Welcome to Gaia! ::

It wasn't a lie to say Pauk liked the snow. He liked the feel of the cold and the sound of it under his feet; the crunch was rather pleasing and the footprints left behind were interesting to look at. When the snow coated his wings and his tail (despite the tail's protests) he considered it a fun second blanket, a playful welcome sheet of white against his otherwise dark hide.

It just so happened on this particular evening, as he rested along the side of a trail, that a faint snow was falling and covering everything in his beloved soft white. A faint grumble from behind the dragoulie let him know his tail wasn't having it, but Pauk simply snickered at the complaints. It was nice and quiet, and it wasn't as though the pair were actually cold.

Plus it didn't seem like anyone was around, not at the moment.

"Look." The tail, which had been rather silent apart from its grumblings about being cold and wet, finally offered a single word to its master in warning. A warning that was, naturally, a bit too late to do any good and the dragoulie found himself getting a face full of snow in the form of...a snowball. It didn't hurt despite the sting of the cold and the sudden impact, a fact for which whomever threw it should find themselves being grateful over. Pauk was mild-mannered, by most accounts, though he hardly liked being surprised. "You is okay?"

There was a little inner laughter over the concern of his tail, but indeed he was fine and sent some reassuring words just to make sure. Softly and slowly he got to his feet, his size large and made looming as he spread his wings to shake off the white blanket of winter. He didn't need to look to see where the snowball had come from, as the cackling laughter of the culprit all but lead him right over. Soundlessly he plod over, all the while trying to figure out just what to say to someone who would have no problems attacking a stranger. "Having fun?" His voice was soft in the growing evening, almost as quiet as the world when snow was falling. "You have quite good aim."

It may have been a compliment but it certainly didn't sound like it.

"Not fun." The tail spoke again with a broken hiss, moving just a little bit to get a better view of whomever was speaking. "Cold. Don't like." It wasn't as though the tail had gotten hit with the snowball but by the way it was carrying on, one might think it had. It was mumbling to itself as snow was balled up, whispering weak threats as though a simple tail could actually do something about it.

"We don't mind snow as it is." Pauk spoke and shook himself again lest the snow build up and his tail whine even more. He liked the silence and didn't quite appreciate the crying noises he couldn't stop. "And I would have been - " There was a pause, and the dragoulie turned to watch this stranger and their antics. "What are you doing?" Something about his wings? "Of course I am aware I have wings. I was born with them." In response to the touch of a very cold nose the wings snapped themselves open and shut, sending a wave of air that nearly cleared the snow from around the duo.

This was...partly why Pauk didn't enjoy going out. Too many questions, not enough answers to give when all he did was repeat himself over and over. "Are they really that strange to look at?" He glanced over at the wings, now fully open and spread. The seemed to sparkle in the light, his markings themselves almost glowing. The question had been spoken with a voice that held a bit of fear, like the dragoulie could just vanish at any moment.

Maybe, just maybe, for a moment a streak of color dashed across Pauk's nose that would indicate a blush. He'd never really gotten compliments on his wings which...wasn't surprising since he often went out of his way to be alone. That was why he traveled at night (apart from the light hurting his eyes), to avoid groups or crowds. It was also in his nature to like being alone, or at least in very small company of those he knew. He kept his wings open to be inspected since there didn't seem to be any malicious harm in this Ghoulie's attempts, though his tail did mumble something or another before he swung it to silence the creature.

"I am not a Ghoulie." That was the answer to the statement, as if this stranger had asked a question. "Or rather, I am....partly. My mother." A flicker of one of his four eyes indicated he was looking to memory, thinking of a darkened being who lived only in the past now. No further explanation for the wings was given, just that he wasn't entirely a Ghoulie as this...well, entire Ghoulie was suggesting. Who even was this pony? "What exactly do you want from me?"

No one ever approached him unless they wanted something, so why should he expect this moment to be any different?

