Welcome to Gaia! ::

He was not crotchety. Or old. And surely anyone reasonable would be at least mildly miffed at strange, loud children causing a scene during the heat of the day. If anything, this was the most appropriate time for annoyance. Xilarn scrubbed a hand down his face and fought the argument that threatened to spill from his lips. This was silliness. He should be amused. He’d been perfectly content- content enough, anyway- just a few moments ago, pre the episode that had just transpired here. It wasn’t important, didn’t affect anything, and had no right to be even moderately upsetting. It was, of course, but it really had no right.

He shook his head and muttered a near-silent, “Don’t feel obligated to say the first thing that pops into that head of yours…” A futile warning, he was sure, but maybe if he repeated it often enough, it would stick to some extent. He didn’t much care for conversation beyond that point, and if there was a god, he blessedly gave Damissan the intuition to leave.

Unfortunately, Xilarn probably had damn near as little interest in lingering as Damis himself. And the only reason he stuck around for any longer than that was because he was sure the younger man was headed back to the inn, and if Xil wasn’t interested in trailing after him before, he certainly wasn’t now. He held his ground for what felt like an absurdly unnecessary amount of time, out of nothing but stubborn irritability.

It wasn’t anywhere near as warm out when he did decide (begrudgingly) that he ought to make it back to the inn, and from there, after spending the vast majority of his day in a tavern, doing anything useful seemed out of the question.

Some indeterminate amount of hours later, he awoke with feathers in his face and a too large, too heavy, too warm body splayed out across everywhere. The need to scramble for your life from beneath the suffocating wing of a raptrix was enough to bring anyone to full wakefulness. But since it was still dark, as it hadn’t been especially late when he retired, and near everything was completely silent, Xilarn decided he could spend just a bit more time being marginally irresponsible.

He didn’t linger in the inn any longer than it took to dress, cram his things into a bag, and set it aside, ready for later.

In the years he spent traveling, he’d learned that the best bakeries opened before the first light of day, before great swarms of people rose from their beds and headed out into the streets, and before things turned loud and less tolerable. And there were so many things to enjoy about breakfast. Warm smells, quiet morning, temperate weather. Dark, silent, peace.

Not that it lasted forever.

With other obligations to fulfil, he didn’t entertain the thought of staying long, and headed back to the inn immediately after finishing his breakfast. Xilarn shouldn’t have been especially surprised to see Damis at his door as he trudged up the last few stairs to the upper level. Not surprised, and not displeased. It did save him the effort of trying to rouse a teenager from his sleep. “Good,” he rumbled as he moved within speaking distance. “I did hope you’d muster the wherewithal to wake on your own. Here.” Xil offered him a steaming mug in one hand and a paper bag in the other. “I’m not familiar with what you generally eat at this hour, but you don’t strike me as someone who dislikes coffee, so that, and some variety of fruit-stuffed powder-sugared baked something-or-other. Anything you don’t like, you can feed to Gadot. I’m sure he’d be grateful.”

“Mm, I haven’t been awake too terribly long,” Xilarn answered as he fished about in his pocket for the key to his room. “It’s not as though I had to walk very far for breakfast, and I didn’t go to bed especially late by anyone’s standards.” Probably early, if he wanted to admit as much. But in his defense, there hadn’t been any particularly pressing reasons to stay awake. Not if he was supposed to be up at daybreak, besides.

He clicked open his door and nudged it wide enough that he could still hear Damis from the hallway as he moved to collect his bags from the bed. Gadot immediately filled the vacated spot at the younger man’s side. He pressed his nose to the ground, slathering his tongue across the floor to collect stray bits of sugar as they drifted within range. Anything left unattended for more than a handfull of seconds was usually fair game, and this morning’s treats were no exception. The raptrix stared expectantly at the pastry in Damis’ hands, tail wagging and slapping loudly at walls of the hallway.

From in his room, Xilarn shot the younger man a look. “I didn’t get drunk, if that’s what you’re asking. So no, I’m not uncomfortable, and I slept as well as could be expected in an unfamiliar place. Thank you for asking.” He slung his bag over his shoulder and turned back just in time to see Gadot make an unnecessarily active and loud thumping lunge for whatever Damis has just thrown him. The overly excited rumbling and chewing made it sound like a much more substantial bite than it probably was. Xil shook his head.

They should probably try to make their way out before some less early risers took offense to the commotion they were making.

The plan suited Xilarn just fine. If it was a little windy or a little dark, that didn’t seem an encouraging enough reason to linger. At least it wasn’t hot and there wouldn’t be many around to deter them on there way out. He strode from the room, and after locking the door, tapped the key to Damis’ lips. “How about you shhh for a moment and take these back to the innkeeper. I’ll bring our stuff down, get it secured to Nazakai, send Gadot off, and we can be on our way as soon as whoever is there to greet you at this hour tires of listening to you and decides to send you back to me.”

