The streets of New York were as bustling as always on this early Autumn day. The children had just returned to school for the year, so mostly it was shoppers that busied the streets with their own forms of pitter-patter that layered and resounded together more like a stampede. This mundane cacophony provided a sufficient cover for the entrance of a rather strange traveler.

If one had been present in the allyway off 4th and Walton streets, and the sun had been a bit brighter and the streets just a tad bit quieter, one would have noticed a series of clicks sounding in succession, becoming closer and closer together in time until they almost seemed like one continuous sound. Then, suddenly, the clicks would die almost instantly and the sound of gears winding down would fade from your consciousness almost before you began to wonder how long it had been there to begin with. A sizzle of electricity and a few pops like a speaker catching the tiny bumps present in the crevasses of a record and then silence.

Where the noise ends there stands a man, sleight of build but tall... A human observer would wonder how long he had been there when finally his impossibly long red hair caught their eye. But the rats in the streets saw him arrive and they sniffed the air for several moments before leaving, giving the odd-smelling one a wide bearth as they go. The traveler paid the rodents no heed as he was too busy poking a clockwork handheld device with a small pointed stick. Finally, several moments later he nodded, satisfied with whatever he had done. He placed the contraption into a messenger bag he carried at his waist. It hung diagonally from one curved shoulder down to a hip, on the outside of a long, black fur-trimmed blue duster.

A moment later, he pulled out a hand mirror and straightened his hair. Most of it hung long and untied - red as a deep rose. However, the hair directly at the front of his head grew white - a genetic condition resulting in complete lack of pigmentation on parts of his family's skin. The man pushed back his hair and examined his appearance closely, appearing a bit vain in the process, the behavior enhancing his altogether feminine appearance farther.

There was a crash down the alley - farther away from the main road then the traveller was, himself, and he jerked his head in the direction only to find it was a rogue cat knocking the lid off of a trash can. He relaxed visibly and sighed, looking back the other way with a smile. New York was always a favorite place of his and he was excited to explore the city some more.

Stepping out of the Alley, however, proved problematic - as the summer sun was not yet ready to give up its hold on the land. "Synobezʹyanyi lyubyashchiĭi muzha Alani!" The man hissed while he spit what was obviously curses, stepping backwards into the alley to get out of the line of the sun's obvious rays. Earth was the third rock from Sol, while this man's own world was a plannet who sat in fourth position from its own sun. Trips to the Milky Way were especially difficult for a man such as himself and he had to take special precautions. However in his haste, he had forgotten to take it out of the bag.

He grumbled a bit under his breath in the same slavic-sounding language he had used before, "Glupyĭ ... glupoi. Mozhno podumatʹ, u menya nea bylo materi." He chastized himself aloud while he pulled out a folding umbrella from his bag. Luckily for the odd traveling man, no one near by had noticed his mistake. If they had seen this man, Afanassii Abez'iana, stroll blatantly out into daylight, they also might have noticed the sun burn that formed instantly on the skin of his hand. It was enough to burn, but not yet to blister and Nassii could be thankful for that small blessing.

The boy pushed open the bumbershoot and stepped out into the rhythm of pedestrians, smiling pleasantly at anyone who looked his way. He looked rather conspicuous holding a black umbrella in the middle of a cloudless day, but it was a necessity after all. Plus, he had been to the "Big Apple" time enough to know that he would be far from the strangest thing anyone on the streets would see today.


(( I am going to continue to write out what he says phonetically, as it is easier to read. I will include an aside at the bottom of my posts with translation, as you cannot use google translate without using the Russian alphabet. ^^

Here, Afanassii first says, "Monkey-loving son of an Alani husband!" and then, later, "Stupid, stupid... you would think I have no mother!" ))

I claim no ownership to this image! All credit goes to the owner of the original character and to the artist.

An office was the last place any would want to be on such a beautiful day. There were women outside who were in need of romancing, children with an innocence that needed to be protected and the beautiful glow of the sun to be admired. So could someone please explain why he was stuck in this room with his brother instead?

The two of them made the decisions about valk-corp together, even though the computer company had originally been started by Ravendel, who had displayed on more than one occasion that he was adept at making decisions in a similar way to Talis himself. It seemed that he preferred his older twin with him when it came to meeting with the board of directors however, so he acted as a right-hand man of sorts when it came to these kinds of meetings even though there were better things out there that he could be doing.

