Veliocochild {open}

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Remy paused, looking over his shoulder again, just to be absolutely sure he'd seen what he thought he saw. Yes, yes, there was still the small child there. She appeared to be about five or so, though Remy was a lousy judge of the age of children. They all looked... small to him, and the exact details got fuzzy from there. Really though, it wasn't the size or the age of the child that bothered Remy: it was the child's posture.

For the child had both her hands up into distinct claw shapes. Her mouth was wide open as well, and she growled at Remy in an all too familiar sound.

The chef took a few steps forward, scuttling a little. The child followed, stomping and growling more. Remy took a few more steps, the child followed again. Remy stopped; the child stopped. This had actually been going on for some time. It would be a little less disconcerting if the child wasn't closing the distance each time Remy stopped.

This time, said child caught up to Remy. She closed in and began nomming on Remy's leg. Yes, nomming, for there is no better word to describe the small child's actions. She was firmly attached to a short clad leg, her mouth attached to it as though Remy were a chicken leg. Remy was hopping back a few steps, waving his arms and generally yelping. There might have been some girlish squeals, especially as the child figured out that while she might not be a primitive dinosaur, she did, in fact, have teeth.

Sharp ones.

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Jor strolled along aimlessly, his mind wandering as he enjoyed the sunlight warming his brown hair. It had been far too long since he had felt the warmth of the sun on his scales. Unfortunately, he was trapped in this restricting form, but at least he was able to sit in the sun. Raising his face to the sky, he closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, missing his old senses. Had he taken a deep breath in his serpentine form, he would have been able to smell everything in the area. He had a higher sense of smell than usual humans, but it still felt like his nose was stuffed up.

With his eyes still closed, a faint yelp attracted his attention. The sound shot straight to the predatory part of his mind, alerting him to the presence of prey nearby. He cracked open his eyes, scanning the area in search of the source of the sound. His eyes were drawn to a small mousey boy struggling to free himself from the clutches of a young child. Said child appeared to be attempting to devour the boy's leg. The predator inside Jor stirred, and he narrowed his eyes on the child as if she had committed some crime. Technically, the boy was her "prey", but something about this boy drew him in. The boy smelled like a rat, and rats had been Jor's favorite snack when he had been smaller.

Jor strolled forward, an unconscious smirk spreading across his face as he approached. He stopped a few feet away, leaning against a wall as he watched the scene unfolding before him. "You look like you could use a hand," he finally drawled, grinning as he watched the little girl going to town on the boy's leg. He could easily summon up the power to get rid of the brat, but he was more content to watch the boy squirm.

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Oh wow, creepy predator sense totally tingling. Remy looked to the incoming guy and he couldn't help but gulp in a nearly comical manner. For a few moments there, he'd even forgotten that there was a girl nomming on his leg in a most aggressive manner. There was just something about the guy that made Remy want to go scurrying off, hopefully in the general direction of a hole of some kind.

Then he spoke, and Remy couldn't help the first thing to come out of his mouth: "Are you talking to her or to me?" he pointed at the girl, then himself as he addressed them, trying to smile. It looked nervous; probably because he was nervous. He shook his leg a little, but all that did was apparently encourage his nommer.

Said girl made noises uncommonly like a "nom," though she turned slightly to look at the big, imposing man. If she felt the same fear that Remy did, she didn't show it. Instead, she continued gnawing at Remy's leg.

"She really needs to let go," muttered Remy, reaching down for the girl. He looked up at the guy again. "Uh, don't suppose you'd like to help...?"

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Jor threw back his head and laughed at the boy's reply to his question. Oh, this was turning out to be much more fun than he had first thought it would be. "That depends," he grinned, cocking his head to the side as his eyes flickered back and forth between the girl and the mousey boy. "Which of you needs my help more?"

He noticed that both of the children had grown tense as he had made his presence known. Good, they clearly both had some sense. It was never fun to play with prey that didn't know it was prey. Jor turned his gaze to the girl, watching her silently as she continued to gnaw at the boy's leg. As much fun as this was, he had to pick a side, and the girl was less interesting. Sighing dramatically, Jor shrugged his shoulders lazily in response to the boy's query. "I suppose I could be inclined to assist you."

