Antithesis

Chapter 39: Novice

"Are you alright?" Lutain inquired, flicking his tongue to scent Adrian's throat attentively for signs of sickness.

"I'm fine," Adrian responded promptly, lavishing in his ability to speak parseltongue.

Lutain seemed skeptical of his reply, although he did slither further down Adrian's chest to nestle above one hip.

His room was just how he remembered it, the strange collection of magical artifacts and creature claws and teeth. The various odds and ends barely related to one another, and made his room seem chaotic and discomforting for anyone who would visit.

Well, Bella visited and she didn't seem too bothered by it all, although that wasn't saying much.

"You don't seem fine," Lutain noted, staring at him contently from his spot on Adrian's abdomen.

Adrian smiled wistfully, and gently stroked the smooth scales of his friend.

"It's hard to explain," Adrian confessed quietly, pausing in his rhythmic strokes.

"Is it the wolf?" Lutain asked interested, tail tip twitching slightly. He scented the air twice, his long tongue nearly tickling Adrian's chin.

"It is," Adrian confessed almost embarrassed, "It was...It was strange living with him. For a while at least."

Lutain huffed, the movement flexing his muscles and causing him to puff up slightly, "I should have bit before."

"No no," Adrian smiled affectionately, trying not to laugh at his friend, "Nothing like that. It was different, not bad. It was like how I imagine a normal family is."

"Oh," Lutain deflated, looking guarded yet somehow very exposed, "Nagini told me, of her hatching. It was cold and lonely, and she was separated and stored in boxes and fed sparingly."

Adrian blinked in surprise, he hadn't expected such a revelation from his friend.

"I had hatching outside," Lutain added, his tone dismissive yet still hesitant, "In den with eggs and rocks."

Adrian glanced to his side, peering out of the window that showed nothing in the darkness of night. Despite that, he found comfort in knowing he would see the familiar grounds he had missed so dearly.

"Prey was hard to find," Lutain continued, knowing that Adrian would always be listening, "Birds and always hunted by bigger threat. Then humans came, they came and they took." Lutain's tail thrashed in his discomfort, an unsettling whistle through his nostrils.

"Is that how you ended up in that zoo?"

"Yes," Lutain scented the air, turning to look at Adrian in the eyes, "That was before. That was life of normal."

Adrian smiled, tracing one finger along the crease of his familiar's jawbone.

"Normal was suffering," Lutain quietly added, entire body tensing slowly throughout his speech.

"Life now is much better than normal," Lutain finished, butting his snout forwards to burrow into Adrian's shirt close to his neck, "So happy that life now is not normal."