"We think there should be a rise in the production number." The spokesman who was elected by the board was saying as he went through the various statistics and such and visibly showed the two of them what they were talking about. "More of these, less of those and better working conditions for everyone."

It would be pointless to try to explain that things were just fine as they were, because it was obvious that this human didn't want to listen. Unfortunately, the meeting still had an hour or so left to go and he'd already decided that he'd heard more than enough. He was going to get some air.

The eyes of the twelve other people in the room with him, including those belonging to his twin, followed his exit in silent question though of course, Talis didn't bother to dignify them with so much as an answer for why he was just suddenly walking out.

Truth be told, this was a first for him too. Yet something in the outside world was drawing him towards it and for the first time in nearly a century, he was certain that he'd felt a change in the temporal shift that could only mean one thing. Someone had traveled here from another dimension.

Perhaps intellectual interest, Perhaps curiosity.

Whatever was drawing the dark haired, blue eyed male from the building and sending him out onto the side walk, it was certainly a strong enough urge that he couldn't bring himself to resist it. Not that he wanted to anyway, his mind being one that needed to explore virtually anything that caught his interest simply out of sharing the beliefs of his family who had long since passed. That knowledge was the key to power, and power would help bring the human race one step closer to salvation or destruction.

Out on the sidewalk and surrounded by the crowds making their way along, he fiddled with the collar of his navy blue coat and checked to see if his eye-patch was still in place. If he was going to be walking around for however long in the public eye, then he may as well look his best right? Talis wasn't very vain about his appearance on a daily basis, but he generally wore black colored jeans and a loose, dark colored t-shirt under his jacket in order to look somewhat menacing even though that was the complete opposite of his true personality. He simply wasn't a people person much, so managing his appearance in such a manner made it simpler for him to get through the days without being bothered.

Of course, the eye patch also meant that most people knew who he was. Talas Valkov, older twin to the owner of Valk-corp.

Aside from his sudden and unwanted tan, Afanassii's return trip to his favorite of Earth's big cities was going well. He managed to find a vendor selling hot dogs, which he had learned previously was sort of a New Yorkan icon. He gladly purchased a dog with "the works" - a funny thing to say in his Sekkan accent - and remarked at how it was longer than the bun it was served in.

Gladly partaking in a bit of the local culture, he took a bite and scrunched up his nose in a rather childlike way at the taste of onions. The sun beamed down as gloriously as ever and it was a sort of bittersweet blessing to him. He appreciated the warmth and the fruits the sun brought to bare, but was ever careful of where he stepped. He had to wait until he was finished eating to pull out a city map, else his two hands might have had trouble balancing the umbrella, the map and the dog all at once.

This was one of the hallmarks of Sekkan life. A person like Afanassii could never just walk brazenly down the street in the middle of a sunny day like this one. Back home in Vidania, where ladies and men still generally dressed in their court fineries, it was common place to see both sexes carrying a parasol. Here, the practice was much more perceptable. And while Nassii new he stuck out like a sore thumb, he did not seem to mind it. After all, diversity was everywhere in a place like New York. Just about every culture on the planet could be seen in their own little pockets about town, mingling every so often throughout its entirety.

This was the reason why the Abez'iana Lord traveled to bustling metropolises more than any other type of location on Earth.

Now, belly full and a satisfied smile on his face, the boy brought out his map and began to plot his itinerary for the day. If his calculations were correct, the time should be about three years and six months since his last trip to the world, although that was to the Windy City in stead. It had been nearly a decade, in Earth's time, since he had made it to New York itself. He breathed in and looked about at his surroundings, the changing trees were a pleasant view. The last time he was here it was late winter and most people seemed to be in a rather unpleasant mood.

"Sentroll Park... " He said aloud, not bothering to correct the weight of his accent while he pointed at his preferred destination on the map. He walked slowly down the sidewalk as he looked, being as careful as he could not to run into anyone between his glances down. "Park v tsentredelovogo raĭona? Etot gorod , bezuslovno zabotit·sya o svoikh rabochikh." He nodded and smiled at the thought. The city he calls home in his own world, Converse, reaches for an egalitarian ideal as well and he saw New York as a rather advanced version of it.

