Sup guys? Wow, I didn't realize people would actually like this... X3
And again, NJ is weird. His family is weird. His species is weird. THAT IS THE POINT. :D It makes them funny and awesome. :P
Thank you ALL for your reviews and follows! Flames will be mercilessly thrown into the nearest refridgerator!
[Disclaimer] 3D owns her stuff. Not the other stuff. Basically, if you don't recognize it she probably owns it. MWAHAHAHAHAHA- *cough cough*
Of Dragons and Wyverns Too
Jack blinked. "You're not human? Oh gosh, you're not like Chase are you? Cause if you turned into a giant lizard-" The kid sputtered with laughter almost hysterically.
"Wow, you have no idea." He laughed without any humor. "My mom is human, but my dad's not. My species… well, it's not exactly common. My dad and his four siblings are the only fullblooded ones that exist, or ever did. We're what we call Elemental Wyverns. Similar to the western dragon in appearance, but a lot different."
"Okay, and you're wind I'd guess." Jack blinked, sort of kind of completely in shock.
"Yeah, sort of. I'm called the Air Precision Wyvern, my Winds aren't very strong but I have far more precise control over them than anyone in my family could ever manage."
"Okay." Jack muttered. "This has to do with me how? And why do you look human?"
The blush, having faded a bit, was back in full force. "Um, we have several forms… Human, Secondary, and Primary…"
"You didn't answer my first question." Jack said suspiciously.
"…Can I just start this by saying I'm technically the same age as you species-wise?" NJ spoke up weakly. "And you're… kind of sort of… my-soulmate-because-Elemental-Wyverns-can-feel-who-their's-are-and-are-destined-to-find-their's-and-I-realized-it-on-the-mountain-when-you-were-hurt." NJ literally threw himself under a table in embarrassment.
Jack stared into space for several minutes. On one hand, that was really weird. On another hand, that was a little cool. On yet another third hand, WHAT DID HE MEAN SOULMATE?! And on the mythical fourth hand, that was REALLY REALLY FREAKY AND MORE THAN A LITTLE CREEPY!
As his mind was blanked out in shock he slowly realized that NJ was cowering under his worktable trembling slightly.
"Um… NJ?" He wheeled over so he could look under. The kid flinched and peeked out from where his face was pressed into his knees. "I uh… I mean, I hardly even know you, and you're still kind of a kid to me…" Jack scratched the back of his head awkwardly when NJ buried his head into his arms, face somehow turning even redder. "But you know, I don't know anything about this soulmate thing… I kind of want to just be friends though, you've been a great friend so far. Well, at least I think you have, I haven't had any friends before…" NJ's head flew up to look at him searchingly.
"You wouldn't think of me as a mate, just a friend?" He asked, searching for something.
"Mate?!" Jack sputtered. "No! Just a friend!" He stared in bafflement as NJ practically melted in relief.
"Oh thank Haios…" He muttered.
"Could you… maybe explain what just happened?" NJ looked up at him guiltily.
"Sorry about that... First thing you should know is that Elemental Wyverns have instincts. Instincts so strong, that they sometimes make us act strange and do things we normally wouldn't do without the instincts. But at the same time, they make us who we are. We wouldn't be wyvern without the instincts. When a wyvern's soulmate is found, the number one priority for that wyvern's instincts is to protect that soulmate and try to claim them. And no, that's not what it sounds like," NJ groaned. "Claim is basically acknowledging the bond, beginning dating in human terms. It's really hard for us to say certain things when our instincts demand that they're called other things."
"So, uh… you were being all protective of me because your instincts had just… activated?" Jack cautioned.
NJ hummed affirmatively. "But once the soulmate is protected, the wyvern's job is to find whether they need to court their soulmate before claiming them. Sometimes that's necessary, but…" Seeing the confused look on Jack's face he elaborated. "Courting in Elemental Wyvern terms is… flirting? I think? It's hard to find parallels… Anyways, some people in my family have courted before. They became friends with their soulmate first to see how the other felt about them. The first time a situation like this happened…" NJ hummed thoughtfully.
