After a few minutes of staring at his bandaged hands and catching his breath, Darius felt absolutely drained.

Caffeine only offered so much of a boost to his energy, and he'd exhausted it. His stomach churned uncomfortably. He knew he shouldn't have gone loose like he did on a full stomach, but he did anyway. Stupid. The Leo groaned softly and slapped his forehead with the ball of his hand, his fingers already starting to feel bruised and sore to the point where any pressure on them hurt, with the exception of his thumb. His hand, ironically, felt fine. They should come up with finger wraps.

Darius pulled a towel from his duffel to wipe the sweat and tears off of himself, and after he was somewhat dry, he got changed out of his work-out gear, back into his day clothes. He kept his shoes on, though only to prevent his feet from getting dirty when he re-entered the Zodiac House. He'd seen enough of how fretful Dakota was about the cleanliness of the house, and he didn't want to push her buttons. He respected what she was doing, considering he could hardly be bothered to so closely scrutinize the state of the house, but he had to admit she was slightly... Overbearing.

The Leo shoved his belongings back into his duffel, although he paused when he got to the towel. He looked to the dummy, which was smeared with drying blood. He winced, not out of being reminded of the pain in his fingers, but due to how he imagined Dakota would shriek at him if she saw. He promptly got up to wipe the dummy clean, although it was only a few quick swipes to get the brunt of the blood off. He then finally returned the towel to the duffel, slung the duffel over his shoulder, and slowly made his way up the stairs.

Retracing his steps to the house, he paused to kick off his shoes beside the door, only entering when he was in his socks. The uncomfortable wetness left by the others passing through sunk into his sock, making him curse under his breath, though he ignored it as he made a beeline towards the nearest bathroom so he could wash the sweat off of his body. Not to mention, he couldn't remember the last time he'd showered, anyways. He hadn't quite gotten used to the whole mortal thing of needing to constantly bathe. It wasn't that he didn't like it, he just... Didn't remember it.

Darius closed and locked the bathroom door behind him, his back leaning against the cool wood for a moment as he sighed. His head fell back against the door with a soft 'thump', although it didn't hurt him much. After taking a few moments to inhale the calming scent of soap, Darius began to peel his clothes off of him - He was thankful that his day-clothes hadn't gotten saturated with his sweat in the time it'd taken him to walk - and discarded them to the side of the floor before he got into the shower.

The feeling of burning hot water against his skin was one of the most soothing feelings for him. He stared at his feet, watching as his toes turned bright red. He'd stand there with his head down for a few moments before he began to wash, his eyes tired, but starting to liven up from the hot water.

Jaxton Snake | Male | 20 | ⛎| Location: Guest house | Mentions: None, Luka (indirectly?)

Jaxton had fallen asleep, only hearing the muffle noise of the light that shined so dim. Rudy on the other hand had managed to have snucked through an open window, curious of the loud noise that echoed through the forest. She slithered on the ground, suspicious of the voice she hears that seems to be getting louder and louder. Though she had poor eye sight, she knew who it was from the smell. She gave a slight hiss at the familiar lifting her head from the ground slightly as she flickered her tongue at him.

Ooc: a bit busy rn sorry tht it's so short!

Jaxton Snake | Male | 20 | ⛎| Location: Guest house | Mentions: Luka (indirectly?)

The she-snake responded to the weary man with a single tongue flicker as she turned her head. She then slithered slowly back to where she saw her owner. The ground had become more thicker with vegetation as she continued her journey. Leading the familiar to her master, she knew her owner would approve of this person. She remembered how relaxed he was when he was with this new person earlier in the day. He seems to enjoy this zodiacs presence. If it makes the master happy then I must greet him with the familiar. she thought without question. She may be a snake, but they are intelligent creatures.

She finally smelled the scent of her master nearby. The building was coming into view. Once she had knew that the newcomer had seen the building, she knew he could figure out the rest. She slithered through the cracked window that she had exited out from moments ago, making her way to Jaxton. Her long body helped her push herself up onto Jaxton's chest. She coiled herself up on his chest, awaiting for him to wake up by the voice of the newcomer.

Jaxton Snake | Male | 20 | ⛎| Location: Guest house | Mentions: Luka (directly)

Jaxton opened his eyes slightly. The muffled noise had seem to be overridden by another noise, surprisingly a voice. His gaze was hazy for a moment, but he regain consciousness within a few seconds. He felt Ruby on his chest, but moved her aside since he had been half cautious of the thought of him being found out by a zodiac to have payed more interest into her. Rubbing his eye slightly with one hand as he stretched out. He got up with a groggy step, his posture showing nearly the lack of sleep he gets. He looked through the unclear window, more of a misty look due to the old age and lack of proper cleaning. He could vaguely see a silhouette of a person. Surely no zodiac could have found me out so soon? he thought. He proceeded to walk to the door but with caution. He opened the door slightly, and instantly knew who it was. " Luka? How did you manage to get here? Let alone find me? " he asked with a slight sigh of relief. He opened the door more, gesturing to come in. " You may come in if you'd like. " he said as he squinted a bit at the light that shined outside through the tree that hung high above the land and dormant house.

Darius didn't get out of the shower until his pale skin had become a flushed pink, which in turn made the scars on his face light up bright red, almost as if they'd started bleeding again. They were also a tad sensitive, which truly told Darius that it was time to get out. His scars were a great way to tell when he was truly exerting his body when it came to the elements.

He turned off the water with a sigh, a sudden cold splashing onto him as frigid air replaced the hot water. A sticky steam still hung in the air, making it hard for him to see. The mirror had become completely foggy, condensation along the top beginning to form into little beads. He reached for one of the fluffy towels on the hanger and began to rub himself dry, although he took great care around the scars on his face, and one remarkably deep, angrily red one along his right hip, just above his Zodiac.

Darius paused as the towel brushed over his mark, his eyes flashing for a moment as the soft fabric ran over his scar, the bright red of it contrasting greatly to the soft, pure white.

After a moment, he removed the towel from the scar, replacing it with his hand. He gently spread his palm over the thickest part of the scar, which lay just above his hip bone, exactly above his mark. There was no pain from the old wound, but he still winced as his unmarred flesh touched the scar tissue, as the memory of how he'd gotten it burned within his mind like a solar flare.

He didn't think he'd ever seen someone so angry in his life. He didn't know that a mortal could be so dangerous. It was the first lesson he'd learned on Earth, all those years ago when he'd first walked on it, walked among mortals. Though, it hadn't ever deterred him from coming back. He was drawn to this planet. His star gave it life, gave it warmth. He'd caused it to blossom. Could he really abandon a planet he considered to be like his child?

Ha, a stretch, but one he made in the privacy of his own brain.

Darius took his fingers from his scar, drying the rest of his body and then pulling back on his clothes and hand bandages. He accidentally forgot his bag on the counter, although there was nothing there that could possibly be of interest to others. Seeming much more calm, and certainly much more clean, Darius softly padded into the living room, where he saw Casey sitting with a sketchbook propped up in his lap. His brows rose, ever-so-slightly curious as to what he was sketching. Would he mind if he had a look?...

Would Darius mind if someone went through his old polaroid photos? Yes. So he didn't try to sneak over to see what Cancer was drawing.

Instead, he softly plodded over to the couch adjacent to him, sitting down on the edge seat. He leaned his elbow on the armrest before glancing over at Casey, his hair still dripping faintly with lukewarm water despite his best attempts to dry it. "...Whatcha drawing?" he asked, though he quickly added. "Uh... If you don't mind me asking."