A few deft turns brought him to Fifth Avenue and, knowing that Central Park ran along side it, he put his map away. The street was flooded with tourists and several of them shot Nassii a nasty glance as they had to push past his large chute. He winced a bit and gave a sheepish smile as he excused himself. Really, there was nothing to be done.

With a sigh, he retreated into the shadows of a nearby row of sky scrapers. He leaned against the building of a particularly tall one, not really caring what the business was but gratful for the shade. He folded the umbrella shut and waited for the crowds to clear up a bit before going to the park.

((Today's Sekkan: "A park in the middle of the business district? This city certainly takes care of its workers."))

For reasons he wasn't entirely sure of, Talis couldn't bring himself to care today if the meeting went well or not. He'd only intended to step outside for a few moments to clear his mind, but somehow managed to find himself several or so blocks from the company building and was walking in the direction of central park.

Doing his best to ignore the tingling of hairs standing at the nape of his neck, he allowed himself the simple pleasure of admiring the lives of the people around him. It wasn't often that an opportunity for something like this to occur while he was away from his brother to happen, and he was going to enjoy every second of it while he had the chance. His eyes being sensitive to the scorching sunlight and therefore starting to ache, were a small price to pay in return for finding out whatever it was that was drawing him out here.

This was one of the things his kind had been known for. If there was even the slightest shift in nature, a problem with the atmosphere between dimensions or even the tiniest crack in a time steam, they were aware of it. It was simply unfortunate that of the two brothers, Talis was the one who happened to be more subseptable to such disturbances while Ravendel seemed to be stronger at ignoring them. The raven haired male was the smarter one in tough situations though, despite also being the younger sibling so it was probably a good thing that he was out here instead of his brother.

It was an opportunity to feed his taste for knowledge, allowing him to follow in their fathers footsteps.

"Aliquid hic esse, ubi est?" He muttered to himself under his breath, turning sapphire colored eyes to scan his surroundings as he continued to walk along the side-walk in the direction he'd been going. Completely unaware that he'd said anything aloud at all."Cupio scire."

There was something, wasn't there? Maybe it was just imagination or mind-tricks getting the better of him, like they did with his brother. No, that wasn't it. Something was definitely odd. Talis just needed to find something or someone that looked out of place.

Someone odd, like the guy with long crimson hair who appeared to be leaning against the side of a building while he stood around the corner in the ally? He certainly struck the younger valkov twin as odd, but it was the crackling of mystery in the air that surrounded him which ultimately drew him in that direction. This man was not from this world, he was clearly not human, it was almost as if he could feel it. There was no way he belonged to this world and as if curiosity took precedence, the raven haired male wanted to know why.

"Ohaiyo!" Talis called out to the man in his strongest voice possible, making sure the sound carried across the road in front of him so that he would be heard easily enough. He'd slipped into using the native tongue in the city and fought hard to keep his accent neutral so that no one would be able to detect his original origin. "Are you in need of assistance, sir?"

{{Today's Latin:-. "Something is out of place, that shouldn't be here." "Show me."}}

The tall redhead perked up a bit at the words directed his way. He knew enough Japanese to make out the first as a greeting but when it was followed up by English, he found himself a bit confused.

He slowly moved away from the wall but remained well within its shadow. His impossibly long red hair slowly falling down to sway at his feet. "What a beautiful boy..." he found himself thinking, admiring the man who stood across the street from him. "Er... No. I am fine." He replied with a grin, inadvertently exposing his fangs a bit whle rubbed the back of his head. "Why do you ask?"

Talis was anything, but a boy. His general appearance would allow anyone to place him in his early twenties, though they wouldn't suspect that he was in fact, further into the centuries in age than humans could possibly reach.

As he made his way across the street after waiting for the swell of cars whooshing past to stop at the lights, his gaze settled upon the face of the male he'd called out too and he found himself realizing that this person was somewhat appealing to the eye.

'Strange.' He remarked in silent thought to himself, outwardly suppressing a smile that would indicate his mind being in a less intellectual spot than where it would normally be. There was no way in hell that he was going to let this stranger realize that he'd been blatantly checking him out, it wasn't in his nature.

