Difference between revisions of "Logs:I'd Never Treat You Like That"

To Cadejoth, Yyth stretches out, dark anticipation thrumming eagerly. « Fly? »

Another free afternoon. And it being such a beautiful day... Surely there's no surprise with Cadejoth's answer: « Yes! To the icy place? I'd like to go back there. And I can drag K'del away this time; he's only reading. It's not important. » (Cadejoth to Yyth)

To Cadejoth, Yyth is all too eager to conspire with the bronze. « The icy place, » she agrees, curling end over end eagerly. « I will make mine come, too. »

To Yyth, Cadejoth is silent for a time, though still /there/, that beat of his heart, the rasp of chains upon chains; he's still in her mind, still eager. When he returns, it's to report that, « He says he can spare the time. We'll meet you above the weyr. »

Yyth emerges from her ledge shortly after this brief conversation, bugling brightly for Cadejoth. « Need the image? » she asks him courteously. Or, maybe her rider just wanted to make sure Cadejoth didn't have the visual screwed up.

That's touching, if true of her rider. Cadejoth returns the bugle, projecting the image he has - which is not quite right, not surprisingly. He's not terribly good at this, even now, though it's only really a problem when it's someplace new, particularly when K'del hasn't been there already. His wingbeats carry him up a little further, enjoying the cool, spring skies.

Yyth patiently fixes the image for him before they go, making sure he's got it right. P'ax lifts his gloved hand into the air to wave a greeting to K'del and then Yyth spirals upwards to gain cautious height from the bronze. « Let's go! »

Cadejoth has a hint of embarrassment, for needing that assistance, but it's gone within a minute: there are places to explore! K'del is slower to raise his hand, but he does, managing a smile that might be visible across the gulf between the two dragons, but also might not. Hard to know. Depends whether he's looking, too, probably. « Let's! » agrees Cadejoth, with another rumble - and then he pops between.

Yyth comes out on the other side, from the abscense of warmth into just plain cold. The sea stretches out here visible through the floating chunks of ice. It worms its way through two huge ice palisades, a bitter canyon of glistening blue and white. The glacier is in perpetual movement, creating and rumbling. Sharp snaps echo through the air, startling in their suddenness and stretch. Yyth fizzles excitedly, hot blood coating the link Cadejoth's chains make between them. P'ax twists to grin at K'del if he's looking as Yyth heads for that deep crevasse.

K'del's not looking at P'ax: he's staring, awestruck and overwhelmed, at the vista spread out in front, behind, and /everywhere/. Cadejoth is smug, to Yyth, and sends sparks - which send splatters of blood everywhere, what fun - up those chain links, enthusing in their delight, and his rider's, which is so, so overwhelming. He pulls his wings in close, intent upon following Yyth through the crevasse, as the wind whips through them, and K'del draws his arms closer about himself: brr.

Yyth leads Cadejoth to the edge, overflying the ice canyon, following it to land in the soft, deep snow, sinking in. « Careful, it's tricky, » she warns. « Stay away from the edge. »

« My landings are always careful, » teases Cadejoth, implying, tone rich with amusement, that /he/ is not the dragon who had real trouble with them, but he takes his slowly all the same, coming to land not far from the green. K'del appears struck dumb, remaining where he is even after the dragons have landed, eyes wide.

Yyth takes his ribbing with good grace, which is to say she hisses and lifts her paws high in the soft powder. P'ax unhooks himself and slides down, winding his scarf closer around him. He sinks down to his knees and has to walk awkwardly to make it to Cadejoth. "Amazing, right?"

Which just amuses Cadejoth, who lets out an echoey rumble. K'del doesn't stir until P'ax speaks; then, finally, his head turns, and, ruefully, he begins to unbuckle himself. "Amazing. Yeah. Hadn't been out this way before. When'd you find it?" He manages to stay on his feet as they touch solid ground, though he reaches to steady himself with Cadejoth's forelimb, turning again to stare out over the world.

P'ax shrugs. "Sometimes Yyth and I just fly. Saw a little of it on sweeps, came out later to investigate." He waves a hand. "Hey, I got something else to show you. Be careful where you walk, there's all kinds of cracks under the snow."

