengths of time. Of course, he was massive, so he couldn't hide near the surface like the rest of his kin could.

As it was, when Carys dove into the water, he dove as well. Unlike Carys though, he didn't resurface. In fact, he didn't realize she had at first, until he turned around to look for her. He could see her legs, and most of her body under the water, but her head was out. So he whirled around, and circled around to the front of her body. Then he "stood" raising his head, shoulders, and arms out of the water with ease on his tail. He cocked his head, golden eyes curious.

"Waaaiiting for ssssomettthhing?" He questioned, black tongue flicking out to make sure there was no danger he was unaware of.

[Judas Kiss]

Carys could see his maroon body several feet beneath the surface, circling around her before slowly rising. It was kind of creepy… watching a giant snake thing lift from the water directly in front of you. If she hadn’t been expecting it, she may be pretty terrified right now. Shaking her head at his question, she gave a small shrug, treading water lightly to remain in place and afloat. “Just getting used to it.” She replied simply. “It’s been quite awhile since I’ve gone swimming.” A couple years, maybe? In the winters it was simply too cold… and in the summers the pool and lake were generally so crowded it wasn’t all that much fun. But she missed it, all the same.

She took and released a few deep breaths, getting her lungs accustomed to the larger amounts of oxygen, before she filled them completely in a single breath and dipped beneath the surface once more. At least her training as a cadet gave her better lung capacity than she would normally have… allowing her to stay underwater a little bit longer than she used to. She swam down and forward, eyes open as much as she could allow without the water stinging them too much, to keep herself from swimming into something that might make her lose her air. Somedays she may feel like drowning… today was not that day.

[Nathair]

Nathair waited for her, and watched her. At first he thought she might be having trouble breathing, due to the deep breaths, and was about to pick her up out of the water when she dove under. Shrugging, and figuring if she was having trouble breathing she wouldn't have dove, he slid down after her; head first.

Under the water, he stayed within sight of her. He was fairly certain she could feel his movements, through the change of currents his own movements made. He tried to make sure his own movements weren't powerful or too fast, so she didn't get thrown off her own balance. He did make sure, that if there was anything in the way, he moved it. He saw the occasional fish, and snake, but his own movements, in addition to her's, made it so nothing dangerous came near them.

He was easily the faster swimming, his reptilian body moving easily through the water, almost as if he was made for it. This made it so if something did come up that he thought Carys might run into, he shot forward. His strength was easily capable of moving even drenched deadwood branches, and he did so to make sure she didn't hit her head. Afterall, an unconscious smoothskin under the water couldn't possibly end well.

[Judas Kiss]

The added current created by his movements were actually somewhat fun… a challenge to swimming that she hadn’t had before. She could see him moving objects out of the way, which brought a small smile to her face. While it wasn’t entirely necessary, as she could see a little bit in the murky waters, it was somewhat endearing. Her lungs began to burn, telling her that enough of the oxygen had been converted into carbon dioxide to become harmful. So she slowly began to exhale as she swam, the air being pressed gradually through a thin slit in her lips so she didn’t lose too much at once. It wasn’t until she felt her lungs getting thin that she turned, starting to swim back towards the surface. Rather than surfacing entirely as she had before, she tilted her head back, breaching in the way a whale or dolphin might, exhaling the rest of the air before taking another deep breath. She continued the backwards motion, arcing around and propelling herself back down into the water once more, corkscrewing back to a more normal position so she could actually see where she was going.

“So do you enjoy it here?” She asked, her mind reaching out to touch his in the way it had when they first met. It was actually kind of fun, talking to someone while swimming deeper and deeper into the lake. Of course, it would be nice to not have to worry about running out of air so soon all the time… but it wasn’t like she had to stop swimming completely to get a breath of fresh air. It was also fun having someone to swim with, as she had normally been quite alone in the past. Although… it was beginning to seem like that entire aspect of her life was beginning to change recently. And she certainly couldn’t find anything to complain about.

[Nathair]

Of course. The serpent's reply, this time, was actually in English. Of course, the enjoyment he felt at being in the water was very visible in his emotions. He formed loops in the water around her, swirling this way and that with random abandon. Occasionally he would curl up around her, before darting off into another direction. He loved swimming.

Of course, he was still curious about what she meant by him remembering her when others didn't. Figuring it was likely she was still inside of his mind, he allowed his curiosity about it all to surface. Why wouldn't he remember her? Her scent and her sight was quite ostentatious to him. It was so obvious he wasn't sure how others didn't see it as well. He knew his senses were more attuned, but wouldn't they still notice the strange abscence she seemed to make?

[Judas Kiss]

The curiosity he instilled in her was enough to slow her movements as her thoughts were diverted from swimming to something else entirely. It wasn’t the curiosity within itself that distracted her, but rather the fact that she knew she should answer him… and she had no idea how. While he understood English a lot better than before, he still saw things differently from others. But maybe that would make things easier to explain than it was to other people. “That’s just it.” She began, recalling the thought of the absence of scent and color that she left. “To other people… I am that absence.”

She recalled her own memories then, slipping them into his mind so he’d be able to see the images and scenes play out as though they were his own, including the feelings of hollow emptiness that accompanied them. Repeated introductions, the confused lack of recognition in their eyes, and a waiter delivering a meal to Octane, before turning to her in surprise and claiming he hadn’t known Octane was expecting a companion. And asking – for the second time – if she wanted anything. Carys instilled the knowledge that she’d been there all along, and had already ordered. The memories faded, and she turned her head to find him under the water once more. “Do you understand?”

[Nathair]

Yes. It was the only formed response he gave, but it was not difficult to feel his sadness. It was not her sadness either, it was his at what she felt. Nathair was a serpent and often got lost in the woods, where no one else would be able to find him. But if he appeared, they almost certainly remembered. It took a lot to not remember such a thing. But her, even though he found her insteresting and amusing and enjoyable to be around, could be forgotten in an instant.

Under the water, he still cocked his head. Memories of Mischa returned to him, and he remembered comforting her. He also remembered taking care of Dia during her sadness. He wanted to help Carys feel better and be less sad. Nathair had a distinct dislike of sadness. He felt that was natural, but his dislike of it seemed stronger than most. Even if he ate, he felt the death should be swift and without pain or misery for the prey. His neurotoxins tended to take care of any pain or discomfort.

Swimming close, he opened his powerful arms and closed them gently around Carys. He knew better than to squeeze tight. They were still underwater, and he didn't want her to drown, but he did want to hug her. He knew it was often comforting, and it could convey his own regret and sorrow at something. He didn't hold long, in fact letting go after only a few seconds. As he pulled away, he also spoke to her mentally again. I'm sorry Carys.