There was a great deal of scrambling and thumping as Gadot chased hardly even a bite of bread to the floor, paws scrabbling, claws gouging into the wood and leaving very visible imprints. When the hopeful thought of avoiding bothering any other guests had come to mind, this felt distinctly like the situation Xil wanted to pass on. Gadot didn’t know any better, though he did catch his treat, leaving sticky wet droplets of happy puppy saliva across the ground in his wake, but Damis really could manage to be a fraction more courteous. Xilarn sighed loudly and impatiently, shooting the younger man a ‘don’t do that again’ look.

It was marginally dampened by the faintest flicker of surprise at the flash of teeth and deeply unnecessary wink in his direction. Xil snatched his arm back with disgruntled immediacy. He didn’t know what he anticipated. An excuse as to why this task was too troublesome or not worth Damis’ time, maybe. Not grinning. But he should’ve expected as much. Really. He rolled his eyes, muttered out an unimpressed, “See that you do,” and turned to stalk off in the other direction, toward the back stairway and exit.

The raptrix, however, moved to follow the food. He made it three steps, eagerly bouncing after Damissan and the thought of more bites before a sharp whistle from his master, followed immediately by an agitated beckoning arm flick gave him pause. He wanted the pastry. Damis had the pastry. He should go with Damis. His tail flicked and he made to take just one more step- The warning sound Xil made made Gadot turn back, letting out a series of vocal rumble-coo complaints before tucking his head and trotting after the older Fire man.

Outside, Xilarn gave himself a moment to really adjust to the idea of being stuck with Damissan, without an escape route consistently on hand. He’d said he would send the mutt ahead, and he would because it was probably healthier for him, but Xil absolutely felt very little want to do any such thing. He reached, skimming his fingers into the fur just beneath Gadot’s ear and sighed. No, the oversized puppy wasn’t especially great at communication, but he was still there, still familiar, and still generally more tolerable. Without Gadot, Xil might as well basically be left alone with Damis. He scrubbed a hand down his face. It might be less engaging than he’d originally planned for.

After a deep, calming, steadying breath, he walked to the stables.

“You remember Ziari, don’t you,” he murmured softly to the raptrix as they neared Nazakai’s stall. Xil fished in his bag, rummaging until he found a thick leather collar, complete with message holster. “You should; she’s fed you plenty of times before…”

He took the time to strap any lingering articles to the quhar’s back before his focus returned to Gadot, and the boy finding his way back to them. His gaze flicked briefly to Damis, before he gave a shake of his head. “I can’t imagine you’d find a library exciting, and if I’m being honest, I don’t either.” He procured a letter from his bag and a bottle, giving the parchment a quick spritz of bitter-smelling liquid before tucking it away in Gadot’s holster. “I decided my time was better spent explaining to my dear cousin why I’m unloading a hyperactive garbage-gut monster onto her for the next few days.”

Not that that had taken an especially lengthy amount of time.

He skimmed his fingers up the length of Gadot’s nose, and received a lick in response. Xil turned back to Damissan, quirking him an incredulous brow. “I do hope you didn’t think I was out getting drunk immediately after we agreed on getting an earlier start than what you usually aim for. In case it crosses your mind again, in the future, I’m not a drunk.”

Xilarn gave a muted groan of a sound as he tugged on Gadot’s ears. While he certainly wasn’t thrilled about the raptrix abandoning him and leaving him stuck with a nosey, talkative space-invading boy, there were a few other factors that didn’t exactly lend themselves to improving the situation.

“He’s… familiar with her scent and general location. Obviously just saying ‘go find Ziari’ wouldn’t do me any good, but since he has made the trip before, from Sauti, and I did have the chance to train him to recognize when I wanted him to go to her, specifically, while both she and I were staying in one place, I imagine he’s got at least half a chance of being successful? Generally, I was at home, so if he couldn’t find her, he could just as easily come back to me, which isn’t the case this time, but…” It couldn’t be helped. He shook his head. They absolutely didn’t have the supplies or space for the supplies to keep a large, densely-furred animal hydrated in the desert. It wasn’t possible, and it couldn’t really take more than maybe ten days. Gods willing, anyway.

Xil stepped from the stables, one hand hooked around Gadot’s collar to guide him out (and maybe also to discourage a far-too companionable proximity to the quhar’s heels) as they followed in Damis’ wake and back out into the dim, windy morning. It wasn’t hot now, and there came the surely unfounded hope that it wouldn’t be as much so today, but it was a ridiculous thought if there ever was one, and Xilarn sighed.