"I haven't seen you before." Talis made it a statement of fact as he brought his approach to completion and came to stand in front of the male, his lips curving in the slightest to indicate the ghost of a smile that might have been there if he were anyone other than who he was. He made careful effort not to let on that he'd noticed the fangs in the mouth of the other one, concentrating instead on his tone of voice dropping to a slightly threatening whisper. "Not from around here. I ask again, do you require assistance?"

Afanassii shifted uneasily as the young man leaned in a bit uncofortably close. He didn't mind having someone in his personal space when it was out of comraderie or affection but the tone of the man's voice added to an atmosphere that lead him to believe that he was less than pleased to see him there and, perhaps, a bit on the offensive.

"N-no..." He repeated again, this tie sounding a bit unsure of himself. Was this a crime lord? A city official? A gang leader? He ran these and other ideas through his head, attempting to figure out why the half-masked man had taken offense to his visitation. The thought that the newcomer might be anything other than human did not even occur to him. In all of his travels to this world, he had yet to actually come across a non-human truly sentient being.

He looked at the ground and then around at the others in the area to see if they were drawing unwanted attention. Happy to see that they were largely unnoticed, he leaned in close to the man, returning the favor. "Am I.... bothering you?" His voice dipped further into his trademark Sekkan accent at that, as it usually did when he was put off-guard. He locked eyes with the young man to see what emotions or intent he could read in them.

It would be foolish to try and cross him in such a public area. His prey had been wise to remain where he was despite the slight awkwardness that seemed to flow from the mans very being, this alone being enough to make the raven haired male consider that this person might not be an enemy of the human race as he had first thought. Still though, it was best to remain on the defensive until he could prove otherwise.

The uncertainty in the taller males voice was enough to make Talis finally back down after noticing the discerning note in his accent that started momentarily, indicating that he had indeed been caught off guard.

"You are not bothering anyone with your presence." He made the statement in that deep, charismatic voice of his, speaking this time with a hint of the Romanian-like accent that was native to his once proud race. "I needed to be sure you mean no harm, that is all."

A gesture of peaceful relations was what he felt was needed now. After careful consideration of how he should let this guy know he wasn't a threat, Talis finally conceded with himself to reveal the only thing that could mark him as anything more than the human he appeared. He brought his left had up to his face and spread his fingers wide, turning to reveal the faint purple glow of an intricate pattern that symbolized him as a spell-caster of his race. Then just as quickly as it appeared, the pattern seemed to fade as if it had never been there to begin with.

Passers by paid the two little mind, to which was something he was grateful for. Realizing only afterwards that they were still in a public place and could've easily been caught just now.

The Sekassiret man visibly relaxed when his new aquaintance spoke. He released a deep breath, happy knowing that he wasn't under an immediate threat. "Well, that's good to know...." Nassii replied with a disarming smile.

His eyes widened when he saw the magical gliph exposed, it had been a long whle since he had come across something like it in his travels. He became instantly curious about what it meant and where it came from, but he still didn't consider that the man standing before him could be anything other than human. Though, obviously one who had gotten his... rather graceful... hands on some old magick.

His blue eyes lingered longer on the hand presented to him and he admired it for its artistic value, the form of it. He followed the lines of that beautiful hand, leading up an equally interesting arm and eventually coming to meet the chin of a beautiful face with a rather melancholy look about it. He sighed quietly in spite of himself. Afanassii was always one to appreciate things of beauty, and people of beauty - especially males - were always such a hard thing to come by.

If he were a painter, he would etch this man's face into fine art forever. But, no... He shook his head to clear his thoughts, one of the redhead's weaknesses was always falling too quickly into obsession of some kind. Curiosity killed the cat, but he was closer to a spider so he should be up in a corner somewhere watching, and waiting....

Having regained his wits, he smiled sheepishly once more. "Perhaps I should introduce myself?" He asked, and not expecting a reply right away, he went on. "I am Afanassii Abez'iana, of Vidania."

True beauty that one could admire with more than their own eyes, was something that proved itself to be uncommon in his mind nowadays. Though when the Kitsujinken had still been in the prime of their existence, such was not as rare since their women possessed the soft, voluptuous curves that embodied the visions of angels and their men were perhaps closed to what one would compare a modern day warrior.