K'del nods for this explanation, then, with brows raised, turns back towards P'ax as if to indicate - lead on. His hands, despite their gloves, get tucked into his jacket pockets, as he takes a cautious step forward.

P'ax feels with his toes before he puts his weight down on anything, heading towards the edge of the palisade. "There's this little path, if I can find it."

K'del follows along, equally carefully, though he can't help but glance up at regular intervals to glance around him, pink cheeked and impressed. "And it stays like this, all turn around? Even when it's summer?"

P'ax nods his head. "Yeah. The ice sheet's starting to break up. Normally you can walk out there a ways." His hand lifts to point towards the sea where the ice is starting to break up. "Ah, I think this is it," he says, peering over. "Yep, yep, that's it. Cool."

K'del lets out a little sound that is probably a 'huh', and peers after P'ax. A smile creeps around his face; then, he grins outright. "Oh, /wow/. That's fantastic. Wouldn't want to be on the edge of /that/, though, when it collapses."

P'ax chuckles. "Probably not." But just the same he creeps until he can feel the edge under his toe and then steps down. "There's a ledge, see. It goes all the way down to this neat little cave.

K'del is more cautious, coming to a halt a few steps behind the greenrider. "Oh, I see," he says, peering over carefully. "Huh. And you've been down there? And not fallen off or anything, right?"

P'ax turns slightly and says seriously, "Do you really think I'd take you anywhere dangerous?" An eyebrow lifts and it goes unspoken that K'del is too important to him for that. "It's cool, let's go."

That which goes unspoken goes unresponded on by K'del, except that his gaze turns away again. That important. Awkward. "Suppose not," he agrees, finally, drawing his tone into something more jolly - more friendly, and matched by the smile on his face. "Well. All right then. But... You should know, not really great with heights, unless I'm flying." Pause. "Or, really. /Drops/. Not good with potential drops."

"I'll protect you," P'ax says with a deadpan look. "Want to take my hand?" How he pulls that off without smirking in buffoon like proportions is incomprehensible. He shuffles down the ledge to make room for K'del. "It isn't far. I won't let you fall. Neither would Cadejoth and Yyth."

"I'll push you off." K'del's not quite so deadpan, but it's clearly not a serious threat. "If you come anywhere near me." And look - the corners of his mouth twitch, like a smile threatening to come through. He shuffles further, keeping his steps small and very careful, and nods. "I know. Not like I don't get that; just a thing. That's how Tiriana managed to push me off a cliff, once. Because I hesitated."

P'ax manages to look convincingly hurt. "Sure. Sorry." But when he turns his back on K'del to watch his feet, his chest shakes with silent laughter and the grin finally rips open on his face. "Yeah, well, Tiriana's a bitch. I'd never treat you like that." Not that K'del with hypothermia isn't a tempting idea.

K'del is, briefly, taken in by the expression on P'ax's face, and hesitates, obviously ready to make amends - thankfully, he doesn't quite get that far before the greenrider continues, apparently unfazed. His lips draw in, then twitch, and then he, too, grins. "Dunno," he teases. "She's only ever /threatened/ to beat me up."

P'ax looks over his shoulder at K'del. He /leers/ at K'del. "Mmm..hmm." But he agreed with himself not to bring it up so he scoots down the rest of the way to that crack and turns to grab for K'del's hand anyways to pull him off the doubious safety of the ledge into the much more reassuring opening in the ice. "We have to go through here, it's not much farther."

K'del sticks his tongue out in response, though his cheeks have gone pink. It's okay for /him/ to reference that, but not P'ax. He hesitates, but eventually allows the other man to take his hand, taking a deep breath as he's drawn along. "Through the ice," he says, more to himself than to his companion, nodding slowly. He inches along, turning his head about to get a closer look at everything, but still very cautious.

