Merule

When the Roar Falls ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

"There will be no need for that, I'm sure I will be fine" Autharyx says with a smile. His mind is already half in the forest as he wonders how he should get that elk he promised. Yesterday had come rather closer to being an embarrassment than he likes, and he's eager to impress Viltez where he had failed before. Logically he knows that the opinion of a mortal means nothing to him - even if it does concern a rather interesting mortal. Least of all now that he is inhabiting a fragile human form. If anything it should please him to know that a human form does not instil the same amount of awe as his proper form.

He he pushes the line of thought from his mind as he waves his host goodbye. It may be a bit... disconcerting to realise how much he cares about the beast-man's opinion, but he is sure it's just a side-effect of inhabiting a mortal form himself. Mortals care about each other's opinions all the time, it's probably some kind of defence mechanism to force them to band together against the dangers the world poses.

He looks at the forest, hesitating for a moment before going back inside to grab a couple of supplies. He knows he doesn't strictly need anything, but he can't very well carry his prey back here in his true form, what with the proximity of the town and all. He digs up a coil of rope from a cupboard for the purpose of transporting his catch, and decides to take the bow and arrows as well. Might as well look the part of the hunter if he's going to go into the forest, he decides as he wraps the supplies in a bundle for carrying.

Thankfully he doesn't meet anyone on the path to the forest, so he his free to let his mind - and his perception- wander a bit. With Viltez around he's always made sure to keep himself settled firmly into his mortal body since he isn't eager to be found out as anything but mortal. Now, though, he is free to let his senses bleed out a little beyond the confines of mortal flesh, and he can almost feel the energies of the forest prick up at his passing. He's still looking through his eyes and listening through his ears, but now he can also feel the pulse of life around him. It's familiar in a way he hadn't realised he missed, and for the moment he doesn't think about the purpose he set for himself as he makes his way deeper and deeper into the forest.

Even though he's only shedding a little part of his mortal veneer, it's easy to fall into the familiar patterns of his timeless existence. Now that he's reaching out to the energies around him again, the gentle roll and pull of the sky above the treetops is a familiar rhythm in the back of his mind. There is life all around him on the forest floor as well, skittering through the underbrush and flitting through the leaves and branches at higher levels. At first they scatter at the sound of his footsteps, but as time passes Autharyx falls into the rhythm of the nature around him and the tiny mortal pinpricks of life pay him less attention. There are bigger beast too, this deep into the forest. A family of boars is digging up a dead stump to the north, to the great dismay of the badger that has her burrow situated there. There's a clearing off to the side, the verdant grass a lure that pulls normally-shy grazers out into the open. There's a family of deer, and even a young elk quietly grazing at the edge.

Autharyx frowns slightly, blinking a couple of times as he pulls his thoughts away from the tangle of energies around him. An elk... He is looking for an elk... As he focuses on the thought, he also starts to notice his body more. He feels... cold now that he thinks about it. The trees are blocking out most of the light from the sky, and he's been walking for... It's been pretty long, hasn't it? He can't see the sun, but he knows it must be past noon by now and he's been wandering the forest for hours. He's never thought to divide the day up in something as insignificant as 'hours' before, but time passes so much differently for mortals than it does for him.

A shiver passes through his spine entirely separate from the cold he is feeling. Never mind 'hours' - for most of his existence 'days' barely had any meaning as well. He'd notice the seasons - and then he might have missed plenty here and there. Humans had always seemed so hurried, rushing around their little lives before they disappeared forever. He had never cared about it before, but now the thought settles uncomfortably in his chest.

It had been so very easy to fall back into the flow of the world and the hours that had passed had felt like no time at all. What if he hadn't remembered? How long then before he would have thought to check back in with Viltez? Days? Weeks? Maybe even years? The knot in his chest tightens even further at the thought. Viltez is already so certain that Autharyx will leave him, so he probably wouldn't even be surprised if he'd stayed away. Just... resigned.

With that thought Autharyx find himself filled with a nervous energy. He won't be the cause for that resignation in Viltez, not if he can help it. His original idea had been to catch himself some game in his true form, but the thought has since lost all its appeal. If he just lost hours by letting himself bleed into the world a bit more, who's to say if he will have a good grasp of time in his true form? He hadn't even considered the possibility before, but now that he does he can't even remember if he ever really registered the passing of time in his true form as he does now.

He has had dealings with humans before, of course, but had he adapted to their time schedule? Thinking back he cant even remember if he'd been able to tell the humans apart, so there is really no way of knowing. Though being on completely different schedules would explain why the humans always seemed so impatient to him, always complaining when he went out or told them to come back 'later'.

The cold is settling in properly now that he is standing still, and it's making his already sore muscles stiff. He can't sense the boars or deer or elk any more, and he doesn't dare reach out again. The thoughts impressing Viltez with game have fallen away completely, and now he just wants to make sure he gets back to the house before his host will have time to worry.

