Re: No Apologies

**Ndale** Sat Sep 10, 2011 4:11 pm

Ndale glanced over to Leon at the simple answer and he dug his nails into his own chest just a little bit harder for a moment before he schooled his features. His hand dropped and a pleasant smile made it's way on to his face.

"Okay."

He guessed he understood. It really was a stupid question anyway. He shrugged lightly.

"Well, doesn't matter." Casting off his dark mood like waving off a fly, gone for now despite the fact it'd be back later. Instead, he did what he did best: made a joke of it. Grinning, he started singing. His voice was rough and low, though not unpleasant.

"Oh Doctor, Doctor, I must have gotten this sick somehow.
I'm going to ask you a series of questions,
And I want them answered on the spot, right now.
Is it serious?
I'm afraid it is.
Am I gonna die?
Well son, death is gonna catch up to all one day,
But yours is coming quicker than ours, than ours."

Ndale, still grinning and clearly amused, had started swaying his hips, tail flowing languidly behind him. He danced simply in a careless manner with a grace attributed to lean muscles and a flexible spine. He raised an eyebrow to Leon and gestured for the other boy to join him in dancing even if he didn't know the song.

"Hold your head high heavy heart.
So take a chance and make it big,
Cause it's the last you'll ever get.
If we don't take it, when will we make it?
I make plans to break plans,
And I've been planning something big, planning something big, planning."

(( He's started singing and dancing in the halls...expecting Leon to join him...hmm ^^;;
anyway, he's singing The Phrase the Pays by The Academy Is...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ))

**Leon Barner** Sat Sep 10, 2011 9:44 pm

Leon shookk his head a bit and tried to keep a smile off his face. Ndale wanted a smile. Don't give him what he wants, he repeated in his head. But the cheetah had just broken out into song and dance after discussing such a morbid topic as the one they'd just been discussing. Curious.

He let the smirk out out and even gave a laugh, but it was one of his fake laughs that he often used on his angel targets. It was the only way he knew to keep from actually laughing, which it made it sound pretty genuine. "Why?" He asked, reffering to Ndale's sudden mood change. He couldn't even identify the tone he used, being so used to speaking with no tone to his voice at all. There was a definite tone though. Upbeat perhaps? That seemed too positive for someone like Leon though.

**Ndale** Sat Sep 10, 2011 10:04 pm

Ndale stopped singing, considering Leon's question, though he continued to dance lightly to the beat in his head. Finally, he shrugged, smirking.

"Why not?" He flashed a genuine and charming smile in return for Leon's laugh (of which he took to be genuine) and the smirk. He closed his eyes and put his arms up, hands behind his head, keeping his hips moving as if he were actually listening to headphones. "I'm dying anyway, the least I'm going to do is go down singing and dancing." His eyes opened to eye Leon mischievously, dropping his arms he took a step towards him with purpose and held out both his hands to accept Leon's. "And what about you? ...Why not?" He quirked an eyebrow and grinned, eyes glinting. He was asking for two things. One was for Leon to dance with him, and the other was asking if the boy was going to die lying down or dancing. It was asked with no little amount of a dare. He was daring Leon to dance with him.

**Leon Barner** Sat Sep 10, 2011 10:21 pm

Leon let the smirk fall from his face. He kept his hands in his pockets. First of all, he didn't dance. He didn't even do that for his angel targets. Sometimes it was good to pretend to be shy in that way. Second, Ndale didn't even realize that unlike himself, Leon was not dying anytime soon. Not anytime at all, if he could manage it.

"What about me?" He repeated the quetion, ignoring the cheetah's first intention in asking it and preferring to answer the second, "I don't plan on dying at all." He said this with a certain amount of confisdence, but at this point he no longer belived that to be a goal that could actually be acheived by a lesser demon like himself. The demon god would't allow it. The demon god would likely kill him before allowing that to happen.

**Ndale** Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:27 pm

Ndale switched his hands from offering to up in a surrender position, grin dimming to an amused though slightly annoyed smirk, eyes narrowing.