“We are not ‘going to see’ anyone. You are free to go about doing whatever it is you plan on doing in Jauhar. Neued has a relatively diverse population, so as long as you don’t go out of your way to bother people you shouldn’t, I imagine you’ll be fine on your own. But if you do happen to be present when I meet up with her, I expect you to keep your mouth shut and attempt to behave like a normal person.” If such a thing was even possible.

Judging solely from what he’d seen thus far, it wasn’t.

He moved forward, out into the streets, freeing his raptrix as he did, and this was apparently all the encouragement Gadot needed to bound ahead, sniffing curiously at the feet of passerby. Xilarn crossed his arms. “Regardless of how I feel about your company, I’m not going to do anything to make the trip more uncomfortable for you or me. And waking up nauseous and with a headache is hardly how I want to start my day.” He snorted, and the corner of his lip tugged up. “You think I can’t stand your company now.”

Xilarn scoffed, and dragged the back of his hand across his lips to keep an unasked for bubble of amusement from popping free. Laughter was apparently a form of encouragement that he wasn’t willing to give, in regards to the subject at hand, particularly toward Damis, who seemed to need so very little encouragement for much of anything. “Of course, of course. Silly me. It’s not ‘going out of your way’ if it just happens naturally.” It didn’t merit mentioning that he severely doubted a great many of those to the west would be more inclined to listen to anything he had to say than anyone here. And Damissan’s optimism would only get him so far with foreigners.

There was a shred of hope that not living all smashed together like the Obans would make Shifters and anything beyond less volatile. But it was a shred Xilarn didn’t want to put any faith in and certainly wouldn’t go so far as to expect.

He sighed and reached, twining his fingers through the hood at the back of Damis’ cloak and pulling it up and over with just slightly more force than the action actually required. “I don’t really associate you with ‘careful,’ and I don’t imagine you’ll be as such, but I would consider it a personal favor to me, if, from this point on, you put just a minute or two more thought into the things you say and do. Consider your audience. At least here no one thinks you’re crazy until you open your mouth. In these big cities? Crazy can’t possibly be uncommon, whether it’s unwanted or not.”

“But in Jauhar and farther, it won’t be anyone’s first impulse to give you the benefit of the doubt. A lot of people are still irrationally bitter from past wars, and regardless of the fact that you’re a teenager and have absolutely nothing to do with anything, they won’t like you. So you can smile and be carefree and say the first thing that comes to mind and hope- if you have the wherewithal for even that much- that it doesn’t offend anyone, but please. Try. To do this for me. We can go as far as you want for as long as you want, so long as you give even an ounce more thought to self preservation.”

Xil’s gaze flicked ahead, toward where Gadot was trying to stuff himself beneath the cloth covering a cart and the merchant manning it was huffing and puffing and just barely restraining the urge to prod him in the side with a large stick. Xil whistled, and Gadot’s tail wagged, his head popped up, and he scurried closer. The older man cast a skeptical look back at Damis. “And toward things that actually have the intent to hurt you,” he added as he scratched the raptrix’s head. Reward came in the form of smelly, chewed sticks of fish bone dropped at his feet. “Not giant puppies.”

“But to answer you question, to my knowledge, no, she isn’t married. Hitting on people’s younger female family members while actually in their presence? Generally frowned upon, since we're on the subject of things you shouldn't do.”

Worried about him. Xil rolled his eyes with a quiet snort. People did not hire guards for their children without a reason. Obviously someone was worried about Damissan, and that was enough to merit concerns of his own. Particularly after watching him interact with people and realizing that anything that might be even slightly amusing was fair game, regardless of consequence. Nevermind if Xil had helped instigate it or not. “I have a very mild, healthy wariness of your personal activities and how you handle yourself without someone around to temper-” The was a brief half-an-instant wherein Xilarn sought a word that didn’t sound distinctly negative, but the moment passed almost immediately. “-your worst tendencies.”

Or the worst he’d seen so far, anyway. An intimidating thought, particularly when coupled with things he’d been told about Damis and things that might happen.

He shook his head, stooped, and reached to pluck a fish bone from the ground. After a brief once-over to ascertain that his mutt probably had eaten worse and survived, he threw it several yards ahead out into the road. Gadot yipped, fanned his wings, bounced excitedly, and gave chase. Xil turned back to the matter at hand. “Regardless, you might just agree, instead of giving me your explanations and excuses. How about, ‘Yes, Xilarn. I will try to do as you ask.’” But then there wouldn’t be room to debate about it. He scoffed. “And don’t wonder why I’d be surprised if you did anything without argument.”

Gadot returned to them, taking massive half-flying leaps in his eagerness to continue with the game. He stopped in front of Xilarn, only to be carelessly guided to the side and out of the older man’s way with a push to the side of his head. The raptrix groaned his dissent but turned his attention with immediate expectancy to Damis.

