Two's Company

[MadEmperor]

Thrax smirked, enjoying the good-natured sniping as he nursed his drink. "I understand that you're the man to thank for keeping her alive after her family died."

Allowing himself to get all embarrassingly mushy for a moment, he said, "So... thank you. Without you, I would never have met the first woman to make me truly understand what love is. Hana is... very special."

[DragonSong]

"She told you about them?" Tobin blinked behind his spectacles, then gave Hana a vaguely astonished look. "He's really not just a tumble then."

Cheeks flushing with a combination of embarrassment and irritation, she snapped, "I told you that already."

"Yes, yes." He waved a hand at her dismissively. "Forgive me if I don't always take your word for such things."

"Gods, Tobin, you make it sound like I'm some sort of--!"

"Well, I suppose you're welcome," the hermit cut across her with a brisk nod for Thrax. "Honestly, she's more trouble than she's worth--but if you care for her that much, then you already know that." He sipped at his tea, then huffed, "S'good thing she found you. I was starting to worry she wouldn't find anyone who could tolerate her once I'm gone."

Though the words were harsh, Hana heard the slight softening and sincerity in his tone--maybe he really had been worried that she spent so much of her life alone. It was enough to keep her from snapping something annoyed back at him, at any rate.

[MadEmperor]

Thrax laughed out loud. Smirking, he said, "Believe me, I'm just as much trouble as she is. It's—well, honestly, it's why we work so well together; we sort of... fill in each other's rough spots. We make each other better."

He cleared his throat. That was enough genuine emotion for one afternoon. "We've been through a lot together over the last... year? Shit. Time flies on the road."

[DragonSong]

"Holy hells, yeah," Hana laughed, shaking her head. "I guess it really has been about that long..."

She glanced briefly at Thrax, the truth of that striking her in a way she wouldn't have expected. Fill in each others rough spots.

That was a nice way to think of it.

Tobin glanced between them before asking, "And just what exactly is it you've been through?"

Hana laughed again. "How much tea ya got? We're gonna be here a while."


She gave him the highlights, the important bits: how they'd met, that first job with River and Kah, flying to Zantaric. She did sort of...gloss over that part a bit. Said they'd had some trouble with the demonic sword that brought them onto the plains for a while.

That part felt like Thrax's story to share, if he wanted to. She certainly wasn't going to lay his pain bare without his permission.

Then there was Thanatos. Her aunt. The village. She went into some more detail with Tobin than she had with the Longfangs about that. He already knew some of the worst of it, after all.

Her adoptive father listened quietly, only speaking up to ask a question or two every so often. Finally, she got to the end of the story, and he nodded thoughtfully.

"Well. Sounds like you've kept busy."

[MadEmperor]

"We certainly have." Thrax chuckled. "That week with the Longfangs was probably the only real relaxation we've had in quite a while."

"And they have pups coming out of their ears," he laughed. "They're good kids. Just... so busy."

Honestly, he didn't know how Tobin even managed one doubtlessly busy child. It required patience and stamina that he just didn't have. But, should the unexpected happen, he would try.

[DragonSong]

"Mmm." Tobin sipped at his tea again, then placed the cup down with a soft clunk on the wooden tabletop. "Well. I don't much hold for free room and board—not enough space around here for that. So if you're gonna be staying, you'll be expected to help out. But there certainly won't be any babysitting, I can promise that."

Hana chuckled a bit. "Yeah, figured. But we can stay for a couple days?"

The old hermit glowered at her, then nodded as he grumbled, "Suppose you can."

She smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Thanks, Tobbs."

"Bah, off with ya." He waved her away, but for just half a second his mouth seemed to curve in a smile. "I'm sure you remember where the spare bed is. You can leave your packs there."

[MadEmperor]

"Don't worry. This isn't the first time I've had to flex these muscles for room and board, and it won't be the last," Thrax assured the cranky hermit before following Hana the short way to the spare bed.

"Well, it's cramped, but it's not tree branch cramped," he quipped as he set his pack down. He certainly knew what they wouldn't be doing. Tobin would kick them out if they did.

[DragonSong]

Seeing as the cottage really only had a single bedroom, the spare bed was tucked into the loft set above it, with a ladder to reach it that Hana scrambled up with the clear ease of many years of practice. "Cramped" was an apt description.

She groaned and rolled her eyes at Thrax as she set her own pack down. "Again with the branch," she sighed theatrically. "It was one time."

She shifted over to the edge of the loft and let her feet hang down as she looked around. "Gods, it's weird to be back here," she chuckled. "This was the place I used to hide from those kid-brain monsters in the dark, y'know? So strange to see how...small it really is."

[MadEmperor]

"Just imagine if you grew up to be a 'wall of shag carpet and muscles'." Thrax smirked as he awkwardly tried to find a space to fit his big, fuzzy butt without breaking something. "Gods, I feel like a dragon in a glass castle in here."

