Naga!Kenneth and Lenore (RP story)

The sun had just gone down in the horizon of the jungles of India. Many animals who were active on the bright day went back to their homes while other more nocturnal animals started their hunts as soon as it got dark. However, not only nocturnal animals were out, but also a certain sneaky little naga girl. Lenore who was only five years old, had waited for her parents to fall asleep so she could sneak out from her father's soft coils and go out on her own adventures. Her black tail with blue stripes and underbelly slithered through the grassy paths and since her tail was just about one meter, she couldn't really climb trees yet, so she was forced to be on the ground for now.

"Where is it? I know the place should be around here somewhere..." She mumbled to herself and brushed her black and ruffled hair with a red strand in away from her blue and curious eyes.

Soon she spotted the clearing she was looking for, grinning with excitement. There the nocturnal glowing butterflies in different colors had started to spread their wings and fluttered about in the air beautifully. Lenore giggled as she tried to reach for them, but flopped now and then in the grass when she tried to reach too high on her tail.

All of a sudden, a large shape shifted sleepily among the bushes and ferns nearby, and a red-banded tail came slithering languidly out and scooped her up gently at her middle, lifting her up just a little higher so that she could see the butterflies better. There came a slight yawn from where the tail had come from.

Lenore was first surprised by the tail, but then smiled as she thought that the tail wanted to help her see the butterflies better, but she got more curious of who the tail belonged to. "Who's there?" She asked as her tail curled a bit around the bigger one.

There was another yawn, accompanied by a sleepy but pleasant voice. "Just me."

A face poked out of the bushes, blinking up at her with bleary brown eyes and smiling mildly, his long brown hair tousled. "Hi. I'm Kenneth. Where'd you come from, little lady?" he said with an inquisitive tilt of his head.

She giggled as she saw him and smiled. She was almost worried that it would be one of those not so merciful nagas that lived deeper out in the jungle, but this one looked nice at least. "Oh, heehee...Um...from my home. I'm Lenore and I'm exploring." She said happily as a green butterfly landed on her head.

Kenneth chuckled and brought her closer. Now the rest of him came into view; a strong, muscular upper half, and thick, tawny boa coils for the rest of his body. "Well, Lenore, sweetie," he said gently, "won't your Mommy and Daddy be worried about you, out here all by yourself?"

She huffed a bit at that and crossed her arms. "I can take care of myself. I even managed to sneak out while they were sleeping. That proves that I've got some skills, right? One day, I'll become the greatest hunter there is!" She said very confident.

Kenneth chuckled and set her down on the ground carefully. "Yes, I don't doubt you will," he said kindly. "But you know, you're probably very precious to your parents, and if something ever happened to you, well...I bet they'd be very sad." He gave her a rueful smile.

"Oh, I'm planning to get back before the sun goes up so they won't notice anything." She smiled and studied Kenneth's coils. "You seem like you can live out here nicely on your own. You think you could teach me a few tricks? Like catching something?" She asked with a glimpse of hope in her eyes.

Kenneth laughed and stretched his arms up over his head, yawning. "Hoo boy, how can you have so much energy?" he chuckled. "Well, how about this? I'll teach you how to catch one of those pretty butterflies flying around." He pointed to the glowing iridescent butterflies flitting lazily in the air. "How does that sound?" He grinned down at her.

Lenore beamed with excitement and bounced up and down on her tail. "Really?! That would be great! Please teach me, Kenneth! Pretty please!"

"Heheh, okay, well, first," Kenneth said, lowering himself down to her level and lowering his voice to a whisper, "we have to be very quiet, okay? They get spooked real easy." He smiled and put a finger to his lips. "I'll show you the best place to catch them." He picked her up gently and deposited her on his back so he could carry her.

The little naga girl nodded and clung onto Kenneth's back with her arms over his shoulders and her tail wrapped her tail around his waist and it barely reached around all the way. She also noticed how soft his hair was and nuzzled it softly. "Your hair is so soft." She whispered.

"Heh, thank you," Kenneth chuckled, patting her on the head affectionately. He slithered along with her for a little bit, until they reached a small clearing in the jungle, where an ancient tree, long since fallen from its prodigious height and covered with moss and various vegetation, lay like a felled giant on the forest floor. There was a multitude of butterflies here, scores of them in fact; this must be where they hatched, or laid their eggs, perhaps.

"Here we are," Kenneth said cheerfully, helping her down from his back. "Now, you just go like this: stick your hand out--" He did so. "--and whistle softly, like this." He put his lips together and let a quiet, low-pitched note blow through them.

The butterflies reacted almost instantly, seeming to become excited, and fluttered over to the two of them. Three or four of them landed on Kenneth's hand. "See?" he said, grinning down at her. "They like the sound. It's a safe way to catch them, without hurting them."

