[FIN][Matori] Filet-O-Fish (Sajahka/Nyko)

[Painted Moose]

With Sajahka gone for the evening - once again - Nyko was left to his own devices. Instead of staying put in the camp as his mind encouraged, to give himself a chance to process the events of the day, the boy had sought out Thessia. She had been eager to see him again, and honestly, he'd been on such a high from the day that he hadn't wanted it to go to waste. Since Sajahka wasn't there he'd gone to the next closet thing he had to a friend in Matori; which happened to be the unfortunate girl he'd gotten knock out drunk with.

Unlike previous nights the pair didn't stay out for long. They didn't tavern hop, nor did Nyko pay their way with his voice; instead, Thessia paid for a couple cheap wine bottles and led the way back to her home. The fact that she owned anything on her own was impressive enough to Nyko, not to mention what she could do within that home.

In the wee hours of the morn, before the sun itself rose to cross the sky, Nyko left Thessia's side. Neither had really 'slept' much; an occasional nap here and there, spaced between the nights activities, so she'd been awake to see him off. It had been so pleasant that Nyko debated staying longer, but by the time he'd changed his mind she had already stretched out fully across the bed, effectively booting him out.

So he'd gone back to his beach side hut with a fresh array of hickies, scratches and a sleepy sense of accomplishment. His body ached, but in ways that left his bare toes curling in the sand. For half a second, just before he reached his door, Nyko paused to catch his breath and steady himself. He had half a mind to return to Thessia, and spend the next three months with his face buried against her neck, lapping at the tender flesh above her pulse-

But when his body lurched, temporarily giving into his exhaustion Nyko knew sleep was higher on his agenda. He stumbled into his hut, hastily throwing his clothing into a corner with strips of moonlight filtering through the window. Nyko barely made it into his sleeping attire before all but falling onto his cot, groaning when his head hit the straw stuffed pillow. Before he knew it he was out completely.

----------

Nyko slept like the dead. His snoring was absolutely atrocious, and a bit of drool seeped out of the corner of his mouth. Honestly, he may have continued on like that until far up into the day had he not choked on his own drool and woke up with a racing heart.

He jolted awake, raising a hand on reflex to his throat as he cleared his airways. As soon as his eyes opened he regretted it; sunlike, pure and strong, slammed into his retina, causing him to openly groan. To escape his turned his head away, down towards the ground and-

"What the f-?"

The question may have been murmured, but it was shocked, never the less.

Sajahka was passed out on the floor. This was hardly the first time his friend had stayed with him, but the whole situation raised flags of concern within Nyko. Why was he on the floor? And where were his clothes, his boots...hell, even his weapons were gone?!

Carefully, Nyko laid back down on the bed and flipped over onto his stomach, stretching one arm out to gently prod Sajah's shoulder. Goddess, he looks like s**t. "Sajah...Sajah, wake up."  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

“Nnnnh…”

Sajah knew before he was fully conscious that he didn’t want to be yet. His mind, though, was not one either naturally inclined or accustomed to lingering long in the in-between. Necessity in earlier years had made it otherwise, but it was fortunately something that came to him quite naturally—one moment asleep, the next aware and alert. Generally.

Today was different, but it wasn’t as though he’d been through a whipping. Quite the contrary, as memory flit back, for all that he knew he had things to do—he found he was more satisfied than angry. Satisfaction, unfortunately, did nothing to ease the pains of his arse. But, first things first.

He opened one eye to regard Nyko critically from his position on the floor. It was ever a wonder, how immediately the sight of him brought Sajah some peace. Not of the variety where he had been worried about Nyko in his absence, but simply because he was himself, and a welcome presence always. Until, with all the grace of bricks breaking out the bottom of a too-weak bag, the fact that he hadn’t thought of anything to say yet re-occurred to him.

He shut his eyes again. “Ah. Mmm…”

Perhaps if he just slept for five more minutes.  

[Painted Moose]

The Only Black Uke

Nyko was mildly aware of a great waterfall of hair spewing over his shoulder, and lazily reached up to pull it back out of the way. Several strands remained, as did those that would no doubt need a decent brushing and simply refused to be tamed otherwise. At least now he didn't have a curtain of sapphire obscuring his sleep blurred vision.

