daybreakacademy | It was gonna happen sometime.

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It was gonna happen sometime.

🐄Hey kids! It's Indrik! King of Beasts (in training), ex-earth spirit, now Rex spirit and generally weird critter!🐄

Indrik is usually quite a sleepy baby, and as long as he's got a full tum-tum, he'll laze away his days either in the stables or in Rex's creepy van. But sometimes, a freakish beast has gotta do what a freakish creature has gotta do. One of those times is when the door to his pen is left open by mistake. As such, the pony-sized, cow-faced, golden-scaled, firey red lion-maned, lizard-tailed, thing with a big chubby belly is going on an adventure! Dare you be a random encounter in Indrik's epic tale?

Hit the Bench
So you're enjoying a nice quiet sit on a bench, eh? Whatever your doing can't be that important because it does not involve Indrik, but fortunately he is here to solve that. With a crash, Indrik's little cow head busts through the wood of the bench's backrest. Hello, his little cow face seems to say, by jutting his tongue out and staring.

Screaming
Some days, you just gotta scream. Don't matter where you are or what the time is. He's already worked out if you smack a door a couple of times it will either fall off its hinges or someone in there will let you in. Indrik finds himself a nice person and just shrieks at them. Head jutting forward, body lowered and mane bristling he unleashes something which is half devastating mooing and half paralysing roar- except miniaturised, so it starts as a meep and becomes a squeak.

I didn't know I could do that!
The original Indrik was known for making the earth shake when he walked and unleashing flames to destroy those with evil hearts foolish enough to cross his path. The current Indrik is just a chunky boy concerning the former, and with the latter, he has yet to demonstrate any flames at all.

Until two minutes ago when he started burping up fireballs because he's been eating from trashcans all day. They're not terribly hot and burst much like dazzling fireworks after a few seconds with a bang, making them more startling than dangerous, but the fact he's running around shooting them off everywhere is probably a little offputting at least.

(( For those not in the know- Indrik is a super weird spirit linked to Rex's soul, who shares Rex's general paranoia that everyone might possibly be an enemy except he's an unstoppable idiot, so watch out for your kneecaps! He can be friendly, but mostly he's angry. His feelings on people are influenced by Rex's own too. Good with kids. Anyone is free to know Indrik is Rex's 'pet', as he often walks him around campus. Rex will probably show up after a bit in each scenario because Indrik is not allowed out unsupervised. ))

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Indrik has ever-present anger, but upon seeing Reira it's less explosive and more gently bubbling. She's small. He may attack, but he also protect.

Struggling forward a bit to fit more of himself through the bench so he can give her a proper sniff, the snorting from his snout warmer than it should be, he eventually concludes-

"Meep." Yes. This one is allowed to share the same planet as him. Not only is she a small non-threat, but add Rex's decision she needs to be cared for and her own unique relationship with spirits... she's okay! It's a meep of acceptance.

Excellent. Small and bubbling is something she can work with, and also keep her sprites from reacting to. So Reira gives a slow blink to Indrik, before eventually asking-

"...Can I pet the mane?"

She has no idea if he understands words. Maybe? Hopefully?

It looks soft, though,

Indrik has a limited vocabulary, but he does know what mane means. It means 'you're best Indrik, allow me to worship you with my weak human hands.' They always say that word before they lose control and need to touch the king, at least. So she'll certainly feel the way Indrik's mood improves at the mere question and he tries to raise his head pridefully.

It makes the bench tip a bit, but doesn't dislodge him. Seems petting is a go!

It is exactly as soft and silky as it looks and it looks fantastic.

Eh, tipping benches aren't any emergency. So Reira just beams- clearly very appreciative of the great honor she has been given- and starts petting!

And oh man- "...It's very soft..." It is more soft than it looked, in her opinion. "...Does Rex have to do anything to make it soft, or is it always soft?" She's assuming he understands a lick of that, but honestly no matter the answer the result is the same. Indrik is Totally The Best.

The entire bench rumbles as Indrik lets out his strange equivalent of a purr- like a long, low, constantly bubbling moo. Her tone of voice, awe-filled and adoring, is exactly what Indrik responds to best. His fat head tips side to side to make sure she can get everywhere. Joy! Joy! Overflowing pride and joy.

His limited vocabulary does also include 'Rex' and is thus far the only name aside from his own that he understands is a name. His cat ears shoot right up and he looks around quickly- Indrik simultaneously knows he can do whatever he wants because no one can stop him but also doesn't wanna get into trouble.

Phew.

No Rex.

No Rex indeed- and even better, Reira's interpreted that mood in Indrik's favor! "Oh...it's all you then!" she declares, beaming. "That's really good...! You take good care of your mane," the girl determines, making sure to scratch behind those ears in the meantime. "If you get even bigger, it'll probably get even nicer too then."

That's just how animals work, she's pretty sure.

Scratching behind his ears makes Indrik's tail trash in a pleased way, thumping against the ground with a meaty weight. All potential worries about Rex have vanished in the adoration he so rightfully deserves.