Pauk's only tail let out a growl of warning towards the stranger and his tail, clearly not pleased by how this was going. The dragoulie was a calm and quiet sort, used to keeping to himself and avoiding being overwhelmed, so the peppering of questions wasn't exactly welcome. It helped (?) a little that the dragoulie was much larger than this newcomer, the same could be said of his tail; even its growls were louder and deeper. The growls continued as the stranger kept speaking, though Pauk did manage to whisper towards it to calm down. There was no harm here, maybe.

"Most everyone wants something, that's how things are." The hybrid kept his voice soft as the other continued to circle, like he was some sort of strange prize to be viewed. "And...shouldn't you give your name first? You're the one who interacted first and then....well, did whatever it is you're doing." The dragoulie felt there was a strong power in giving someone your name, like you were surrendering a piece of yourself over. That was why he seldom told anyone, instead allowing them to call him whatever they wished. That wasn't always a good thing.

[quote="Sesshy552]

"I will use your name." Pauk didn't like nicknames, as he never saw the use in them. Why bother naming your child something only to never call them by it? It seemed like such a waste of a name, especially since this pony's name was so short and simple to begin with. If it had been something long and complicated he could have understood the want of shortening it, but this? Barely three syllables and only a single word. His own name was...one or two, depending on who was saying it. "Also I am not your friend, I'm simply someone you pelted with a snowball when I was minding my own business."

The dragoulie may have sounded cross but he certainly wasn't. Pauk had patience to spare despite the grumbles and groans from his tail. The massive fluff was swaying just as the other Ghoulie's tail had, huffing and puffing and spouting out little words here and there. "Small and smaller and small and smaller." The tail chanted before Pauk's rear leg moved, giving a warning kick that was neither painful nor connecting; it served enough of a message that the tail went entirely silent.

But now it was his turn to say his name, or something. That had originally be the deal, right? "Some people call me Pauk. I do not have a nickname, so do not give me one." Was that enough to satisfy this stranger? The snow was falling still and his back was getting covered, so the hybrid spread his wings in an effort to dust himself off. The motion whipped up quite a bit of breeze, which in turn also dusted off the Ghoulie in front of him who was...sitting. And also stepping on his tail, which sort of looked painful. Pauk's face must have showed it, for his four eyes narrowed with a faint grimace.

"Hrnn." Pauk made a noise of disapproval over how quickly this Armaros seemed to think they could be friends. "It's not as though I dislike having friends, it is more along the fact that I am....hmm." How was he going to explain that he was, well, very old? The draghoulie had outlived quite a number of friends and family thanks in part to the herb he'd found, so the concept of friendship was weak over the long decades. Hard to want to care about people when they died long before you.

So what was the best way to say this for it to make sense? "I simply do not believe that you and I will ever meet again. This world is large and we are but two beings in it." That sounded a lot better than 'you'll die before I do', but at the same time it still sounded just as pompous. "If we do, perhaps then I could consider us friends. To simply know my name is not enough, as you don't even have any idea of who I really am." Would this pony even want to try and really get to know him?

Either way the snow was picking up more, and he flapped his wings again to brush the both of them off. He thought about using his fire breath as well to clear a spot, but what if it upset this stranger? Pauk himself didn't personally care for his fire so how would this other ghoulie respond?

"Brick. Brick brick brick." Pauk had remained quiet and motionless through whatever it was the smaller ghoulie had been doing, but someone clearly felt the need to talk. His tail swished from where it had been sulking, mouthing out a single word in a monotone voice. "Brick." Why exactly the tail was calling the other pony a brick was up for debate and Pauk made no efforts to silence the chiding. He'd already kicked the tail earlier in warning and if it decided to continue then clearly it meant nothing could be done.

For now, anyway.

"What exactly were you attempting to accomplish by sneaking behind me? I have eyes in the back of my head, figuratively speaking. As do you." The tails, naturally. "Are you really that insistent on becoming an acquaintance of mine?"