let the ransomed be free as the revel meets the day

Akiahr

It appeared that the female wanted him to remain in a submissive posture, which he was quite able to do for an extended amount of time. However it occurred to him that since this was a human, she might not exactly understand what was happening.

His head still bowed he said, "I have no money. I only have me. I can work, if you wish. I am not here to injure anyone."

Unless they tried to do harm to him or the females in the store. Then they'd be in a bit of trouble.

"I will defend your store for you if that is what you desire."

Akiahr

Obviously the misunderstanding was not being remedied with this course of action. Slowly he stood, so as to not alarm the three individuals in front of him any more than they already were. He carefully replaced the iris in the vase. The Zaraii contemplated the trio.

The new female had mentioned court. Would this be where he had been sent to? His owner's court met often and he was generally drafted to serve at these meetings. As for defending himself, maybe a pit fight had been scheduled?

To the forefront stood the little, angry female. His quick eyes noticed the strange skin that seemed to change color and move. She was very interesting as he'd only seen this on one other race, a reptilian one and they could camouflage themselves within the jungle in which they lived. Like the cat that had been his forefathers, he was terribly curious about her. First things first.

"I am Akiahr. I am Zaraii. I was shipped here as a goodwill gesture on behalf of my people to cement trade relations. I was left in my crate at a warehouse. Someone was supposed to come and get me. They didn't. Another female freed me and I left the warehouse to come into this city."

His expression remained rather stony. He didn't know what to expect from these three. Like an artist's sculpture of a perfect creature, he stood watching them carefully. Angry females often had whips.

"I was under the impression that this was a food depot. I have not eaten in some time, except for the meat from the hot cart near the park. I can help."

At that the Zaraii stalked around Bea, Emeline and Sello. With one hand, he easily picked the broken door off the floor and leaned it against the wall. The small bits were too difficult for him to handle, so he brushed them as close to the door as possible. Then he surveyed the rest of the store. Most of the vases were still upright, although the arrangements within them were cockeyed. He could do nothing about that. Instead he again passed by the trio and righted anything that was knocked over, replacing the flowers carefully using his claw tipped fingers. Once he'd done as much as he could, he searched for anything that would move the leaves scattered on the floor. For those, he would need something like a broom.

The Zaraii returned to face the humans and asked, "Do you have a broom or anything like a broom?"

He wasn't exactly sure what this society was about. He would need information and perhaps someone to teach him about being here. Everything was terribly different here. Perhaps he had been better off in the crate?

Akiahr

The Zaraii watched with curiosity as the little fluffy haired male collapsed. The fellow looked a little like he'd had his strings cut like a puppet. Before anyone else could act, Akiahr was beside his unconscious form. The floor didn't look comfortable, especially for one who'd fallen in a pile. Carefully, Akiahr slipped his strong arms under the male and lifted him easily in his arms.

"Do you have a place for this one to lie down?" the Zaraii asked.

Although he wasn't fond of other males, it wouldn't be a good thing to leave one lying around. Akiahr had fallen asleep in some strange positions himself and he knew what it felt like to wake up with a bit of a cramp. He was certain that the females would want to take care of the fallen one.

She didn't know the other kid, but she knew he was probably important to Bea. She knew if anyone hurt her coworkers, even the grumpy one, she'd throw a fit about it. Then whatever the creature was came over and actually picked up the boy, and suddenly, Emeline felt a stab of fear through her chest. Fuck, was he going to hurt the kid? He had broken in, destroyed half the shop, and Bea had already mentioned she thought he was crazy or something...

Then Bea's rage was almost palpable, and Emeline turned to the other girl, her eyes flashing with an anger she hadn't seen before. She didn't exactly hear the other girl; the only thing she could feel was the helplessness they felt, hanging heavy in the air, and if there was anything she hated, it was that exact feeling. Helplessness.

Her ink reacted naturally to it. It was just the way her powers were. They had only truly activated once before–when Lance had his fingers around her throat–and it was happening again. All of a sudden, the thin lines of ink seemed to slither off her arms, coming alive into thick inky ropes of matter. She gasped, as her arm automatically moved upwards, and suddenly the ink was lashing towards Akiahr, and she had no control over it.

"Shit," she gasped, eyes wide in fear, for both Bea and of her own gift, "get away from the kid!"

Bea's eyes widened when Eme's tattoos began to slither off of her arms like live wires, and for once she felt fear not of just the intruder, but her friend as well. "Emeline!" she gasped, reaching out to grab her arm and then thinking better of it. "What are you doing?" She felt her chest growing tight and her head begin to spin as an anxiety attack loomed. Forcing herself to focus on her breathing and count each breath, she began to get the fear under control when she saw the creature hunch over Sello...protectively?

Her thoughts were running together and her extreme emotions made it hard to tell if she was overreacting or not. "Just put him down and go!" she shouted at the intruder, squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to hold herself together. "Just go!" What had started as a normal, if slow, day had morphed into some nightmare she'd never imagined: her gir- her friend manifesting her tattoos somehow? a huge man tearing down her door and eating her flowers, and her prospective employee getting held hostage and fainting.

Emeline knew a few things about herself. One, her ink was an extension of herself. Her own creativity, her own design, her own sense of self. Two, she could bring it to life. She didn't know how, where, what, or why. She just knew it existed. Three, the last time she had done this...she didn't speak of it. Whoever else was involved knew the pact. It never happened.

There was a reason she kept a cap over her emotions, why she was known for keeping her calm, both at work and at home. Rarely did anything create enough of a stir for her to lose control, but seeing Bea and the other boy potentially getting hurt...now that had brought something out of her, darker than even the ink that marred her skin.

It lashed out, the ink wrapping itself around the larger male, grasping him down and pulling him towards the ground, while thinner strands slashed at the creature's skin.

"Get away from him!" she snarled once again, "and leave this place already!" She was beyond reasoning with; all she needed to do was to make sure the young boy was okay, and to get rid of whatever this creature was destroying her friend's flower shop.