"You know, consider it a dying wish, you're going to dance with me someday." He paused and gave Leon a skeptical look. "You tell me how that works when you find out, yeah? I'd love to know how not to die, as long as it also means not growing old." He sighed and rocked back on his heals, hands falling to clasp behind his back.

"You should smile and laugh more. It suits you and I like it better." He hummed thoughtfully, looking up at Leon's face with an innocently curious expression.

**Leon Barner** Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:12 am

Sometimes Leon hated people who talked a lot. They'd just go on and on and normally he didn't even care what they were saying. In Ndale's case, Leon was begining to see it as a good thing. Half the time he'd say things that he'd really rather not talk about, but it always seemed to be offbalanced by something that was easier to answer. This made it extremely easy to just answer that one part and allow the subject to change.

Leon smiled another siister grin, "Well, I've stayed young this whole time. I can keep getting younger too. Never younger than age 20 though. And I already know exactly how to become immortal. It's been my goal since I can remember." He didn't mention that in order it to work one had to be a demon. He'd rather have Ndale ask about that. It would make the conversation flow more easily and leave less chance for it to return to whatever else it was that Ndale had said.

**Ndale** Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:43 am

Ndale huffed, annoyed that most of what he was saying was being ignored. But, he followed the topic anyway.

"Really now?" He raised a brow, still looking like he didn't exactly believe what Leon said. "Well, the technique can't be smiling, laughing or dancing, I suppose." He smirked cockily. "I've heard there are a few ways. There's apparently a few immortals in the school as well. Care to elaborate on your particular route to extended youth or is this some sort of super secret, kill-you-if-I-tell-you thing?"

**Leon Barner** Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:56 am

Leon let out another fake laugh, this one not quite so genuine as the first. "No, it's nothing like that, but the thing is everybody in this school is different. Some of them are born immortal." And boy did he hate those ones. "For me it takes a while. I'm already somewhat immortal. There are only a few things that can actually kill me, but there's a way for me to become immortal to those too. Obviously, it wouldn't work for you anyway."

Leon looked at Ndale's tale to make it obvious that he was reffering their difference in race. What made a demon become immortal wasn't even something a cheetah was capable of doing. Who knew though? Maybe there was a way for a cheetah to gain immortality. Maybe there was a way for humans to gain immortality. God that would be annoying...

**Ndale** Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:33 pm

Ndale nodded at what Leon was telling him, seeming to understand most of it. He followed the boy's gaze to his tail and he sighed. Of course. Being a cheetah was the reason he had a short lifespan anyway. How ironic.

"Well, whatever, little too late for that anyway." He shrugged lightly again, seemingly uncaring and almost bored with the thought of immortality. He looked back up to Leon and grinned wryly. "I hope it works for you though. Not sure I'd want to spend an entire afterlife with you if you refuse to dance with me at all." He placed a hand on his hip, smirking. "On the other hand, if you are immortal and I die, I can haunt you for the rest of your existence, hm? That'd be entertaining." He chuckled.

"So what's the problem with being mostly immortal? It's obviously keeping you young..." He trailed off.

**Leon Barner** Sun Sep 11, 2011 2:17 pm

Leon didn't seem to be thinking for himself anymore. He thoughts now didn't even make sense to him. He had a sense that, even if he could remain young forever and avoid death by aging, he still would eventually die. Not by gold and certainly not by purification, but those were the only ways he knew he could die. He didn't know of any other way. He only felt that something else would kill him if he didn't become immortal before that happened.

Also, there was a feeling he always got when he looked into his sister's dark eyes. It told him that he was born and unfortunate time, and only had, probably not much longer than the 30 years that he'd already used to become immortal. There wasn't much time left, and he was stuck at this place.

He shook his head, "I won't die doing what I'm doing now, but I won't live forever either." The only way he could be completely certain of that was to actually become immortal not 'somewhat immortal'.

((Leons a lesser demon and they kind of have these unconscious thoughts and ... i guess inklings sometimes XD))

**Ndale** Mon Sep 12, 2011 6:35 pm

"How can you not die and not live forever at the same time?" Ndale raised an eyebrow. "You're either going to die, or live, right? Unless you're like a ghost thing, I guess." He shrugged and shifted his weight. He feet were starting to hurt, dang uncomfortable upright posture.

