Shadow Takers discussion

~RP~

Tulip was fluttering around, feeding the ducks old bread and enjoying the nature and the nice pond. Her red and black wings were shedding a silverish glitter, but it dissapated once it struck the ground like snow too cold to stick.

Ashton sat quietly on the brick wall of the pond, lazily tossing a few scraps of bread in as the water fowl swarmed with hungry quacking. Trailing his fingertips across the surface of the water, he stifled a laugh as one of the bigger koi in the pool mistook his hand for bread and gently nibbled. He quickly fed it some real food, crumbling a bun into smaller pieces for the fish to eat. Sighing happily, Ashton adjusted his wings and lay back carefully, closing his big, brown eyes and tilting his face to weak sunshine that illuminated the clearing in dapples through the bare trees.

Tulip noticed another fae feeding the ducks. She quickly fluttered over and smiled at the fellow creature. "Hello! I'm Tulip, what's your name? She took some bread crumbs and scattered them on the surface of the water, her light blonde locks bouncing on each wingbeat of her frail-looking but powerful red and black wings. "I'm assuming you're a fairy too, unless you're a fallen angel, but that'd be a stretch considering the usual condition of their wings." she frowned in slight disapproval.

"Ashton," he answered, subtly shifting away ever so slightly. "And yes. I'm a fairy," replied the male quietly, sitting up and offering a slight smile. Ashton went back to feeding some of the inhabitants of the pond, obviously not wanting to talk as he folded his wings against his back and stifled a yawn, watching the sun's rays play along the smooth surface of the water.

Even with his shoes against the dry grass, Michael moved as silent as ever toward the pond, broad shoulders relaxed under his jet black t-shirt. The material's color brought out the darkness of his eyes, the lack of color in the dark brown irises. His gaze flicked up upon hearing voices, face carefully impassive as he listened to the sound of a female's voice. He had no trouble at all placing who it was as she commented about the state of the typical Fallen's wings- Tulip, a fairy he wasn't too familiar with. The other voice though, he had never heard before, though he did recognize the name. Michael stopped at the edge of the duck pond, body language silently communicating he posed as no threat. Simply disregard me. He watched the creatures dive after the bread, the tiniest of smiles upturning his lips faintly.

Tulip harrumphed at his lack of emotion. Some people were just downers. She smiled anyways and grumbled a 'nice to meet you too' and moodily flew off. When she looked up again, a few yards away from Ashton, she saw Michael. She smiled largely at him and flew over. She hardly ever walked. "Hello!" she said brightly, her persistence poking through the dissuasion of the fellow fairy.

Ashton continued to crumble up bread for the hungry fish and water fowl, a gentle grin crinkling his eyes as he spotted a few ducklings paddling after their mother. He took extra care with them, careful they weren't choking on the slightly larger pieces of roll. They were really too cute; fluffy, tiny, yellow and arranged disproportionally, with beady eyes and little wings. Baby animals are the best. A smile still sat on his face, dimples flashing as one of the ducklings let him pet it.

Michael's deep brown irises watched the birds move about the surface of the water, following the trail of bread the other Supernatural, Ashton, continued to supply them with. His gaze flicked up upon hearing Tulip's voice right beside him and he crosses his arms over his broad chest, face remaining carefully blank. "Tulip." It was sort of an acknowledge of her presence, least he could do. Most Supernaturals took his unsocial ways as something personal against them, though being rude was never his intent. It simply came across as that way. He glanced over at Ashton, silently cocking his head as he watched the boy pet a duckling.

Smiling to himself, Ashton carefully scooped the duckling up and tickled under its chin as it quacked cutely. He settled its tiny, wet body in his lap and personally hand-fed the baby with a slow grin. Paying no mind to the other Supernaturals, he petted the duckling. Of course, Ashton recognized Michael, but he doubted the Fallen Angel knew a lowly Fairy like him...

Michael arched a midnight eyebrow at the sight of the fairy picking up the duck like it was nothing and setting it down onto his lap. It made a rather interesting picture, the Supernatural coaxing the little creature into tranquility with a piece of bread. He had noticed a trending pattern when it came to the interaction between the Supernaturals and animals: Most of the time, it consisted of a tiny corpse left behind like it was nothing. So seeing this fairy -Ashton- treat the duckling like it was a treasure was definitely new for the Fallen Angel.

Feeling vaguely uncomfortable by a palpable gaze on him, Ashton eased the tiny creature back to its brethren with a small, fond smile. A few other waterfowl clambered up and around him, greedy for bread, and he fed them with a gentle laugh, eyes crinkled in his grin. Ashton quietly ignored the Supernatural with a nervous flutter in his stomach, pushing a few birds off with a good-natured pout at the mess they'd made on his lap. Ah well, what's a little feces between friends?

