"Azul, do you hear me?" It was just a question, but everyone could sense the underlying threat in his voice.
"Don't threaten him." Kemal doesn't know why he said that. It immediately earned him a glare from the captain, but instead of flinching away, he stepped beside him, extending his hand out towards this unknown Azul.
Their eyes met. Azul seemed to stop, to consider, until he carefully approached, resting his head on Kemal's palm. His skin was hot, almost burning him, but Kemal was determined not to lose face now.
"Are you done?" He asked, his voice reassuring.
Azul nodded. There were many mixed expressions among the spectators. Kemal wouldn't look at the captain directly, but the quick side glance he gave him was enough.
He retreated his hand but Azul grabbed onto his wrist, pulling it back to his face. Kemal could only sigh in response.
"Are you okay?" Another man called out, while Azul's opponent lowered their barrier.
"Yeah…" He sounded fine but he was thrown off by the scene before him. "Azul?"
No response. Kemal didn't wanna say anything more. His eyes locked in with Azul's two fiery voids, while some men left to grab a first aid kit.
The captain leaned down to Kemal's level, yet, even then, Kemal refused to look at him.
"Did you set him up for this?"
A chill ran down Kemal's entire body. If he had a door between them he'd slam it shut. His voice was just a whisper but it cut so deeply into his confidence it felt like he wanted to kill him.
Kemal decided to bite his tongue and Azul tilted his head, unable to understand his captain's whisper.
"Did you?" His voice weighed with heavy accusations and implications, low and menacing.
Was he not gonna back down? Well, neither will Kemal! Of course I won't look him in his dead evil eyes… Pupilless weirdo.
"I did not." He lied, it was as simple as that. It's been the one thing that kept him alive in this place.
The words 'Look at me' were written all over this dragon's face but with Kemal's nonchalant expression and Azul's blatant staring, he decided to step back for now.
Feeling itchy, he turned his head to see this annoying crow bastard staring… Kemal cursed inside his heart.
No one could prove for certain that it was Kemal who asked for this fight, but he definitely was a prime suspect with how close to Azul he was since he joined the crew. Cold sweat rolling on his back from the tension, he stood straight and raised Azul off of his knees, beginning to walk off. "I'll bring him to his room." He didn't look back because he knew Azul was already right behind him.
Kemal coaxed Azul to follow him inside and finally locked the door behind them after they entered the cabin. He even blocked it with the desk.
"Azul?" But no response.
Kemal moved closer and waved his hand in front of his empty eyes. His flames didn't dim, they burned slightly brighter but didn't do anything rash.
He's really cute like this… Kemal nodded to himself while rubbing Azul's head.
"Pal…" Azul's voice went from his usual bright voice to a shadow-like whisper engulfed by flames.
He's heard a voice like this many times before, often depicted in the media as powerful and intimidating men and women, villains, abyssal creatures, and those in fiction with dark related abilities. He may not have remembered why he felt so familiar with that voice, but it intrigued him.
Maybe it's not Azul! Kemal grabbed Azul's face and squished it.
"Say hello~" Kemal coed. "Hello.." The voice mumbled back, gagging on its own molten voice.
Obedient. I love his obedience…
For a second, another man's face flashed in front of Kemal's eyes, causing him to take a step back. 'Azul' was confused and attempted to grab his hands back, but Kemal did not give in.
"Pal.." It called out once more. "What's your name?" Kemal questioned, his finger raising up to stop him from approaching any further.
"Azul…" He responded.
That wasn't right, but no matter how much he questioned him, he kept responding with the same answers.
I am Azul. My name is Azul. These two answers were repeated so much Kemal stopped asking, but he did take note of one thing. His flames were burning consistently, sometimes lighting up into brighter flames.
As he was lost in thought, he was startled by the sudden banging at the door. Someone was knocking violently against the cupboard. "You rat… Open it!!" A familiar croaking voice.
"Who is it?" Kemal asked while moving the desk and slowly opening. In fact, he already knew who it was, but he liked to annoy people.
The crow man with weird white hair entered. After a quick look at the room, he went for the burning Azul, taking his chin to stare directly at his eyes and turning his head to check on his face. He seemed to know what was going on…
"What's the deal with the lack of pupils?" Kemal was blunt. The other man tensed up in response. "The stronger you are the less visible your pupils get, but that varies a bit…" He reluctantly answered but Kemal pressed on. "Vary how"
"You can lose your pupils when suppressing large chunks of your powers consistently, a birth defect, or if it's part of your species. There's some little details, but I don't have any interest in telling you about it, more importantly…" His eyes narrowed back to Kemal. "Why did you lock the door?"