It was all Talis could do to keep his expression hidden behind that same infallible mask he wore when he felt the jolt of electricity shoot it's way up his spine, the sudden realization that they were standing much closer to each other than most would deem appropriate. A great deal of self control being required, just for him to pull away as the glyph vanished from the back of his hand.

With the vision of his eye that stood unhindered by the eye-patch which covered the other, he had noticed from a distance that the other male held an almost unearthly sort of attractiveness to him. Standing close to him as he now was though, that attractiveness remained the same however he now found himself unwittingly taking in the smaller details that he would not have been able to before now.

The way the mans jaw slanted at a slightly upturned angle, his cheek bones that gave his face the appearance of being sculpted from pure marble. It was going to drive him insane if he kept noticing these things that he'd usually consider frivolous in a person! Down-right ridiculous, yet he couldn't stop starring.

Every word that the guy had said up until this point had gone unnoticed, Talis had been too busy starring at that pink, rose-bud mouth of his which seemed to move without sound. Didn't he realize what was happening? What effect he was having on him?

Of course not.

The sound of the man introducing himself, suddenly brought the raven haired male crashing back to reality and he had to take a moment to compose himself before he could speak.

"Talis.. Talis Valkov." He supplied in that same accent he'd spoken with before, clearing his throat in the process to mask the fact that he'd been admiring the appearance of his new acquaintance. He was not quite ready yet to reveal that he wasn't exactly of this world either, still playing it safe until he knew there was no need. "Twin brother to the guy who owns Valk-corp, the computer company that everyone's talking about these days."

"Oh, I see." Afanassii replied interestedly. He wasn't aware of the company in question, but he could understand it in its presented context. He felt a keen longing as Talis moved away, but only breathed in sharply as a means to process the feeling.

Nassii knew the way he had scrutinized his new friend might have been quite obvious, though he meant no harm. His curiosity often compelled him to do the strangest things so running his eyes along someone's upper half was quite tame compared to some. Still, he began to feel a bit self conscious about it, especially because it appeared that he might have made Talis feel rather uncomfortable.

He was about to launch into his usual aristocratic fluff, chit-chatting about everything from the weather to this 'Valk-corp' that was mentioned in order to blow up his conversation partner's ego, but he was distracted, again and stopped himself in the middle of his first word. "Is tha- Wait... Talis? That is such an intriguing name. I don't think I've ever heard anything like it before."

He secretly found it adorable, the way his new-found companion seemed to be stumbling over his own thoughts and peering over the top half of his form with obvious curiosity.

Talis wanted to smile at the thought of it. All of his self-control being needed just to keep himself from doing such, all in the name of pride and because it was part of his nature.

It seemed that they would be chatting for quite a while too, not that he minded since it was seldom that he would have the patience or half a thought to do such. Besides, he found this... Afanassiii fellow to be the slightest bit intriguing himself, aside from the obvious feast that he had already been on the eyes.

"I'm not from around here anymore than you are." He commented rather dejectedly in response to the remark made about his name, silently taking note to mention later that he'd not recognized the pronunciation of Nassiii's name upon hearing it either. "I've just lived here longer."

Nassii fidgeted with the hem of his coat for a moment, feeling a bit self conscious again. It was starting to dawn upon him that Talis knew more than he ought to. While he attempted to read more into his words, Afanassii was quite certain he literally meant he was not of this Earth as well.

Normally, he'd be exstatic to learn that he had come across another world traveler, but the feeling was tempered a bit in how exactly the two of them met. Still, he wouldn't be himself if his eyes didn't go wide and he didn't tilt his head to the side like a curious child when Talis admitted to be from 'elsewhere' as well. "Is that so...?" He asked licking his lips once, the habit a tell-tale sign of his curiosity and interest. He wanted to ask where the young man hailed from, but thought better of it as it might be intruding too much so soon and in stead resorted to asking, "How long have you been here?"

The Kitsujinken wanted to ease the tension he was sensing from the taller male. He knew it was too late now for things to be reversed so that their meeting could take place in a better manner, so the only thing that could be done was for him to oblige his curiosity.

That was what allowed him to make the decision to befriend this male.

It was actually kind of cute to see such interest being shown in him by another, especially when it was usually Talis himself who did the chasing. Wait, chasing? Who said anything about someone chasing someone else in the form of a prospective lover? That wasn't what was going on here, right? It was just two guys who had just met, being curious about each other because they both hailed from different worlds.