Michael cocked his head to the side, continuing to watch him. After all, it is what the Fallen Angel did best. He silently watched the ducks waddle up toward the fairy over the mud, their webbed feet paddling through the dirty ground. Something about his laugh made Michael feel a bit. . . Odd. He couldn't quite place it. "Do you do this often?" His voice was quietly raspy, echoing off the clear water of the pond as his gaze fell to the ducklings. "Play with the ducks, I mean. They seem quite fond of you."

Turning his head slightly to eye the other Supernatural, Ashton nodded while answering, "Uh, yeah. At least every other day." He urged the ducks back to the water by throwing the rest of his bread into the pond with a splash, smiling and shaking his head a bit at their antics. A single duckling still sat in his crossed legs, the one from earlier, distinctive by a tuft of feathers sticking up on his head. Ashton just pet it, casting another wary look at Michael uneasily.

Michael's dark brown eyes did not stray from the Supernatural in the midst of all the ducks, until a piece of bread was thrown and he followed the creatures back into the water with his eyes. "I couldn't tell." Some might call that a joking statement, but his tone of voice remained the same. Sort of like a flatlined heartbeat. Looking back at Ashton, he arched an eyebrow at the wary look he sent his way. A faint smile, one that more so looked like a ghost of upturned lips that could not reach his eyes, played at his mouth. "I'm not going to hurt them, if that is what has concerned you." He crouched down smoothly to the surface of the water as a duck swam by the edge, tilting his head, with a look of puzzlement.

"One can't be too careful," he responded quietly, fingertips lightly petting the duckling still in his lap. Ashton took a deep breath, exhaling heavily and tossing a few more pieces of bun into the pool for the animals to nibble on. "Most Supernaturals would gladly play with them and then snap their innocent necks. I take no pleasure in killing vulnerable, helpless animals." His voice sharpened a bit at the end, in clear disapproval; it was obviously a touchy topic for the Fairy.

Michael watched the little creature move lazily across him, completely content in staying in his little haven. Is that what it was like, to be pleased with everything you already had and not ache for more? From everything he'd seen in the castle, all the power-hungry Supernatural, they could take a lesson from these ducks. Himself included. The feathered creature, as if it knew what he were thinking, shot him a look with it's mirroring black eyes. Dark gazes clashed for a moment and Michael smiled his faded smile again. "I think all Supernatural could take a lesson from these creatures." His voice was soft, the most opinionated thing he'd ever allowed himself to say.

"I think you're quite right," Ashton answered the not-quite-question. "And if not a lesson, at least learn a little respect for this thing called life." He leaned back a little, carefully setting the duckling back into the pool and watching it swim over to its siblings. "The dreams of kings and the dreams of ducklings are vastly different, but each has its own hopes, dreams, fears and wants."

Michael frowned slightly at his words, something in his eyes flickering. "Because even though we're breathing, we are no longer the living." It eas the sad truth of it all, really. And there was not a damn thing any of the Supernatural could do to change it, so they took what was alive in envy. "By kings, I assume you're referring to the Shadow Takers?" His voice remained soft even as a family of ducks swam closer to his side of the pond. He kept his dark eyes on the feathered creatures, watching them swim past. "This is not a threat, simply a word of advice: It would not be a grand idea to allow others to hear this opinion of yours." Another faded upturn of his lips changed his face a bit. "Not that I will say anything to anyone, of course. I happen to share this theory of yours."

Ashton nodded easily enough, standing slowly and brushing his clothes clean from the various things that had collected on it, naturally of the natural type. "It's okay, I know my place," he responded quietly, tossing the last bit of food in and going to sit on a nearby bench. Crossing one leg over the other, he placed his chin in his hand and leaned forward, running through the various tasks he had yet to do today. Noting a wilting flower by his boot, Ashton touched it and it flourished, becoming healthy in moments. Looking up at Michael, he silently invited him to sit with a head tilt.

Tulip frowned at being only aknowledged, and, true to her spitball nature, let out a loud sigh, threw what was left of her duck feed on the ground and flew away,leaving her dissappating wake of silver sparkles. She didn't like not being talked to, and all those boys were good for was having baby ducks crapping in their laps, the thought moodily as she headed back inside the castle, most likely to talk out her unfortunate mood on an even more unfortunate human.

Bethany strut around, watching the ducks waddle around. She enjoyed the breeze and imagined herself back in the mountains flying with the clouds, back when she was solitary and she had known nobody else. But she was glad to have come to the castle, and so she sat on a bench. Eyeing a certain duck before shifting her gaze to the sky.