Alfred drifted back into consciousness slowly, letting his senses return to him in stages. The first thing his brain registered was a pounding, aching pain over his entire body, but especially in his head. His concussion addled mind couldn't quite figure out why that was, so he let it go for the moment to save himself from an even worse headache.
The next thing he was able to discern was that something was making a fair amount of noise not too far away from him. He could hear the clinking of what sounded like glass and an unidentifiable rustling. After another second, he was able to detect the scent of something distinctly like the outdoors: fresh air mixed with rain and grass.
Upon letting his eyelids flutter open, Alfred could only make out the color grey through his blurry vision. It seemed that he had somehow lost his glasses during the fall. He thought he felt something like straw beneath him and moved his finger slightly to feel what he was laying on, and sure enough, his hand was met with a slight prickle and the crunch of what might have been leaves.
Alfred let out an involuntary groan as he attempted to turn his head toward the source of the noises. They ceased immediately, but the silence only lasted for a couple seconds before he heard the rustling and sliding coming closer to him.
Afraid to move his head again and cause another spike of pain, Alfred simply let his eyes adjust slightly to the new environment and roamed them over his surroundings as much as he could. He was incredibly surprised to find himself in what looked like a cave-type dwelling with various shelves containing objects he couldn't discern through poor eyesight. He saw out of his peripheral vision that he was indeed laying on a pile of leaves and straw, but instead of being scratchy and uncomfortable it was actually quite soft and warm.
Alfred jumped a little when there was suddenly movement beside him and a man's face came partially into view, although considering the noises he had heard, he really should have expected that he wasn't alone. The man was observing him with wide, deep-green eyes filled with an emotion that Alfred easily recognized from his time spent in science classes as curiosity.
The man didn't say anything, instead letting the seconds trickle by as he observed Alfred. After a few more moments of silence, Alfred started growing extremely uncomfortable. He had no idea who this was and it was unnerving how the man just kept staring… It was especially irritating when Alfred couldn't do a whole lot of observing back. He could just barely make out pale skin, choppy blond hair, and those eyes that leaked fascination, but Alfred couldn't see any more details without his glasses.
"Wh…" Alfred sounded, unable to get the words out in order to ask where he was due to the dryness of his throat. Upon hearing Alfred speak, the man seemed to jolt out of some sort of stupor and fished around behind himself before procuring a wooden bowl containing a clear liquid and holding it out to Alfred.
Alfred's eyes narrowed in confusion, not quite understanding what he was expected to do. The man seemed to be able to read Alfred's sudden change in expression, finally clearing his throat to provide an explanation.
"Erm…hello. No need to be alarmed, this is just water. I thought you might be thirsty."
Alfred hesitated before nodding and slowly reaching his aching arms out to the bowl. It hurt to move like this, but he desperately needed to quench his thirst. As he greedily gulped down the water, he could feel the stranger's eyes still on him. Why was he staring at Alfred like he was the most interesting thing on the planet? Although Alfred usually loved being the center of attention, when it was just one person that he didn't know it was plain creepy.
When the bowl of water was empty, Alfred set it down on the ground and weakly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His throat felt less like sandpaper now and Alfred was determined to get answers as to why he was there. Had he been kidnapped? Mattie was probably worried about him, although Alfred had no way of knowing how long he had been gone.
"Where am I and who are you?" Alfred said as he cautiously attempted to shift his head slightly to get a better view of the stranger.
The man seemed to hesitate, opening his mouth to answer before slowly closing it again and taking a few seconds to think his answer through.
"You are in my den. I saw you fall and took you here when I realized you were injured to treat your wound."
Injured…? That's right, Alfred realized. He hadn't been able to remember until just then, but he had been running through the woods when he fell and must have hit his head. But then…
"Did you carry me here by yourself?"
The strange man looked sheepish at that, looking away from Alfred before answering.
"Yes, well, it wasn't easy. You are quite the heavy load."
"Hey, I'm not fat!" Alfred exclaimed indignantly. Okay, so maybe he had been eating a lot recently and gained a little weight but he was totally not fat, dammit.
A slight smile tugged at the man's lips, but as Alfred was still lying mostly on the ground and didn't yet have his glasses back, he missed it.
"I didn't say that. I'm Arthur, by the way."
Alfred smiled brightly, but didn't bother mustering up the energy to extend an arm to shake Arthur's hand. The poor limbs had had enough trouble just holding up that bowl.
