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((Edit from last post (Edit on the edit) Nvm, I think i can stay up a little longer <3 ))

Mari woke up suddenly. Where was she..oh yes, she was in the Garden. She glanced protectively at the Rose, then looked around her. She could hear something...Footsteps. her eyes narrowed. Very familiar footsteps, too.

Ah, but his were very soft compared to those of an average being. It was truly amazing she could pick it up but, then again, her ears /were/ obnoxiously large. Or so he thought. Steam curled about his lips from the cold, making him momentarily look like some mutated dragon. Dionaea was tucked under the safety of his coat this time, for the fly-trap was a tropical plant from what he'd found and probably wouldn't like this frost much. Probably the biggest show of sympathy and care he'd shown in years.

His eyes caught sight of Mari over the rims of his glasses and they rested quietly on her and the rose for a moment before he flicked them away distastefully. Snubbed, apparently, by the way he walked on, searching for a place of warmth he could safely take Dion out. Stupid child.

"I have as much right to be here as you, Mari oh-so Contrary." He replied calmly, quirking an easy brow at her as if he thought her to be utterly childish at the moment. "What's that you're hiding?" He ventured, brushing the second question away as if it hadn't been asked in the first place. "Is it something shameful? Is it..." A thoughtful lick of his lips. "The little ice plant?"

"Now now," Talis smirked, raising a hand up to her and wagging his index finger tauntingly. "You heard Kulie. I'm not allowed to beat you up anymore. And if you hurt this plant I'm carrying, I'll have to drain you of all your filthy blood."

"That's all a matter of opinion, but I don't recall asking for commentary from the peanut-gallery." He replied, taking note she seemed to be a little weaker in her comebacks now. Had he broken her? "Speaking of 'Gardeners', why don't I ever get to see the one that brought up a pitiful display as you?"

"How touching." He sneered, but the teasing did not quite reach his eyes. No, they seemed... "Hn." The businessman turned away from her, unbuttoning the front of his coat to pull free his Shee. Dionaea was still as green as it had been when he'd first received it, the only difference being that both traps were closed now- he'd fed the other one earlier. He walked to one of the conveniently set trees, brushing away most of the snow with his shoe. "I'm sure you rushed off after I left. Is your 'crazy' gardener after my blood now?" His back was still turned to her, so he sounded as if he were mumbling a bit.

She laughed, laughed. "No, I came in through my bedroom window and locked both doors. She saw blood, I think, when she rushed in, but I managed to push her out. She doesn't know anything yet." She smiled slyly. "She knows you only as a 'good friend who Mari likes to talk to," she added, rolling her eyes.

Mari sat back down, next to the Rose. "Kyaa is very oblivious to everything. She doesn't know that my baby sister, Cala, has somehow figured out every lock and escape route in the house, and that she sneaks out whenever Kyaa is sleeping."

The rose shimmered a bit, seeming almost to wilt a little at the anger around it. Something dark and mean was close, and it could tell that.

"I suppose she's human then? Petty things those are." Enough snow was kicked aside that he'd actually sit beneath the tree, easing himself with one hand onto a dryer root. At the glare, he simply snorted. "They're a lot smarter than you are, then. If you'd just shut up and leave me alone like a good little ugly, then I won't have any reason to be 'scary', will I? Besides, I have no fight with the ice-babies, I'm not going to anything to them. Or is that little 'I will protect you' speech just to boost your own self-esteem? I think it is."

Talis gave a dismissive wave, another one of those 'I think you're a total idiot' gestures. He crossed his legs before him, setting Dion carefully in his lap. "I'd hurt them as much as I would my own. You're a special case, Marigold, or rather a 'special-ed' case. I'm sure whatever is in there isn't going to be so bold as to yank me around and not expect some retaliation." A smirk and a glance to that bandaged arm. "So yes, I promise not to crush the little rose- fragile as it is."

At her invitation he gave her a bland look. How stupid did she think he was? "And why would I want to do that. An all-nighter at my job sounds more promising than walking over to your house. Who knows what unspeakable horrors you've got lying around the house. You probably have tentacles in your closet."

"I did expect some retaliation - just not a bite. Gods above, it feels like I got my arm bit off by a werewolf, or something!"

"I doubt you will tell me, but I'm curious; what is your job?"

At the response to her invitation, Mari actually laughed. Laughed. Not out of spite, either, it was a genuine amused laugh. What a strange girl. To be laughing with her worst enemy who bit her like she was laughing with Ryuu, or Karia. "And why would you think that? Besides, Kyaa would be there, and she wouldn't let me hurt anyone. No, she's much to sensitive for that."

