Anticipation [Neph!]

[Draconian]

If Hero could purr he would have. Having his hair braided felt oddly intimate. He could count on one hand how many people have braided his hair and it would just be his own hand because it was just him. Hero closed his eyes and while Rhosiris was examining how the light caught in the black hair he was just enjoying the sensation, turning his head whenever the slightest nudge happened.

Missing the winter was a concept he hadn't considered could even be a thing. Hero pondered on it while his hair was being braided on the sides and he thought of seasons and... Well, he supposed his favourite was fall, which was almost winter, he supposed. The silence wasn't terrible. There was a comfort in it he hadn't been expecting and with his eyes closed and the sound of the afternoon, Hero relaxed more than he had in a long time. The tension seeped out of him and his shoulders slumped and he sighed heavily.

He felt guilty when Rhosiris mentioned always being tired, moving his hand over his thigh, fingers catching in the fabric of his pants. Hero turned his head towards Rho when he started on the other side, smiling gently because he had been expected his own type of braids, plain and down his back. He was going to look handsome.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Hero said, trying to glance over his shoulder, "Doesn't seem like it would be fun, being so tired for so long. I haven't really been around, but I'm on leave for now while I finish healing so I don't actually destroy myself. So... I can help with... Whatever you need." His voice trailed off, hesitant and a little nervous that maybe he would be declined, but he was prepared for it. Realistic man that he tried to be.

[nephero]

   The motion of braiding was soothing. Rhosiris had never had any talent for things like weaving, but braiding, that he could do for hours. Carefully, Rho worked Hero's head back so he could take the remaining center and slowly wrap the strands around each other, leaving them slightly puffed for more volume as he worked it down the back of Hero's head and began looping the side braids into the whole mass.

   It was nice, being able to be close and quiet, and the slow calm of the breeze and the faint song in every one of Hero's sighs, it was enough to relax anyone. Honestly, Rho would handily take more of these kinds of days.

   "I'm pretty sure I'm just stuck with the sensation. Kirsikka says it will get easier when I get used to it more, but we'll see about that." As for what Hero could do, Rhosiris shrugged slightly, humming a bit to himself. "...I wouldn't say no to more picnics, when you have the time. It's very nice out here. Unless you need to be bitten by more clop-clops and dragons."

[Draconian]

Hero's eyes were closed and he smiled when Rho mentioned more picnics. Smiled when he mentioned being bitten by clop-clops and dragons. As if reminded, Hero moved a hand to his left arm to rub at the freshly healed wound and gave a confirming hum before he spoke.

"I'd be happy to - I'm sure Sunshine would also be happy to. She'd probably love to just hang around, too, away from the stables." Hero sighed again, content and comfortable with the sky cloudy before he rolled his shoulder and relaxed his shoulders, " Definitely don't want to be bitten by a dragon again, and, well it wasn't exactly a bite." He started, "it was more like... Claws? My armor was ruined, so that needs to be repaired. Luckily Sunshine was just spooked but I'm sure me colliding with the ground after getting clawed did nothing for me."

Hero moved his shirt over his shoulder, showing the pink skin of the scar that made his dusky shoulder look like freshly stitched together shred. Before, Hero had prided himself on being mostly scar-free. Not because he felt like he was better than anyone else but because it meant he was mistake free. Able to dodge. Able to deflect. This though, was more a testament to the healer that saw to him or he would have surely died. He pulled the shirt back and went quiet, "I thought I was dead until the village managed to get a healer. I still have to tend to it, since this is..." Hero wiggled his fingers at it, "Magically stitched together. Still very fragile, or so I'm told."

"Can you do that?" he motioned to his shoulder, "Not this exactly, but magic? Or something like it?"

[nephero]

   Rhosiris sucked in a breath at the sight of the scarring. Scars were nothing to be ashamed of, of course. Even someone who had lost an arm was still capable, still worthy of pride. But the size and viciousness of it spoke volumes of the pain and suffering that had preceded the scar, and he couldn't help but shiver at the thought of this man left in his own mud.

   "I'm glad you were able to walk away at all. You're strong."

   He continued working down through Hero's hair, the braid tightening the smaller it became towards the end. He was almost sorry for it, sorry that his time with Hero's lovely hair was at an end. But perhaps, if there were indeed more picnics, he could convince him to sit for another session. And if that were possible, then perhaps Rhosiris could remember a comb.

   "I don't do magic, no. Anastolyr is the wordsmith, and he will use every one of his words to worry at you. Valys can make fire, though be careful if you ask him about it because he may try to show off. I am all that I am."