Indrik doesn't notice Rex's arrival, but Reira might with her radar. There's the always present mild anxiety that blossoms into relief when he spots Indrik. A quick pulse of fear as he sees his violent beast is with that sweet girl and...

Quiet, soft happiness when he takes the whole scene in. He hasn't seen Indrik be like that with anyone, not even him. It's a sweet scene. He takes a photo of it with his phone, just before Indrik tries to put his head in Reira's lap. Still being neck deep in a bench, that just means the whole thing starts to rotate as he tries to walk closer.

At least Reira has the sense to move a bit closer for Indrik's sake- it won't really do anyone any good if the bench flips over or something. And since people are nervous everywhere, all the time, she doesn't make any sudden movements when Rex shows up either!

Certainly not when that spike of fear is replaced for happiness. It's nothing but Indrik Adoration time!

"You're very, very good," she compliments. Not at all a menace as she has been warned (Sort of)! Who cares about benches anyway.

Indrik drops his heavy head into Reira's lap, the tips of his mane tickling her chin. Even more when he nuzzles up, shaking the entire bench.

It's the cutest damn thing Rex has seen in his entire life and he can't stop himself from taking more pictures. Her compliment to his horrid beast makes his blood pressure drop. His fears, normally a black cloud from horizon to horizon, part just a little and he could swear he sees the golden ray descending to shine on him. He might actually, he has been awake for four days and sometimes he has brief hallucinations, it's fine, don't worry about it.

He should probably get his idiot cow creature out of the bench though. With that thought, the beautiful bubble bursts and he's left with... not misery, as usual, or the deadness, which is worse. But certainly not anxiousness. Just a gentle calm, as he approaches at long last. Timing it so that Indrik has his eyes closed and doesn't panic at seeing him.

"You're very good with him," he compliments, still slightly amazed. Indrik's eyes snap open, but the instinctive 'I'm in trouble!' response is immediately replaced with a pure, simple love when Rex slips some fingers around his ear.

If Reira even remotely thinks Indrik would tolerate a hug, he is Totally getting a hug. But that aside, it's just all around good Indrik time. A brief moment of worry from Indrik himself of course, but hey! Now there's two sets of hands to give scratches and things.

Things that fortunately don't stop despite Reira's confusion. "Umn- 'good with'?" Reira repeats with a blink, looking to Rex. Hello, by the way, but- "...I just asked if I could pet his mane...is being 'polite' what being good with something means sometimes?"

That sometimes remark is entirely because she fails to see how politeness would help in say, a math class. But who knows, maybe...

"I wouldn't say so. Politeness has its own value. To be 'good with' something implies you are able to handle the situation without much difficulty," Rex explains as he stops petting Indrik. One foot on the bench and he two on the slat just above Indrik's head. A slow pull to make space without breaking it. "Out, you oaf."

Reluctantly, Indrik pulls his head back through the hole but rapidly scampers around to the front so he can flop his fat head right back into Reira's lap. Rex ends up sitting on the ground in front of the bench because sitting in front of a splintery hole seems a terrible idea, but now Rex is about head height with her. "In this case, I say you're good with Indrik because he is not normally so calm or affectionate."

Speaking of which, both calm and affection radiate from Rx and Indrik. Perfectly identical. Indrik shows it in the physical world too, giving one of her hands a quick lick. Rex, on the other hand, has the same face as ever.

"...But this isn't hard at all," she explains, blinking as Indrik is shoo'd from the hole.

She waits until Indrik is back, beaming and giving a small grin when he licks her hand. Back to petting now, there they go. It's interesting how...similar their feelings are right now. Very similar.

It's sort of neat.

"Mnh. I was just 'nice', I think. ...What's an 'oaf' though?" she adds, looking to Rex.

"Yes, but Indrik is rarely nice to anyone, no matter how nice they are to him," Rex explains, still working out quite how to talk to not only a young girl, but one who is clearly still learning the language. He's mostly trying not to patronise her, as nothing every annoyed him more as a young boy.

He feels a little embarrassment at having to explain oaf though. He often calls Indrik all sorts of names, largely to cover his affection for the creature and since he doesn't understand no one's feelings are hurt. Rex will do so alone or with others but it feels... nasty in front of Reira, with Indrik so comfortable with her.

"It means a clumsy or graceless person," he admits, running fingers through Indrik's mane slowly as if to show he doesn't intend for it to be mean.

"Maybe they're being pretend nice, and that's why." She has absolutely no mercy in the shade that statement throws. There is a pause as she considers the feeling and the word that was just explained, and then she adds- "...Like you being pretend mean." It goes both ways after all.

"Uhm." Rex freezes totally, all emotions replaced with confusion. He doesn't just say his insults to Indrik for the benefit of fooling others, but himself also. Reira may get a hint exactly to the link between Indrik and Rex then- despite the little beast having nothing to get confused about uncertainty starts to well up in him too. Indrik's head rises from her lap, looking around in a slow sweep of his head and a certain tenseness in his muscles. Like a prey animal hearing a twig break from the woods.

"I'm not sure what you mean," Rex says eventually, staring at her with his deadpan shifted just slightly thanks to a raised brow.