"My teeth are sharper than a werewolf's. Smaller, too, so I don't salivate like they do and they don't stick grotesquely out of my mouth." He corrected her matter-of-factly, leaning back against his tree. "It will probably scar, not because I bit down hard enough -I didnt-, but because of the crude manner you've wrapped it up. The bandages are too loose, so it should be getting infected soon." He smirked, as if the thought of infection pleased him. He'd leave a more lasting impression that way, wouldn't he?

"You're correct- I won't tell you, both because it's almost painfully obvious and you're not on that level of casual speaking terms with me yet." He just stared quietly as she laughed, as if waiting for her patiently to finish. His mouth fell open, an obvious decline on his arrogant lips, when he happened to look down at his flytrap. It had paled, just a little, and was flecked with some frost. A mild snarl issued before he quickly tucked the plant safely back under his coat. "Is it warm there? Is there sun?"

"Your domestic skills are sickening." He told her, pressing his glasses a little further up the bridge of his nose. "How about today? How warm is it?" It'd be today or no day, he told himself, because he wasn't going to bring back Dionaea until the snow and chill was all gone and he'd have no reason to go over to that house.

"Okay, one second." She carefully placed a seashell by the Ice Rose - a sort of reassurance that she would hopefully be back soon. "Let's go," she nodded, straightening. "What is your preferred mode of transportation?"

He rose easily, not even touching the tree as he did. "My mode of transportation is not something you are capable of. What are the modes you are offering me?" He wanted to know his options. He wouldn't quite trust her flying him around, so if that was the only option aside from walking, he'd walk.

"We'll walk." He decided, sauntering towards her with an odd grace, buttoning up his jacket to hide the scarlet shirt beneath it as well as keep Dionaea in place. He didn't want the plant falling out just in case he had to maneuver.

A sigh issued from Talis, arm securing the plant. Then, with a lean forward, he darted in the same direction as Mari. Damn, he was fast for some p***k in a suit and dress shoes, eh? He was running on his toes, for chrissakes. Just what was he? This isn't a walk, he thought to himself irritably as he jumped some fallen log, it's a run.

((Hmm...skipping to house now ninja ZOOM!))

Fifteen minutes later...

"Um, I think we're lost."

Fifteen more minutes later..

"That's it! That's my house!" Mari cried, pointing at a rather broken-down-looking house. She unlocked the door with a key she somehow produced out of no where, and called, "Kyaa!"

Kiarna immediately appeared in the doorway. "Mari! I thought you said you were going to be in the Garden for the next few days! And who is that?"

After that first fifteen.

"If I could reach you, I'd bite you again."

As they pulled up to the house, Talis slowed, picking various debree such as twigs from his hair. His glasses had been tucked away into a jacket pocket long ago, so now the crimson eyes were shielded by nothing. He studied Kyaa for a second, measured her up.

"Hello," He began, stepping towards her. "My name is Talis and I'm one of the new Shee gardeners. You must be Kyaa, right? Mari has quite a lot to say about you." Oh. Crap. Was he being polite? The snake- and he could smile while he did it too.

Kyaa clapped her hands over her ears, laughing. "Please don't call me Kyaa! I hate it when people do that. Call me Kia, Kiarna, Rina, any garbled way of Kiarna, but just don't call me Kyaa!" She looked him up and down, adding, "You're really evil-looking. Scary. Nice to meet you." She showed no sign of fear. "So you're Talis, ne? New Shee owner? Come in, come in."

Mari followed miserably behind, swearing silently that she either forgot just how crazy Kyaa could be, or she had just drunk a serious load of coffee. Kyaa chattered on: "It's so good that Mari has friends like you. You know, she got some nasty cut on her arm, fancy that. If I could find the creature who did it, why, I'd strangle him right away with my dice."

"I've often been told something similar." He replied, his right ear twitching ever so slightly as he forced that smile. "Pleased to meet you, Kiarna." He allowed Kia to chatter away, nodding his head at various intervals while smirking towards Mari when he was sure Kia wasn't looking close enough and might mistake it for a smile. "Is that what that bandage is for, Mari? Why don't you let me have a look at it?" He asked sweetly, purring venom just below the surface of the tone. "How do you know whatever caused it is male, Miss Kiarna?"

"That's fine." Talis smiled, but he didn't appreciate the thought of being left alone with Mari. He wasn't afraid of her, no, he could take care of himself if she put up another fight- or so he thought. His eyes wandered the innards of the house nosily, so accurately that one could raise the question of why he even wore glasses. "Well, I thank you for your... hospitality." Tch. You could tell he had some things to say about Kyaa should the occasion ever come up, but for now he kept it to himself.

Dion was somehow present again in his hands, the bud of the second flytrap slowly sliding open with the new heat. Apparently it had finished and had digested its food. The one holding the Shee, however, was still safely shut, though it may have wiggled ever so slightly. The Shee obviously was pleased with the new climate, Talis noted. Maybe the trip wouldn't be such a waste after all.

