Wandering Around Aimlessly is an Easy Way to Get Killed

Arjean found it fun to explore the islands when their family were too busy to watch them. It's not like their family cared much if they left on their own, as long as they kept their watch on and returned home without getting into trouble they were fine. Instead of exploring the woods or the park Arjean wanted to go and look around the city and see if there was anything, or anyone, interesting there. Maybe they could find a pet to play with before leaving it when they had to go home. Or maybe they could find a shop to explore and ask their mommies if they could get something from there.

As they swung their messenger back and forth they spoke to Chaoshag and Mistling who resided in their bag quietly. "I need to find more friends. An army of friends! Or maybe a tutor. I dunno. Someone fun." They didn't even feel like speaking to their Protector Guardians, or any of their other friends. Their family wanted them to get friends everyone could hear and see anyways, which meant no invisible friends, toys, or dolls like Chaoshag and Mistling. Arjean thought it was unfair, but their family thought it was normal. There was always the chance to meet someone who could train them in their powers or academics. Someone like that could be their tutor and friend.

(( @Awesomefirestorm ))​

Arjean was so caught up in their own thoughts and mumbling to themself about plans on making friend that when someone came up and spoke to them they flinched and tried to defend themself. The best they could think of was blocking their body with their wings, but if someone was trying to attack them that would've done nothing. It at least provided them comfort of feeling a bit safer. Their eyes were wide open and their tail pointed upwards though, as if some other oricenta would notice their fear.

The person who spoke to them was just a boy though, yet he was bigger and older. He didn't seem threatening at all though and even looked worried for them. Arjean tried to put on a smile, closed their eyes, and tried to act like they weren't scared at all. They even folded their wings instead of having it cover their body like a pathetic shield. Now that they were questioned if they were lost, Arjean looked around and found they really were lost. They had no idea where they walked off too and now they were surrounded by a bunch of unfamiliar shops and people.

"Y-Yes..." they responded, their face flushing a light blue against their dark skin. "A-And... um... I... I'm not a girl..." they added on, feeling even worse for some reason. Correcting people for being wrong always felt weird, and it either made them feel scared, angry, or proud, but right now they just felt scared. Maybe they shouldn't be trying to tell one of the big kids that he was wrong. They had no idea how he would react, and their maman usually didn't respond too happily if Arjean said something that contradicted what she believed. They nearly shivered thinking about what happened to them after those times.​

He really wasn't that bad. He backed away when Arjean showed fear and tried to make them feel better. Remember, not everyone is bad. Only some. Not all. Arjean thought to themself. It felt weird talking to someone who was outside of their family, the Meis' family, wasn't a toy, and wasn't someone they could only see and hear. Despite them making a new friend named Theo, it was still a new thing to befriend another person like this. Then a thought hit Arjean that made them feel a bit sick. Maybe he was another person only they could see and hear. It was hard to tell the difference, but everyone else could easily. Arjean wanted to touch him just to see, but even then that wasn't concrete proof since what they touched could be something someone else went straight through. Touching also made Arjean feel anxious and scared and like they wanted to cry and throw up at the same time. There was no reward in trying to touch the boy.

For now it didn't matter since their family weren't here to judge. This was Arjean's chance to make a new friend, no matter what his origin was. "I forgive you, but I want to explore. I call my mommies if I need them." They showed off their watch that tracked where they were by their family. They could press buttons to call their family and their family could call them. Sometimes there were alarms on their watch that told Arjean when it was time to do something, such as heading home when they left for fun. "Who're you? I'm Arjean Afolabi-Soie."​

Arjean had a feeling he was uncomfortable, especially since his smile and speech didn't feel completely genuine, but they decided to not point it out. Rémi had trouble with her facial expressions too sometimes, so maybe Joseph had the same problem she had. Arjean remembered Rémi saying she just chose to not express her emotions and that it wasn't that big of an issue, but Arjean knew it was an issue when people thought she was mean or emotionless because of it.

When Joseph asked if he could tag along Arjean went silent for a bit, wondering what it meant to tag along. After taking a guess based on the rest of what he said, they nodded their head happily. "Yes, please! Where do you wanna go?" Arjean was willing to go anywhere, but they had a few ideas in mind: first was any shop selling any type of food, the second was any toy shop, the third was the place called The Underground they heard their family discussing frequently. "Do you know The Underground?"​

Arjean noticed that he finally stopped with the obviously fake expressions, and found his apathetic look more comforting than his fake look. Nevertheless, he seemed to like them, which made them smile brightly and sway their tail. They were making friends so easily, and now they had one who was a big kid. Junchi would be jealous.

"I like blood," they stated as they went back to swinging their bag back and forth. They wondered why he was buying blood, but their maman used to talk about vampires sometimes. Apparently they were people who drank blood as food. Joseph was probably a vampire then, but some oricenta liked the taste of blood, and there seemed to be other species like that too. Arjean wasn't a fan of the taste because of the metallic taste, and metal wasn't food to eat from their understanding.

Arjean liked how they've been on the island longer than Joseph though. That meant they were the more experienced and smarter one when it came to the island. "I dunno much about it," they replied. "My family never tell, but they go there. I wanna see it." They giggled thinking about how fun it would be to see a place like that. If their family visited it so much then there had to be important stuff there. Arjean could help their family out if they knew more about what they were doing, but their family seemed to really want to not tell what The Underground was about. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to go without their family's knowledge, but the idea was hard to resist. As long as they had someone older than them and responsible then maybe it would be okay.​