"Well, nice to meetcha…I think. I'm Alfred F. Jones!" Alfred tried to turn in order to get a better view of the man and frowned deeply when he still couldn't see through his blurry vision. "Say, do you happen to have my glasses? I kind of can't see without them."
Arthur merely looked confused. "Your...what?"
"Um…ya know, glasses. The frame things that go on my face?" Alfred made a gesture towards his head, wondering how someone could not know what glasses were.
"Oh, of course! My apologies, I removed them when I was tending to your head wound. I didn't realize you needed those to actually see…my kind doesn't need them. Hang on a second, I have them here somewhere."
"Wait, did you say your kind? What do you mean by that?" Alfred could see more of his surroundings now that he was properly sitting up and was creeped out to note that he genuinely seemed to be in a type of cave.
"Hmm? Oh, yes," Arthur commented as he rummaged behind him and held out Alfred's glasses. "We call ourselves the Naga."
Alarmed by Arthur's words, Alfred hurriedly jammed the glasses onto his face in order to see what he had been previously unable to. After the millisecond it took his vision to adjust to the sudden change, he at last got a full view of everything that was Arthur.
And promptly screamed in terror.
Arthur's eyes widened in surprise as Alfred began flailing about on the ground, apparently trying to stand but unable to due to a combination of injury and panic.
"Oh god please don't eat me I'm too young to die!" Forgetting about his pain, Alfred decided to stop trying to stand up and run, settling instead for crawling backwards away from Arthur until he felt his back hit a cold stone wall. He couldn't believe that stupid freak Ivan had been right all along and now this creature was going to rip him apart and devour him and he wouldn't even be able to say goodbye to his pet whale on .
However, instead of slithering towards Alfred with his six foot long tail and stripping his flesh away from his skin, Arthur looked positively disgusted.
"Eat you? Oh how foul! Is that what you humans really think?"
At this, Alfred's anxiety decreased by a small fraction, but kept his guard up just in case Arthur was trying to trick him into not putting up a fight.
"Well…yeah! I mean, why else would you bring me to this creepy lair thing?"
Arthur started to look just plain offended. "Excuse you, but this 'creepy lair thing' happens to be where I live!"
"Dude seriously? That's just sad," Alfred said conversationally before remembering that he was supposed to be afraid. "But if you didn't bring me here to eat me, then what am I doing here?"
"I told you already!" Arthur snapped. He was starting to doubt the intelligence of this human. "I brought you here because you were injured and in need of medical care."
Alfred remained silent for a moment. He supposed that did make sense… Now that he was taking a moment to stop panicking, he could see Arthur more clearly. He had pale skin that met vibrant green scales around a slim waist. His arms were crossed over a lightly muscled chest and had a small patch of scales on them. His nose was petite and angular and dotted with a few light freckles. Above this were his expressive green eyes offset by thick eyebrows and framed by messy, light blond hair that had two slightly pointed ears peeking out. Although Arthur was currently scowling, he really wasn't all that intimidating. In fact, he was actually kind of attractive…
Alfred mentally scolded himself for that last thought and realized that Arthur was waiting for him to say something.
"You really don't want to eat me?"
"Heavens no, that would practically be cannibalism."
Alfred wasn't sure if that term could really apply in this situation, but decided to let it go and believe Arthur for the time being. "Okay…sooo mind telling me what exactly you are?"
"I already answered that question, too. Really do you not pay attention to anything?" Arthur sighed, rubbing his temple. This human…Alfred…was already giving him a headache. Maybe his mother had been half-right and humans were dangerous….just dangerously stupid.
"Well sorry for not hearing what you were saying properly. I was kind of freaking out over the fact that you have a tail," Alfred exclaimed, gesturing towards the Naga's bottom half.
Arthur chose not to remark on Alfred's obvious comment. "I am what we call a Naga. I am half-snake, half-human. I have the body and intelligence of a human (or better than a human if this Alfred character was anything to go by) with heightened senses of smell and hearing and obviously the tail of a snake."
Alfred's eyes widened. "So have you been living here this whole time? I've heard stories but I thought they were just made up to scare people!"
"If by that you mean my entire life, then yes. We aren't exactly supposed to leave…"
Alfred thought he could sense a bitter undertone to Arthur's words, but decided not to inquire about it. After all, he was a biology major and he had a dozen other questions that needed answers, pronto.
"How do you even exist? It's not like humans and snakes can mate," Alfred mused.
