2 Party Prep

The chirping hadn't ceased, and the sun was still hanging above them. Looming overhead during the late afternoon. Thea was watching the sky as she made her way back to the car that brought her here so she could get back to the house that wasn't too far away.

She kept the snake close to her, as it danced in her palm, close to her face. "Who are you...?" Thea brought up the courage to ask him. This snake, it was intelligent and it could speak to her, then it must have a name. For a short time, it just continued to sway back and forth. Even as the two of them appeared walking out from behind the bushes and trees.

Her private driver who was standing by the car waiting for her, raised a brow at the sight of a snake in her hand. Yet he said nothing and just watched as she cruised on passed him and towards the front gates of the Queen Manor.

The moment they passed through the gate however, the snake turned its head towards the front of the mansion, "You may call me Caden," his name meant Companion in arabic, but it also meant the Spirit of Battle in the Welsh variant. His voice was confident, assuring and pleasant.

"Caden, huh?" Thea held a victorious smirk across her lips as she made her way in through the front of the building. The moment they entered the foyer, she paused and looked around. There was no one.

That was pretty much how it always was around here. Her mother stopped showing up to the gravesite after less than a year. Her mother barely even payed attention to her.

Thea felt neglected, but now this presence, this serpent was companining her. "Why were you squeezing my arm earlier?" She asked curiously, though she could probably think of a reason. She probably knew that if he hindered her long enough, Tommy would stop her from buying the drugs.

"I sensed... Danger..." He wasn't wrong, the drugs were dangerous and she was an addict for the time being. "I must protect." For as bold as a snake may look as it held its head up high, it just looked like another reptile smelling the air with its tongue flicking out.

Thea just stared at the serpent for a few moments before shaking her head. So she was right, it had stopped her from buying the drugs in the name of protecting her. "Don't do that again," she tapped his lower jaw with her finger nail.

"I'll consider your request..." Cade uttered as they entered her room. She slid the jacket off her arms and tossed it aside, near the hamper by the door. He remained attached to her arm either way.

Thea looked at him, "Mind slithering your ass off my arm and onto the bed? I need to get changed." She snickered a bit as she began to undo her button down shirt and tie.

"You're serious about going to this party, huh?" Cade asked as he did just that, slithering off her arm and onto her bed. He coiled up, but kept the upper area of his serpentine body held up high.

Laughing a bit at his question, "What you don't think I should go too?" Thea frowned at him before he could even make time for a response.

"No, I think you should go..." His voice trailed off as he watched her remove the shirt, revealing her white seamless sports bra. His swaying motion completely came to a stop, it was clear he was staring.

Thea noted his behavior and smirked a bit, "Shameless."

Cade would have shrugged if he had shoulders to brush this off, but he couldn't. "And?" He flicked his tongue out towards her before looking around the room. "What's the point of going to this party anyway?"

Thea raised a brow when he questioned what she wanted out of attending. "Fun, I guess." She said as she tried to come up with a full proof response, in which she didn't really have one. She just wanted to go? It was Tommy's birthday? There was going to be Alcohol and Drugs there, it was the party life, the same kind of life her older brother lead. "Hmm..."

She began to think about how he had changed shape, how he had been more dragon like before, but only appeared as a snake now. "How old are you by the way?" Thea wasn't going to ignore the fact that he was taking in her form earlier.

"Fifteen," Cade swiftly responded as his attention snapped back to her. She was his age, he was her age.

"Uh-huh..." Thea rolled her jaw when she heard this as she began undoing her skirt and heading over to her closet. "So we're the same age, at least you're not some old man perving on me... Are you able to take a more human form?" Her question seemed abrupt to him, but she had already been thinking about it.

Cade rested his body on the comforter of the bed, "Haven't tried. Probably," was his only response.

Thea blinked when he said he hadn't tried, but didn't say he couldn't do it. If it was a probability, she could use him for quite a bit of stuff. Though it seemed more like he wouldn't go along with her plans unless he agreed with them.

"Since I don't want my mom involved..." She lulled her head to the side as she looked over her dressy wardrobe of a closet. "Want to help me pick something to wear?" She dropped the skirt to the ground, revealing her standard white undergarments.

His eyes darted over to her closet as she leaned against the door. He savored his peripheral sight, while mainly paying attention to her selections. As any rich girl, there was plenty of clothes to choose from. Though many of them he likely didn't approve of. Unlike most teen boys, he was 'old fashioned' in the sense that he enjoyed women with dignity rather than them being sexualized.

The majority of her dresses were just above the knee, or mid-thigh. This wasn't a majorly formal event, nor was it a medieval ball of sorts. This was a birthday party that hosted adults over the age of twenty one.

"I rather like the off-turtleneck dress with the brown plaid skirt..." His eyes rested on the article of clothing. The dress itself went down to her mid-thighs, while the skirt when added would go down to just above the knee. He thought it was a perfect combination.