P'ax doesn't take advantage of that trust, or the touch. It's quite pretty down here. Despite the enclosed space, it doesn't /feel/ enclosed. The crack extends upwards for quite a ways, forming a narrow hallway just wide enough for the two slender boys to walk side by side a litlte squishily. A line would definitely be the more comfortable option. Light is defused through the ice from the outside, forming planes of white with deeper blue shadows, passing through every color at some point. As promised, it's a short walk, and soon the sun is bouncing off the ice again in tiny rainbows. "Down there," he says, extending his hand to keep K'del from walking straight off the lip of ice he stands at. "See them on the ice shelf?" Down below on the ice, like wallowing mutated bovines, shiny gray-brown lumps lounge on the floating remains of the ice shelf. Even at this distance, the great cacophany of strange yelps and barks can be heard from the strange fat animals.

Despite the narrowness of the corridor, K'del doesn't move away, pull back his hand, or attempt to follow behind instead of alongside. He's silent, throughout their passage, eyes wide, interest obviously piqued by all that he sees. He comes to a halt, as P'ax puts that hand in front of him, and, as told, leans forward to get a better look. "Shells," he murmurs, surprised and intrigued. "What ugly, awesome things."

P'ax laughs in delight for K'del's observation. "Yyth wanted to eat one. I wouldn't let her. They dived into the water when we tried to get close. There's one really big one, /big/ horns sticking out of its mouth. I don't know how they can move between all that fat and their little fins but they seem to get along okay on the ice and in the water."

"Bet they'd have more trouble in solid ground," remarks K'del, drawing into a crouch so that he can get just that little bit closer, without actually putting himself into a dangerous position. "And trust Yyth."

P'ax nods his head. "Probably. At least the ice is slippery." He crouches down with K'del, rubbing at the ice thoughtfully with the tips of his gloves. "Yeah, I know. Yyth would eat anything."

K'del wraps his arms about himself, despite the heaviness of his coat, his gloves, his scarf and hat. "And she'd probably decide it was her favourite thing ever, and she'd only eat these-- things. Just to be difficult."

"No. Humans are her favorite." Another deadpan statement from P'ax. His grey eyes slide to look at him in his peripheral, just to see how he'll take that. "Milani feeds the trouble makers to her."

"Then I'm surprised you're still standing here." Again, K'del can't manage the deadpan - he would be an awful card player - so he just grins instead.

P'ax chuckles lightly and looks over at K'del, "Yeah, me too. She told me once I tasted awful." He rubs the spot above his elbow unconciously. "Well, I figure I taste too bitter to be tasty."

For a moment, confusion reigns in K'del's expression - and then, comprehension. "Oh. Right. I thought you meant /Milani/, and then I got confused. No, that makes sense. Can't blame Yyth for not wanting to eat you." There's a pause, and then: "Wish she'd eat Tiriana. It's been so... peaceful, with her gone."

P'ax laughs. "No. I think Milani kinda likes me. I don't make problems for her." As for Tiriana..."That could be arranged. But I think you'd have to have Cadejoth keep Iovniath occupied until the last one of her kicky little legs was down the hatch."

"Milani likes most people, as long as they're nice to her," reflects K'del, with a fond expression on his face. "Or - just, mm, maybe it's about the not making problems. Unless they're satisfying problems, I suppose. Know she doesn't like N'thei and Tiriana, but really, that's about it. Refreshing." His lips twitch with unsuppressed amusement at the rest. "Not sure Cadejoth's up for that. /Think/ he amuses Iovniath, but not enough for that. Maybe wait until she finally rises, do it right after that."

P'ax drawls, "Yes, I'm sure Yyth will be supremely happy to eat Tiriana after that. Especially if Cadejoth catches. Nothing would please her more." He rubs his hands together. "I guess N'thei and Tiriana don't get on me the way they bother some people. I don't talk to them much though, so that might be a part of it."

"Or even if he just chases?" that's surmise on K'del's part. He shifts position, the crouch being not the most comfortable arrangement of long limbs, and laughs. "Guess that might help. Don't know. Manage to avoid N'thei for the most part, but Tiriana-- eh, she just gets my goat. /Want/ to be better than that, but she always knows how to twist the knife."

P'ax nods his head. "She's very good at finding a man's soft spots," he agrees and smiles at K'del. "Just gotta not have any. Or, not let her know you have any." His eyes drift away. "I know I'm one. Would you like me to spill acid on her tits, melt them off for you?"

