Can you Embalm a Reptile?

The beginning

As winter had befallen the manor the usual unwelcoming and dark corridors had become more of an obstacle. On one side of the manor, the spacious living room with the fireplace had become a hub for the survivors, most of them deciding to spend their day in the room when they weren't called out for a game or had nothing better to do. On the other side though the living room was rarely occupied, each hunter seemingly preferring the isolation and quite their room offered.

But not Luchino. He had been quite dependent on the fireplace lately, the heat of the fire being the only thing that kept him from becoming inactive. A little side effect to the whole mutation was his inability to regulate his own body temperature.
Few of the hunters that could regularly be seen in the room were Michiko, Leo and Joseph.
Michiko would just take a seat on one of the rather large (yet comfortable) couches, spending some time in silence as she observed the fire before she returned to her room. Leo never stayed in the room for too long, but he too kept quiet. Joseph just bothered himself with a sketchbook for a few hours before he would eventually leave.

Isolation was one of the things all of them sought, despite their differences. Yet, the scholar had observed a few connections being made between hunters. He wouldn't call them friendships, yet some of them seemed to get along quite well.
Some of them were even reasonable, to some extent. Yet, he found himself with nothing to do for most of the time. When he wouldn't be called to a game his day ended up quite boring to say the least.
But this day had been quite different. ~

Luchino was one of the more "relaxed" hunters, if you could call it that. When he thought that the survivors got far enough despite his attempts to stop them he would let one or two of them go. Not always, but most of the time if he felt like they earned it. As long as he wouldn't lose he didn't mind about the outcome.

He had another run-in with the Embalmer today, and as always his curiosity had been peaked.
He had managed to corner him eventually, with all cipher machines down and even one gate half opened, and an awkward moment of silence had fallen between them.
The man had managed to keep him chasing for quite some time during this match, dodging and slipping out of his grasp like a little mouse.

Luchino found him once more at the gate. The other had attempted to flee but ended up trapped between a wall and a rocket chair as the reptilian caught up with him.
The survivor just breathed heavily, quite panicked, while holding his hurt arm close to his body as he expected the hunter to do something. But the Reptilian hunter just stared at him.
His face inches away from the others, making their eyes meet for a moment before Luchino took a step back, making a nod towards the exit gate that was just a few meters away for them.

The silver-haired man had frozen for a second, but quickly and with a pained sound pushed himself up before he dragged himself to the gate. Every few seconds he turned his head around to look at the large hunter as he typed in the rest of the password, swallowing heavily when the gate finally opened.
He turned around to give the hunter one last look.
Luchino just nodded once more, earning him a thankful bow before the survivor turned away and eventually fled.

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It wasn't like he despised the masses, he just wasn't as sociable as people usually tend to be. But he wouldn't just lock himself up in his cold room to avoid the chattering of others. Besides, it was a good way to keep himself occupied.
He just sat silently in a corner as he just observed and listened to the others conversations.
He had never been the most chattering person, so joining in was not really a thing he thought about.
It wasn't like he didn't get along with any of the survivors. He even had friends! Something he was quite surprised with himself.
Yet, today he just wanted some peace. Last round had been quite stressful.~

The cup of tea in his hands was only down to the middle, already cold in his palms while his gaze was turned to the fire.
Lord was that a frightening experience.
He had met this specific hunter before and it wasn't that much of a secret that the reptilian would spare a survivor every now and then. Yet, he wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling as if the hunter had targeted him somehow.
Not in a bad way, he just... didn't seem to be that interested to chase him all that often, and even with the knowledge of where his coffin was the reptilian never took advantage of it.
Aesop just sighed, lifting the cup to his slowly healing mouth before he took a small sip of the cold brew.

"Hey, Aesop. Are you okay?" Eli asked with a smile, making the Embalmer wonder how he hadn't seen the Seer approach in the first place.
The owl on the other man's shoulder hooed softly when Aesop looked up at them with a raised brow.

"Quite alright, that was a close one..." The silver-haired man noted, reminding himself not to force a smile. His cheeks still hurt, but at least it wasn't as bad as it was a month ago...
"True, at least one of you guys made it out," Eli responded, a smile still on his lips.
"And hey? You won't be called to another game today, so try to relax." The Seer added, making the Embalmer nod.
"I will, thank you." Aesop responded honestly, earning one more smile from his friend before he walked over to the others who were sitting closer to the fire.
He should really try to relax...