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[Arashi]

Drip, plop, splat. The sounds of decaying flesh smacking against the ground as the dead eyes of Nos stared around. His rotten green flesh was always making a mess of things. Prinnies hated him for it. Nos stared around the throne room, his normal post in the castle. A putrid stench eminated from him, a green aura seeming to coil around his body. But maybe that was just how the flies took position, swarming about his carcas like a vortex. Occasionally, he would swing his arm to swat them away and the insects would vacate him for a while.

His massive, bandaged hand reached up to scratch the top of his head. His rotted fingernails dug into the rotten flesh, causing flakes of it to drift down to the floor like snowflakes. He blinked dully a few times and groaned in pain, letting his hand rest back at his side. T'was a normal day in the life of a zombie.

[Ferret]

Delinquents. Juvenile delinquents. Praetael's age was somewhere in the multiple hundreds, yet she'd resorted to slinking around like a cat in this castle, being led on by a boy who couldn't sneeze without assistance when his mask was off. And they were doing it for no other reason then 'kicks.' And so she, by all accounts, was a juvenile delinquent.

Messin' with 'the man' as Ix called it, though really they were just annoying guards and various other people they could find. Prae was all for scuffles, but honestly, could life get any more shallow...

"Hey there, beautiful!" Ix cooed as he strutted with ridiculous flamboyance towards a zombie in his sights. That first gracious whiff of zombie atmosphere caused a stricken expression to take the boy's sculptured face, but almost instantaneously it was wiped away by a broader grin. "Ooh, hold me back, Pretty! I think I'm in love," he said in a laugh, fanning himself from a pseudo-swoon with a free hand. His other was back behind him, with its manicured fingers laced habitually with an angel's.

Prae, normally rambunctious and wild, was playing a 'responsible' role for once and shot a worried glance over her shoulder. Ix was unaware of this, and blissfully waved to the object of his jesting affection. The boy's face was partially covered by a white venetian mask gracefully adorned with enough feathers and beads to send a magpie into fits. His blue eyes peered out from their respective holes as he got within armslength of his newest friend, with his own fanged grin seemingly reflected in the thousand shining glimmers within them... "Come here often, gorgeous?"

[Arashi]

His head turned slowly to the boy who seemed to be taunting him. Nos blinked sluggishly before bringing one of his large arms up, scratching his rotted fingernails into his flaky scalp. "Uhhh..." His jawls opened only to find no words came to mind, his brain was rotting after all. He turned his entire body to face Ix and pointed at the boy, "Me...pretty?" He groaned in a gravelly tone.

The bandages covering his arms obscured the vision of rotting flesh which would normally have dripped to the floor but kept it in place. Muscle tissue and bone would have protruded from the flesh. His jaw occasionally swung ajar as if he was about to say something, but it quickly closed with a snap, his sharp fangs clacking together. Normally, he would've continued to space out, but this child seemed to be a special case for some reason. Maybe a tasty morsel?

[Ferret]

Ix let an enraptured purr brush his lips as he tugged on Praetael's arm, pulling her forward and into view from behind him. Ix's hand curled into a ball and rested on his collarbone where a sigh soon passed to enter his mouth and leave him. "Oh, Pretty. Just look. This is the same sort of man my mother fell in love with all those years ago."

Pretty couldn't answer. She was too busy choking on her own breath as that disgusting scent swarmed her lungs and the horrid sights of the creature before her filled her eyes. "D-... dammit, Ix," she managed to cough out after a painful few seconds. Her eyes were watering just looking at this thing.

"Imagine, Pretty." Ix placed that very active hand on his hip and let out an emotional sigh, apparently oblivious to the sights and smells Praetael was suffering. "This man right here could be my father." His head tilted to the side, sending those golden waves of pampered hair sloshing across his flawless features. This was his 'thinking' face, though that same face could probably be found in an Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue. His hand quickly tore from his companion's and delved deep into his designer pants' back pocket, drawing out a neat leather wallet.

Prae grimaced, knowing the idiocy that could only follow.

"Sir, have you ever had inappropriate relations with this woman?" He held out his opened wallet, with a picture of a rather upset looking blonde succubus encased in clear plastic within it. It was probably an odd scene to behold, with this clean young man offering a crisp and unscratched little wallet to the very image of rotting horror.

[Arashi]

Upon seeing the picture, Nos' jaw dropped and it promptly fell off. It clacked against the ground and drool quickly cascaded from his jawless maw. The zombie promptly fell to his knees, scrambling to pick his jaw up before snapping it back in place. A grotesque crack eminated out as he fiddled with his misplaced body part. Soon, Nos stood, looking down at the boy, shaking his head.