Well, Reira will have the decency to wait for Indrik to lift their head, blinking slowly at them when he does so. Huh...that's weird.

"You said he was an oaf- which means being clumsy and 'graceless'...but he's not actually those things. So you're just pretending to be mean when you say it. But you're actually being nice to him, and looking after him, and taking pictures when he's there." Also-

She'll explain to Indrik, because obviously he was just confused as well. "...So don't worry if he says things like that to you, because I think he likes you a lot too." Pet pet.

Reira's irrefutable and correct logic slices right through at least ten layers of Rex's defences in one decisive blow. If he stopped to contemplate it himself (which he would not) it would be obvious and a few others have reached a similar conclusion to her- but she's the only one to say it.

Rex has a lot to work through mentally as a result, but Indrik is a simpler being. His anxieties fade as easily as being shown affection. He even steps up onto the bench, which creaks but holds, to sit beside her and deliberately droops his mane across her head. It looks remarkably like she's wearing a huge red wig. In a way, Indrik expresses Rex's feelings for him, that instinctual desire to reward her for her simple kindness.

He also does it himself, a tiny glimmer of the gold of real happiness. But it's quickly swallowed by a pitch black loathing, directed entirely at himself. Cold, quiet, constant, not the raging flame of a hatred directed at someone else. He doesn't deserve that sort of opinion. It's a mistake only a child could make.

"...He is quite clumsy though," he decides to circumvent discussion on his feelings and point out the facts. "He often falls down or breaks things."

And Rex is always there to pick him up and fix it.

The comments aren't paid much attention for a moment. There was happiness, for just a second.

And then it was gone. In such a sharp switch, that she has to turn and look up at Rex again. "....You can't hate him that much for it," she insists, frowning. Self-loathing as a concept is...foreign, to a point after all.

If he hates something, surely it must be something that isn't himself.

"I don't hate him, I just think he's useless," Rex confirms, before he realises she suddenly brought up hate out of the blue. Coincidence, that just as he loudly and wordlessly felt the need to bury himself in a deep hole somewhere? Or...

"I don't hate anything," he says, half to assure her and half to see if she argues because just by saying it he hates himself all the more for lying to her. He doesn't hate anything except himself, but in his opinion, if anyone knew him as well as he does himself they'd hate him too.

Indrik has a curious reaction to Rex's self-contempt. Rather than reflecting it by hating Rex or himself in turn, he starts to feel anxious. Not for his own sake, but for his master. No wonder he's so aggressive. Something is hurting the most important person in the world to Indrik all the time and he can't work out who, or how, or why.

Reira raises a somewhat accusatory eyebrow at that first statement. Don't be mean. But saying he doesn't hate at all?

"...He's nervous," she says quietly, petting Indrik. Her focus momentarily moves to him, even though her words remain for Rex. "...You do have a lot of hate. It's right there, and I think he knows it."

"You... can tell?" Rex's eyes dart from Reira to Indrik, putting it all together. "He can tell?"

Indrik seems eager to accept Reira's comforting touch, lowering his head and placing it against her chest like a child to its mother. Rex, on the other hand, stands up to put some small distance between them.

He can't even hate himself right, without causing pain to others too.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly, genuinely remorseful but not entirely sure what for or why. Just generally he's a sorry excuse for a person. He could really use some petting himself.

"...Yes?" What do you mean that's not normal?

But as for Indrik, she's not entirely sure what the answer there is. But... "You feel the same things a lot," she notes, looking from Indrik to Rex. "...But when you started hating things again, he got nervous instead. So I don't think he hates you back at least," she decides, still failing to realize where that hate was directed to begin with.

And... "...It's okay. ...You just have to try to find nice things, and think about those instead. ...Do you want to pet Indrik again?" Maybe you'll get a hug for your efforts, Rex.

"I don't hate him," he repeats, before realising she may take that in the worst possible way. "Or you. Or anyone."

He lowers himself down to wrap his arms around Indrik. He's maybe the only person on campus who could get his limbs the whole way around that fat belly.

"I'm... Just not a good person," he confesses quietly into Indrik's mane, suddenly realising that he's letting some of that horror show that is his mind out in public. He shakes his head as he lets go. "If you possess some sort of empathic ability, I'll understand if you don't want to see me again. No one should feel what I do."

"If you don't hate anyone, who's the hate for then? ...you can't hate you. That doesn't work," she insists. "...You're definitely not a bad person anyway," Reira adds.

"...I know you're not." Well, not actually, but she's pretty certain anyway.

"...I can," he confirms. It works really well. It's probably the thing he's best at, which makes the fact he's managed to do it wrong anyway all the sadder.

He squeezes Indrik gently around the neck, who finally turns and bumps his head against Rex instead. The very second it happens there's a burst of genuine, irrepressible love. Perfectly mirrored between them both, exactly symmetrical. He definitely doesn't hate Indrik. All Rex really wants is someone to rely on him without feeling bad about it. "And... Thanks."

You're wrong, but thanks, is the way it comes out.

It was gonna happen sometime.

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