"No problem, no problem," Kyaa said brightly, waving the (fake, obvious to everyone except her) thanks away. "So you have a Venus Fly-Trap? Mari came to me as a baby instead as a plant; I wonder what plant she was." (Mari hadn't told her yet.) "Ah, here's the back door. Your Shee-plant will be enjoying this heat, no? Have fun!" And with that, she scurried off to make sure Cala was behaving herself.

Mari sullenly opened the door, stepping out onto the warm beach. Although it was snowing back at the Shee Gardens, it was warm and sunny out here. Sighing with delight at the sight of the vast ocean, Mari even momentarily forgot Talis was there, and dashed out, diving into the sparkling expanse.

"Indeed." Wow, Kyaa was so smart to figure that one out all on her own. "Yes, I hope it does." It better enjoy the heat. He'd come all this way to give it some. It was cold in the city in which he worked, but there was a lamp there in his office to keep the tropical plant warm. Honestly. Giving the tropical plant to him in the midst of winter was the biggest pain in the a** ever.

He snorted as Mari jumped into the water with no regard for her clothing, picking a particularly sunny place for Dion to sit safe from the salt-water and some of the harsher, sand-bearing winds. And then he sat too, regardless of the sand. He didn't dislike sand as much as he did water, especially that nasty saltwater that made one smell pretty bad. He'd use that later- tell Mari she smelled bad or something a little more witty that meant the same thing.

Mari frolicked happily in the water, diving down as far as she could, swimming as if she were one of the sea. Only when she caught the sight of Talis out of the corner of her eyes, did she remember he was there.

Sulkily, she swam back to the beachshore. She wouldn't behave like a little girl in front of him.

Strangely enough, Mari did not seem wet at all, not even her dress. It was like the water just slid off her.

Too late. He'd already seen her take to the water like a parched duck and was smirking rather smugly in her direction when she slid out. "Why stop now? You look like you were having such a fun time taking a step back on the evolution chart. I can't imagine how well your wound must be holding up in all that salt and bacteria."

At the widening of her eyes, he raised a hand to muffle his snickering, though his eyes still sparked with visible, cynical glee. At his side, the closed bud suddenly wiggled, the teeth on the thing rippling slightly. The Shee was responding to these new emotions curiously, taking them in. "Pitiful, isn't she?" He seemed to coo sadistically to his plant, running his fingernail around the rim of the open flytrap and pulling it away just as it snapped closed. A chuckle as she tried to regain composure- he was not that easily fooled.

He lowered his hand finally, holding it out in Mari's general direction. "Come here and let me see it, Mari /dear/." Another purr, inviting and coaxing this time as his hand made a gesture for her to come forth. "I'll fix it for you. It's mine, after all. As annoying as you are, I guess you don't quite deserve to have to get it amputated. That's what they'll tell you if you waste time trying to go to a 'proffesional'- they've never seen /that/ kind of bite before and they'll assume it's a lost cause. That's why I despise doctors... and the government."

He raised his brows innocently to her, the garnet hues amused with her hesitation, but not annoyed in the least. That was a good sign- she feared the thought he may take another bite of her and that was very smart. He just may.... or he might not. That was the whole problem, wasn't it? She didn't know Talis well enough to trust him, but she also wouldn't be able to predict just what he may do. What if he /was/ telling the truth? His face betrayed nothing, perhaps to piss her off even more in her indecision. The hand remained held out in her direction, now gesturing elaborately to the spot in front of him as if it were indeed a royal seat instead of a heap of sand.

His other hand disappeared beneath one of the flaps of his jacket, shuffling through in search of something.

The stinging was getting worse. May the gods curse him. She inched a bit closer."What's that you're getting out?" Mari just couldn't trust him; she needed to make sure she could see his hands at all times. Not a very big comfort, but a comfort nonetheless.

"Your disinfectant. I don't like guns, if that's what you're thinking." He replied, keeping his tone neutral as he removed a small silver flask. You know, the kinds you see the guys produce from their pockets and chug from in the middle of a stressful part of the movie? Was Talis a drinker? And now to wait patiently for her to finally come over. It really didn't matter to him if she did or not, so he wasn't going to make her, but this may be the only chance she'd get from someone as stingy as him.

He smirked, reaching out his hand to grip her wrist lightly and draw it closer so her knuckles would sit on his opposite knee. The flask was placed in his lap so his other hand was free, the fingers easily undoing the crude knots and unwrapping the bandages. Surprising- he was being careful, not brushing the wound unless he had to. He didn't want her wailing at him so close to his ear, to be honest.

"I won't lie to you- this is going to sting. It's just as I expected. See these grey marks around the bite? It means that part of your arm is infected and dying. Usually when I bite something, I eat it, so I was not aware of /exactly/ what poison might flake off from my teeth." He informed her, pointing out various spots. "I do now. This is metal poisoning, like the old soldiers in the war you may have read about who had to have their whole arms and legs taken off because the bullet infected the whole thing. Hmm..." He suddenly gripped her wrist tighter, yanking the arm up towards his mouth.

