Esairen frowned slightly, a rare sight for the light mage. "...Why is that...?" he asked, silver eyes betraying how hopeful he had been. Ritsuka seemed like a very nice person, so...what was wrong...?

The summon squirmed in the hug until he was comfortable, nuzzling Ritsuka again, tail twitching. What was going on...?

________________

Wrath snorted, cocking his head tot he other side. This was quite the rare sight, seeing a neko comforting an inumimi. He smirked slightly, watching how the neko interacted with the dog, rather curious about it all.

________________

Reliun took a few deep breaths, though you could hear how shaky they were. He lifted his head to look at Grave, still afraid, bu not so afraid that he felt like running away, burying himself in a hole, and never coming out. He set his head back down onto the neko's shoulder, ears twitching as Grave's fingers pas-sed over them. It was really rather soothing, y'know?

((...LOL.

Kingdom Hearts reference, y'know?))

(( Actually no I don't o_o I dun play KH >_> ))

Ritsuka felt his body tense up. He should have known Esairen wouldn't let the topic drop that easily. "Because... Because you're a light mage and I'm a dark creature. We're total opposites!" he said. He ducked his head down when he felt the tears sting his eyes. He didn't want the mage to see him crying.

-----------------

Grave's ears perked up when he sensed that Reliun was calming down. A small smile crossed his face when he realized the dog was enjoying him stroking his ears. He began focusing more on the ears, stroking, rubbing and scratching them in an effort to calm the dog down. "There... see? I'm here, so don't worry." Grave purred.

Esairen settled himself down beside the neko, patting his back lightly. "That shouldn't matter, Ritsuka. Even though you are a dark creature, you have a kind personality, and that's what really counts," he said soothingly, tilting his head. "I could tell you were a dark creature, but I'd still like to travel with you, if you'd like to travel with me."

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Wrath simply sat down to watch the cat and the dog interact, his head tilted to the side in amusement. Haha. This was great!

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Reliun let out a small noise as Grave started to focus on his ears, leaning his head into the movements of the neko's hands as he wagged his tail. Yeah, he was calmed down now. And oh, god yes did that feel good. He wasn't sure why, but he guessed it must be because their ears were so sensitive that, if rubbed the right way, it felt good. 

((....

Lokiii.)) 

[[Gah, sorry ._.']]

Ritsuka was quiet and still for a moment. Esairen didn't care he was a dark creature? Usually that's what chased away all but the desperate. His tail twitched slightly and he rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of the remaining tears, before looking back up at the male. "If you really don't care, then I would like to travel with you as well." Ritsuka answered, looking away shyly.

-----------

Grave smirked, his tail twitching in amusement. Even if he had reacted more to Reliun scratching his ears, it was still funny to see how the dog reacted. He continued to stroke Reliun's ears. "You seem to be enjoying this quite a lot." he whispered in a teasing manner. His own ears pulled back slightly as he remembered the necromancer. Grave shot a glare at him but quickly returned his attention back to Reliun. If the necromancer being there didn't bother him, then he would ignore him as well.

Esairen smiled. "I really don't mind what you are on the outside. You're a kindhearted person is what I care about," he said gently, reaching out to pat Ritsuka's hair again. Then he jumped as the summon, who he had forgotten about since he had been quite quiet, jumped at him. He caught the young creature and blinked, curious. Strange little creature....

___________________

The necromancer blinked as the neko turned to glance at him, tilting his head slightly. Then, just as quickly as the look had come, the catboy had turned around, the dweller in the dark arts sighing. Animal people were weird.

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Reliun let out a soft, happy whine, tail wagging faster as he bit back the urge to snuggle up to the cat so he could have a better reach. He did, however, lower his head and tilt it more towards Grave. "Nnn~"

((...That's a sound I'd make if I had critter ears and someone was rubbing them right!~)) 

Rituska jumped as well at Esairen's sudden movement. He jerked back and stared at the mage for a few seconds before he realized what had happened. He chuckled, staring at the summon. "Weird little thing," he muttered, "you owe me a pat on the head." He was only joking, of course. The summon would probably not know what patting was and would end up sitting on his head or biting his ears or something. He smiled slightly and held out his hand for the creature to sniff.

--------

After a few more moments of playing with Reliun's ears, Grave was forced to stop and drop his hand. His arm was cramping up and, even though he was enjoying Reliun's reaction, it was hurting too much. He rubbed it against his side, trying to loosen the tension of his muscles. "Sorry," the neko muttered, "my arm is tired." He would have just switched hands, but that was kind of hard when he had a gun chained to his wrist.

[[Lol, that sounds slightly perverted XD]] 

The summon sniffed Ritsuka's hand, then started to lick his fingers with an oddly rough tongue, much like a cat's tongue. Then he stared up at Ritsuka curiously, tail twitching as the little kangaroo thing settled himself down.

Esairen smiled. "If the creatures I summon trust you, why shouldn't I?" he murmured softly, trying to tell Ritsuka that he wasn't one to judge. He took a couple precautions, yes, but he did that with everyone. Ritsuka was genuinely kind.

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Reliun whined softly when Grave stopped rubbing his ears, flattening them before pricking them forward. Still in a bit of a dog-mode, he moved so he was leaning against the neko, nuzzling his shoulder affectionately. His tail still wagged, the inumimi grinning. 

Ritsuka's ears perked up as the summon licked him. It was rather strange, even Ritsuka didn't have a rough cat's tongue, but this creature did. He drew his hand back when Esairen spoke. Ritsuka was sharp, and possibly a bit paranoid, so he almost instantly understood what the mage was saying. "Esairen..." he said quietly, "The summon was a test, wasn't it?"

--------------

"Whoa!" Grave exclaimed, nearly loosing his balance as Reliun nuzzled against him. He managed to stay upright and smirked. "Calm down, Fido! I'm too small for your roughhousing." He pulled lightly on the dog's ear, not enough to hurt, but enough to get his attention.

"It's a test I put everyone through. If the summons warm up to you, then your heart is genuinely kind, and if they want absolutely nothing to do with you, then your heart is full of darkness," Esairen told him, stroking the summon's head. "In this world, not everyone is as they seem. I apologize if you thought I did not trust you," he added, looking at the neko boy apologetically. The summon then wriggled away from Esairen to flutter over to Ritsuka, settling down on his lap. "Though, this is the first time I've seen a summon get this attached," he said, smiling gently.

___________________________________

Reliun flattened his ears --well, the one not getting pulled-- and pouted at the neko, tail twitching. Then he simply leaned against him, then blinked as he stared outside. "...The rain stopped..." he said, ears pricking forward again. He tilted his head. How long ago had the rain quit...?

____________________________________

Wrath grinned, watching the two animal people continue to interact. It was really quite fascinating. Ha. 

Ritsuka frowned slightly, not because he was mad, but because it seemed almost impossible to stay mad at the mage. which was a rarity within itself seeing as Ritsuka was usually one to hold grudges. He sighed. "I suppose you're right. I probably would have done the same thing in your position." He stroked the summon again, allowing his fingers to linger over its head. "Maybe this one is just unusual," he said, poking the creature in a teasing manner and letting out a small chuckle.

---------------

Grave's ears perked up and he looked outside as well. "You're right." he muttered. His ears flattened back against his head slightly. That was odd for him to not notice the rain stopping. He was usually more alert than that. He shrugged inwardly. Maybe it had just stopped when he was asleep. They had woken up in a very unorthodox way, so it wouldn't be surprising if he hadn't noticed. Thinking about how he had woken up, he turned his head to glare at the necromancer again. "Enjoying yourself?" he hissed, not at all happy at how amused the necromancer looked.