Wandering Water

Ambrose had continued his walk about, having left Shinji's company. He wanted to explore more, and he figured he had just found his favorite place. It was a relatively large lake, one that seemed like it could fit many people. It was currently late in the afternoon, and the sun was slowly setting, casting a yellow-orange glow across the sky. He figured that students probably came here in summer, to swim. He had always loved to swim, but as of late he had gotten more shy and reserved around water. He had been trying to master pyrokinesis, and water and fire didn't mix all that well. None the less, when he had found himself done, he had tried going swimming again, but couldn't bring himself to actually get in the water. The most he had gotten in were his feet. He actually thoroughly enjoyed that, though. Having his feet in the water, feeling the calm lap of the waves...it was relaxing, and offered him silence, solice, and thought. He supposed he could try swimming again later, but shewed the thought away quickly. The idea of swimming had grown rather lackluster as of late.

And so, Ambrose willed himself out of his thoughts, and walked around the lake a bit, finding a nice, quiet place underneath the tree. He sat down there, leaning his back against the tree. Seeing as it was a border of the water, and close to it, Ambrose decided to kick off his shoes and socks, and dip his feet in, relishing the cool feel of the water. Ambrose leaned back, closing his eyes.

Ambrose gave a small sigh as he felt the reaches of sleep take him. It hadn't been his original plan, but the water at his feet and the grass beneath both just felt too damn good. Leaning back further, he rested his head on his hands, as a small smile came to grow across his face. However, this blissful slumber wouldn't last long, as he heard a strange noise. Flicking an eye open, Ambrose looked towards where he thought he had heard the noise, to see a silhouette coming towards him. He thought it strange, but shook the thought off. The silhouette moved closer still, intent on coming to him, it seemed. Upon further inspection, the figure seemed to be a girl, of relatively young age. That threw him off a bit, he hadn't thought there would be children here...

The girl grew closer, and eventually took a small fall as she reached him. Ambrose's eyes widened a bit at that. He hoped the girl hadn't hurt herself. However, she got to her knees and now crawled the bit of space left towards him. She now had his full attention, as his other eye would open and he would look at her.

"Hello! Why are you here?! You look new! Are you new? I'm not new! I've never seen you before, but I've never seen a lot of people before, but I've seen a lot of people at school before! Have you any friends? I'll be your friend if you like! Are you sleeping? Should I be quiet? I hate being told to be quiet, being quiet is so boring."

Geez, that girl could talk. He thought she was impatient, but didn't figure she would rush that fast. She took a moment after that flurry of speech, and then introduced herself as Annaleise. As she would talk, Ambrose would look her over, trying to find an age. She looked and sounded all of about 6, but that didn't seem right...

"Calm down a bit, alright? Take a few breaths when you talk, it won't kill you. Now, to answer your questions, i'm here because it's peaceful and quiet, I am new here, I don't have any friends, you can be my friend if you want to, I was about to be sleeping, you don't need to be quiet, and being quiet can be boring sometimes. Now, nice to meet you, Annaleise. Name's Ambrose." Ambrose would say, smiling at the girl. It was...refreshing to see someone so full of energy and happy. He would've asked her age, or something along those lines, but hadn't wanted to make her uncomfortable. Looking back at his feet, Ambrose would pull them out of the water and rest them on the grass, shifting his body a bit so that he could face her easier.

Ambrose smiled widely at Annaleise puffing out her cheeks and breathing irritably. He would've broke out in laughter, had he not wanted to keep composure. He also feared the girl might take offense to it, in some way or another. Nonetheless, the small rebellion was all too funny, and she looked ridiculous, and that brought a smile to Ambrose's face. It dissipated, however, when Annaleise began to speak again. She hurried along in her rushed manner of talking, even rushing through a mild insult. She called him old! He didn't exactly think he looked old...did he? He'd have to look at himself more closely when he next did. Then again, age is a state of mind, and for such a young child, that could explain it quite easily. She took a small break when telling him her age, and held up her hands, as if having trouble remembering. When it came upon her, she revealed her age as 8. A small smile graced Ambrose's face as memories of his younger years flooded him. But, there were other times to remember and dwell, so he hurriedly shoved those thoughts aside and went back to listening to Annaleise.

She was once again hurrying through her talk, asking a million and one questions, and throwing in some commentary on them as well, before she scooted herself closer to Ambrose, now shifting gears and giving him a compliment, and asking of his powers as well as telling him of hers. So, Annaleise was a young dragon? Strange that she might find him here, of all places. Two creatures naturally aligned with fire, meeting each other at a body of water. Ambrose would've taken time to appreciate the irony, but wanted to answer Annaleise's questions.

"I'm not old, silly, i'm only 16. If you think that's old, you're crazy. I was sleeping because I tend to think easier when i'm asleep, and I normally have a lot to think about, so I tend to sleep a lot. And I might be just a little lazy. I'm not a bat, and I don't eat bugs, but i'm guessing they'd taste pretty gross, too. And I like your name, too. Annaleise is a really pretty name. It's cool that you're a dragon, and don't worry, i'll be nice to you. I promise. And i'm not sure you'd wanna eat people, they might taste like bugs. But I suppose it'd be okay if you only eat bad people. As for my powers, i'm...a demon. Not a bad or evil one, like in movies or on TV. I'm not a bad person, I promise. But, um...I can set things on fire, like you can, and I can fly. I also get really strong and fast." Ambrose would say, hoping that Annaleise wouldn't freak out. If she had been a person his age, he wouldn't have cared, but he didn't want to scare a young girl.

Ambrose started laughing at Annaleise as she gawked at the number that must've seemed so large to her. She was a funny one, he would give her that much.

What happened next, Ambrose completely wasn't expecting. The girl flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and finding a place to sit in his lap. "No, I don't come from hell. I have no idea why i'm like this, actually. It just kinda happened." Ambrose would say, as Annaleise wriggled left and right, seemingly examining him. After she did, she looked to him and...

Called him a liar? Well, yeah, he wasn't in his form. After that, she blew out two small tendrils of smoke from her nose, seemingly pretty irritated. Er, as irritated as a little girl could get. "Hey! Don't assume stuff, okay? I'm a demon. Promise. I'm just not in my form. If you were to get off my lap, then I could show you my demon form, if you like." Ambrose would say, looking to her, and waiting for her to decide what she was going to do.

Annaleise, after some wiggling, pouting, and calling him a liar again, had moved from her perch in his lap. Smile gone now, Ambrose stood, intent on showing her that he actually was what he claimed. He didn't like the idea of this small girl looking down on him. It was not a pleasant thought.

So, Ambrose took a few steps back away from Annaleise, not wanting to burn her, spread his arms, and closed his eyes. Immediately, his skin would morph and twist, turning crimson and black. Black feathered wings would appear on his back. He would open his eyes after the transformation was complete, to show their now vivid crimson color. After doing this, he would lower his arms and look at Annaleise.

"Well? I told you I was a demon. That enough proof for you?" Ambrose would say, his grin coming back.