Uhh, I think he's straight. Black has never been in a romantic situation where there was another male involved (or many romantic situations at ALL for that matter!). But hey, maybe you'll learn something about him that I don't know?


Also, because I've been asked, no, you do not need to send me a .doc, the example of 1-2 pages via word pad is just a length example. I don't want a short little blurb, but also won't have time to read a bunch of 20 page stories either heheheh.

Well, happy anniversary Black :3

I can work with that. Thank you~

Le bump!
8 moar days!

Before I mess it up with overthinking, I am submitting my story ^_^


The Value of a Good Friend
Soren looked around the crowded room, rolling his eyes at the mindless chatter he heard. There were a lot of immature kids recently, something that irritated him greatly. What on Sylestia was so hard about choosing a pet actually for sale or earning your own gold? The air was practically saturated with drama, making him shiver and draw his wings tightly around him. The occasional peddler, as he had taken to calling them, came by, waltzing around to each and every person in the room, all but begging you to take their pets. Granted, most were smart enough to not bother him directly anymore. It was one of the advantages of having blood splattered on you more often than not, a ghostly white ryori perched on one shoulder, and a large, blood-tipped shadow stalker curled at your feet.

He wiped the blood from his latest kills off his face where it had begun to trickle down from his hair. He had made sure to sit in an area where no one would mind the blood but that did not stop it from getting in his face or really in anything. Soren could do nothing about the smell but it really no longer bothered him and none of the kids seemed to be able to trace it back to him though he and the blood were not exactly hidden. Admittedly, he would need a good shower soon but he had just wanted to unwind first. Sadly, that did not seem possible with the present company. Pity, nothing could soothe his soul nearly as much as this place with the right companionship.

Soren stood to leave, hating that somehow all of those brats had gotten between him and the exit, too wrapped up in their own prattle to move out of his way. As saturated as he was in it, it was impossible to avoid spreading blood as he moved. His armor was designed for battle and the blood flowed off it easily, crystal wings spreading it with every step he took as exhaustion weighed him down. While his ryori was content to stay on his shoulder, the shadow stalker danced around the brats, getting as much blood on them as he could. Soren rolled his eyes at the squeals of indignation from many of the newbies if even just a speck of the crimson liquid landed on them though he was unable to fight back a grin. Whatever these children may think, there was far more to this world than simply breeding beautiful things. Things such as vulnyx fangs, a griffi's sharp beak, and draeyl's claws were for far more than aesthetics, after all.

As had long since become a habit, crimson eyes flickered to the darkest corner of the room, placed perfectly at the corner closest to the exit. If one were not looking specifically for it, it was all but impossible to find, a talent Soren envied to no end. Regardless, Soren was looking and, as such, easily found the man lurking in the shadows. As he had fully expected, his friend's back was to the crowd and he highly doubted that the man had even heard a word of the silly chatter that he could not seem to avoid. Lucky, lucky him.

He did not bother to try and announce his approach. His blood-soaked armor was doing that well enough, after all; if the sounds did not give him away, the smell certainly would. He simply clasped a hand on his friend's shoulder, earning a grunt in response.

"Finally giving up, huh? You have a weird sense of optimism sometimes," Black commented dryly and Soren laughed.

"Exhaustion, not optimism. I just finished gardening, doing pest control, honoring the dead who then decided that I look rather tasty, moving nests for ungrateful sylestis, gathering potions so volatile that they could have exploded in my face at any given second, murdering the huntress, squishing vorkids, killing snotty dark elves, and sending Vierna back to her grave for what has to be the millionth time, it feels like. Maybe instead of just having us restock the potions that that blasted wizard stole, Lady Saerielle should look into finding something so that cursed woman stays dead," Soren quipped just as dryly.

"So you say now," came the simple response and Soren chuckled, kneeling down to pet the shadow stalker curling itself around his legs who had clearly decided that he had been paying everything else too much mind.

"Once I am clean and rested, I will surely say differently but not before then. Any other response was lost under the inane chatter."

"Says the one who is always helping the idiots."

Soren laughed at the dry, monotone responses, finding the relaxation he had needed in the old routine. As distant as they seemed, he knew better. Though once, long ago, the words were as curt as they sounded, the distance very real, they were a familiar routine now, a sort of verbal dance the two men would engage in private. As he felt now, sore, tired, covered in blood, and surrounded by the inane chatter of children, it was amazingly comforting and very welcome.

"I draw the line at the neon as you well know. If they still have no idea after that, the monsters can have them. Win-win for me, I say; the brats are out of my hair and the monsters die of indigestion."

Soren smiled with a hint of pride when that comment, sincerely meant and dryly delivered, drew a laugh from his friend. As much as no word of it would ever leave his lips, he liked being able to make the man laugh. He clasped a hand on Blacks shoulder once more before heading towards the exit. He got halfway there before he heard his friend grumble something at him.

"You got me all bloody!"

Soren bit back a laugh, not even slowing down, only waving a hand dismissively as he walked. "You are a big boy, Black, I am sure you can handle a little blood on one shoulder. Just remember, if you accuse me of getting you all bloody, next time I will hug you and make sure you get really bloody."

Soren broke into laughter when he heard a grunt right as the door closed behind him. The company of a good friend was quite a grand treasure indeed.

I have art that I haven't finished yet, I was going to enter it with a different contest, but I never finished it. If I finish it though, can I enter it into this contest?

So long as it fits the criteria :P

Oh look a contest at the top of the page. :3

First, I have to say happy 1 year!

I would love to enter and be considered but unfortunately, I am posting an unfinished, and rather poor drawing. It's a work in progress, but I am going out of town in the morning and will miss the end of the contest. So I am turning this in now, not for it to be an entry necessarily, but just because it meant a lot to me. I'm so sorry it's so very rough..



It was at the "Give a Pretty Sylesti to the User Above" thread. I was still fairly new, and had gifted a silvery zolnixi to the person above me. It just felt good to give stuff away. Not an hour later, I was pinged. "Oh boy!" I thought. "I wonder what surprise I'll find!" I hurried to the ping and ..lo-and-behold, the most beautiful, and dare I say, sexy, griffi that I have ever seen. I squealed and said my Ooohs and Aaahhs and thanks, and how much I loved him. And you, Black, replied, "You are very welcome. I checked your stables to see what you liked. ;)"

And that was the first conversation we had and how I met you.

Again, sorry for the current state of the picture. I -WILL- finish it, even though it will be past the deadline; I just want it to reflect how I feel.. just wanted to share my story and how much my griffi, Black Black, means to me. Thank you, again.

(On a side note, the griffi isn't solely named after you. His colors kept reminding me of the Japanese caffeinated gum called Black Black, which shares his colors.)

Oh my, that's a cute picture. xD
I like it, even though you say it's unfinished. ;w; I think it tells a thousand words.
_{mainly "thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou"}

As a side note (not aimed at you, Kyokai, but I kinda don't wanna ping Black either, so just a general update), I finally finished the 2nd half of my story and added it on to my main post. ;w; (I felt the need to post this extra because for awhile, my first post had the first half of the story, and I didn't want to seem like that was it.)

Happy 1yr, Black o/