Lenore stared in awe as the butterflies fluttered and landed on his hand. "Oh, I wanna try too!" She reached out her hand and tried to whistle, but unfortunately she had not learned how to whistle yet so all that came out were weak blowing sounds.

Kenneth laughed kindly and picked her up in his arms. "Here, I'll give you a hand." He gently guided her hand outward and whistled that same low-pitched note. The butterflies, who were once again meandering lazily through the air, once again flitted excitedly and flew over to them. One landed gently on Lenore's fingers, tickling her with its feet.

She gasped happily as she watched the butterfly walk along her finger and onto the back of her hand. "Wow...it really did work!" She slowly brought it to her face to take a closer look at it as it opened and closed its wings. "It's so pretty."

Kenneth smiled at her, but his smile was sad somehow....and his eyes, as well. They told a different story than his outwardly cheerful and friendly demeanor. "Yes, it is," he said softly. "You know, you might be able to take it home to show your Mommy and Daddy, if you're careful and you hurry. As long as you let it go right afterward."

"Huh? No, I'm not gonna take it home. I think I'd rather show them some other day when I've learned how to whistle like you." She said and then looked up at Kenneth and frowned a bit at his changed expression. "Wh-What's wrong, Kenneth? Are you sad?"

"Huh? Oh." Kenneth seemed to come back to himself and grinned broadly at her, the twinkle returning to his eyes. "Nope, heh, I'm fine. Well, all right, that sounds like a terrific idea. I bet your parents would like that a lot." He looked at her earnestly. "And do you know what else I bet they would like? A cute little naga safe in her bed at home." He gently tweaked her nose with the tip of his tail.

She giggled and made a playful pouty face. "Buuuut, I just met you and the morning isn't even close." She whined. "And I wanna be with my friend."

"Ahhh, now now," Kenneth chided her gently. He gave a resigned sigh. "Well, I guess there's no harm in it....I was just about to go to sleep, though. Maybe I could take you home in the morning, if you'd like to have a sleepover?" he asked her .

"Sleepover? Yay!" She beamed happily and hugged his face with her small arms as she nuzzled the side of his head. "That sounds like a lot of fun!"

Kenneth laughed with amusement, though it was sort of muffled due to Lenore squishing against his cheek. "Heheh, yay!" he said, nuzzling her back. "Okay, well, let's get back to my sleeping spot, then." He picked her up, this time carrying her against his chest and shoulder and supporting her 'bottom', like he would to....a baby. Kenneth's expression became cloudy for a moment, then he brightened once more as he began to slither away from the moss-covered tree and back to the mossy under-cropping where he had decided to sleep.

"Here we go," he said with a grunt as he lowered her to the ground. He huddled his coils into a messy pile around them and fell into them with a sigh, covering himself with a particularly thick one. "Make yourself comfy, anywhere you like," he told her softly.

Lenore looked around after a comfy spot, crawling around on his coils, but soon decided to rest on his back, hugging his thick hair and made herself comfortable. "But I wonder, Kenny...Why did you look sad back there? Y-You don't have to tell me if you don't want to..." She said softly as she caressed some of his strands.

"Oh, uhm....well...." He sighed heavily. He supposed there was no harm in telling her. She was just a child, and might not fully understand anyhow, but....it might be good to talk about with someone.

"Well, meeting you has got me thinking about...what it would have been like if I had children of my own," Kenneth said slowly. "I think about it every once and while, but...I try not to. Because, well..." He paused a moment, his tail reaching up to stroke the top of her head softly. "I can't have children."

"Oh..." She could sense the sadness from his tone and thought that she needed to cheer him up somehow. She thought hard of a solution, but sadly she didn't know how to get babies yet. "Well...I suppose a baby does have a mommy and daddy...And if you gonna be a daddy then you gotta find a mommy, right?" She asked innocently.

Kenneth smiled in spite of himself at her guileless reply. "Yes, well...it's not as simple as that. Even if I did have someone to be a Mommy....we still wouldn't be able to have a baby. It's, uh...." He sighed and laughed quietly. "It's not important, little one. Let's get some sleep so we can take you back to Mommy and Daddy tomorrow." His tail brushed through her hair softly.

"Well...Okay, if that will make you happy." She smiled at his caresses and let out a small yawn and curled up on his back softly. "Good night, Kenny. Sweet dreams." She said before finally drifting of to sleep after a long day of excitement.

Kenneth listened to her soft, even breathing in silence for a little bit. He could feel her tiny weight pressing comfortably on his back. His chest seemed to ache painfully for a moment, a lump rising in his throat, but he pushed it back down and gave a shuddering sigh. He gave her hair one last long, slow stroke, and then his tail retreated, curling around the two of them.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," he said, almost too quiet to hear. He closed his eyes and fell asleep soon after.