"It's been nearly a century and a half." He answered without hesitation, finally slipping back into the accent he'd perfected since living among humans. The Romanian-like pronounciation almost fading completely but still remaining somewhat noticeable since his voice had become much softer, being lowered so's not to draw the attention of others. "My people aren't from here, it's just me and my brother in this city who are like me. Though I believe I can trust that you will keep that tidbit to yourself, ne?"

Afanassii would not have shared in Talis's assessment of the situation. He was every bit as curious about the fair-faced one as he was also attracted to him. And while it wasnt' something he would go out of his way to follow through on, he would not deny it either.

The Sekassiret was always attracted to both sexes to some extent. So this situation wasn't quite as much of a shock to him as it might have been to his new friend. All attraction aside, though, he wasn't about to make a fool of himself and blatantly hit on him so quickly.

He locked eyes with the raven-haired man and nodded at the question he posed. "Of course. And I guess I can ask the same of you." Then, thinking the last comment seemed to come across as a bit of a threat, he sighed and shook his head. "I am sorry... Do you have some time? Perhaps the two of us can go somewhere more ...private?" Catching himself in a bit of another play on words, he slapped a palm to his forehead and a blush spread across his fair features. "That is not, exactly, what I meant..."

That blush of Afanassii's was simply adorable!! As was the question he'd asked and the way that he'd asked it. If Talis hadn't caught on to the fact that he was attracted to him before, he was sure as hell aware of it now and couldn't help the smallest hint of a smile that began to curl it's way onto his mouth secretly.

He didn't doubt that the taller male would've seen it, possibly noticing too that he was no longer trying to come across as menacing as he had, but instead making an attempt to appear less threatening for his sake.

Was it attraction that he felt in return though? Or something else? The memory of the last person he'd had any sort of attraction to had long since faded, and it would be amazing if he remembered what such a thing felt like in the first place.

"I don't generally make a habit of answering such questions from people I've just met..." The sentence hung in the air between them for a few moments, the pause being made for the soul purpose of dramatic effect. Much similar to the action the taller male had made when slapping his forehead, then Talis deliberately allowed a teasing note to slip into his voice, though it would be hard to detect if one wasn't looking for it. "Of course... I have the rest of the day to myself and if there were a willing companion by my side, I might be inclined to answer with the affirmative."

He knew it would fluster him more and such flirtatious ways were more inclined to be his brothers forte than his own, but the opportunity to watch this beautiful male squirm a little was too much to pass up. Not to mention that he already found himself, secretly wondering what it would be like to kiss him.

Such a childish thought. But one he was more than willing to keep to himself.

Catching Talis's wry smile, Afanassii found himself feeling rather ashamed of his rambling and he laughed a little with the hopes that it might ease the tension. But when the young man went on, he sallowed hard and lost his smile. "Why does every other thing he say seem to be a veiled threat of some sort...?" He wondered, squinting his eyes a bit. Talis had succeeded in confusing him farther and he was beginning to feel like he needed to walk on eggshells around the man.

"Yeshche raz?" He replied to the second statement before catching himself and repeating an equivalent of the phrase in English. "Come again?" At times Afanassii could be really dense, especially in the middle of translating the meaning of sarcasm in a non-native tongue, and doing so while speaking with a beautiful foreigner who may or may not be terribly affronted with the idea of the Sekassiret playing tourist in his city.

A few moments after he had communicated his confusion, his eyebrows went up and his lips formed the shape of an 'o'. He chuckled a bit and tried to shake the 'stupid' out of his head for one brief moment. "I am sorry... Forgive me. But do you mean...'me'?" He had a rather hopeful look on his face, almost like a child asking for a treat.

The play of emotions on that beautiful face which hovered slightly above his own, was quite entertaining to watch.

Talis couldn't help but find himself amused at the way this fellow went so easily from being curious, to confused, to looking like a hopeful child which he could admit without hesitation was rather unexpected but cute.

"I don't see anyone else here, do you?" He made a point of looking around the ally a couple of times before his attention returned to his new companion, the ghost of a smile quirking at the corner of his mouth. "You're curious, you want to know about me as much as I find myself wanting to inquire about you. So unless I read wrong and you weren't just hoping that I'd come out and ask you to accompany me, then naturally the only conclusion is that I meant you."

