>>”Right? And what am I supposed to just take it from ya?"

"Yes?" she blinked. Why wouldn't he? Atlantean royalty handed out money all the time, for charity, or strategic reasons, or simply because they fancied someone. No one ever complained.

>>"I don’t need any handouts. I… fek… I didn’t ask ya to do that."

"I know you didn't."

>>”Why would ya. Scared ya half to death. Killed someone… Why would ya eh? School might have taken care of it?”

Amethyst scoffed.

"They would have. Technically, they did... But they have a whole lot of other kids to take care of. And I can make rubies. They are expensive." she added, for clarification. They were among the most valuable gemstones in the world.

The shifter’s voice rumbled into a low growl and he tried his best to ignore it for the time being. Despite still plucking a few strings he felt his rage build up. The princess was infuriating. Why’d she waste her blood on him? ”Aye, if knew that I would have asked someone to grab the bag of gems I’ve been gathering since I got here.” he didn’t have a lot but coupled with the money she was waving around like it was nothing that might have gotten a third of him self out on bail right?

His gowling stopped when one of the guitar strings broke with a loud snap. ”Fer **** sakes.” he rolled out of the tree and landed on his two feet the wings only opening towards the end of the jump to soften his blow. His eyes still were slits as he landed a few feet from the princess. This time he stared at her.

Carrick wanted to roar badly. He felt the power build up in the back of his throat but quickly turned it into a yell. ”Thank you. Now if yer gonna avoid me like the plague then just do it already. Seen the way ya looked at me. Here and at the hospital. I got a beast living in me and I’m scary got it.” he was still yelling and bared his pointed teeth.

”****” The shifter turned from her and yelled louder into a curse before calming down. The Irishman was frustrated and scared. Not sure what was going to happen and worried he’d be alone again. ”Ya don’t need to be waving yer charity over me if yer gonna just leave like everyone else.” his tail flicked behind him angrily as he did his best to avoid the princess’s gaze.

>>”Aye, if knew that I would have asked someone to grab the bag of gems I’ve been gathering since I got here.”

Amethyst rolled her eyes. Carrick had an affinity to shiny things, and he was not the only student making a habit of picking up the small gems she sometimes left lying around the Mansion. She didn't really mind much, such small things were not too valuable. She still did not understand why he was upset.

A guitar string snapped, and Carrick swore, jumping to the ground. His eyes looked strange again, and Amethyst swayed back as he landed. Why was he behaving like this?

>>”Thank you. Now if yer gonna avoid me like the plague then just do it already. Seen the way ya looked at me. Here and at the hospital. I got a beast living in me and I’m scary got it.”

Well, he was. In fact, the beast had been terrifying. And he did not have much control over it, as far as she understood. Tat was what the man with the gun had been all upset about, too. And the people who were spreading all kinds of stories now about what happened at the park.

>>”Ya don’t need to be waving yer charity over me if yer gonna just leave like everyone else.”

"Leave?" the princess, blinked, confused "I'm not planning on going anywhere yet. And for the record, I'm not avoiding you. You are avoiding me. Is it because you killed someone in front of me? Because he deserved it." she shrugged. Attacking a royal person would have gotten him killed in Atlantis too. "That... what you turned into, yes. It was scary. Should I not say that?"

She wasn’t leaving yet; Carrick knew she wanted to though. She said it a few times. Then again she’d probably be bragging about going home if she was leaving. Not only that but he was the one avoiding her. He was avoiding everyone. This wasn’t the first time he shifted into the beast form; last time he didn’t kill anyone. Even then people avoided him. Liz just left. This time the beast killed someone. Carrick thought it be easier to be the one avoiding everyone.

>>>”Is it because you killed someone in front of me? Because he deserved it.”

His pupils rounded back to normal and his frustration subsided for a moment giving into surprise. She was okay with what happened? Should he be as well? If he had done it that was one thing, his half-shift was the one that did it. Carrick didn’t like not being in control. Why couldn’t he have shifted into his preferred form? They at least got a long.

>>>"That... what you turned into, yes. It was scary. Should I not say that?"

His surprise faded when she said he was scary, well what he turned into. It was scary for him as well. Other than small bits and pieces he hardly remembered. If it wasn’t for everyone going over what happened with him several times he wouldn’t have remembered anything. Carrick looked up and closed his eyes and let out a loud exhale. What she did, It was meant to be a favor.

Carrick inhaled and he looked back down towards the princess this time making sure not to look directly at her. ”Scares me too.” he said with another huff. ”I’m…. sorry.”

The fight went out of Carrick as fast as his anger had flashed. Amethyst wondered if he was scared of his own beast form. What was it like, fearing someone's own gifts? She sometimes got annoyed with hers, but her power lay in wealth and royalty, and not in... the physical form of her body. That was something gorgons dealt with.