[DragonSong]

She laughed and scooched over to give him more room--though there was really only so much she could do on that front. "Don't worry--Tobin's carpentry is sturdier than it looks," she said with a lopsided smile. After a moment of thought, she added, "Though you may want to avoid the armchair by the hearth. I swear, that thing's older than he is."

She let herself lean against him slightly before saying in a softer tone, "Besides, I rather like the whole "wall of shag carpet and muscles" thing." It was that odd tip-toeing around the gentler aspects of their dynamic again, trying to figure out the right thing to say. She knew Tobin hadn't meant any real harm with the comment, but she also had a strange urge to reassure Thrax that most of the things people made jokes or even insults about...she didn't like him despite those things, she liked him because of them.

But she didn't know how to say that without sounding absurdly sappy.

[MadEmperor]

"You do, do you?" He grinned playfully, leaning against her gently. "What else do you like about me? My ego could always use a good stroking."

He thought he knew what she was trying to do. But Tobin hadn't hurt his feelings, and, around her, he never felt like he had to prove he wasn't a thug, a savage, or a monster; he was just... Thrax. He could have loved her for that alone.

[DragonSong]

She snorted and gave him a dry look, then sighed in mock-exasperation. "Well, seeing as with the current sleeping arrangements your ego will be the only thing getting stroked for a while, I suppose I can humor you," she quipped.

She hummed thoughtfully and pressed back against his leaning before starting to list, "I like your sense of humor, and how you don't take life too seriously. I like that I have to stretch up onto my toes to kiss you." She grinned and stretched up to peck his cheek. "And...I like your gooey center, no matter how many times you try to prove you don't have one."

Smiling crookedly, she let herself lean back on one hand and tipped her head to the side. "Not a comprehensive list, but I guess it's a start."

[MadEmperor]

"It's a good list!" he said with a happy grin.

He leaned back alongside her and scratched behind his ear. "So... Is it my turn? It is, isn't it?"

He swayed his feet as he thought. "I like how you don't care about how people look and only care about the person inside. I like how you aren't jaded, even though you have every reason to be. Aaand... I like the way your eyes glitter like rubies when you're up to no good."

"And the fact that you're smoking hot doesn't hurt." He grinned playfully.

[DragonSong]

Hana almost protested that he didn't need to come up with a list for her, but honestly...she was curious. And she wasn't so proud as to deny that she liked a little flattery now and then.

"...That's a good list," she repeated, smiling softly at him. Expression creeping back toward playful, she judged her shoulder against his and added. "Especially the last one."

"Oi! You two done up there? No canoodling under my roof."

Hana groaned and rolled her eyes. "We are not canoodling, Tobin, gods' sakes."

[MadEmperor]

Thrax stifled a big laugh, which came out in a strangled snicker. "Did... Did he really just say canoodling?"

"We're just talking! Bard's honor!" he called down.

Remembering bards weren't known for honor, he corrected himself. "Warrior's honor!"

[DragonSong]

"I'm afraid he did," Hana chuckled back quietly, before she sighed and got to her feet.

"I don't care whose honor's on offer, get your tails down here."

"Alright, alright, we're coming down," she called to Tobin with another little laugh.

"Be quick about it—seems someone set off one of my snares, and I need some new ones set up."

[MadEmperor]

Thrax let out a groan. "Barely in the door, and he's already got a job for us."

He got up with a dramatic sigh and followed her down the ladder. This was going to be a long day.

"Okay. Our tails are present and accounted for," he said with a jaunty salute and a lopsided smirk.

[DragonSong]

"Mmmrph." Tobin gave him a quick look before returning his attention to clearing the table. "Hana knows where I keep the supplies. We need four or five more snares set back toward the western trail. Think you two can manage that?"

Hana rolled her eyes as she slipped up next to Thrax and tucked herself against his side. "Of course we can. We'll be back well before sundown."

"Mind your step out there," Tobin muttered.

Unsure if that was genuine concern or if that was a dig at her mishap on the way in, Hana made a face at his back before nodding for Thrax to follow her out.

[MadEmperor]

Once outside, Thrax watched her for a moment before asking, "He's going to work our asses off, isn't he?"

If that was why she forged off on her own, he couldn't blame her. Of course, she wasn't meant for a life hidden away in the woods with a cranky hermit, even if she had treated her like a princess. She made the world a better place by simply being in it.

[DragonSong]

"A bit," Hana laughed. "It's usually not so bad—a handful of chores during the day, making sure everything is running smoothly out here. It's the sort of stuff he usually manages by himself, so between the two of us it shouldn't be too rough."

She took a look around as they moved away from the cottage, drawing in a deep breath.

"I do like it out here," she murmured after a moment. "I just...I dunno. I couldn't stay forever, y'know?"