"How the hell should I know? It's not as if I was around for the creation of my species." Arthur had wondered about that before, but he knew that asking his mother questions wouldn't get him anywhere. Even the elders of his clan were too young to have any knowledge of that sort of thing.
Alfred was disappointed by this answer, but didn't let it discourage him.
"So then what do you eat? Are you warm or cold-blooded? Do you lay eggs? Are you poisonous? When do-"
"Shut up you wanker! One question at a time!" Arthur seethed. Was he honestly expected to keep up with so many questions at once? "I eat small mammals and whatever fruit there is in the woods. I don't know what you mean about my blood, but I suppose I do get cold easily. There is a place nearby where I like to lay out in the sun to keep warm. I can't personally lay eggs; I am a male, you know. However, the females in my clan do. My sharpened teeth to produce a toxin that can stun small animals, but I doubt it would have much effect on larger creatures like you. Any more questions?" Arthur finished.
"Oh, loads!" Now that Alfred felt his life was in no danger, he let curiosity take over and scooted a little closer to the other man. "Hey, how long was I unconscious, anyway?"
"Quite a few hours. It was dark once I finally got you back here and you slept clear through the night. Daylight broke just a couple of hours ago," Arthur said, nodding his head toward the entrance of his den where, sure enough, a gentle light could be seen coming through the woven mat that served as a door.
Alfred groaned, resting his head between his hands. Matthew was going to kill him!
"Is…everything alright?" Arthur asked hesitantly. Alfred looked up and gave a grin, assuring him that everything was fine.
"Yeah, it's just that I probably worried someone last night by not showing up. Man, I'm so lucky that yesterday was Friday. If I had missed another day of biology class I would have been toast," Alfred said more to himself than Arthur.
Arthur furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He had heard humans talking about something called "class" before, but he really had no idea what it was.
"I'm sure they'll be glad to see that you're alright, then."
"Yup, and then he'll proceed to hit me," Alfred sighed. Nobody but him knew how scary Matthew was when angry and they never believed him when he mentioned it. "I'm talking about my twin brother, by the way. We're totally roommates!"
"Oh, that…sounds nice." Actually, to Arthur it didn't sound nice at all. He didn't know about twins, but he had many brothers and was sincerely relieved to not be living with any of them.
Alfred nodded enthusiastically before realizing something odd about the way Arthur was speaking.
"Woah dude what? Why are you talking in a British accent?"
Arthur wasn't sure if he should be offended by that or not, so he just settled for putting his hands on his waist and scowling. "What are you talking about? I'm just speaking normally!"
"Not for America you're not! Does everyone in your…uh, clan?...talk like that?"
"Well, no I suppose not. But that doesn't mean I have an accent! We just all have our own unique way of speaking!" Now that Arthur thought about it, it really didn't make any sense for all of the different families in his clan to talk differently from one another, but he wasn't about to admit that to the American.
Just then, Alfred's stomach rumbled loudly. He put a hand over it, thinking back to when his last meal had been. With some horror, he realized that the last thing he had eaten was the soup he had quickly devoured before rushing to finish his work. That meant he had missed three snack times, dinner, and breakfast.
"Um, listen, thanks a lot for fixing my head and all and I hate to cut this so short, but I really need to get going…" Alfred bit his lip, hoping he wouldn't be offending the Naga. It wasn't that he wanted to leave, but he needed food and if he didn't get an early start on all of the work he had for classes he would quickly fall behind. Actually, he really wouldn't have minded staying a few more hours and learning more about Arthur's species and about Arthur himself. Arthur seemed like he could be a pretty cool…person?...now Alfred had gotten past the initial terror of thinking he was about to die.
Arthur frowned to himself. He didn't get to ask the American any of his own questions, but aside from that he hadn't thought through how to get him back out of his home. He had the benefit of the dark last night, but now that it was morning everyone would be awake and out sunning themselves. Simply letting Alfred walk out would cause a mass panic.
"Well, there's actually a problem with that," he informed Alfred.
Alfred felt a little worried at that, hoping the snake man hadn't had a change of heart about not eating him. "Uh, you're not going to keep me captive, right?"
Arthur rolled his eyes. "Of course not! It's just that…well, my clan is rather wary of humans," Arthur explained. "Actually, you really aren't supposed to be here and I could be in a lot of trouble if anyone found out I brought you here." Instead of looking anxious or ashamed, Arthur held his head higher as if he were proud of this fact.
"Sooo…are you saying I can't leave?" Alfred asked hesitantly, wondering if he really wanted to know the answer.
