Parseltongue (Amber)

[Naga Riddell]

Naga pushed open the door of the pet store and smiled slightly at the familiar sounds of scrabbles, squeaks and chatter and the familiar smells of hay bedding and dog treats. It was similar to her home which was always filled with someone screaming about an escaped snake or other reptile. Comforting chaos would suit it well.

The blonde winced slightly as she felt Ribbon reach up and poke at her nose with his snout. The adult cornsnake was curled around her shoulders; his tail tip lazily leaning on her collarbone and his head curled into her neck. Ribbon almost always accompanied Naga, her body heat kept him warm and her height kept him safe so it was no trouble. His scales were red, orange, yellow and white, a brilliant stripe of orange cutting through a thick band of red down his spine.

"<..Psst. Hey. Hey. Can we get some branches for my home?> Ribbon 'spoke' to her, nudging at her ear and neck again whilst pestering her with his repeated request. Naga winced at the uncomfortable coldness and lightly brushed her finger down his middle section which was draped like a scarf around the back and front of her neck. "Sure, sure. Just stop poking me." Naga told him, her voice normal. Though it might have been seen as weird, Naga would rather speak to Ribbon normally than hiding her ability like a horrible secret. Ribbon gave a happy little wriggle, tensing along his body like a Mexican wave.

With a light-hearted sigh, Naga walked over to the vivarium section of the store; letting the red snake lean a third of his body off of hers, poking his nose and flickering his tongue at different decorations. "Just let me know when you see something you like." Naga smiled, glancing at the different decorations herself.

[Amber Ignis]

Amber needed to restock her inventory of frozen mice to feed her snake, Pickle. Wild ball pythons would obviously feed on live mice, but in order to keep the house pet docile she fed him frozen mice. She also couldn't bare the thought of buying a living creature and quite literally bringing it to its death. Amber had a tendency to be distant and cold, but not towards animals. Having her snake around was the best therapy the young pyro could ask for.

Before going to the freezer section with the frozen mice, she decided to stop down the reptile aisle to look for some new hides and branches for Pickle's terrarium. She liked to change it up frequently. Though Pickle couldn't talk to her, she bet he liked the change. He was such a sweet little guy! Before entering the aisle, Amber heard a voice inside. She paused for a moment. She didn't want to enter the aisle and put herself on a position for these people to talk to her.

She waited, but instead of hearing a second voice, she heard the first voice speak again as if someone had answered her. Oh, great. It's just a crazy person talking to herself." Amber then entered the aisle feeling more at home sharing the store with a crazy person rather than someone normal.

But when she saw the girl who had been talking to herself, she noticed the little snake around her neck. Interesting...now Amber had no idea what she was dealing with. Someone who talks to herself or a meta who can talk to snakes? How cool! Amber pondered the possibilities without realizing she was staring directly at the blonde girl at an uncomfortably close proximity.

[Naga Riddell]

Now, Naga is fairly... air-headed. Studying the different hideouts and fake branches, the blonde didn't notice Amber staring at her; she was barely aware of the redhead's presence. Thankfully, Ribbon wasn't as spacey. Noticing the staring human, Ribbon froze still for a few seconds before slowly coiling back around Naga's neck, turning his head to stare back at Amber.

<...I think she wants to fight...> He said after a long pause of silence. Naga, still not paying attention to her surroundings, murmured back at him; picking up a multi-branched decoration and reading its label. "...What are you talking about?" Ribbon tensed his body in annoyance and slid his neck off Naga's shoulder, leaning close to Amber. <The human. She's staring at you.>

Raising an eyebrow, Naga turned her head before tilting it down slightly to stare back at the red-headed teen; her 6"3 frame once again proving an inconvenience. She had never seen Amber before, though she was not disturbed by her apparent interest. "Can I help you Miss?" She asked with a slight smile on her face.

[Amber Ignis]

Once again the girl spoke as if having a conversation with someone, but all Amber saw was the little snake around her neck. She didn't appear to be wearing a Bluetooth or headphones. So who was she talking to? Maybe she was a crazy person, but the way Amber peered up at her, Amber was the one who looked crazy.

She snapped back into reality when the blonde girl finally spoke in Amber's direction. Upon realizing how close she stood to the very tall girl and her snake, Amber took a step back and gave a stammered response. "Uh...sorry I just -hi." Amber smiled awkwardly. "I was just wondering...who are you talking to?" When Amber felt uncomfortable she had a tendency to be oddly forward. But luckily the other girl did not appear to be taken aback by Amber's presence. She actually even smiled at her.

If someone had been standing that close to Amber, she would have probably punched them in the face. She made a mental note to remember this moment the next time she got testy with someone.

[Naga Riddell]

Naga gently pulled Ribbon back around her neck whilst Amber spoke, sometimes the snake would get distracted and just... drop off. Then he'll complain about it for the rest of the morning. Many people have told Naga that she was too open around strangers; hell, if Amber had come up and hugged her, the snake shifter would've probably given her a hug back. And why not? Hugs are awesome.