"Continue?" Jack prompted.
"Oh right… My cousin Vince was courting Lee, yes genders don't ever matter. Souls do not have genders, our bodies do. Anyways, Lee was interested in a girl named Sakura. Of course, Vince's instincts did NOT like that their soulmate wasn't acknowledging them… Vince managed to control his impulses long enough to explain everything to Lee, and Lee told Vince he didn't want Vince as a mate, just a friend. Once he said that Vince's instincts automatically reacted to the next part involved in our soulmates. The wyvern instinct's very biggest aim is to please and comply with our mates."
"So when Vince said he wanted to be just friends, his instinct just, what? Went along with it?" Jack interjected.
"Yep. And even stranger, the bond between their souls still formed. We learned that no matter what we'll end up soulmates of a sort with the one we're meant to be with, but the relationship between those certain ones is more or less like an extremely strong friendship. It's not anywhere near the type of friendship anyone else could ever experience, it's way too close. But it's not the type of relationship relationship that, say, my dad and mom have as actual mates."
"So that's why you wanted me to say that, so your instincts would recognize that I didn't want that type of relationship!" Jack perked up in understanding. "Well, trust me dude, I DON'T want that. Not that I'm a homophobe or anything, I just don't want a boyfriend." Jack paused as he suddenly realized something. "Wait, for you guys there wouldn't exactly be anything like rejection, would there?"
"No," NJ laughed quietly. "If you'd told me you hated my guts, never wanted to see me again, and wished I would die, I'd be content and you literally would never see me again. That's not to say I wouldn't be around, my instincts would still demand I keep you safe. I'd just be following you from the shadows."
Jack couldn't help but chuckle at that. "You mentioned a soulbond thing earlier?" Even though everything was still really weird, he couldn't help but be fascinated to learn about all this.
"The soulbond." He nodded. "When in the situation of mates, they're obviously just mates. The bond snaps in place easily and quickly because the wyvern automatically cares for the other and the other obviously cares for the wyvern, otherwise they'd have turned them down. With the situation Vince and Lee had, and the one we're in right now, Lee is called Vince's Soul Guarded because Vince basically is the one in charge of protecting his soul. In their case they were already friends and cared about each other, meaning the bond again snapped right into place. But with us... it's like…" NJ's eyes scrunched up and glazed over slightly. "I can feel the bond, but it's like… not really there…"
"Because I don't really know you," Jack finished. He nodded.
"Right, I think the bond will form over time as we becomes friends." He gave Jack a weird look. "It's weird though, because even without the bond my instincts already register you as Soul Guarded and I'm getting seriously angry at the fact that you're injured right now. Of course, I was already mad, but not to the point of wanting to hunt down these Xiaolin guys…"
"You're going to be ridiculously protective of me aren't you?" Jack deadpanned.
"Overprotective doesn't even begin to cover it." NJ nodded sympathetically. "An Elemental Wyvern is already deadly, but when their mates are in danger they are so dangerous you don't even want to know. For wyverns with Soul Guarded they- I mean, we, become even more protective because our instincts demand that we protect our Soul Guarded at all costs. For normal mates the desire to protect is tempered with normal relationship things."
"So… I now have an incredibly dangerous creature acting as my personal bodyguard." Jack blinked.
"Yeah." Nick grinned. "Hey, can I call you Boss? That sounds like it'd be cool. And actually, you have an immortal incredibly deadly creature acting as your bodyguard."
"Immortal?" Jack stared with wide eyes.
"Uh huh. We found out a few years ago when my Aunt Arya was killed. We didn't even notice as her body healed itself while she was dead, and then she just… woke up. Woke up screaming, dying is apparently very traumatic, but still woke up. We don't stay dead. According to her, our souls wander until our bodies heal enough to hold them again. And want to know something awesome?" NJ grinned broader at the shocked nod. "Once the bond forms, since you'll be connected to my soul…" He trailed off meaningfully.