   Pushing through a worrying thought, Rho tugged at Hero's finished braid. "Do you do magic?"

[Draconian]

The compliment shouldn't have been a surprise, but it still floated through him like something unfamiliar and unusual. It was a simple compliment - being called strong - more like a stated fact than a compliment really but... Hero smiled faintly at it and plucked some grass idly, cheeks a little bit flushed. It felt different from Rho. He'd been called strong before, from previous lovers or from people who'd just comment on it if he walked by.

Slowly he moved his hand to feel the braids at the side of his head, hands gentle and careful not to ruin it. No doubt he looked fancier than he ever had before, though already some of the hair from around his face slipped, refusing to be tamed by braids and ties. Hero moved off to the side of Rho while he spoke after the braid was complete, to which he sat beside the golden elf and 'accidentally' had his knee rest against Rho's leg. A tiny point of contact.

Then he moved the braid over his shoulder and laid down, looking up at the sky, resting his hands on his stomach. He kept the word 'wordsmith' in the back of mind to ask about later, because he had to ponder on the question. "Do I do magic?" Hero frowned at the clouds for a moment, "No. Unfortunately I was spared any gifts," He reached his right hand up, like he was trying to slowly catch a cloud, "I ended up where I am because I have no gifts." Hero let his hand fall and he took a deep breath, "But now that I'm here I'm grateful for it."

Hero pursed his lips, "what's a wordsmith and what's worrying at you, mean?"

[nephero]

Rhosiris considered Hero for a moment, internally debating on laying down as well. On the one hand, it looked very comfortable, all those soft grasses. On the other hand, it was definitely softer than brick and he risked another nap.

Still, the way Hero's knee touched his leg, that bit of contact and all this softness, it made Rho think that there were worse things than falling asleep in a field on a picnic.

Slowly, he eased himself back as well, shifting a bit to settle his spine in a more comfortable fashion. He watched the sky, catching the movements of some bird of prey circling high above and just riding the thermals.

"A wordsmith, they use... words to do their magic. They speak and in speaking they move fate. It can be small things. Some more luck when you need it most, or big things like when we gather for trials." He turned his head some, looking over at Hero with a wry smile. "And Ana uses his words to fret like a hen."

[Draconian]

"That sounds much fancier than wiggling your fingers to make light happen," Hero commented, trying to imagine just what word-magic looked like. He'd heard incantations before. Had seen magic happen on a number of occasions, watched it happen and sometimes tired to see if anything extra occurred in the environment. Maybe an extra sparkle in the air or something, but there never was. Or at least nothing he could detect.


"Do you get worried at now?" He asked softly before he glanced over at his companion and Hero watched for a moment before moving closer and reaching an arm out. Maybe it was too bold. Hero chewed on his lip for a moment before he shuffled closer and maneuvered his good shoulder under Rhosiris's head. It wasn't necessarily soft but it was softer than dirt and ground and at least this way he got to semi-cuddle.

"You're kinda tall and I remember you being good with pole arms- surely there isn't much to be concerned with for you, hmm?"

[nephero]

Oh, he was definitely not getting out of this without falling asleep, now. Still, Rho couldn't bring himself to mind all that much. He even moved just that much closer to have a better angle to use Herostratus as a pillow, sighing soft and content after a moment.

"I'm certainly not fragile, no. But a lot has changed since we left the homelands not too long ago. We lost many on the way and... it's never an easy thing, now is it? So I tease him, but it's not a genuine anger at how he is, you understand."

[Draconian]

The arm was going to go so numb so fast, Hero knew it, but he didn't mind, because the breeze was nice, the clouds that drifted by were white and puffy and the sky was doing that pretty thing it did when the sun was going down but it was just late afternoon instead of night time.

"I take it the trip was difficult," he stated, closing his eyes, "I'd never really left Ketra. Just went out on the jobs I was assigned but I always came back." Hero turned his head slightly, resting his head against Rhos. Reflecting on the fact that they'd just met the once before. That it had been weeks and Hero was so nervous this morning about asking Rho to join him outside for a chat.

"Was the destination Adela?" He asked softly, curious, "Is there still farther to go?"

[nephero]

"The trip was hard. There was much we'd never seen before, places we've never been to before. Languages upon languages... I do like Adelan the best of them. It sounds right."

Rho sighed again, eyes closing despite himself, knowing full well that this was how it started but internally insisting that it'd be fine, he was just resting his eyes for a moment.