He sighed and looked down the hall both ways. Making up his mind he started unbuttoning his pants. Pausing, he looked to Leon questioningly and smirked.

"Not that I really mind, but...wanna turn around for a moment?" Being on four legs would be much more comfortable right about now.

**Leon Barner** Mon Sep 12, 2011 10:09 pm

Leon turned away from Ndale to let him do his thing. He didn't put his back to him though, still not trusting him not to, i don't know, slice his back into multiple peices? Especially if he was going cheetah now. He kept his wings close to his sides to prevent such an attack.

He shrugged, "It doesn't make any sense," he answered, because it didn't. He was even sure why he'd said it, or what made him think that. Now he couldn't seem to make himself think right again. At the very least he recognized that Ndale was very capable of causing some major damage to him in the cramped cooridors if he wanted, though he doubted that would happen.

**Ndale** Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:13 pm

Even not looking, it was easy to tell Ndale was amused by the way he chuckled darkly. He slipped the pants off at the same time as he started growing fur. He dropped to all fours as his bones snapped back into place with audible pops, pants pooling around his hind paws. Ndale stepped forward and pushed out his front legs, pulling his weight back and stretching his spine, giving a sharp toothed yawn.

Shaking out his fur, the cheetah strode forward to try and rub his side along Leon's leg before turning to gather his unneeded pants in his jaws. He dropped the cloth at the winged boy's feet and held out his front paw, looking from the pants to the limb significantly and giving a high-pitched chirping meow. He needed the boy to wrap and tie the cloth around his arm for easy carrying.

It was uncertain as of yet if Ndale could still speak in this form despite the intelligence shining in the animalistic amber eyes.

**Leon Barner** Tue Sep 13, 2011 10:00 pm

Leon stepped away a bit as Ndale rubbed his leg, suddenly not feeling altogether threatened by his cheetah form. "What are you? A house cat?" He asked, hoping it would be taken as an insult but not entirely sure if it would be succesful.

The way Ndale looked at him with his paw on the pants distinctly reminded him of Rachael's dogs. Whenever they got hungry all the did was put a paw and their bowl and stare at someone capable of feeding them. All that was missing was them to actually say "hey, human, feed me".

He leaned over to pick up the pants and proceeded to tie it around the "terrifying" animal's front paw. "If anything, you seem more domesticated like this than as a human."

**Ndale** Tue Sep 13, 2011 10:20 pm

Narrowing his eyes, Ndale waited until the cloth was secured around his leg before he pinned his ears back. Suddenly, he snapped forward, peeling back his lips and baring his canines, letting loose a harsh hiss. It wasn't intended as an attack on Leon, just a threat that he was not a house cat.

Hackles raised and tail twitching, Ndale kept a sharp eye on the other boy, shoulders high in a miffed posture with ears flat back. He was once domesticated, but no more. No more cages in basements and raw food. He choose now; that was the point of leaving his home in Africa in the first place. If he was a pet, he was going to be spoiled dangit.

He stared accusingly at Leon.

**Leon Barner** Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:38 pm

Leon managed to give away only the slightest of facial distortions as the cheetah suddenly snapped at him, but that may have been because his wings reacted more quickly. It was a natural instinct to bring them in closer when he felt he was about to be attacked. Closer when he felt he was in danger at close range, further when he was being threatened from afar.

He moved away from Ndale now, spreading his wings out further away from himself again and an evil grin crossed his face. That was twice now. It seemed Ndale was more sensitive then he liked to let off. "What? Did you expect to pet you?" Leon could think of no other reason why he would rub up against his leg like any common house pet.

**Ndale** Wed Sep 14, 2011 12:00 am

Ndale snorted airily, a little disappointed he didn't get more of a reaction from Leon, though he was pleased the boy had backed up. Shaking his head in a definite "no" in response to the boy's question, he turned his head to the side and lifted his chin, eyeing Leon as if inferior. It was as if he was silently commenting on Leon not being good enough for the honor of petting the likes of his high quality fur. He accentuated this point by standing and turning, flicking his tail haughtily at the demon, before leisurely strolling down the hall, joints sliding easily under the spotted coat.