There was another dress that caught his attention, the Le Plume Black Ruffled dress appeared to be something more so worn a funeral though. It had frills right above the breast area and on the skirting. It was adorable, but hardly party material. Maybe something for a gothic date or personal occasion?

His attention didn't remain on the dresses for long. The serpent's gaze rested on her legs and traveled up and down her person. She was well maintenanced, even though she had been throwing herself around since the apparent death of her family, she was still hygienic.

Thea cleared her throat and he immediately snapped to attention, his sights resting on her face. In her hands was the pink top and skirt she wore in the show.

He appeared to grimace at the choice. "Clashing much?"

"It shows off my legs," Thea said as she gestured downwards, watching him immediately following her hands. Shaking her head, she snapped her fingers and he looked back up at her.

"The turtleneck is tight fitting and shows off your figure, and it'll hide me much easier." He pointed out since it had long sleeves.

She squinted her eyes at the snake before taking the turtleneck dress out and comparing it in the mirror with what she had originally wanted to wear. He wasn't wrong, it looked tight and form fitting. She glanced over her shoulder towards him and tilted her head to the side a bit. "If you could choose a profession, what would it be?"

After a brief pause, the snake flickered its tongue at her again. "Hm... A designer."

Thea took in the idea, a designer. "Like an artist?"

The snake appeared to nod. "I want to create, I want to empower, I want to express." He gave those three 'I wants' to her, something that he generally stood for. He had immediately gone back to the snake dance, swaying side to side, as if she was playing an instrument for him to follow.

Hearing his drive to create, she smiled a bit and placed the pink top and shiny skirt back into the closet. "I've been meaning to ask, how did you get on the tombstone?" Thea inquired as she began to button the brown skirt into place.

"I woke up there," Caden spoke the truth, he had no idea how he had gotten there other than he had woken up there. Though he didn't tell her that this was also the first time he had even been a dragon.

"Thea who are you talking to?" Miora came walking up to the door and paused seeing the snake on the bed. She then peered inside the room and saw her daughter practically in the nude and trying on a dress. "Are you talking to a..." She recognized the danger of this type of snake. The hood gave away that it was a Cobra almost immediately. Panic was setting in.

Thea casually looked over at her mom, a bit of an annoyed expression on her face. "At least he listens," she verbally pounced before walking over to the cobra and brushing her fingers atop its head.

Moira gasped, hearing that she'd favor a snake of her own mother.

Caden began ducking and raising its head in a circular motion, it was weird for a snake to do this kind of humanistic gesture. The way it moved its body, it was actually dancing. "Cat fight, let's get this party started!"

The only one who could hear him was Thea, who just looked at him with a snicker. "Such a brat," she stated and shook her head.

"Pardon me?" Miora frowned at her daughter when she came to believe she was just calling her mother a brat. "What did you call me?"

Thea let her mouth hang open slightly as she saw this assumption. "I was talking to Caden, mom." Her tone was singular, almost mechanical, in response to this.

"You named it?" Miora asked with a frown still rather prominent on her face. Her daughter appears to have adopted a snake, a pet would have been fine, a cat even, but not a snake.

She shrugged at her mother, "Yeah, you got a problem with that." Thea automatically went on the defensive. "You planning on being my mother now? Protect me from the oh-so-dangerous world?"

Miora took a step back and looked away with guilt, before looking at her daughter once more. "You can't talk to me like that. I am your mother!" She proclaimed her position, pointing at her once again, as if disciplining her.

"Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Caden hissed aloud, it sounded alien, but a snake nonetheless.

It took Thea a mere moment to think of how to use his sudden action, "Mom! You're upsetting Caden, stop being so aggressive near him." She had an expression of worry on her face. In truth, she didn't know what Caden would do. She didn't know him all that much, but she had a feeling he meant no harm, just giving her what she needed.

Moira looked at the snake as it dipped its head down a bit, as if readying to snap at her. her eyes then rested on the off-black turtleneck dress, her stance relaxing a bit. "Where do you think you're going?" It wasn't her usual party dress, so was it casual?

"Out," Thea gave a simple response, not finding it necessary to give out anymore information than possible.

"With who?"

Thea felt as if she was going to explode, her mother wasn't leaving her alone, she wouldn't stop 'pretending' to be a parent. "With my boyfriend." She blurted out to spite her mother, "His name is Caden."

Moira raised a brow at this, "You're dating the snake?"

"No mom, I'm dating someone with the same name as the Snake. He's the one who gave me him," She was blurting all this out, lying to her mother about his origins. Not that Caden himself minded, it literally gave him a cover should he ever make himself appear human.

"Then I look forward to meeting this Boyfriend of yours," Moira grinned almost sinisterly before storming out of the bedroom. It was clear she was angered by Thea's antics, but she was more so saddened than anything else.

Thea, completely dismissing this, continued to dress herself by pulling the dress on and admiring herself in the mirror.