A sophisticated statement to say the least. The Valkov twins were known for their smooth ways of talking and being prone for casting off flattery, however Talis was always the more serious of the two and never said anything that he thought to be untrue.

His words weren't meant to sound as if a threat, but he knew that they so obviously could be taken as such and felt the need to try and put his new friend at ease a little more.

Raising his hand and lightly running his fingers through the silver tresses that marked the front of the other males hair, he made the gesture somewhat lingering while he spoke again. "You can relax, my friend. I'm not prone to eating that which I find appealing to the eye, or anything remotely living for that matter. Human or otherwise." He let the last word slide out easily, then dropped his hand. "Be as you were, there is no danger from me."

Afanassii kept his blush and stammered for a small moment before shaking his head. "Of course." He finally managed to get out with a smile. He was beginning to feel more like the eloquent aristocrat he was now that some of his fears had been put aside for him.

He would have changed the subject and tried to make relations between them more light and jovial, but just then Talis ran his fingers through Afanassii's bangs. He swallowed and looked at the offending hand like it was something supernatural for a quick second.

He winced at Talis's final words, putting his own carnivorous existence into sharp focus. Of course, Nassii rarely needed to feed and he had never killed, but the need to feed on the pumping life force of living things was an unfortunate part of his reality. "Thank you for the compliment." He replied finally, looking down at the ground for a moment."So... would you like to join me in a walk? I had planned on exploring Central Park for the first time today."

Talis noticed the rather visible wince that his words caused, and suddenly found himself wishing that he could take the comment back. He was however, quite glad that he'd succeeded in drawing a blush from this man who could very well be a potential friend and lover, so that was enough to keep him somewhat relaxed and his mind free from worry.

"A walk in the park?" He echoed the last part of the red heads question thoughtfully, his hand moving to his chin as he considered it. Then with another bright smile, he gave a nod. "That sounds lovely to me, I'm guessing you'll be needing some form of shelter from the sunlight. A parasol may not get you very far in this part of town, let me take care of it?"

It wasn't hard to notice that Afanassii had an aversion to sunlight due to the delicateness of his skin, the raven haired male had noticed it right away but had chosen not to say anything about it until now. To someone like the red head who didn't know him, it would most likely seem strange that he would be so concerned about the well being of another, but that was generally something not uncommon with him when it came to people he was actually becoming acquainted with.

Of course, Talis wouldn't openly state that he cared as such.

If this turned out well, he had something in mind that may soothe any pain that the male might be in due to burning he had already received from the suns light, though that was a work in progress within his mind and he wasn't about to share it with the world.

Not yet anyway.

The tall man gave Talis an appreciative smile; either he somehow knew of the race of Sekassiret or he was very perceptive. Either way, it made Afanassii bubble over with fascination for him, especially since he had just recently been flirting with him as well.

Nassii nodded happily at the offer to take care of his well-needed sunlight barrier. Chosing to put his trust in the man before him, he returned his umbrella to its place in his messenger bag. If things went wrong and he was left to burn, he shouldn't have to take much time to retrieve it again. For now, it was a sign of good faith that he was leaving himself without cover and at the boy's mercy.

"Thank you. That would be most helpful, really." He said as he absently rubbed at the first degree burn he had stupidly given himself earlier. "Though, do you mind if I ask what you had in mind?" He cocked his head to the side again, curiously, wondering just what other secrets this boy had. The dweomer from before was still fresh on his mind and, if Talis really was from elsewhere, there could be any number of things he could learn from him.

Nassii took in a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before letting it out. He was in the middle of a torrent of pleasant emotions that lead to layers of excitement. Never before had he found himself full of curiosity, friendly interest, thirsty for knowledge and aroused all at once. It lead to a state of agitation that made him shift from one leg to the other again as a physical means of working through it. Talis was a problem; a beautiful, fascinating distraction. And Afanassii knew that he could be thrown off his guard so easily around him.

"Svyataya matʹ..." He said under his breath, nearly whistling at the dizzying effect this short conversation with the Kitsujinken had had on him.

((Today's Sekkan: "Holy Mother...." Just a generic explitive! XD ))