Laelys

Appearance

: Laelys is, or at least quite resembles, someone's stylized idea of a dragon. Somewhat angular in overall looks, although discreetly smooth in every detail, he doesn't lack a certain aesthetic balance in his overall shape: broad chest, smooth flanks and belly thinning into a slender waist, strong thighs holding up a powerful rump and a long tapering tail, and elegantly short wings, generally tucked to his back unobstrusively. He seems to like walking on all fours, as if to make a point about something, but the balance his long, serpentine tail provides allows him to switch to a bipedal posture as needed, and his forepaws are agile and nimble. Hands that know to create and build.

: His hide is the color of granite under three feet of water, or that of a shadow on the back wall of a cavern, hesitating between different shades of grey, with fleeting undertones of deep blue over his neck, back and rump; the shade seems somewhat clearer under his belly and between his thighs, although his legs and paws are dark enough as to pass for black. His entire body is discreetly patterned in the semblance of stylized scales, although upon closer examination his hide is smooth as sculpted stone. Eyes of deep ochre, slitted vertically, watch quietly from under expressive eyeridges. A pair of horns, light grey, extend behind his skull; his saurian face is otherwise unadorned, save for a mask of black covering his nostrils, most of his jaws, and the front of his muzzle up to between his eyes.

: He's not wearing anything visible outside a deep satchel, discreet beige, resting across his chest within easy reach of his front paws, and held there with a leathery-looking strap running over his back from his left shoulder to behind his right foreleg. The deep shadows between his thighs conceal what may be there; only a long look reveals what indistinctly looks like the flaccid tube of a sheath, designating him as either a male, or at least a suitable approximation thereof.

: There is an odd, unnatural inertia to his movements: abnormal mass, like stone in motion; reminiscent of a long dead statue, unaware of its state and trying to move normally, and coming close, really coming close. Something subatomic about his flesh, dense, dense.

: Laelys arrived in the Mess out of the blue on an otherwise unremarkable day, floating, unconscious, in a linear trajectory that brought him to a sudden crash near the Cube Tree. He claims to have no memory of what he is, where he comes from, why he arrived in that unusual way, what sent him on the Mess and for what purpose, although his behavioral patterns and cultural biases, his understanding of social economics and fascination for unobvious forms of power, hint at a long and possibly complex history.

: He's rapidly begun building his own theories regarding the nature of the Mess and the controlled involvement of its Warps into their denizens's lives, although he isn't very talkative about whatever roads his findings lead him onto. It is however no secret that he thinks issues of trust of primal importance, and will usually seek to avoid physical contact with almost all other sentients.

: Untitled is the first being in whom he's taken a strong interest. The glass canine's approach to controlled trust caught Laelys's attention early on, and he rapidly sought to learn from Un's past and experiences. But this presupposes an existing level of trust between the dragon and the canine, and Laelys seems to have gone about it in somewhat odd ways. One day, he invited Un for a stroll through the gardens of Top. When they came back, they were friends.

: And then came Roque. Her self-imposed blindness fascinated Laelys immediately, and he sought to know her better, in his own cautious ways. They got to learn from one another when both of them looked after Untitled during his issues with Diafeara and Besax. And someday his mind was made up, and after a talk with her in the Beta sector of Up, they left together, and when they were next seen together there seemed to be between them something more complex and tighter than friendship.

: What little but heated interaction Laelys has had with Diafeara following his involvement with Un and Roque, both of whom were close to her in intimate ways, started off somewhat inauspiciously. The first glimpses of her he got to ponder came from the time her relationship with Besax caused much distress to Un, and in his eyes she neither seemed to care nor understand. And when the glass canine lay weeping in some Museum hallway, supported only by Roque and Laelys himself, he put a ban on her coming within ten meters of her canine lover. The ban was soon lifted at Un's request, but the distrust lasts, and it was not long before Laelys had a reportedly heated talk in Top with her.

: And then Laelys disappeared. He was nowhere to be found, remained unfound through datastream searches, except at very punctual times when he was somehow there in some highly remote way, but never reachable in any direct way. It lasted long. And then, one day, he was suddenly [back]. Roque found him, although where exactly is unclear. And he's not been talkative about what happened to him.

: Since then, he's made himself very discreet. He's been seen at Untitled's birthday party, remaining close to Roque and offering strange, meaningful gifts to Un. He seems to have spent some time with Diafeara repeatedly; it is unknown whether he played a role in her departing for the Architecture. He however seems to have lost most all interest in her since, and has taken to keeping to himself more and more.

: On the rare occasions he's been seen in public since, he's been more withdrawn than ever, perhaps more tired, somehow greyer.

: * Untitled: The first person whom Laelys built a bond with. He passed a test of trust, and seems allowed to have physical contacts with Laelys. The dragon seems always eager to learn from the canine statue's approach to trusting, which might explain why the saurian has grown so protective of his friend. It does however not explain the increasingly loaded moments the dragon has been spending with the glassbot.

: * Roque: Entered Laelys's circle of relations both as a friend of Un's and on her own merits. She passed a test of trust, and seems allowed to have physical contacts with Laelys. Her scent was on him on several occasions. But he still doesn't seem very happy about her intimate involvement with a number of others, for relatively unclear reasons.

: * Diafeara: Erupted into Laelys's life like a sudden thunderstorm. He seemed to have little love or trust for her, but didn't ignore her either, as a friend and lover of his lover and friend. She seemed to fascinate him in a strange way, which may not be entirely unlike the fascination one can have for venomous snakes. Whether she had something to do with his disappearance has remained as uncertain as his own role in her more recent radical transformation. He however seems to have lost all interest in her since -- and if he didn't, he's keeping it a secret.

: Here's the traditional comment space, in case someone wishes to share their own external view on Laelys. Thanks.