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

The man perked up slighty, trying his best to not look weary and tired out. He watched Luka as he gaze upon the room. Then realized Luka had spoken about Ruby. " Ah. Yes her name is Ruby. She is indeed smart. Snakes in general are smart. It's just their hostility and behavior that makes most want to avoid them. They are... Misunderstood you can say. " he said softly. Speaking of snakes reminded him of how much he and snakes have in common, mostly the misunderstood part.

He closed the door behind him, then made his way over to the nearby couch. He sat down, and looked at Luka with a steady gaze. " So you wanted to continue our original conversation. What is it that you would like for me to speak off again? " he said, feeling a rather bit cast upon since he had not completely remembered what they were originally speaking of. Which had made him feel unprepared, which he was if you think about it. When Luka said he wanted to speak again soon Jaxton didn't think it would be so sudden.

Ooc: This may be my last post until tomorrow since I must sleep soon.

Darius's eyes seemed to widen in shock at the clarity of the picture before him, his lips parting slightly as his jaw dropped to suck in a breath. He'd never seen someone draw anything so realistically, yet so... Well, sketchy. The pencil lines added a rough feeling to the overall picture, but in a way that felt nice, and was nice to look at. The Leo was transfixed for a moment, almost like a parent who was proud of their child for getting so good at art.

He also noticed the little hermit crabs and shells. He could almost feel the little creatures jumping out at him, scuttling up his arms and making their strange yet oddly cute chirping noises. He leaned his head on his hand to admire the picture, a tiny smile crawling onto his face. Even he couldn't help but smile at the cute little picture.

"Couldn't have taken a better photograph," he murmured, his small smile crooked. "Then again, polaroids don't give the highest quality pictures... Heh. The shower was alright." Darius absently ran his hand through his damp hair, though the bandages on his hands got damp along with it, causing his temporary moment of bliss to be ruined. His face pulled back up into his grumpy look as he cursed himself for getting his bandages wet, though the most he did to relieve the discomfort was rub the bandages on his pant leg.

Darius paused for a moment as he saw Casey place his sketchbook to the side, a sense of unease welling within him. He hated it when other people noticed he was injured. He didn't hate it when people cared, he just... Disliked feeling vulnerable. He held his lower lip between his teeth for a moment before releasing it and shrugging his shoulders, attempting to look nonchalant.

"I just split my knuckles on accident while punching a dummy in the gym. I'll be fine," he reassured, glancing towards his hand. "It doesn't take much time for them to scab. I've just gotta be light on them for a few days. Less punching stuff, I guess." He shrugged once more, looking unconcerned with the minor injury. He felt bad for worrying Casey, but... He knew he'd be fine, so Casey had nothing to worry about. Yeah.

Because those little splits on your knuckles are the only things wrong with you, Mr. Grouch.

"Look, I'd gone through worse. Way worse," he remarked, pointing at the scars on the left side of his face. "These little things? Bah, no biggie."

Seems like he couldn't completely banish the worry in Casey's head.

Darius heaved a defeated sigh, slowly beginning to unwrap the damp bandages from his hands. His knuckles were looking... Worse than he remembered them looking. Perhaps cleaning the blood off of them in the shower had made him worry less, thinking they looked fine when they were just the awkwardly shaped oval cuts over his knuckles. Now, however, the skin was inflamed and bloody as friction rash and general open blood vessels made the wounds weep. He winced noticeably, quickly hiding the cuts with his bandage to spare the other's eyes. He was worried enough.

"Ah... Y-yeah. I should have more in my duffel bag," he muttered, obviously embarrassed. "Shit, think I left it in the bathroom. Good thing I remembered now, I don't want Dakota having me scrub the toilet with a toothbrush. I've seen cartoons where mortals make people do that. Doesn't look pleasant."

The Leo rose to his feet, cradling his hands in each other awkwardly as he hurriedly rushed to the bathroom to retrieve his duffel. He plucked it up by the strap carefully before making a speedy exit, rather eager to replace his bandages once he had seen how bloody the insides had become. He shuffled back to the couch where he'd been sitting, plopping down with his duffel right beside him. He unzipped it and pulled out a roll of bandages, white and unmarred by his blood. He held it up triumphantly so that Casey could be at ease before he finally began to truly remove his dirty, damp bandages.

Oh, yeah. They were definitely looking worse for wear. He knew this was just how the wounds looked when they were fresh, and that they'd get better, but it still wasn't... Pretty to look at. He grimaced at the sight before glancing apologetically to the Cancer.

"Not the prettiest picture, huh?" he remarked in a mumble, sighing to himself. "Just the casualties of training."

Yeah. Training.

The gasp from Casey made him wince as if the boy had just poured saltwater into his wounds. He always hated making others concerned, and that would never change. Sure, his stubbornness and short-temper might get in the way of that at times, but... This was one of those times where they didn't. He had no reason to be angry or stubborn or anything else. Only embarrassed, and perhaps a bit ashamed.

He slowly wrapped his injuries, taking care to press the cloth bandage onto the wound slightly to absorb some of the blood. He wrapped each hand silently as he listened to Casey's response, his eyes falling shut tiredly. "Yeah... Guess I got carried away," he hummed, though it was not the happy sort of hum that one might use in a sing-song voice. His was a mixture of a sigh, a murmur, and some hidden, frantic need to cover himself. He felt vulnerable. He didn't like that.

"Stuff like that happens," he said, a little less more sad this time. "Like I've said, I'll be fine. These scars on my face aren't even the worst of it. This lion has been through plenty of fights before. A little boo-boo on his knuckles won't stop him." He shrugged, attempting a cheery smile towards the other, almost desperately trying to get him to stop worrying.

Then he remembered that he never smiled, and that would almost certainly be seen as a cover-up. Not to mention, his smile was so inorganic and forced that it couldn't have possibly cheered anyone up. It looked like shattered glass.

He let his face fall, his brows instead knitting together. He leaned into the couch, willing it to make him disappear. He'd give anything just to melt into the soft, cotton-filled cushion, to just not exist. Anything would be more satisfying than his sheer embarrassment. He lifted to comb his hand through his hair to calm himself, but stopped himself halfway up, instead rubbing at his chin so that he didn't ruin all of his hard work.