Reaching a somewhat short distance away, Ndale turned to face Leon again. Giving a growling meow, he crouched and tensed his legs, shifting his front feet, prominent shoulder blades gliding up and down. His tail sunk low, close to the floor, and his ears lay flat. Amber eye's dilated as they focused intently on his new target. Whiskers quivered and his sense went on alert. The feline grinned.

It was pretty clear that Ndale intended to sprint back. Lets see how common pet Leon thought he was when he is running straight at him at somewhere near 60 miles per hour. Close, flat spaces where his specialty.

**Leon Barner** Wed Sep 14, 2011 8:42 pm

Leon watched the cat as he seemed to be literally prancing around the hall in a superior manner. He rolled his eyes. If Ndale was trying to prove that was in fact not a house cat, he was failing pretty badly. Then he watched the cheetah turn to face him further down the hall and raised an eyebrow at him. The rest of his face however, remained serious.

He wanted to move his wings out further, extend them to their full length, but the enclosed space of the corridors made extending wings a disadvantage. He wouldn't be able to bring them down quickly enough. It'd be a two-step process of first pulling them in a bit then pushing them out, and if Ndale really did go through with an attack, there wouldn't time for it. Instead he kept them close at hand. He hated it, because him made him appear smaller, more like he was cowering rather than preparing.

If Ndale did come at him, he'd simply turn to his side and put one of his wings between himself and the cheetah. It would hurt his wings of course, but they'd heal quickly enough after being retracted for a few minutes. Leon didn't say anything, but his eyes dared Ndale to try whatever he was going to do.

**Ndale** Wed Sep 14, 2011 9:59 pm

Ndale snorted at Leon's behavior. Fine, then so be it.

The cheetah stalked forward two steps, front legs leading him into a job for four before his back legs kicked him into a run for three, his spine finally snapping him into a sprint. He was nearing 60mph in just three seconds. Darting down the hall, Ndale kept his body low to the ground. His heart pounded and his muscles and frankly, he loved it. He couldn't keep the giddy feeling from his chest because he wasn't focused on catching a running animal and worrying out trying to get a grip on it's throat in time. Without that focus, that work, he was free to play. Grinning, and just a short distance from Leon, Ndale shot to the boy's right, hitting the ground once before his tail swung around and he leaped to the boy's left. The end of this short zig zag was aimed to swerve directly around Leon's legs, taking to circling the boy instead.

**Leon Barner** Thu Sep 15, 2011 5:53 pm

Leon watched as Ndale began to sprint towards him and tried to move his right wing in front of him, crouching a bit to let it go over his shoulder. But the cheetah moved around it, jumping to his exposed right side.

Before he got the chance to adjust, the cheetah was running in close circles around his legs. The only way he stayed on his feet was by using his wings. Simultaneously he pulled his wings back in close and once he regained his balance he turned in a slight spin opposite the way Ndale was running. He gradually let his wings out slightly as he did, keeping them low to the ground so Ndale didn't have room to run under them. He summoned a ball of energy to each hand and the dark wisps made two seperate semi-circles around him as he turned. He wondered if Ndale was afraid of fire. He most definitely wouldn't appreatiate against that high quality fur of his.

**Ndale** Thu Sep 15, 2011 7:42 pm

Ndale was rounding the circle again, but this time, he saw Leon's wing coming at him. Eyes widening, Ndale's tail swung like a rudder and he veered to the left, still about at a speed of about 30mph. The cheetah yelped as a strip of pain shot down his right front leg, and the cat tripped in surprise, tumbling in a roll to the floor. He used the motion to flip to his feet again, and he stood shakily, the smell of burnt hair stinging his nostrils. Glancing at his front leg, he could see that the fur was singed on his upper arm over his bicep, and his skin was a bit of an angry red, but it was still just a graze at a very high speed, it could have been a lot worse.