"No, don't worry. I'll think of something." With that, Arthur turned away from Alfred and slithered to the entrance of his den. He pushed aside the woven mat and peeked his head out, looking in all directions to see if the coast was clear. "Wait here," he said to Alfred over his shoulder.
Alfred fidgeted where he sat once Arthur left the den. He wasn't sure how long he was supposed to wait, and his hunger was really starting to gnaw at him. Looking around the cave, he figured he may as well explore it a little and learn more about how the Naga species lived.
The first thing he did was inspect the nest he had returned to sitting on. It was about six feet in diameter, leaving Arthur plenty of room to curl up on the soft straw and leaves. It was exceptionally well-formed with a nice, flat bottom and curved sides that sloped upward. Alfred marveled at Arthur's ability to form something so perfectly symmetrical.
Next, he went to go rummage through the various contents of the shelving unit he had spotted earlier. Most of it was stuff whose identity he neither had the ability nor the care to name, such as bottles of liquids consisting of dozens of texture and color combinations. He also found a few books, surprised to find that they were fairly popular novels he had seen some of his more bookish friends reading. How did Arthur get those if he wasn't supposed to leave his area? Setting aside his findings, he stooped to open one of the drawers below the shelves. He was supremely disturbed to find that it contained a lot of bones from small animals such as squirrels and an occasional rabbit, if his knowledge from class was anything to go by.
Quickly shutting the drawer so he didn't have to look at the contents any longer, he looked around the cave once more. There really wasn't anything else to look at, making Alfred wonder if all Naga dens were this sparse. Out of things to inspect, Alfred resigned himself to sitting on the nest until Arthur returned, hopefully with a way for Alfred to leave.
A few minutes later Arthur came back with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Alright, let's go, but we need to hurry."
Curious, Alfred stood up and walked to the entrance of the den. "What did you do?"
"Oh, let's just say I scared a certain frog, which has caused quite the diversion," Arthur smirked.
Alfred wondered why Arthur was going around frightening frogs, but he didn't question it, choosing instead to follow behind as Arthur slithered away from the den and down a clearly marked path in the woods. Now that Alfred was out, he was able to see what appeared to be a kind of village. There were caves jutting out of the ground with similar mats to Arthur's hanging from the entrances. On the ground leading away in many different directions were several paths, marked by the way they were slightly sunken into the ground. Alfred noticed that Arthur's body fit in them perfectly as he glided along.
"How has nobody ever noticed this area?" Alfred inquired.
"The magic hides this place from humans. You can only see it because I brought you here," Arthur explained as they went. "And it works so that now you have seen it, you will always see it when you walk this way."
"Uh…did you say magic?" Alfred frowned. He had always had beliefs rooted in science and he wasn't sure if he was able to buy the explanation. Then again, he couldn't exactly explain Arthur's existence to begin with, so maybe it wasn't that far-fetched.
"Oh yes, our magic can be quite powerful," Arthur said, glancing back at Alfred. They were almost at the borderline by now and Arthur was feeling relieved that nobody had gotten bored enough with Francis's antics yet to wander back in their direction, but he was almost disappointed that Alfred had to leave so soon. He was dreadfully unintelligent and rather loud, but he was the first human Arthur had ever been able to talk to.
They made awkward small talk about the weather and newly arrived spring until they arrived at their destination. Arthur stopped his movements and sat up, looking back at Alfred and gesturing in front of him.
"This is as far as I can take you. I've broken enough rules recently as it is."
Alfred looked out into the woods in front of him, suddenly remembering a very important problem.
"Yeah about that…you see, the whole reason I was so far away from where most people walk is that I was kind of lost," Alfred said with a sheepish grin.
Arthur thought privately that he really should have expected that.
"Just follow along in a straight line and you'll eventually come to a rock formation that looks like a triangle. Make a right and you'll eventually get to the path I have seen humans use."
Alfred nodded and flashed a thumbs up. "Thanks dude! You really helped me out." Alfred almost turned and walked away, but instead stopped and took a moment to consider the Naga. "Hey, um, will I see you again? We didn't get to talk much and I'd love to ask you more questions."
Arthur was pleasantly surprised at this. He had assumed Alfred would want to get on with his life, but he should have known better since he had noticed that humans were a curious species from his occasional observations.
"Well, I-I suppose if you wanted to meet again, we could…" Here he paused like he was waiting for Alfred to deny that he would want to come back.
"Yeah, I mean, it's not every day that you meet a new species that you can have an intelligent conversation with!"