He waited, as patiently as he could, for some sort of response. What he got was a critical eye, one that didn't even look like it belonged to a waking soul, before it shut again. Nyko scrunched up his features, lips puckering at the sight. Something had happened last night. Something that forced his best friend to come 'home' in nothing but someone else's clothes and-

Nyko almost gasped and quickly stuffed his pillow into his mouth to muffle the sound. Was he-? Had he-? No way, there was no way, because the clothing that Sajah had on was no where near as decedent as something that a*****e would wear. This looked stolen; and not from the source. Likely something taken while on the run, which meant he would have had to be naked at some point and-

Goddess, what had gotten into Sajah last night?

Nyko rose back up to sit atop his knees. "You can't sleep on the floor Sajah. We have beds now, and you're going to use it." He pushed the blanket up against the wall, making enough space so that when he edged around Sajah's sleeping form the cot itself was bare.

He made his way to Sajah's side, the one opposite of his cot, and knelt beside his friend. "I don't know what you did last night, but you look like s**t. So, you're going to sleep as much of it off as you can while I see what I can do about all of this bruises." Nyko held out a hand, holding the other out in preparation for bracing the other. "Can you stand to get up into the cot on your own? Or do I need to carry you?"  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Painted Moose

“Mmmm…”

You can’t sleep on the floor, Sajah…

And why ever not? The response lingered somewhere in the back of his mind. It felt like a perfectly acceptable place to sleep to him, and an inaccurate statement besides since he clearly was in the process of doing so—or had been. But a moot point.

More to the issue, Nyko would not allow him to say and do nothing indefinitely, and an unanticipated splinter of guilt worked into his gut. What was he going to say to his friend? It wasn’t as though he owed him any badge of sexual loyalty and he was certain it did not even occur to the other boy to expect it, but it still felt to him personally like a breach of conduct. Nyko was not fond of Leukos besides, and he likely had every reason to think it unwise of him to follow after and track the man down again.

You look like s**t.

Grunting, he opened an eye again, and at the sight of Nyko’s offered hand, he reached and took it, accepting at least some aid in wrangling himself upward before dropping with a muted hiss to the bed. «I feel it, too. Did you enjoy your evening?»  

[Painted Moose]

The Only Black Uke

Moving directly after he'd woken up was never a pleasant for Nyko these days. His back was stiff; the scars, while healed from his beating, were in need of a good stretching. He tried to shift to a better position to accommodate it, at least until he could get Sajah up onto the cot. Then he planned on going straight back to sleep, but first-

"There you go, sunshine." Shifting forward, he helped in what ways he could, and what ways Sajah would allow, in getting his friend onto the cot. He made sure the other man was comfortable, going so far as to reach across his body to take up the blanket and pull it across Sajahka's prone form. Even then he didn't immediately move; he stayed at the edge of the bed, sitting up on his knees with his elbows propped up on the side.

"I did. Thessia can do this thing with her tongue that- Wait, are you trying to distract me?" Nyko was by no means intelligent, but the boy scrunched his honeyed gaze and leaned closer. "Seriously Sajah, is this some thing I need to be worried about? You weren't...you know....with that guy again, were you?" Even if he didn't say it, Nyko did raise the index finger and thumb of his left hand, made a perfect 'o' shape and inserted the index finger of his right hand directly into the 'o'.

"You don't have to tell me today if you don't want to, but I do want to know where you hurt and how bad it is so we can work on that. Got it? "  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Sajahka had to admit, if only within the private confines of his headspace, the bed did feel better. Yes, he still ached, but it was undeniably softer, and beyond that still warm from Nyko’s body.

And it smelled like him.

Privately grateful that the dark would hide whatever flush and lower reaction his body might have had in the moment to the realization, he shifted to better tuck himself against the scent and grunted against the sheets. Sunshine, indeed. Having shut his eyes upon laying down, he shifted his head up just enough to spare another peeking glance to his friend at the more pressing inquiry. You weren’t…you know… He rolled his knuckles against shut eyes, yawned, and released a sigh of defeat, letting his hand drop to eye his friend for a moment before flashing a tired show of teeth.

«My arse hurts,» he signed. «I got into a fight with a wall and a fish and had to accommodate something larger, I think, than the hole was to begin with. But I think we came to a mutual understanding by the end. Is it answer enough? Or should I tell you exactly what he did with his mouth, too?»  

[Painted Moose]

The Only Black Uke

"How did you get in a fight with a - OH MY GODDESS YOU FU-" For a moment Nyko was legitimately confused and it showed. His brow furrowed, mouth drooped just enough to give the boy a 'blank' look, as if being woken up so abnormally had deprived him of conscious thought. When it hit him, however, that the thing had actually been a thing that happened it was as if his head had been smashed with a rock.

