#headcanons || Nagendra || Come fin and tail And paw and hoof For life has a passion for living

[ofconstellationsandsnakes-moved]

❣️🌙💤

❣️ - What are their love languages?

Nagendra

Nagendra's love language is definitely physical touch. He spent a majority of his young life with no real human contact and isn't used to being touched by others, and that's really a shame because he loves to curl up next to others and sap the warmth out of them. He doesn't often get a chance to give others hugs or affection, so he tends to go pretty intense with that sort of thing when he knows that he's allowed.

Aster

Aster's giving love language is definitely acts of service. She sort of sucks at communicating with the people she likes at the best of times, so she finds it much simpler to show her affection by doing their friends and romantic partners small favors. However, receiving, she really loves words of affirmation. There's something deeply soothing about hearing someone she cares about telling her what they like about her and that they are proud of her/think she's pretty/thinks she's thoughtful, etc.

🌙 - What’s their sleep schedule like?

Nagendra

His sleep schedule probably appears pretty bad thanks to him getting drowsy whenever his body temperature drops significantly, but he's actually pretty regulated about when he goes to sleep and when he wakes up. He just sometimes takes a little random nap if he gets cold, is all.

Aster

Terrible. Since she leads a double life between school and streaming, she is often up much later into the night than she really should be. She ends up pretty tired by the time she heads to classes the next day.

💤 - What do they absolutely need to have to fall asleep?

Nagendra

It might seem strange, but Nagendra needs for his sleeping space to be dry. Water is extremely bad for his skin, and unlike merfolk his transformations and potions really can only last for a single day. Given that he's in Octavinelle..... well...

Aster

Aster needs to have some kind of noise to fall asleep. Streams, podcasts, music-- it really doesn't matter what so long as there's some background noise. Laying in entire silence makes it easy for their mind to start racing.

[nocturneprinciple]

I have to wonder what the general reaction would be from fae re: Nagendra tbh. Like I know it was mentioned that Malleus more than likely came from an egg, so I have to wonder if certain kinds of Fae would be a) repulsed by him since he's mostly an ovivore or b) would feel a kinship with him because they're probably relatively similar biologically. I also wonder if nagas would be classified as Fae as well, considering it seems like there is a wide variety of fae.

[ofconstellationsandsnakes-moved]

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[nocturneprinciple]

My brainpower is low at the moment so....... have some headcanons about Nagendra.

Under a read more because it will probably be pretty long and may have some slight spoilers for book 3. (Just in case.)

- Despite the fact that Nagendra is nearly polar opposite to the theming of Octavinelle given that he’s from the arid part of the desert, he still would consider himself to be a perfect fit in the dorm. From his perspective, a large part of Octavinelle are merpeople who, much like him, probably have had very little contact with humans prior to coming to school. He, like merpeople, has different biology than humans, and many species of them are carnivorous like he is. There’s less of a concern that if they were to find out he was a Naga that they would freak out. There’s also the fact that Naga have an affinity for water (though not usually to the point of being submerged in it all the time), so even if he can’t stand the chill of the dorm, he still does enjoy the aesthetic, if nothing else.

- His room in Octavinelle is a room specifically designed for non-aquatic beings so that he can sleep in peace without having to worry about the water impacting his skin. His room is, however, designed with a human or beastman student in mind, and not-so-much a Naga, so sleeping quarters can be a little cramped when he is fully relaxed and not keeping up magic to appear human.

- Pets and Beastmen often get a strange vibe from him because he still very much smells like a cobra. Lucius has hissed at him more than once and refuses to come close to him. Despite the fact that he’s pretty adept at picking up beast languages, most animals won’t listen to him regardless because he triggers instincts to steer clear of him. 

- He had to learn that when he is in his human form that you cannot swallow eggs whole the way you can when you’re a snake. It went about as well as you can imagine it did.

- He has a lisp.

- On a similar note to the first point: Nagendra often finds himself confused by human biology. Humans taste things with their tongues? Not Nagendra. They have 24 ribs? Not Nagendra. They can hear high frequencies? Not Nagendra.

- He is venomous however generally speaking, it's not dangerous to be bitten by him. He can choose to release the venom or it could be a “dry bite” like all venomous snakes can. He could if he needed to, though nothing short of him being in a life threatening situation would make him do it.

- He is in the family of black desert cobras, and does not have a hood whatsoever. His tail is a deep black in color, though unlike other black desert cobras, his scales are iridescent, similar to some cousin breeds of snake. The biological reason is that the coat actually helps to repel water and dirt, since Naga largely live in caves.

- He can swim, though is a lot more clumsy about it in his human form than he is in his snake form.

[nocturneprinciple]

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