Nero knew he had no business being there. The jungle, however welcoming for a boy with his condition, held lions within that did not care much for him. One, at least, but Nero wasn't in the business of trying to piss off Bhaskar again. He'd done a wonderful job of avoiding him so far. In fact, he'd probably never been as successful at anything in his life -- and would probably continue to herald it as his one accomplishment in life. What else could he say he had done? Won a spar. That was basically it. Still, nostalgia drew him back to the jungle. More specifically, the area where he had first met Asteria. Although he couldn't pinpoint which bush she had pounced him from, he knew it was within the vicinity. Nero trailed along the same path he had taken that day, weaving in and out of the trees. He didn't know why he was there besides to torture himself, but what else was new?

on her way to the ocean she had swung through the jungle, enchanted by its constant sound and interesting creatures. there were all kings of neat bugs to be found, and elsie bounded from place to place to study a beetle and a ladybug and any number of creepy crawlys. at one point she even trailed after a snake, but took off like a wild thing when it turned around and warned her away.

it was this mad dash away from the creature that ran her in to him -- literally. a small 'oof' as she collided with the boy, tumbling to the ground in a pile of limbs and paws and floppy ears. "oh, oh i'm sorry!" scrambling back to all fours and hoping she had not hurt him terribly in her clumsiness.

@Nero

a dreamer in love with a dream

image by vicki clarke, code by corvus

There was something cursed about that section of the jungle, it seemed. One moment he was wallowing in a cocktail of self-pity and nostalgia, the next he was rushed by a small battering ram and knocked onto his side. Clearly he had done something to upset the cosmic balance of the world by returning to the spot -- a spot that clearly wanted nothing to do with him. First Asteria, then.. whoever this was. He flailed for a few startled seconds before managing to right himself, jumping to his paws with wide eyes. Fortunately, the assailant hadn't come from someone intending to do him harm (he hoped.) It was a small lioness, maybe even smaller than Zaza, adorably enough. The downside was.. he'd broken her ears. "Oh shit, I broke your ears," he gawked, his own ears flattening against his head in empathy. "I know a healer," he lied, panicking, "we can get them to- to put a stint around the cartilage." AhhhHHHHH?!

elswyth was so taken aback that she could only stare at him for a minute, blinking in obvious confusion. flopping on to her butt she lifted both front paws to feel at her ears, hesitant as if she might find blood or broken appendages as he seemed to fear. her confusion increased as they felt just fine, front paws plopping back down as she tilted her head in question.

she was on the verge of asking him what exactly he was on when the realization dawned and she murmured an "ooooooh..." in understanding. "no, it's ok! they are just like that!" she shook her head to demonstrate the floppiness with a bright grin. "never did stand up like yours." a wave of her paw at his own ears, hoping she relieved him by assuring him that she was definitely not broken.

a dreamer in love with a dream

image by vicki clarke, code by corvus

Suddenly, he knew what Hiccup must have been feeling when he'd realized Nero's leg was broken. Nero still didn't hold that against him one bit, but he certainly understood the panic and regret. He'd have to make sure to reiterate how much it wasn't his friend's fault the next time he saw him. But this was here and now, and Nero had broken this nice lady's ears. Her look of confusion made him wonder if perhaps he'd given her a concussion, too. For fuck's sake, how had that even happened? She gingerly reached to touch them and he winced, afraid of what her reaction might be to learning they were broken. "I'm sorry, I--" And then she demonstrated they were floppy regardless, causing his cheeks to flush pink with embarrassment. "O-oh." Now he peered at them a bit harder, his rose gaze squinting as though he alone could determine the truth. Yes, he was satisfied. "It.. it's kinda cute," he admitted, never one to shy away from compliments. Giving them, that was. Receiving was an entirely different story. "I'm Nero."

it was painfully adorable the way he rushed to apologize, though she quickly shook her head to dismiss it again. of course then he realized what she was saying and all was good, or so she thought anyway.

he gave her a compliment, which made the flop-eared girl shift uneasily. compliments were never something she took easily, and ever since they had left willowbrook... well, she wasn't often on the receiving end of them. attention tended to be pulled by her scar, and mostly she had questions about where she had earned the frightful thing. having nice words about her ears was... well, nice.

"thanks!" bright and chipper, even if she was uncomfortable. "i'm elswyth. it's nice to meet you @Nero, broken ears and all." she giggled, unable to resist a little playful teasing along with the introductions.

a dreamer in love with a dream

image by vicki clarke, code by corvus

Nero was.. a loser. He couldn't keep a friend to save his life, and whenever he tried to make one, it always seemed to tank without him realizing it. The lack of social awareness was outstanding, but the lonely yearling didn't know what else to do. It wasn't like he was good with friends one way or the other, so how was he supposed to.. fix himself? Nero sucked in a breath, his ears flattening gently against his head as he struggled to navigate the minefield that was socializing. He missed Soleil, but he understood why she'd gone. Nero had learned not to grow too attached. The yearling flashed a sheepish smile as his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "S-sorry about that." Clearly her ears weren't broken and he'd just gone and freaked over nothing. God, he was so good with others. "Are you new to Amaryllis?" Because he didn't know what else to ask, okay? He'd run through all his ice breakers.

the girl wasn't sure how to make things better, so she did as she always did -- plowed on full speed ahead.

"i am! well, sort of. i guess it's been more than a half of a year, now! but new enough?" she giggled, knowing she sounded half mad and hoping he would not fault her for her rambling.

"what about you @Nero?" he seemed much more well versed with this place than she was, and she imagined that he had lived here for most of his life. then again, he seemed pretty young, even if he was bigger than her.

honestly, she might well have been a yearling herself, with the way she carried on.

a dreamer in love with a dream

image by vicki clarke, code by corvus