"Some went further, took the boats along the coast or headed for the mountains. Some settled further north. Ana, Valys and I, and a few others, we'll stay. Try to make a home, if we can."

[Draconian]

Hero gave a contemplative hum, eyes on the sky pondering why they'd travel so far and risk losing their lives.

"Was your home that bad?" Because surely the only reason to leave your home would be to go somewhere better, right? Hero tried to think of a reason to leave Ketra, leave Adela and he couldn't think of one. There was nothing out there that he couldn't have here, so... Leaving or choosing to leave was an entirely foreign concept. "To leave it and go through something so dangerous?"

[nephero]

   "No, home is...." Rho opened his eyes some, watched the sway of the grasses and the rustling of the leaves in the trees beyond the steady rise and fall of Hero's chest. The sound of the insects that he couldn't possibly hope to identify, so bizarre was everything this far beyond the snows of home. "Home is beautiful. Much colder, I'm sure you would hate it. But the sky lights up in the night, dances along with the stars, and the trees are made of glass and crystal and so they reflect everything."

   Rhosiris sighed a bit, missing the feel of snow under his feet terribly. "Truthfully, I wouldn't have left if I didn't need to. But us all, we... needed to. And now we are here, and things are strange, but so is everything that is new."

   "Like nipples." Rho quipped, reaching over to poke teasingly at Hero's torso in the general idea of where he thought he remembered them being. He chuckled softly. "Very strange. But not regrettable."

[Draconian]

Trees made of glass and crystal made Hero struggling to imagine it. Wood and green, sure, easy. Glass and Crystal? He supposed it was as unusual as the elves were. Hero tucked away that 'needed to leave' bit of information for another time, curious about it. Criminals maybe? Sent off to gather information and... Return it home somehow?

Hero caught the hand that poked his chest with his free arm, lacing their fingers together and holding Rho's hand loosely. "Well, I'm glad you think my nipples aren't regrettable," Hero teased, a smile on his voice. "You'll should to tell me why you needed to leave your home sometime, if you wanted to," Hero didn't move, instead just lightly drew his thumb over wherever he could on Rho's hand, "maybe next time we watch some clouds."

[nephero]

"I am a terrible person to ask. It may take many more picnics." The afternoon didn't seem quite so warm for a moment, and for all his earlier bravado around 'what did it matter', Rhosiris was suddenly struck with the realization that he might actually very much care about what Hero thought. Forget babies, how did he go about explaining that he'd walked this whole damn way to meet one person and had ended up like this with a stranger instead?

But it was so nice, being like this. It was quiet and comfortable and there wasn't any reason to stand on ceremony or glass eggs or whatever the expression was.

"I'm not trying to be difficult, or trick you. I just don't know all the words. Like the clop-clops or nipples or picnics or mirages."

[Draconian]

Hero smiled and chuckled, closing his eyes and sighing again.

"That's what I'm hoping for," he said truthfully, "if you can't explain it well you can just explain it slowly for a long time," Hero gave his finger a tap on Rho's hand before he tried to think of who talked about mirages.

"Oh, marriage." Hero said out loud, "It's when two people make a promise to be together forever, you do a ceremony and then you're married to your loved one. Or your whoopsie-baby partner." He cleared his throat, " Clop-clops are horses. Or just a horse. The brown things with hooves. Sometimes brown. There are a few colours. Big fast animals." Hero smiled up at the clouds and when he tried to open his eyes, he decided it was much more comfortable to keep them closed, his breathing evened out a little, though it turned deep and sleep. Very much falling asleep.

[nephero]

"Marriage, yes." Rho was quiet for a moment, considering the concept for a long while. He moved his thumb over Hero's fingers threaded in his own. The contact was small, but each small bit of contact did so much to push away the chill that threatened to sweep in the moment he let his guard down. It was nice, and Rho hadn't felt so nice in a long time, and was it really so selfish to want more?

A whole lifetime, though... they'd barely known each other, and yet here Herostratus was suggesting something so permanent. Surely there were more suitable people the man would have preferred.

The thought brought with it a shiver and a sour note to his stomach, and so he tried to think of anything else but that. He looked up at the clouds, watching the shapes shift as they were carried across the sky.

"That one looks like a horse." He glanced to the side, and saw Hero's eyes were closed. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Rho considered the lines of his face and all the wisps of hair that had escaped his best attempts at braiding. He definitely would need to try a comb, next time.