Ah, Naga guessed that she probably did look a bit odd, especially since they couldn't hear Ribbon speak. Or make any noise at all. At least when people speak to cats, the cat meows. Snakes just kind of sit there. Opening her mouth to respond, Naga cut her first word short as Ribbon began to speak to her. "<This is the moment when you realise that you are in fact mad. I cannot speak. You're straaaaange.>" He spoke, wiggling around her neck as he adjusted himself to try and get a better 'lick' at Amber again.

"Hush you." Naga muttered before responding to Amber. "Sorry if I bothered you, I guess it is pretty strange to see someone speaking with a snake." Naga grinned and gave a slight gesture towards Ribbon who had fallen silent again; simply flickering his tongue at Amber. If she had been daydreaming, Naga would've probably flickered out her tongue at the same speed. Another one of the side effects of shape shifting.

[Amber Ignis]

Amber laughed when the girl began to speak, but cut herself off immediately. If someone didn't know she spoke to snakes - as Amber hadn't only a moment ago- she did look crazy. She fell silent for a moment appearing to be listening to something so Amber just assumed that the snake was "talking to her." She looked on in amazement at the silent way the snake communicated. He even appeared to be looking at Amber.

"What's he saying about me?" Amber asked in intrigue. Then she thought about her own snake Pickle. Maybe this girl could talk to Pickle for her! That would be fantastic. "I'm Amber, by the way." Amber began the introductions. "I actually have a snake, too. A ball python named Pickle. That's so cool you can talk to them." She realized she stared up at the tall girl rambling on and on like a star struck fan girl. She reminded herself to calm down, but the idea of talking to Pickle made her heart beat fast in excitement.

[Naga Riddell]

Naga smiled down softly at Amber as she spoke. D'aw, her excitement was adorable. The snake shifter was excited herself, it wasn't often you met another snake fan; particular when the last person she met had ran from her constrictor form. Understandable, it was 20ft long, but it still hurt her feelings. Being seen as a monster was something nobody wanted.

"My name's Faith but just call me Naga or Nagini, everyone does. This guy is Ribbon." Naga grinned. Personally, she disliked the name Faith but the nickname her youngest sister gave her was ironic and so she preferred to go by that. Tilting her head slightly, Naga glanced down to Ribbon; expecting his response. Just please don't be lewd...

Ribbon flickered his tongue in silence for a few seconds before coiling backwards to rest his head on Naga's shoulder; still keeping his nose pointed at the girl. <Looks strong. Aggressive colours but seems nice. I would say a good mate-> Naga quickly waved her hand in front of his nose to break his train of thought, her face slightly flustered. Damnit, the snake couldn't even say one thing without somehow making it gross.

"He says you look strong and seem like a good person." Naga said in a cheerful tone, keeping the crude remarks as far away as possible. She gave Ribbon a steely glance and he promptly tilted his head away. "And thanks for the compliment! Most people don't see a thing like this as 'cool'. I've even had a few people screaming and running from me." Naga chuckled slightly, despite the slightly dark topic.

[Amber Ignis]

Though Amber kept a cool, and tough exterior she was sometimes lost in her excitement and joy. Naga had perfectly tapped into what made Amber joyful. Snakes were her solace. And she just met a girl who basically lived and breathed snakes. “Naga. That’s clever! I love Harry Potter.” She laughed a little before offering her name. “I’m Amber. I guess my name is ironic, too. I’m pyrokenetic.”

She figured it would be good manners to also offer up information about her power as well. She hated her power…but it was the nice thing to do. Amber looked on at Ribbon moving around while waiting to see what the snake thought of her. Strong and good. Well… Amber wasn’t sure if she agreed, but if the snake though so then, cool!

“That’s awesome. What sort of form do you have?” She wondered if Naga changed into something small like Ribbon or Pickle or if she had any large and dangerous forms. She would understand why a normal person would maybe run in fear, but snakes didn’t scare Amber at all.

[Naga Riddell]

Naga chuckled at Amber calling her nickname clever, the youngest of the family was quite smart for her age; even if she did spend that intellect thinking up horrible puns. What do you call a snake that works for the government? A civil serpent. Good lord. "A pyrokinetic?" The shifter asked with a grin, her body didn't respond to temperatures very well so fire didn't bother her much until her skin started to blister. "At least you won't run out of matches." She joked.

Naga always saw the ability to control elements as a cool power, just being able to manipulate your surroundings in general was very cool. Able to transform into a snake was also cool but it had its disadvantages. Like the people screaming, the lack of arms, the aftermath nudity...

"My forms? Well, I can turn into a King Cobra and a reticulated python." Naga chuckled, finding Amber's apparent adoration of snakes very cute and comforting. At least not everyone was afraid of snakes. The shifter's forms were both easy to control and transform into; however, her King Cobra was a bit temperamental whilst her  20ft python was a lot more relaxed. "I can show you my python form if you want."