This Place is Strange

It had been over a week or so since Destra had arrived on Manta Carlos. The island was peaceful, so peaceful that it was unsettling to the young dragon. During his time he'd met a much more diverse range of people that he wouldn't expect back in his home. He'd encountered demigods, fae, even a robot. Destra had befriended several people during his short time on the island. In fact he was meeting with one of them because he had questions that weren't exactly things he could just outright ask, even if she was open about it.

There were many things Destra hadn't even considered as possibilities. Hella being transgender was one of these. It seemed to be a hot button issue with some people. While it seemed like people here accepted it for the most part, there were those who didn't seem overly fond of the idea for various reasons.He just had a lot of questions, he'd decided he could trust Hella well enough for the answers he wanted.

He growled and shut his eyes, not sleeping, just a habit of his when he was waiting for things. He'd arrived early after classes at their meeting spot. The dragon remained on mild alert until he heard footsteps coming his way.

@Kadakism

"You know, I didn't even realize. It's so nice here I was just taking it all in," he met her smile with one of his own, though it was faint. He adjusted his position on the bench he was sitting on, to offer Hella space on the other end of it.

Destra thought for a moment. "Um, I'm not quite sure where to start. Normally I don't ask many questions of people. Especially personal ones, so if I start making you uncomfortable let me know."

@Kadakism

"Yeah, I figured as much. Just making sure it was on the table," he considered what he'd said and made a face. That was a stupid thing to say. Well, at the very least it felt stupid. Hella seemed to find him to be some level of amusing.

"Where I'm from the whole idea of being transgender wasn't really something that was talked about. I'd never even heard of it or considered it a possibility. So I actually had to look it up to see what it meant. It was simple enough to understand," Destra paused briefly to collect his thoughts. "Honestly reading is boring to me, I'd rather learn some things firsthand. Actually honestly, I'd just like to get to know you better."

@Kadakism

"Sometimes people do stupid, selfish things trying to fix all their problems. You just wanted to be accepted from the sounds of it, and it got used against you," Destra said after taking a short moment to process the story. Hella was still smiling, there wasn't anything cheery. He'd seen similar coping mechanisms with other people back in his world. Some things people didn't have to detail out for him to know it was just that bad. He looked at her with a hint of genuine concern on his face.

He thought back to some of the things he'd done to get by. Much of it being trial and error, especially when he started infiltrating caravans. "When I was smaller I thought it was a good idea to reveal myself as a dragon to a caravan that had picked me up. I thought I could convince them that I wasn't a threat to them and... well," he frowned. "There's a scar going down my torso, if that's any indication of how that went."

@Kadakism