K'del traces his hand over the ground, feeling it through his glove, and laughs. "Nah. Kind of like her tits. That's the problem, I guess; find her really attractive, even despite the complete and utter loathing. Would love to wipe that smile off her face, too." He lets out a long, low breath, and then glances back at P'ax. Breathes again. "'m sorry, by the way."

P'ax just smiles a little. Not a lot, but enough. "Yeah, she's pretty," he agrees. "Too pretty. Just her mouth then. I can melt her mouth off. You didn't really want to kiss her, right? I mean... you can throw a bag over her head and it's just the same." The smile fades. He looks away from K'del awkwardly. "I don't think we need to appologize to each other anymore. We know our transgressions. We wouldn't be here together if we weren't forgiven." He gives K'del's a shoulder a pat and rises to his feet again. "Let's head back, okay?"

K'del's honest laughter fades away pretty quickly as P'ax makes his final remark. "Just her mouth," he agrees, slowly, as he follows the greenrider back to his feet. "And I suppose. Just... feel bad. And now I feel worse, for making things awkward. Sorry. About that, too. I'm /trying/."

P'ax waves it off casually. "It's okay. Wanna make it /really/ awkward?" he teases with a laugh. "I got plenty of awkward for you."

"I really wasn't kidding when I said I could push you off," says K'del in response to that, as he wipes himself off, and turns back towards the passageway.

P'ax sniggers. "It might be worth it to kiss you just once without your mouth tasting like whiskey and puke." Which has P'ax promptly scuffing down the cooridor before K'del can react - and shove him down with the sea bovines.

K'del lunges for P'ax, but he's too late, and also, too careful: it's not so much a lunge, in the end, as a sharp reach. He gives up, and hurries on after the greenrider, noting, in a calling voice, "You're just going to have to dream about that one."

P'ax is waiting for K'del at the other end, lounging against the ice wall with a very teasing look on his face. "Could. But we both know I'm faster than you. Longer legs. Figure I got a sporting chance before you get me over that edge." He nods to the drop. He teasing, all kinds of teasing. He doesn't make a move, just so K'del knows he's all bark.

K'del glances at P'ax's legs, and then down at his own, and shrugs. "You can believe that if you like. Wouldn't take the risk, personally, but..." He looks less uncomfortable with the drop, now, though that doesn't mean he doesn't head back for Cadejoth with some measure of eagerness.

P'ax makes the hike back up to the safety of the snow (what meager safety it is on a glacier) in silence. That drop looks so much healthier with a gay man at your back joking about kissing you. Yep. I'd take it too.

K'del keeps to the silence, too, all the way back up until he's standing beside Cadejoth again, one hand upon the bronze's forelimb. "Thanks for taking me out here," he notes to P'ax. "Was nice."

P'ax gives K'del one of those awkward shy smiles he's so good at around the bronzerider. "Yeah, I'm glad you enjoyed it." Yyth isn't too happy about prying herself away from Cadejoth, because what else would they be doing. "Glad somebody lets me take them to these kinds of places. That's the trouble with all these Istans. They're afraid of a little snow."

"You should spend less time with Istans, then, at more with Reachians," opines K'del. But he's not /precisely/ volunteering. He nudges Cadejoth, who, with reluctance, pulls himself away and lets the young bronzerider mount. "Shut up," murmurs his rider. "You can cuddle with her all you like when we get back. I'm cold."

P'ax resists the urge to offer to warm K'del up, but not without a struggle. "Suppose I should," he finally agrees. "Except they're so pretty and fun in bed."

"And Reachians aren't?" K'del is mock-offended, but grinning.

P'ax considers as he pulls himself up, shaking his boots to get the worst of the clotted snow off. Yyth even gets a few kicks when the most stubborn refuses to come free, though it probably hurts her dignity. "Hmm. I think that my sample data is skewed. But you're welcome to a repolling."

K'del makes a sound in the back of his throat that isn't really anything at all, and nudges Cadejoth into the air. The bronze makes one of his traditional haphazard leaps, sending snow flying. "Thanks, P'ax!" is what K'del yells, before he and the bronze disappear Between.