Welcome to Gaia! ::

Thorne looked at Corra, a slight frown on his face. "I know," he said, and tilted his head, smiling at the thought. "You're surprisingly eloquent for being at least ten years younger than me." His grin festered, amused. "Careful, or you'll tempt me to do somethin' dangerous, given the chance."

The trip down was easier than it should have been, considering this was the DIY test to bungee jumping off of cliffs. It was a relief, however, to hit the ground. Thorne raised his brows when Rylan mentioned he'd have to relay the message himself and started stripping the harness, rolling his shoulders at the sudden freedom of not clinging to a tree for dear life.

Millicent herself was completely content to be taken, curling up against Rylan's shoulder and purring loud enough to be heard as she kneaded her claws gently into the fabric of the mans shirt.

"Damn," he said idly, reaching out to stroke the cats fur, even though his eyes stayed on Rylan, "I was really hoping that wouldn't be the case. You're much easier on the eyes." He paused and tilted his head, considering for a long moment, biting his lower lip.

"Listen," he said finally, "You seriously need to let me owe you one this time. Especially since you've also put the idea of DIY bungee jumping into my head."

Thorne was pleased to see Rylan actually getting along with his cat. Millicent was the kind of cat that conquered, and he was relieved that her latest conquest seemed to accept his place in her kingdom of subjects.

"See?" He said. "She's worth scaling trees for."

But it sounded like he might have been trying to say something else.

His grin slid across his face as he looked at Rylan, the adrenaline still hot and hungry in his veins, devouring his ability to be nervous. "Of course. What's better than throwing ourselves off of cliffs together, after all?" He cocked his head, eyes half-lidded, mischief wild in his eyes. "But for something a little more sudden - at least let me buy you a beer, cook you dinner. You saved my cat, after all. You deserve that much, mistah fireman." He drawled the last part with obvious tease.

He couldn't say for sure whether this meeting was any better or any worse than their first. But at least he wasn't near having a panic-induced sprint away from Rylan a second time. Maybe it was the adrenaline.

And then there was Corra, and he looked back up at her and laughed.

"But you look so good from this angle," he called up. "You sure you don't want to stay?"

"Ha," Thorne pulled the laugh from his lips in a slow, soft drawl, glancing at Lucas with wild-bright eyes, "An idiot? You'd be smart, I think. I'm - "

Dangerous, he thought, swallowing the word. "I'm not exactly polite company. But I'm shameless enough that I'll steal your time." He shrugged, rolling his shoulders back and stretching his hands up above his head, a sound of pleasure escaping his throat as his muscles unwound after hours sitting in that damned tree.

Resting his fingers against the nape of his neck, he looked back at Rylan, eyes lidded slightly. "Of course. How could I pass up that sort of chance? Here's hoping you don't mind spicy food."

His smile was devious, shameless. And it was the adrenaline. That was all, right? But no, Thorne thought, That's a lie.

He glanced up when Corra called down to them, his mouth splintering into a wild grin. "Glad to know you have some claws," He teased, "As long as you don't carjack me, I guess. Or steal my cat."

He let Rylan take care of getting his sister down, shifting his weight to one foot and watching the man work with quiet appreciation. The words scratched at him, and he felt the familiar anxiety rile up inside of him - the anxiety that rippled so often that sometimes it made it hard to breathe. Impossible to talk and talk to others. Reach out. But Rylan - there was something different about him. Something that made Thorne want to try.

"I thought about it," he said finally, for once feeling honest, "for days. I thought about it. But - " He laughed and it was a helpless sound. "Honestly I might be shameless, but I'm also not so sure I'm not afraid of scaring you off with this - all of this." He gestured to the cat and the tree and the fact that he'd scaled it so stupidly in a blind effort to get Millie down.

"Too late now to turn back from that road though, yeah?" He after a pause, and his eyes were warm and bright with mirth and nervousness, turned again to watch Corra's descent.

He was pretty sure he had Ashdown to blame - and maybe a few individuals in particular - for his sudden runaway mouth. And one of them was standing right next to him, and he didn't know what to expect at all.

Thorne laughed, the wild sound cresting from his lips with a hint of embarrassed happiness. "Yeah?" He challenged, his eyes finding Rylan's with a look that said, prove it. "We'll find out, won't we?"

His mouth curved, the sharpest edge of a smile, and he looked back at up at Corra, rolling Rylan's words in his mouth. And unconsciously he shifted closer, like the man had an gravitational pull, like he was the ******** sun. And Thorne was just a planet, one of many, helpless and unable to resist.

"Whoever said," he asked, his voice low and raw, "That I wanted things easy?" His eyes lidded, and a laugh escaped at the analogy. Somehow he wondered if he was the luckiest or unluckiest man in the world.

After all, Rylan was a poster-child for everything bright and brilliant in this world. Thorne would bask in the warmth for as long as he could. Even if it wasn't long.

"The adrenaline junkie is telling me to buckle up?" Thorne teased, opening his eyes again and scoffing, the noise guttural. "No way, I'll wait for the crash. I'll wait and see where it goes."

He smiled then, and it was softer. A crack in the facade. "It's not - it probably won't be a smooth ride," he said, "But I'm in if you are. Don't say I didn't warn you."

He looked at Corra, eyes brilliant with danger and amusement. A delighted tease. "Hey, Corra," he said, "Want to pet my cat?"

Thorne laughed. "We'll see about that," he teased, "I'm good at making people lose control, it seems."

But it was that gaze that held him, past words, past actions and gestures. He marveled at it, wondering - of all the people in this world, how was he lucky enough to have this man look at him like that? His jaw worked, and his fingers trailed the scar on his neck, but for once he wasn't quick to drag his nails into it, as though he could claw it out.

"You're the goddamn sun, you know that right?" Thorne asked him, his jaw still working. "There's a thousand smooth rides out there - all of them would fall at the chance for this - and you choose - this?" He laughed and smiled and it was selfish and shameless. "Well, alright. ******** the warnings. Let's have some fun."

Corra appeared and there was a wild glint in Thorne's eye when she responded to him. "Come on, she's really not so bad," he said deviously - and picking Millie up from where she lounged - tossed her in Corra's general direction.

Basking in the distraction, Thorne turned to Rylan. "So, my place, the next night you're off? I'll destroy your concept of good Asian food because I know what the hell I'm doing." His smile was sharp and devious and he stepped back, close enough that when Corra's eyes were turned away he could run his knuckle over Rylan's collarbone, a question mark, an open invitation.

He dropped it and tilted his head, eyes vivid and hungry and -

Well, hope was a dangerous thing.

"I'll see you soon," he said, his voice low and raw, quiet as the prelude to a storm. "If that's what you want."