He cooed, gave a toss of his head, and stuffed his nose (fishbone still between his teeth) against the younger man’s shoulder in an attempt to engage anyone enough to play with him.

Xilarn snickered and decided this at least, didn’t require explanation. Instead, he opted for an equally teasing, “You’ll forgive me if I don’t exactly trust the extent of a nineteen year old boy's ‘innocence.’”

It shouldn’t be amusing, and really, he probably ought to make an effort to curb Gadot’s pushy, insistent eagerness, lest the raptrix try to entertain himself with someone distinctly less approachable than Damis. But Xilarn’s level of interest in doing any such thing was at the barest of minimums. Since no one in this particular, immediate situation could really be hurt, he laughed, for all his previous intention of doing no such thing. “Ah, there you go. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” He rumbled, reaching to pinch the younger man’s cheek and give a light shake. “Maybe I oughtn’t be surprised that you can follow very simple commands, so long as the words are given to you.”

Gadot whined impatiently, wings fluttering and tail wagging as he tottered after Damis’ attempt to stagger away from him. A sharp whistle drew his attention back to Xilarn, and then he was bouncing forward. There was a brief, playfully-growly scuffle in which Xil attempted to obtain the mangled assortment of fish bones, and considering Gadot’s relative size and strength, probably one he would’ve failed at if the raptrix didn’t choose to release it a second later, only to have it thrown again. With a quiet woof, he was off.

With his amusement fading into a round of chuckles, Xil beckoned after the creature. “Look how badly he wants to be your friend,” he cooed teasingly as the oversized puppy galloped off. “He wants your love and attention so much, and you push him away. It’s a shame, because I’m sure he would listen to you talk and complain and preach about your god- or your family or why you don’t have any actual friends wanting to make this trip with you- all night long and never have any argument against you. Unlike most people, who don’t want to hear much from you at all.”

“And I can’t honestly believe you have much concern for whether or not you’d actually get sick from touching a puppy’s plaything, besides.” He wiped his hand against Damissan’s sleeve. “This way, at least if one of us goes down…” It occurred to him to wink, since it was clearly a gesture Damis was familiar with, but the moment passed, and he walked ahead, instead.

After that, he found it hard to be particularly put-off by any of the younger man’s assertions in regards to Ziari. He shrugged. “Regardless of what I’m being paid to do, I will take her side before yours, so do as you feel inclined, but try your very hardest not to be offensive.” He spared a moment to consider. “Or don’t. Give me a reason to break those pretty white teeth of yours.”

It was not the time or place for more smiles, and frankly, Xilarn had always assumed he had just enough tact to manage that much. Probably not a whole lot else, but he should be able to do this. He usually could. Except, not this time, apparently. He grinned. In the grand scheme of things, Xil supposed it didn’t matter one way or another if Damis was teasing him or grossly offended by him, but in all fairness, since the younger man hadn’t ever shown much degree of upset, maybe Xilarn just assumed he could push and prod as much as he liked, without any real fear of a decidedly negative response. If nothing else, he at least knew of a limit now.

In an attempt to school his features, he forced a frown. Or as much of one as could be managed, anyway. Not that it did him any good, with Damissan’s back to him as it was. Perhaps at this point, he ought to feel just a tad more contrite- he hardly stood to gain anything from making anyone upset- and he could imagine that there would be plenty of other hardships along the way that he didn’t actively cause, but alas.

He gave the smallest dip of his head in acquiescence toward Damis’ back. “I suppose you’re forgiven for your oversight.” He tried not to sound too terribly put-upon.

As far as Xilarn was concerned, there wasn’t much need to add anything else beyond that point, and even if he did, he couldn’t imagine it being well-received. At least, surely nothing he thought to say would be. So, he quieted instead, outside of the occasional rumbled praise and affectionate coos each time Gadot returned to him with his toy. In the less-conversational interim, he wondered if he really ought to be exhausting so much of his raptrix’s energy. And if the amount of mutt slobber and flying fur going everywhere was any indication, Gadot probably didn’t need the extra help warming up.

As they neared the edge of the city, and the number of buildings to shield off the elements dwindled, Xilarn became more distinctly aware of the unusual velocity of the wind. And the gross amount of sand it sprayed and whipped everywhere. He glanced back, toward the muted, burnt orange tinge of the horizon and the dark, murky overhanging clouds that he’d previously not noticed due to the sole fact that they just weren’t as noticable in the dark of morning. Briefly, Xil wondered if they merited mentioning. His gaze traveled to the backside of the boy strolling ahead of him.

He decided it wasn’t.

Maybe it was windy and dark some many span of miles behind, but ahead, the way was clear, and it seemed likely the mess at their backs would dissipate before it became troublesome. Since he and Damis were getting on so well now, there didn’t seem to be a reason to ruin it.