>>”Scares me too. I’m…. sorry.”

Gorgons like him, they would have been contained on Atlantis. Too strong for demigods to let them roam free. But... but.

Amethyst sighed too.

"It seemed to me like... you can't control it. When you shift. What... what is like? From the inside?"

”Aye… Not that one at least.” he said walking over to the trunk of the apple tree and leaned his guitar on it. He needed something to do with his hands if he was going to talk about stuff like this. He never really talked to anyone about what it was like. ”I know it hurts.” he said at first crouched his tail swaying behind him.

”When I normally shift it only hurts fer a second but that form. It doesn’t stop. Makes me angry like the only way to feel better is roar.” he wound up one part of the broken string and put it in one of his pockets.

”I don’t’ remember much of anything. Kinda like a bad dream. One the more ya think about it the less ya remember.” Carrick started to fiddle with the other part of the string still attached to the neck of the instrument. ”I remembered you though.” he paused, ”How’s yer legs?” he remembered the brilliant red at her feet. They were shiny.

Carrick seemed... uncomfortable with talking about his powers. Or the beast he shifted into. Amethyts never learned much about gorgon powers, but from what she gathered, she always assumed they were the same as hers: part of what one really was, a true nature. Her part was creating valuable things for the royal lineage. But his... Carrick did not seem like a person who would naturally turn into a monster.

>>”Aye… Not that one at least... I know it hurts. hen I normally shift it only hurts fer a second but that form. It doesn’t stop. Makes me angry like the only way to feel better is roar.”

It hurt? Were one's own powers supposed to hurt? What kind of a mistake was that? Amethyst furrowed her brow in surprise.

>>”I don’t’ remember much of anything. Kinda like a bad dream. One the more ya think about it the less ya remember... I remembered you though. How’s yer legs?”

"What?" she blinked, then looked down. "Oh. I'm fine." her wounds have been minor, and the crystals closed them fast enough. He didn't remember all the did... but he remembered that. And what else? "So... when you protected me? You remember that?"

There was a little twang and the rest of the string was rolled and placed into his pocket and stood leaving the guitar on the trunk of the tree. ”That’s good at least.” he said making sure not to look at the princess when she asked. He wasn’t sure exactly what she meant. Did in-between form protect her?

Carrick remembered roaring. ”You mean out shouting the guy? Pretty sure it made things worse.” he said scratching the back of his head try to crack a smile. It was a small one.

The shifter tried to think back on the incident again, the blood at her feet the look of fear on her faces. Carrick remembered being scared, wanting to run. There was the man with the gun. Carrick but not Carrick wanted to fight him. He as mad, then he remembered the princess then nothing. ”Sounds like something I’d do though?” he said rubbing his thumb across his nose.

”You’d say thanks at least?” he asked puffing out his chest glad for the sudden distraction. The look was complete with the ankle tracker.

She could tell he didn't remember. Honestly, she was not even sure she remembered it right either. It had happened in a split second, in the middle of a desperate situation. Maybe she was just making things up now. Trying to see things that were not there.

>>”You mean out shouting the guy? Pretty sure it made things worse.”

"No?... Not that." she shook her head. The roar had been impressive, but that was before he'd shifted into the beast. Gods, was she really going to have to tell him?

>>”Sounds like something I’d do though? You’d say thanks at least?”

He puffed up his chest, and she scoffed.

"Maybe I remember wrong" she shot back, but she felt it wasn't fair. She pursed her lips. "It was when that man shot... he shot at you. And you could have jumped out of the way, but... you didn't. And if you had, he would have hit me... maybe. Or I'm just making things up."

He smirked at her scoff, ”Oh? Thought royalty are supposed to have great memories.” he teased as his chest deflated to her retelling. ”Maybe?” Carrick said with a shrug.

”Beasty ain’t like me other form… but he’s part of me isn’t he?” He was curious now as well. If his shifted form did try to save the princess then that would be the first good thing it had ever done.

” Got me curious now.” he said tail flicking behind him. ”Be the first time he ever did anything useful. Usually he just makes a mess of things.” Carrick sighed and then mocked a bow. ”Yer welcome either way, love.” maybe there was some glimmer of hope for his beast form if it had the potential to save the princess.

”And you’d need an imagination to be making things up like that.” he forced a laugh. ”I am gonna pay ya back though.” he said folding his arms and ruffling his feathers at her.

>> ”Oh? Thought royalty are supposed to have great memories.”

Amethyst rolled her eyes. At least he was being annoying again. Annoying Carrick was easier to deal with than the mopey version.

