Reap the Earth at Which you Stand [boyxboy]

Chapter VIII

~Thursday 9th November 2017~

Dakota wasn't sure what he had been anticipating when he had decided to meet Vasile, but it certainly wasn't a warm welcome. Considering it had been the man that had wanted so desperately to speak to Dakota, he wasn't exactly making the boy seem particularly comfortable in his entrance. It wasn't frightening, Dakota had been around scarier creatures in his lifetime, however, he hadn't been expecting it either. No one was able to keep a straight face when there were twelve gargoyles staring directly at you. Dakota, however, just felt... short.

"Your timing, Dakota, is damn impeccable," Vasile rumbled, half a frown furrowing his brow, those bright red eyes set upon the boy. Somehow, he didn't quite look the same as the other gargoyles around him, there was a sense of difference to him. Something Dakota just couldn't put his finger on.

Maybe it was his face. The soft features that Dakota could see bore similarities to Robin. Even though that man was a mask, he had expected Vasile to look so much different. He had never been so close to the man, not in his true form. Maybe, over the years, they had encountered one another and Dakota had been none the wiser. Then again, he would have remembered something like that, the voice, the demeanour, the... Beauty.

"Dakota Arizona," the man next to Vasile wore a gentle smile, something bordering on wry, as he watched the boy with a scrutinizing gaze. Dakota had never seen that man before, but he could easily be sure that there was something more to him too. He held himself differently, not that the other gargoyles seemed weak in any way, he simply had a more prominent stance. His voice was nice too, thick and rough, with the twinge of a thousand different accents that Dakota couldn't begin to pick apart. Still, it was nothing compared to Vasile's, Dakota wasn't sure anything could beat that man's voice.

"When you said you wanted to talk, Vasile, I didn't realise I would be getting an audience," Dakota stepped out of the elevator, albeit reluctantly, hearing the doors close behind him, "I would have worn something nicer if I knew I would be around so many of you," Dakota always reached for humour in difficult situations, wanting to deflect from his own smouldering fear, feeling calmer when he could mask himself with yet another disguise. With his parents, he was the hunter. With Vasile, however, he was just that same little boy the man had tucked into bed that evening, he was small and weak and certainly outnumbered. He was in too deep, but there was no turning back now.

"If you had contacted me before, Dakota, I might have warned you that this morning wasn't the best time," Vasile didn't sound irritated in any way, like Dakota imagined others would, he was more strained. There was clearly a nervousness in his expression, meaning that the man next to him had to be someone important. Perhaps Vasile wasn't fearing for himself, but afraid for Dakota?

"I can come back," Dakota offered, his gaze drifting over to the gargoyles closer to him, clad in similar clothing that the boy remembered Vasile had adorned that day so long ago. They were soldiers, they had to be, but not the low level type that Dakota's family captured so often. No, they were different. They were something more. And they clearly weren't appreciating Dakota's entrance. Hopefully, they weren't too trigger happy with the many weapons Dakota could see on their person.

"I'm shocked you even came here," that man spoke again, his smile broadening as he stepped closer to Dakota, almost making the boy shrink back out of instinct, "right into the lion's den, little lamb, with nothing more than a few blades on you. Don't you think that was foolish?" When the man was so close, Dakota could see the strands of grey running through his ebony hair, and the slight crows feet at the corners of his eyes. If he was exhibiting physical aging, he had to be ancient. Maybe even more so. Dakota hadn't met many creatures older than a thousand years or so, they tended to be more skilled at eluding capture the older they were. It was almost daunting to be in the presence of someone clearly so old.