The feline's head shot to the demon boy, shock and surprise still clear in his eyes. There was a visual change to furious anger and the cat's black hackles raised as a furious spitting growl tore up his throat. It didn't cease, even as the cheetah backed a few steps and lowered his head, shoulder blades high in a very offensive defensive position.

**Leon Barner** Thu Sep 15, 2011 8:43 pm

Leon stopped his spin and faced Ndale. His crooked smile returned and he held his hands in a way that resembled a surrender but was clearly not, as the energy at each still flared up occasionaly when he willed it too. This action was meant solely to show Ndale his own power.

"What? Didn't anyone ever tell you that if you play with fire you're going to get burned?" Leon didn't move as each energy flared again and was pushed away from his hands heading directly for Ndale's face. It was actually something he'd learned he could do because of Jami.

Before allowing the flame-like balls to reach the cheetah's face however, Leon closed his hands into fists, extinguishing the energy immediately. It dissipated iinto the air but the wisps of their tails didn't do so until they reached Ndale, though those parts didn't burn like the center did. If anything he'd feel a light, warm tickle.

**Ndale** Fri Sep 16, 2011 6:53 pm

Shaking his head at the ghosting of warmth over his fur, Ndale's growl quieted and his fury churned partly to disgust as he looked upon Leon. He ignored the comment about playing with fire.

"You know what the difference between me and you is?" The voice that came from the cheetah was rough and husky, somewhat strange from the feline's vocal chords. "You don't know when you've gone too far." Ndale stalked a few steps to his left, coming away from the wall and towards the open hall. "Are you so insecure that you treat every little threat as if it's fatal? ...For all your power, you can't control an ounce of it, can you?" He scoffed, tail flicking irritably. Eyes lingering on the other boy, the cheetah turned, breaking his gaze and flicking his tail at the boy in a final dismissal and he strolled away down the hall, joints moving fluidly.

**Leon Barner** Fri Sep 16, 2011 8:27 pm

Leon's smirk widened as he looked away, his eyes gaining a hint of darkness to the blue irises that people occasionally mistook for innocence. Everything Ndale had just said was completely and totally wrong. He didn't move as Ndale continued to walk away and made no effort to speak any louder than he had to.

"I think you're entirely the type to things too far, first of all. Me? I'm never the one to go too far. And if I didn't have control over my powers then you'd have two rather large burns on your face right now, wouldn't you?"

He had to take it in good taste. If he allowed Ndale's words to get to him, then he definitly would have gotten angry, and then he would have no control over his powers. It was true however, that he was rarely ever the one to take things too far. If he got angry and lost control over his powers, it would be a direct retaliation of someone else pushing him that far. He was fine now, though. Calm, collected, and totally in control. If Ndale didn't want to get burned, he should have stayed out of the kitchen, as the saying goes.

**Ndale** Fri Sep 16, 2011 9:01 pm

Ndale chuckled humorlessly, though didn't think the conversation worth turning around to continue. He simply called back lightly to the boy he was leaving behind.

"And that's why I'm the one with a burnt shoulder and you still have your trachea intact..." He rolled his eyes.

"Besides, you don't even know what I was talking about." He shook his head. "I wasn't talking about manipulation over the power, you do that well enough, I was referring to your inability to not have to use your power. Trust me, once you lose that, you'll be nothing. You better start learning how to get along without precious fire, love. As you said, you're not immortal yet." His last sentence was spat with a small amount of venom lining his tone.

He stopped at a corner where another hall branched off the one they were currently standing in. Ndale finally turned and looked at Leon again.

"Bit of advice: start making friends, Leon. The enemies you're making are unnecessary, and you're really screwing yourself over." The cheetah was obviously being sincere, he did think that Leon should try to be a little more sociable. Himself as an example: he would have been a good ally, and Ndale felt they needn't have continued to be at odds, but even when the cheetah had had no intention of harming Leon, he had gotten burned. It was careless and tactless, and, as Ndale looked down the hall to the other boy passively, he knew that the demon has lost some of the his respect.

Snorting airily, the cheetah continued down the branching hall.

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