Pushing off the wall, he stalked forward, hands shoved in his pockets. He came to a halt before the girl and knelt down so that his face was closer to hers. Reaching back, he clutched the scruff of her neck in a firm grip, and shot her a stern glare. "Scram," Jor hissed, letting his natural, forked tongue flick out. Hopefully she would get the hint and let go. If not, he would have to use more forceful means.

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What was with this guy? Remy just couldn't shake that creepy, skin crawling feeling that he got simply from looking at him. He felt himself involuntarily swallow, his eyes locked on Jor as though he couldn't escape. Strange, but he almost felt like...

wait, this was the same feeling that his father had described as the lockup. It was what happened when a rat faced a...

faced a snake.

"Oh crap," muttered Remy. Suddenly the nomming child seemed a much more preferable situation than dealing with this guy. True, Remy wasn't certain that he was dealing with someone who used to be a snake, but he wasn't about to take chances. Taking chances ended up with you dead thanks to some guy who couldn't shake his predatory instincts. Of course, the guy had to decide to actually help Remy, slithering forward (okay, not literally, but as far as Remy was concerned, that was a slither).

"You know, I think I changed my--" he began sputtering. but the guy was there. He leaned over, and a forked tongue slid out of his mouth. There went Remy's theory.

The girl, being someone who imitated predatory reptiles for fun, released Remy's leg and looked to Jor. "You've got a snake tongue," she said with the purest version of sincerity. "That's cool."

More like terrifying...

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Jor blinked in surprise, taken aback by the girl's reaction. Well, that definitely hadn't gone as planned. He released her, resting his arms on his knees as he frowned at her. "Well, of course," he replied after a moment. "I am a snake. Or I was. Or I still am. It's... confusing." He narrowed his eyes slightly, inspecting the girl closely. She was most definitely a mortal. Perhaps showing off his power hadn't been the wisest idea. She might ask him to turn into a snake or something. Honestly, he wasn't sure if he could shift forms.

From his new position, Jor was now definitely sure that the rat's scent was coming from the boy. It was almost the same scent as the one that had been in his dorm room. He tilted his head up, focusing on the boy's face as his tongue flicked out again, tasting the air hesitantly. The scent was laced with other smells too, strange spices and the like. Yes, it reminded him of the scent that had come from one of the beds in his dorm. "You smell familiar," he commented idly, as if it was an ordinary question for someone to mention another person's scent. "Do you live in the dorms?"

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The girl continued to be completely and utterly fascinated by Jor. She studied him with an intensity that was reserved strictly for children and religious zealots, peering deep within him as though she could see the snake beneath the human guise. There was actually a very good chance that she could, but that would be another thread entirely, so we shall abandon that course entirely.

Remy wasn't really paying attention to the girl anyway. He sputtered, taking a step back, and had to look down in surprise. Odd, but he could actually step back. How come he hadn't noticed that before? The girl had released him, that had sort of been his hope all along.

"What?" he looked up at the snake. Bad move; there was that paralyzing fear again. "Oh, yeah, I mean, sure, I live in the dorms. At the school," he jerked his thumb back toward the building in the distance.

Was it impolite to leave right now? Did Remy really care...?

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Jor narrowed his eyes, feeling quite uncomfortable under the girl's scrutinous gaze. He really didn't like being analyzed; he much preferred to hide in the shadows and do his business without being seen. But the girl was of no importance. He instead turned his attention back to the boy that was acting very much like a rat.

"Hm," Jor mused, cocking his head to the side as he watched the boy. He stood back to his full height, dusting himself off as he continued. "That's what I thought. The room I was assigned smelled of spices." He gave the boy a mischevious look before locking eyes with him once again and offering his hand in greeting. "I'm Jormungandr, or Jor for short. I'm living in the dorms as well, Room 103. I believe we'll be dorming together." He grinned widely, a preemptive reaction to the rat-boy's reaction to this revelation.