Step into the parlor

He'd known that at some point, one of the kitties would notice him. There was no hiding it without hiding himself, and he had no intention of doing that. He was on the island with every intention of being himself, and he wasn't going to let a stray cat ruin it.

So he'd planned for that.

Tieragoran lead the pair out of the community center, keeping his pace brisk as he headed out in front. Sprinkles had never met him, but Natsuki certainly had, and it was really a matter of time before they figured it out.

"I got the impression you had something to say that you didn't want to in the center?" He called out, finally coming to a stop as he turned to look at the pair. It was mostly to Sprinkles, but who knew? Maybe the defect would surprise him.

"No, people don't," Tier said, very much, in that moment, the picture of support. Because wasn't that what he was here to do? To support? To offer help? No one was letting the nek0 fulfill their purpose. Everyone was just trying to cram them into a human mindset. They weren't human. They'd never be human. They'd been made with a purpose, and denying it was only going to hurt them in the long run.

"I meant it when I said that people on the island are judgmental. They see only one way to live--as a human. Everyone else gets crammed into that mold and told to conform." He was keeping his focus on sprinkles. "They'll talk about choice, but when they say choice, what they mean is 'choose to behave like a human'."

The two sides, weren't they? The opposite ends. Some NEK0s embraced what they were. Some... less so.

Tieragoran shook his head just the same, the picture of a disappointed parent.

"Everyone has their own circumstances. Why should you be happier here, surrounded by things that would devour you? This island is an island of predators. Of people who eat flesh and break souls. Even the most friendly are just dangerous things in the guise of a human. Dragons and fae and who knows what. But I can hardly hold it against them, can I? Everyone was made for a reason. Everyone has a purpose. Humans live human lives. Dragons live dragon lives. And it's the same for the two of you."

Tier would have said he had Sprinkles eating out of the palm of his hand, but the truth was that he'd always had Sprinkles eating out of the palm of his hand. Sprinkles was a happy NEK0, compliant and willing to oblige. They'd had a single owner, and that owner had spoiled them, and now they had a particularly rosy view of things.

Not so much with the defect. Really, they'd been lucky to get an owner at all, let alone one who spoiled them.

"That's what you were made for," Tieragoran pointed out, as casual as could be. "But if you reject it, so be it. But it's why you are everything you are. It's why you're omnilingual. It's why you don't need sleep. It's why you're easy to feed. Why you have higher endurance. All these things are so you can be good at your purpose, and you're rejecting it outright."

Had he tipped his hand too much? Maybe. But he'd always planned to tell them the truth.

"Right now you're here and happy because you're getting to play at being human, but you aren't. You're intended to be preyed upon. That's why you're so weak. And while people are happy with you now, it's only a matter of time before they start getting angry with you."

Ah, crap. Wasn't there something the defect liked to do? Not that they'd been allowed to keep hobbies while in the trading post being rented out, but there had been something, hadn't there?

"You think you're good at something, don't you?" Tier said, lowering himself slightly to be more on Natsuki's level. "You think you're amazing at it. You think it gives you value."