"I'm gonna be immortal?!" Jack yelled excitedly.
"Yes. But don't worry, you'll grow into an adult first."
Jack sat in silence for a while, absorbing everything and giving NJ some time to collect himself. It took a long while before he could think straight again.
"Hey Enny? Now can I know how old you are? You mentioned species-wise you were my age, but how old are you in human years?"
NJ, back in his usual deadpan snark state, sighed wearily. "It's complicated to translate our ages. For one, we judge by three ways. Mental age, physical age (human physical age not included), and emotional age. Mentally I'm actually an adult. Physically, my natural form is actually probably a few years younger than you. Emotionally? I'm kind of everywhere emotionally. Most of the time I'm an adult, but sometimes I get…"
"Your age?" Jack snickered at the glare he got.
"Emotionally doesn't ever really count anyways, half the people in my family act like three year olds. But the main point of everything is that each individual person in my family has their age translated differently depending on their own selves. I just so happen to be older mentally, affecting the entire perception of my age. We grow really weird too, at first we grow fast mentally, then we skip to a physically stage, then again mental, then we finally get our secondary and human forms around the time we learn to talk, then another mental stage, then our human forms have the physical growth spurt, then our secondary forms, then our primary forms, all in just the first two years of our lives."
"I get it, you guys grow really weird." Jack raised an eyebrow. "You're still avoiding telling me aren't you?"
"Possibly." NJ refused to slump. He really did. "I might happen to be five years old in human years…"
"Five?!" Jack sputtered.
"Hey! I'm considered older than my nine year old cousin species-wise because of my mind! And my Adurna cousins who are thirteen are considered the equivalent of eighteen, they're pretty much the normal growth pattern too!"
"Okay okay, I get it!" Jack raised his hands placatingly. "You guys grow really really weird. Understood."
NJ huffed slightly and shot him a frustrated glare. Then gave a small smile as he thought back on something. "Hey, what did you call me earlier?"
"What?"
"You called me something earlier, twice."
"Oh, Enny? I figured a nickname for NJ, you know? NJ sounds a little weird to me." Jack watched as a small smile on NJ's face grew into a grin. "You like?"
"Yeah, I like it a lot. I don't want anyone else calling me that though, they have to call me NJ like everyone else." He crossed his arms stubbornly. "And I still want to know if I can call you Boss."
"Dude, that would be awesome." Jack grinned.
They chatted for a little while longer, but slowly wound down to a comfortable silence. Jack looked around his workshop with a frown.
"Uh, hey Enny?"
"Yeah Boss?" NJ had taken the new nickname to heart, especially while in his usual deadpan snark mode.
"Mind helping me clean this place up?" Jack looked around his workshop, papers and small objects scattered everywhere from the winds NJ had created.
"Oh… right. Sorry about that. Our elements are a part of us, we don't control them. We are so connected to them that sometimes we can speak with the very elements themselves. The elements do whatever we ask of them, and that is all we need. They also tend to respond when we are in distress – they don't like it when we are upset." NJ walked around picking things up and handing them to Jack to wheel over where they belonged.
"So, you talk to the air?" Jack snickered and received an unamused look.
"In general, considering I'm the element of Air, yes. But it's the Winds that respond to us. Air doesn't like doing anything asked of it unless we ask directly and that's hard." NJ bent over and picked up what looked like an oily rag.
"How does that work?" Jack asked bemused.
"I have no idea. The other elements have more experience with theirs, but the Air part of my family is known for raw instinctual connection to our element. We rarely train or practice with it because we just don't need to."
"You guys are weird." Jack decided.
"You have no idea."
NJ's species also doesn't have much of a sense of modesty, which is why he's so embarrassed here... He doesn't really like tghat part of his species. XD
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