For a moment rage flashed over his features and Nyko shot up to his feet, raising open palms to the sky with a frustrated growl. "You just had to find the one guy who could really- I mean, seriously, there wasn't anyone else-" He was mad alright, but not at Sajahka. If anything he pitied his poor, stupid friend. Whatever that jerk had swept him up into apparently wasn't going to end anytime soon, and if Nyko could get his hands on him he'd-

He hadn't realized that he'd been muttering obscenities under his breath as he paced, hands buried deep into his hair as he pulled at the follicles closest to his scalp. Nyko tapped his foot against the packed, sandy flooring and tried to do some deep breathing, but just ended up making himself look more mental than he already was.

In the end he smoothed his hair back away from his face and made his way, eerily quiet, over to a small bag near the back of his hut. After successfully unearthing a little jar, he returned to the bedside and shoved it under Sajah's nose.

"Here. It's a numbing balm that I use on my back. It should help with your problems." He said, not without a little bite.  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

OH MY GODDESS YOU FU-

Sajah shut his eyes, twisting one pinky finger in his ear with a brief scrunch of his nose and admittedly, the cool stirring of guilt in his gut did further solidify at Nyko’s clear displeasure. It had been rougher than he intended, certainly. Things hadn’t gone precisely according to any plan, and he was well aware he’d been reckless. But he hadn’t managed to feel bad about it until it came to displeasing his friend, and there he felt the unshakable weight of regret—if not for spending a night with Leukos, then at least for not finding a way to do it that wore on Nyko less.

This, though, was the state of things, and it was what he was left explaining.

When Nyko came to him with balm, he felt warmth in his earfins in spite of himself, and spared his friend a glance. «I should have told you. And I would tell you that I will not be after him again, but he has taken some things which are mine. He…» Sajah hesitated, and a new swell of heat climbed his neck at the budding admittance. Truly, he wished not to have to disclose the detail, but… «It was…enough of rough engagement that after, I may have taken an involuntary nap, at which time he set me out of his room. So…»

He gestured down himself, then lifted his gaze to Nyko’s.

«I will be needing to fetch my knives back. I will make it up to you, after I have finished all my foolishness?»  

[Painted Moose]

The Only Black Uke

Nyko ran the palms of his hands across his face, scrubbing at the smooth skin tiredly. He was aggravated, possibly more so (or maybe a little less) than he would have been if he were properly awake. When he opened his honeyed eyes the Sajah's prone form was blurry for a moment, though with a few well placed blinks things began to clear.

Gingerly he shifted his stance so that he was now sitting with his legs underneath him, toes curled but feet pointed towards the opposing wall. His upper body leaned against the cot, one arm laying languidly across his lap while the other curled, allowing him some place to put his head. "You should have." He wasn't about to sugar coat it; Nyko was pissed. It showed in the way his eyes flared, and the sharpness of in his voice. He was upset at the man who had done this to his friend, but also at Sajahka's own apparent masochistic tendencies. Had he been beaten so much he actually wanted to be now?

"Don't lie to me, Sajah, you would go back to him even if he didn't have your things. You didn't have to go back the last time, but you did." He leaned his chin against his chest, using it as a sort of makeshift stand to prop his displeased face up so that his friend could see. When the bit about the nap came up his eyes bulged, and he slapped the side of the cot. "What do you- He left out outside his room?! You mean he tossed your stupid a** out as soon as he was done with you?" He could feel the heat building up in his flesh more so than he could sense the anger consuming him. None of this made any sense. There were so many questions, way more than any one day could answer, and with his simple mind it was probable he'd never really understand the reasoning to any of it but-

Nyko's fingers curled like claws into the material of the cot. "I have half a mind to get your knives back for you just so I can castrate him. Wouldn't be much fun then, would he?" Honestly, the concept of running a pair of blades into that man's black heart was becoming more and more appealing by the day. "Look, I just...I don't get it. Any of it."  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

…you would go back to him even if he didn't have your things.

Sajah grunted. He supposed there was likely truth in that, so he didn’t bother denying it. He was aware, at least, that on the one hand his actions did come off arguably bizarre, from an outside perspective. However difficult to explain, however, they felt very natural and necessary to him personally. Or, if not necessary, then at least too inviting to pass up. Leukos had every reason to want nothing whatsoever to do with him, and if Nyko professed that they absolutely must depart Matori this very day and never look back, Sajah would have followed and likely given the dancing man few more thoughts if any in his lifetime.

While they were here, though, the opportunity was there and Sajah was hard pressed to deny himself the impulse of adventure and further discovery when the only potential drawback was a few extra scrapes and bruises to his own person.