Kemal rolled his eyes away clearly showing no intent to answer.
"Listen…" The crow released Azul and approached him menacingly. "Azul is-"
A large flame snuck up on the man's wings when he acted annoyed, beginning to burn them. He was quick to blow off the flame, seemingly used to it and tackled Azul down, grabbing his throat. "He always turns aggressive!! That's why we don't let him use his abilities!"
Let him?
While Kemal was eyeing them up and down. When Azul finally calmed down, he pounced past the winged man and hid behind Kemal.
"Azul is a fire shifter, yes?" "Worse, a defective one."
That's mean! Kemal covered Azul's ears while frowning.
"He was only accepted into the crew because his father called in for a favour. When using his flames too much, they said he goes feral and destroys everything in his surroundings, so they asked us to contain him." "Why send him home alone if you're so worried then?"
The man froze at Kemal off topic question. "He's not alone I-"
"That's not the same."
"Excuse me?" "Yeah, i fucking said it. That's not the same." Kemal covered Azul's ears more tightly, the shifter's eyes never leaving Kemal's face.
"Stalking him? How well are you watching him when you don't see how miserable he gets walking alone!" Kemal hissed, but the man spread his wings apart in a threatening manner.
"You met him a few days ago and think you know it all?!" He roared. "When he get too excited, he uses his flames-"
"So you keep him depressed?" Kemal rebuked and removed his hands from Azul's ears.
"Close the door." His tone was commanding and he thought it through for a bit. If Azul craved companionship, it means he'll latch onto anyone, and obey anything. Azul closed the door obediently horrifying his 'friend' in the process.
"Don't treat him like a-"
"Dog?" Kemal interrupted.
It was pathetic. Azul was treated like a dog without any treats here, but at least I can reward him for his obedience. That's a much better deal! Kemal began grinning to himself while biting his nail. "Tell me.. What's your name."
The crow man was caught off guard by the sudden question.
"Yasing." He responded firmly. He couldn't show that he was truly intimidated by the disgusting rat.
Hair torn out, clothes clearly bought by Azul and some burned skin marks. How did this bastard get his hands on Azul? He's still barefoot. I'm sure Azul would've bought him boots.
"Yasing… Does Azul remember his out of control state?" No response.
It could be either because Kemal was right, or because he was wrong. If Azul would remember this, he wouldn't have said anything without me covering his ears. That means he probably always forgot it all.
During their conversation, Azul didn't speak a single word, he's been acting surprisingly docile.
"Azul, is Yasing your friend?" Kemal asked, his eyes never leaving the void of his dear puppy.
"Of course-" Yasing was protesting, but Azul shook his head. The man's wings dropped. "Azul-" Azul shook his head again before Yasing could say anything. His head kept shaking, each shake left the winged man's throat dry.
"Do you wanna know where this response comes from?" Kemal smirked, but the crow didn't dare say another word.
"Neglect." He wasn't fully confident in that accusation, but the other was convinced enough by his wrongdoing.
Yasing's hand moved to his heart without realising.
"Azul?" He called out meekly, but the man never stopped shaking his head until Kemal finally reached out to stop him. "You might get dizzy if you keep doing that." He reasoned while moving his hand off of his head.
"I'm sure you can open the door yourself." Kemal pointed his finger and snickered once he saw Azul copy his very same movement. The crow then saw himself out without saying any goodbyes, his dead eyes darker than usual.
Kemal crouched down after the bird left, extending his hands towards Azul. He didn't lash out and his flames didn't stop either. They didn't hurt when colliding with Kemal's skin, but it was still a little hot.
He began pondering while Azul pounced into his chest, curling up into a ball. If he gets out of control by using his flames, this means he could stop if he turned off his ability. Yet, he's consistently keeping them burning to stay in this state, why would he do that?
Azul's little fire tail kept swaying left and right. Lazily, Azul was occasionally stealing glances at Kemal.
Azul… I'm sorry. If it can help, I'll treat you better than they will ever, so at least you won't regret it. I'll give you all you need if you keep being good to me.
Kemal began smiling from ear to ear while scratching Azul's head.
"You did great, Azul, there's nothing wrong with you." Kemal ran his fingers through his hair in a comforting motion.
"Really…" His voice came out shaky. "Are you sure you don't want to reduce your flames? Is it not tiring?" Azul reluctantly nodded.
"Do you wanna burn a little longer?" Kemal admired his hair while Azul nodded. "Then, can you bring me some books? I want to read."