Oh God, he was going to bite it again! Oh, no, that's just his tongue... Licking over the wound and leaving a /lot/ of spit in its wake. Ew. Gag-me-with-a-spoon disgusting! Oh, he really /was/ a boy. Ewwww... ((*bricked*)) But there was a sudden his from the saliva, sinking deeper into the wound and beginning to foam. Yes, it /should/ sting. And he was holding her arm so tight it'd be hard to pull away. Now he was reaching for that flask as if nothing was wrong at all.

Mari was definetely surprised at his careful-ness. She expected him to try and give her the most painful treatment of the wound as possible.

Mari stared, stupified, at him - she did not know much history; Kyaa never bothered teaching it to her, and she had never bothered learning. But before she could say so, her arm was yanked toward his mouth and those sharp, sharp teeth. She cried out in fear, squeezing her eyes shut.

She waited for the feel of teeth sinking into her arm, and opened her eyes out of shock when what she felt was just a wet, slimy something. And, yes, it stung. A lot. She tried to get something out, a horrible curse or something, but her throat felt as if stuck. "Oww..." she managed to whimper.

"Oh, save it." He told her grumpily, flicking her forehead lightly before opening the flask with his teeth. Someone should teach her some history, or at least some literature. You better believe he was going to pound some lessons into Dion's head whenever they showed up, because he /refused/ to raise an uneducated child. He poured some of the contents over her arm, filling the air with the smell of cheap alcohol. And that would make the stinging worse, if anything. "What a girl." He grumbled disdainfully.

Suddenly, he was craning his head over the wound again, blowing cold air upon it and the foaming substance to nullify the pain. And once it was done fizzing, he poured a little more alcohol over it just to make sure. His eyes were on the wound, ignoring her pained face so he could concentrate on the condition of it. No more fizzing- good. "Hold still." He dropped her arm, beginning to re-wrap the wound, this time tighter and more secure.

Mari hissed. "What a girl? Is that supposed to be an insult?" She finally lost it. "And I can say 'ow' if my arm got bit by some goddamned demon from Hell and was now being slobbered all over and now - OW!" Mari let off a slew of more cursewords.

Finally, it was over. "Thank the gods," she groaned. "No more things being poured all over the bite?" A hint of pleading slipped in her voice, so quiet that one had to wonder if they had heard it or not.

"No you cannot say 'ow' if that 'demon from Hell' is annoyed by it and is very well close enough to /take off your nose/. " He snarled right back at her, clicking his teeth together to make a point. He settled down after that, wrapping the bandages up the rest of the way.

"You will change the bandages once a day for a whole week, making sure to pour a substance called 'hydrogen peroxide' over the bite before you wrap it. After a week, it should heal up completely, but it may or may not leave a scar. If you disobey, it /will/ get infected again. Do you understand that, little Mari Mari oh-so Contrary?"

"I don't want to touch your filthy hair. Don't /flatter/ yourself. And if your hair-brained owner tries to throw one of those dice at me, I'll gut her and take her liver home to marinate in onions." At the 'Nightmareness' comment, he grinned. "And don't forget it. Now... get away from me."

Mari hastily scrambled away, until she was standing several feet away. "My pleasure."

"And believe me, demonic idiots such as yourself are no match for a crazy overprotective human."

"A human with a pair of fuzzy-dice compared to... oh, maybe a scythe? I guess it would be fun to watch. Forgive me if I'm not shivering in my MTX customs(shoes)." A chuckle. "Will you stop cawing? You're making the fly-trap wilt." He lied.

"No doubt that it is your voice, not mine, making the poor Dion wilt."

"And - oh, whatever. I'm tired of defending Kyaa. She can and will kill you, and that's that." She promptly sat down, leaning back so she was lying on her back in the sand. "And if you don't mind now, I'm going to sleep. Don't do anything while I'm not concious to watch you," she said crankily.

"How did you know it's name? I didn't tell anyone." He asked, eying her suspiciously. "If she tries to kill me, I'll leave. I'm undoubtedly faster than your human. All I came here for was some sun for Dion, so I don't feel like bothering you."

"Really? I could have sworn I heard you say something about the plant's name was Dion. If it really is, then I guess either you told me or I overheard it sometime." Mari shrugged.

She was about to go to sleep as she had planned, but glared (yet again. She likes glaring. Doesn't the word 'glaring' sound so cool? <3) at him. "You know what, I don't feel exactly safe. I'm going back to Shee Gardens. Stay here if you want, seeing as all you want is the sunlight." Without another word, Mari rose in the air and flapped her wings several times, until she found herself at a nice height, then headed towards the Gardens.

-~-