When the first rays of the sun finally started to slowly brighten up the jungle in the very early morning, there were sounds of someone calling out for Lenore. "Lenore?! Where are you?!" The voice came from a woman who had woken up without her daughter nearby and immediately run out to look for her in the big jungle.

"Mmm...?" Kenneth stirred from his sleep and opened one brown eye, blinking owlishly in the light of morning. Lenore still seemed to be asleep on his back, but he thought he had heard someone yelling her name. He picked his head up and listened carefully.

And sure enough, there really was someone who was looking for her. "Please, answer me if you can hear me, Lenore!" Her mom yelled after her, sounding very worried and sort of panicked at the same time.

Lenore kept sleeping deeply, hugging Kenneth's hair close to her as if she was hugging a teddy bear.

The sound of the panicked yells for Lenore got Kenneth wide awake in nothing flat. He began tickling Lenore with his tail. "Lenore," he said to her in a hushed but firm voice. "Lenore, honey. Wake up. Your Mommy is calling for you, she sounds a little bit worried."

She groaned sleepily as she slowly woke up, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She giggled at his tail, but soon realized what he said and got wide awake also hearing her mother's voice. "Oh, no...I'm gonna be in a lot of trouble."

Kenneth scooped her up gently. "Ah, I was afraid of this," he said, mostly to himself. Then he addressed Lenore. "It's okay hon, I'll explain everything to your Mommy. I think she'll forget about being mad when she sees that you're okay. Let's hope so, anyway." He smiled at her reassuringly, then began slithering in the direction of the voice.

Lenore nodded as she hugged around Kenneth's neck softly as she prepared herself for being told off by her parents as the calls for her got closer and closer the further they got.

Meanwhile, Lenore's mother, who was in fact a human, searched around like crazy for her daughter, looking under every bush and looking behind every tree she walked past. She was almost starting to fear the worst the longer she looked without any success.

Kenneth soon caught sight of a human woman, searching frantically through the jungle. He was mildly surprised that Lenore would have a human mother--he had always been unsure if it was possible for nagas and humans to reproduce together. This pretty much answered that for him.

"Uhm, excuse me, miss?" he said, adopting his most charming smile and pleasant demeanor, carrying Lenore into view. "I'm guessing you belong to this little one here?"

The young woman turned around and immediately ran over to the two nagas and picked her daughter carefully from his arms. "Oh, thank heavens that you're alright, Lenore! You have no idea how worried you made me and your daddy!" She smiled while a few tears of pure relief escaped her blue eyes.

"I'm sorry, mommy." Lenore said as she looked ashamed, but hugged her back.

"It's alright, you're safe...That's all that counts, but we need to have a serious talk when we get home." She said and then looked up at Kenneth, smiling. "Thank you so much for keeping Lenore safe. I don't know what I would have done if something happened to her."

Kenneth nodded graciously. "You're welcome, miss. I was only too happy to help. You've got yourself quite the curious little explorer there." He chuckled and patted Lenore on the head. "Bye bye, Lenore. Make sure you listen to what your Mommy tells you, all right? She loves you very much."

"Yes, Kenny, b-but will I see you again?" Lenore asked as she grasped his hand with her much smaller hands.

"My...You two seem to have become friends pretty fast." Lenore's mother chuckled softly. "How about this? You can come and visit Lenore anytime you feel like it. She seems to have grown very fond of you."

Kenneth's smile widened. "Why, sure! I wouldn't mind that at all." He ruffled Lenore's hair with a chuckle. "Well then, I suppose I will see ya later then, little one! I'll try to come and visit you soon, okay?" He playfully tweaked her nose.

Lenore smiled wide at that and giggled as her hair was even more messy than before, but still cute. "Okay! I'm gonna wait for you. I'll see you soon too!"

"Heheh, all right!" Kenneth looked at Lenore's mother and patted her on the shoulder. "And thank you very much. Your daughter is very special." He smiled kindly. "I should be going, I need to get some breakfast in me." His stomach growled as if to emphasize this, and he laughed, patting it. "Bye now!" He gave them both a cheerful wave, then turned and began to slither away, his smile becoming more thoughtful. Maybe visiting Lenore every once in a while was just what he needed, to cure that blight in his heart that he thought could never be healed.

They both waved towards Kenneth until he couldn't be seen anymore. Lenore was the one who waved the most. "Bye, Kenny! I'll miss ya!" She yelled after him.

"Well, we should go back to daddy so he doesn't have to be worried anymore. Come now, Lenore." Her mother said as she started to walk towards their own home.

Lenore nodded as she gazed thoughtfully into the jungle. "Mommy? How does a mommy and a daddy have a child?" She asked curiously.

"E-Eh...That's for another time, sweetie...When you're older." Her mother said as she hurried her steps a bit, having a small blush on her face. She thought it would probably be the best to keep Lenore's innocent nature as long as possible while she was still young.