"Never seen..." He said, his hand once more found its way to his head, playing with the long hair that stood straight up atop his head. His yellow eyes stared down at the child who showed him a picture of a very beautiful succubus. If Nos had blood, surely he would be bleeding heavily from his nose. Truly he was male and it had shown just from his jaw dropping to the floor. Literally.

[Ferret]

"Well, damn it." Ix was sincerely disappointed, and oddly enough didn't seem at all affected by Nos' jaw dropping a tad more than generally expected. He was too busy staring at the floor with a troubled expression, hand on his chin.

Pretty, on the other hand, had just about leapt out of her skin. Her hands were scrunched by her right shoulder, and her normally grounded legs were askew, with one foot lifted off the floor. Obviously, considering making a run for it.

Ix unceremoniously snapped the wallet in his palm shut, hiding the image of his curvacious mother from sight. "Well, you're in the minority, then." His smirking frown twitched. "I thought just about everyone had been with my mum."

The boy stood with that angsty expression on his face for quite a long moment. Pretty watched him through her watering eyes, and pondered for a moment how many scarves and pairs of pants that look could sell. But Ix recovered from his accidental posing eventually. His dark and excruciatingly clear blue eyes peered deeply into Nos' shallow yellow ones. Praetael saw this creature before her as simply being an object to be disgusted with, but Ix, silly as he was, saw a conversational object, and treated him thusly.

"So, what do you do here all day, man? Just... stand?" Ix said in an almost comically casual tone.

[Arashi]

The question was an obvious one. Though Nos, being a zombie, had to think about it for a moment. His rotting brain didn't have the mental capacity to think of a simple answer so quickly. He may have been capable of speech, much unlike many of his zombie brethren, who could only utter moans and say "braaaaaiiins" or one word sentences. Finally, his small, rotten brain sent a message through to his mouth and he simply said "I guard Throne Room..."

It wasn't very promising having only a zombie guard the throne room. However, Laharl had most likely just told him that guarding the throne room was his job and only he could do it, only to put two stronger demons on the inside of the throne room so that they could surprise the enemy if there should be one. Surely Nos couldn't defeat an enemy bent on getting into the throne room.

This child was making him rather confused with it all as his faintly glowing yellow eyes looked to the throne room and down at the boy, tilting his entire upper body as he did so.

[Ferret]

"Sweet," Ix said easily, bobbing his head and glancing off to the side in a teenage show of being impressed. His arms folded across his chest (so many poses today!) as he continued speaking in a careless way, as if this were a casual conversation between two old friends, rather than an awkward exchange between man and zombie. "So, like... what would we have to do to get you to kick us out? Like... knock over something...? Sit in the throne? What?"

Such complex questions to ask a simple zombie!

Ix waved back to his female friend behind him. "I can get her to do whatever if it'll get you in good with Laharl for beating her up."

[Arashi]

He opened his mouth, ready to speak before his powerful jaw once more slammed shut, causing a loud snap to echo as his teeth slammed together. The zombie contemplated these questions, his brain waves moving slowly though they were, in fact, moving. Nos let a sigh pass his crisp lips, tilting his head up so as not to send a cloud of disgusting stench down upon the children. "Uhh..." He groaned quietly.

Finally, his empty yellow eyes looked down at Ix, "Already on good terms...with Highness..." He explained simply, shaking his head at the offer of having the girl do whatever he needed to get on good terms with Laharl. Besides, it would probably only serving in making Laharl have Nos play hide-and-go-seek with his own body parts.

Then, it hit him. Nos hadn't even introduced himself. Extending a rotted hand to Ix which had torn bandages hanging from it he opened his mouth once more to speak. "My name...is Nos..." He gestured kindly, giving the best smile he possibly could, though it was fairly hard with his lips being crusty and whatnot.

[Ferret]

Ix reached out to firmly grasp that extended hand before him. A fangy grin and a friendly nod reflected Nos' own attempts at expression. The boy had no sense of germs and disease, and so he likely would have still greeted the zombie this way, even if his hand were not protected by bandages. "Pleased to meet you, Nos. My name is Ix, and the pleasant young lady behind me is my lovely assistant Pretty. Say hello, Pretty."

Praetael stood with her arms wrapped around her shoulders with discomfort, but managed to weakly lift a few fingers and offer a breathy "yo" at Ix's command.

Ix's mask rattled gently as he tilted his head at Nos, still not releasing his grip on the zombie's hand. "Isn't she just a gem, Nos? Such a catch, truly."