Arthur wasn't sure if he would even begin to consider the conversation that had taken place "intelligent", but nevertheless he wanted to see the American again too, if only to get more information on humans. Maybe he could even gather proof that his kind didn't need to fear them and he wouldn't be stuck in his enclosed area all the time.
"Alright, but we won't be able to meet here again; at least not for some time. It's just too much of a risk."
"'Kay, well how about we meet at that triangular rock formation you mentioned? I have tons of work to do, but I should be able to slip away tomorrow afternoon. That sound okay to you?" Alfred looked so genuine with the proposition that Arthur couldn't help but let loose a small smile (very miniscule, mind you).
"That sounds perfect. Oh, and one more thing…" Arthur began looking apprehensive. "Promise to not tell anyone about this? I don't think you have harmful intentions, but if word got out about my species and more people came here, I don't think anyone here would react very well."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. If people ask where I was I'll just tell them a version of the story that edits you out."
Arthur felt relieved at this. Even though he wasn't afraid of the humans, he knew that the rest of his clan was and might do something drastic if more humans came to start investigating.
"Thank you. See you tomorrow, Alfred." And with that, Alfred said his goodbyes and set off in the direction Arthur had pointed toward, giving him an enthusiastic wave.
Arthur watched until Alfred's form was well out of sight before turning back down the path. He was hoping to escape back into his den without being confronted, but by now everyone was sure to be back from seeing Francis panicking about the zits Arthur had told him he had. It wasn't true, of course, but nothing beat seeing that frog's dismayed expression. Chuckling to himself, Arthur tried to ignore the feelings of excitement about seeing a certain blue-eyed human again tomorrow.
By the time Alfred reached his dorm, it was late in the morning and Alfred was swearing to himself that he would never lend his car to anyone ever again. Preparing himself for the verbal (and quite possible physical) abuse he was about to endure, Alfred swung open the door to the room he shared with Matthew.
"Hello Alfred."
Alfred jolted where he stood, but mustered a bright grin that he directed at his brother, trying to appear nonchalant.
"Hey Mattie! 'Sup?"
Matthew visibly twitched. "'Sup?! Don't you 'sup me Alfred F. Jones! I have been worried sick about you! Where the hell have you been?!"
Alfred cringed. Even though he had long ago become accustomed to Matthew's occasional outbursts (which were most often directed at him), they could still be scary as fuck.
"I thought you had died! Gilbert returned your car late last night and when you weren't back yet what was I supposed to think?"
Alfred knew that when Matthew got into a ranting mindset, it was best to just wait it out, so he kept quiet in case Matthew wasn't quite finished.
"Well?! Don't just stand there like a lump!" Matthew yelled and began approaching Alfred.
"I'm sorry! I had to take the woods shortcut back because Gilbert needed my car and I wanted to be his hero and then I got lost and there were creepy noises so I ran and fell and hit my head! Then I woke up this morning and found my way back…" Alfred said all in a rush.
Matthew narrowed his eyes. "That is the worst cover story I have ever heard. You don't even look injured…" Suddenly, an expression of realization came over his face. "Oh my god! You got laid, didn't you?"
"What?! NO! I-I mean, not that I totally couldn't, if I wanted to…but no! I really did fall and hit my head, but I guess it just wasn't very bad and that's why it doesn't look like anything…" Alfred blushed and internally prayed for Matthew to just accept the story and move on.
Matthew heaved a sigh before backing down and retreating to his desk in the corner of their dorm room. Their beds were bunked so that they had more space on the opposite wall for studying.
"Alright, I'm sorry for yelling at you. Are you sure you're okay then? If you hit it hard enough to knock you out for the night then there could be some lingering effects," Matthew reasoned.
"Nah, I'm good. Arth-uh…" Alfred realized he had been about to mention Arthur and Matthew glanced at him suspiciously over his shoulder. "That is…this dude on campus…saw me on my way here and I asked because I know he's a premed major and he said I'm fine," Alfred covered. He hated having to lie to his twin, but he didn't really have a choice this time. A promise was a promise and even though he had just met him, Alfred didn't want to disappoint Arthur.
Matthew nodded in acceptance of Alfred's answer and busied himself in his schoolwork now that he had been assured of Alfred's well-being. Sighing, Alfred moved his still-sore muscles down to the hall bathroom and took a long, hot shower before settling in to do his own work. He would need to get some extra done if he was to spare a few hours to meet with Arthur tomorrow, and that was not something he wanted to miss.