Admittedly it didn’t sound good when Nyko put it that way—being tossed on his a**, which he had—but for all that it had peeved Sajah at the time and still did to the extent that he couldn’t get his personal belongings back, he still felt privately that he probably deserved it. And it was almost all part of the game, so to speak. He didn’t mind playing rough or risky. He did mind distressing Nyko.

How to explain? The question returned again and again as if on a record.

«He did toss me out,» Sajah admitted at length. «Though I am certain I’ve done enough to deserve his anger, and it was a…mutual competition. I do not feel unjustly punished. It is just my turn to retrieve what he took.»

I have half a mind to get your knives back for you just so I can castrate him.

Sajahka eyed his friend. «It’s not necessary. I stole from him. He stole from me. We have bedded each other in interest and anger. It is not more complicated than that.»  

[Painted Moose]

The Only Black Uke

Mutual competition.

That was something he hadn't been expecting.

All in all it made him look to his friend incredulously, as if Sajahka had been robbed of his senses as well as his daggers. Who knew, maybe his brain was inside the blades, because he certainly didn't seem to think too well without them.

...my turn to retrieve what he took. Nyko lowered his head and groaned into the crook of his arm. "Please, please don't say it like that" He was imagining it now, and that...was honestly something he could have lived his entire life without seeing.

"Have you put the ointment on yet? If you can't I will, but get it over with already. I'd like to go back to sleep."  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Sajah blinked, eyes on Nyko for a moment before he grunted, glad for the dark as his ears warmed. He rolled his shoulders. «No, I think you would have noticed had I begun…and I think that I can manage. I do not imagine you’d enjoy the aiding process. You’re tired and should sleep. I apologize for waking you…»

Sajahka had no intention of putting balm on his nether parts. In the first place he knew he would not be able to remain conscious long after Nyko went to sleep, and he was not about to begin slathering himself up in front of his friend. Besides, he had earned these wounds and it seemed—misplaced to be using balm intended for mending Nyko’s whip scars to instead annoint his rear.

He would manage.

But Nyko didn’t need to know that.  

[Painted Moose]

The Only Black Uke

"Mmm". Nyko wasn't about to argue that point. He was tired, and he wouldn't enjoy helping with that, but he also wanted to make sure his friend was without pain if he could help it. No matter how very, very determined Sajahka was to 'injure' himself.

"Fine," he said on a yawn, opening his mouth wide as he rocked back on his heels. The act of prying himself up off his forearms left his hair an absolute mess, but if Nyko noticed he didn't show it. The adrenaline of waking up, of seeing his friend in a worrisome state on the ground, had gone away, and now, while concerned, he was no longer panicked. The high of the moment was dying, leaving him a veritable mess.

Nyko lifted the edge of the blanket and carefully slid himself underneath. For once in his life he seemed wary; moving at certain angles still caused his back to flare, and he also didn't want to knock into Sajah. So, it took a fair bit of wriggling for him to find a comfortable spot, but once he was secure in the small cot, pressed against his friend's naked form, face nearly buried in the pillow, he grinned. "You know, out of the two of us, I wouldn't have pegged you for the one coming back in stolen clothes."  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Sajahka could have sworn he felt every move Nyko made.

It was one thing, he realized with sudden abrupt clarity, to maintain a silent and unspeakable interest in your closest friend when you had no real quantifiable concept of what it would be like to have more than what you did. Now, however, with recent experience under his belt in sizable amounts for a short period he felt—different about laying so near to Nyko with his body warmth and scent tucked against him and hair all about and-

I wouldn't have pegged you for the one coming back in stolen clothes…

He breathed out in spite of himself, smiling and shaking his head. It was difficult to sign in the dark and from this position, but a light pinch to Nyko’s rear seemed to suffice for an answer in that particular instant. Beyond that, he was going to behave. But what was he supposed to say? He couldn’t very well have run the whole way home entirely nude.

Or, it would have been even less pleasant, he imagined.

Though if it consistently ended in moments like this — well, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad.  

[Painted Moose]

The Only Black Uke

At the pinch Nyko jerked, simultaneously bucking his hips and wriggling just enough on the cot to turn his butt away from Sajah so that he laid more on his side. With most of his face obscured by hair, Nyko was force to blow a rather harsh puff of hair upwards not once but twice, moving just enough out of the way so he wouldn't have to move his arms.

"You did this to yourself," He said a moment before moving his legs upward and placing his cold toes against Sajahka's legs. Nyko wriggled the little appendages against his friends calves, using his tiny frozen weapons to his advantage.