>>”Maybe? Beasty ain’t like me other form… but he’s part of me isn’t he?... Got me curious now. Be the first time he ever did anything useful. Usually he just makes a mess of things.”

Was it? Useful... he did save her from being shot with a tranquilizer. It would not have killed her, but it would have hurt. She remembered the monster sniffing at her, and not attacking. Could Carrick, deep down, tell friend apart from foe?...

>>”Yer welcome either way, love.”

The princess scoffed again.

>>”And you’d need an imagination to be making things up like that. I am gonna pay ya back though.”

Things were... still off. She was not sure why or how. This was becoming annoying, and not in the usual way.

"Whatever you want. You could probably spend your money on better things, though." she pointed out, looking up at him. "Especially since I am told you can't leave here..."

>>>"Especially since I am told you can't leave here..."

The shifters arms dropped and he tilted his head back and let out a groan. ”Cold, love. Here I was forgetting about my predicament” he kicked up his tethered ankle in her direction and slapped it. ”and ya had to remind me.” maybe he should take the money back.

Significantly less frustrated than he was before and glad that the princess was around (would never admit it) he sat back on the grass and through his arms into the air and laid back. ”Gonna go mad sitting around here. Can’t leave the grounds can’t fly and I can’t shift.” he threw both hands on his head.

”What do ya do here all day anyways? How do you not go to the city every day?”

>>”Cold, love. Here I was forgetting about my predicament. and ya had to remind me.”

Well, it was the truth. He had to stay put until other people figured out what to do with him. It was a legal thing, apparently, although the princess felt intrigued by the device they had attached to his ankle. Was it keeping his powers in check somehow? Such technology would so many implications, for gorgons as well as demigods...

Amethyst took a seat next to him, her dress pooling around her.

>>”Gonna go mad sitting around here. Can’t leave the grounds can’t fly and I can’t shift. What do ya do here all day anyways? How do you not go to the city every day?”

"Sometimes I do." the princess shrugged "Sometimes I don't feel like making the effort." The city was all interesting and bustling, but it also took going outside and mingling with strange people. "I was told I should have an animal companion, for entertainment." she added, remembering her trip with Praxi to the pet store "I am not sure how entertaining they can be. But, I discovered" she added in a conspiratory tone "... that you can pay people, and they will bring pretty much anything to the door. From anywhere. You can do it on the computer, and all these things just come to you."

The shifter understood the not wanting to make an effort. Some days he didn’t feel like showering or going to class, or even being an adult. ”I get that,” he said grinning his arms flopping down to his sides and atop his wings. His tail flicked towards the princess beside him.

”Not sure I’m responsible enough to take care fer an animal. Most of the time when I tried to spruce me room up with a plant it died in a day or so. Imagine me, less nurturing than a desert.” he said with a smirk. ”Old roommate could even bring plants back to life. Not a single one survived.” it wasn’t his fault he left the window open during a frost right?

”Oh, yeah. That’s stuff though, never been partial to stuff. Easier when we have a envelope full of cash innit?” he said smirking and tilting his head so he could smirk at the princess. ”So whatchu buying today love?” it took him a second, ”Wait, if that was yer way of asking fer me to be yer pet again I’m not an…animal.” so maybe he could shift into one. He didn’t’ feel like scaring her again. Carrick actually liked having her around she was a welcomed distraction. ”Sides, I require too much attention, I’m high maintenance.” he half joked.

Amethyst was not wholly sold on the idea of animal companions yet. She was not the type of person who would groom and feed and clean an animal; she usually had servants to deal with that if she so desired, but generally, she'd never met a pet she wanted to keep around yet.

>>”Not sure I’m responsible enough to take care fer an animal. Most of the time when I tried to spruce me room up with a plant it died in a day or so. Imagine me, less nurturing than a desert. Old roommate could even bring plants back to life. Not a single one survived.”

Amethyst chuckled at the story. Keeping plants was just as much of a job as pets. That's why one had gardeners, naturally. For fun, she would rather order things. She was good at orders.

>>”Oh, yeah. That’s stuff though, never been partial to stuff. Easier when we have a envelope full of cash innit?”

"Depends on what you spend it on." she pointed out. Cash in itself... was boring. Not even shiny, like gems.

>>”So whatchu buying today love?... Wait, if that was yer way of asking fer me to be yer pet again I’m not an…animal. Sides, I require too much attention, I’m high maintenance.”

"Don't delude yourself." the princess rolled her eyes "Royal pets have to be much more well behaved than you are."

Not to mention obedient.

"I haven't decided yet" she circled back to his other question "There is so much to choose from... although I miss good poetry. Back home, we value a good poet. But American poetry seems weird to me... they don't even sing."