He shifted more to his side, pressing in just a bit closer for the sake of warmth, and closed his eyes again. He hated how much time he spent napping, but hey, what harm was one more?

[Draconian]

Herostratus was hot.

His skin was burning and he gave a fitful twitch of his hand, his breath picked up and bright golden eyes snapped open. It was freshly dusk, the sun not quite gone over the horizon but the moon, bright and round hung in the sky.

Oh.

Hero gasped and moved away from Rho as gently as he could, his body giving a convulsion while on his hands in knees in the grass. Fingers dug into the dirt and he clamped his mouth closed, going so far as to clamp a hand over it to keep any gasps or cries muffled. Transforming always hurt. Usually he knew to drink the tea that knocked him the fuck out before he tied himself up like a dog - at the very least he never really remembered it beyond a mild ache and sleeping on paws. He would also transform, but he's just sleep through it instead of run wild.

A pained cry had Hero press his face into the grass, doing his best to move his arms to pull his clothing off so he didn't rip anything while kneeling. Every moment of non-pain was spent trying to get away from his companion, trying to be quiet. Hoping that Rhosiris was the deepest sleeper to exist. Everything sounded different, the colour was leeching away. He knew he was in that weird between place, his ears were probably wolfy and his eyes were probably really fucking weird looking.

The pained cries turned into inhuman growls with every gasp of breath and his hands fisted the grass while things changed and morphed. "Fucking... Moon!" Hero growled, teeth sharp and his voice his own but... Different. More. An animalistic tinge.

[nephero]

   It was the cry that woke him. The journey south had been difficult and full of its own dangers, and at times even the presence of trained warriors wasn't enough when it was just them huddled in a circle against the dark. Rho certainly didn't sleep well some nights, even in the pampered rooms in the castle.

   His eyes snapped open, and for a moment he was confused as to why he was in the dirt in the first place. But then he saw Hero curled up and in clear pain, and it was if lightning had struck him right in the pit of his stomach. Rho didn't understand what was happening, or why Hero was pulling off his clothes or why his spine was moving like that.

   His eyes only grew wider and wider when the sounds of pain turned to growls, and when Hero cursed the moon Rho glanced up but couldn't see what was so different about the moon or what it was doing. Rho moved across the grass, bent low and hands outstretched, worried that all this motion and all this whatever was happening would open Hero's shoulder and then they'd be in real trouble.

   "Herostratus? What's happening?"

[Draconian]

There was a tail now.

Hero never really liked the tail part of the transformation, wholly foreign to just have a weird fluffy arm above his ass. He hated how it just moved on it's on in the few moments he was conscious while turned - usually. His name caught his attention and he gave out a pleading moan, not sure if he was horrified, embarrassed or both to be seen like this.

"Rho," He panted out, more noises being forced out of him while his torso turned. More fur coated his body and it climbed up his neck, he had to get the words out before he couldn't make words anymore, "I'm fine, it's okay," his voice was growly and weird, "I'm sorr--" and the words were just a sad little howl-y whimper at the end. No doubt the transformation between man and beast was very weird looking - Hero had never witnessed it but he could feel it.

It took maybe two minutes for the whole transformation to occur, but it felt like forever.

 Hero stood there on all fours, a large black wolf with bright golden eyes. His brain was a little fluffy now. There were too many smells. He sniffed at Rho carefully before he collected his clothes in his mouth and started to shuffle away. Not really sure what to do. Running seemed like a good idea, right? If he just disappeared into the night maybe he could pretend he hadn't just wolf'd in front of someone he was trying to get to know better.

[nephero]

A shapechanger.

Hero was a shapechanger.

Rhosiris was dumbfounded for a long while - he had heard stories of those who could do such a thing, wild claims of taking wing and flying from island to island, but stories like that were just stories. Entertaining and terrifying and untrue, and yet there he was standing at the treeline facing down what had previously been a man.

Rhosiris followed behind him as he gathered up his clothes. It was foolish, and he was sure later Anastolyr would absolutely have a fit to hear what he'd done, but-- well, what else was Rhosiris to do? The wolf didn't seem to have kept all of the mind it had started with, and they were very close still to so many people. Rho glanced over his shoulder back to the city proper, and remembered their first meeting in the training yard. Did they know about Herostratus? Would they recognize him? Or would all those swords and spears make short work of him?

Mouth tightened into a grimace, Rhosiris turned back and began after Hero, moving over the roots and ducking under branches as he went.

"You owe me so many picnics. If I don't get eaten first."