Finding the way back proves to be more difficult than he had hoped. He's not familiar at all with human ways of navigating the forest, and every time he reaches out to find the direction he needs to go in, he jerks himself fully back into his mortal shell before he can get lost again. Travelling is also a lot more tedious now that he's aware of the time, and he feels clumsy and unwieldy as he struggles through bushes and over fallen logs.

Eventually he does manage to find a path, and the progress gets slightly easier after that. It's still already starting to get dark by the time he's back at Viltez' house with nothing to show for his efforts. He can't quite bring himself to care about that, though, as his nerves pick up again when he nears the cabin. It had only been a single day, hadn't it? Surely he would have noticed a night passing?

He knows he must look slightly... wild by now. The trek through the woods hasn't been kind on his clothes, and he's guessing he has a some light scratches here and there as well from when he'd had no choice but to push through that wall of brambles. Worst of all must be the look in his eyes, though. He's been keeping himself carefully mortal, but can't (won't?) tamper down on the tread of anxiety that has been weaving its way through his mind the whole way back. How long had Viltez expected him to be gone? Surely he won't have been worried already?

Whatever the outcome, there is no sense in putting it off. When eh reaches the door, he raises his hand to knock on the solid wood.

Who Will Break? ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

"Of course not far," he says easily, gesturing with a piece of food on his fork before popping it in his mouth.

"There's plenty to see within the church walls," he talks with food in his mouth, a few tufts of his hair standing up from the back of his head. "Someone here has green fingers, because the must be over a gazillion different flowers!" He winks at Sarah, the very picture of casual nonchalance that can only be achieved through practice and precision.

He still isn't quite sure how he'll get rid of the 'little one' label, but Sarah has at least given him the opportunity to distinguish himself from a proper 'little one'. He'll just have to take care of her a little, be all mature and everything and before he knows it Kiel will realise he's not a kid any more.

When the Roar Falls ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

It's a bit disappointing to hear that they will not be spending a lot of time together, but now that it is clear Viltez will come back to him at the end of it, Autharyx finds he doesn't care too much. Of course it also helps that the beast-man himself seems unenthusiastic by the idea. It's strange how this relatively insignificant and small mortal has so easily wormed his way under his skin, but then perhaps it is easier for him since he is mortal himself as well?

Autharyx frowns a little at that thought. It's a bit... disconcerting to think that all his interest in Viltez might scatter like leaves on the wind if he sheds his mortal form. Surely that doesn't make sense? He is still himself after all, even with this mortal shell, and he finds Viltez interesting for perfectly legitimate reasons that will still exist whether he is in his true form or this smaller one.

"I completely understand," he says, smile back now that he made short work of that insignificant line of thought. "I only makes sense that there are plenty of people who enjoy your company as well as your skills." He's still figuring out whether compliments are an acceptable substitute for a proper tribute, but even if they aren't, they can never hurt. Besides, it is not as if he would stoop to lying about this, and it only makes sense to let Viltez know he is appreciated.

"I am sure I can find things to occupy myself with until sundown," he follows Viltez into the kitchen, though he makes sure that this time he doesn't get in the beast-man's way in the confined space,

"What kind of game has your preference? If I have the whole day to track, I might as well try to hunt us up something special." He add's the 'try' for Viltez' sake, but of course he has no doubt he will be able to get them exactly what the other wants.

Who Will Break? ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

The rest of the night passes quietly enough, with Zach simply lying there and enjoying the comfort of another warm body beside him. It might not be quite the comfort he usually aims for, but at least tonight hadn't been a complete disaster. This continued 'little one' business is starting to be a quite insistent thorn in his side, though, so it might be high time he focuses his efforts on removing that particular obstacle. The wounded bird routine might have given him his in, but now it is clearly impeding further progress.

In spite of his brooding, it is simple enough to keep his body loose and relax and when the priest finally awakens, Zach makes a convincing display of yawning and slowly blinking awake. He pointedly ignored the tucking in, turning over sleepily until the door closes again. When Kiel is out of sight, all traces of sleep are gone as he sits and stretches for a bit before getting out of bed. There is no real point is staying in here for much longer, so he exits the room not long after the priest, with another yawn and stretch for effect.

"I slept really good actually," he answers, injecting an air of surprise into the answer. "I didn't even have a single, er, dream," he went on, with a small pause intended to make it clear he isn't talking about the good kind. He's not quite sure if he'll be able to talk his way into the priest's bed any time soon again, but it never hurts to lay some ground work.

"How was your night?" he asks. He lets the priest get comfortable with his morning rituals as he finishes setting the table, frying up some eggs to go with the food Kiel had already put out. He scoops some onto the priest's plate when he sits down, before joining him at the table as well.

"Same old, same old," he quips with none of the usual grogginess he normally displays in the mornings. "Actually, the weather's looking up so I thought I might take Sarah out around the gardens? Ah, there she is now." He waves a daunty little wave at the small face peeking out of the second bedroom, hair sticking up from one side and completely flattened on the other.

"Morning sleepyhead. You up for some breakfast?"

When the Roar Falls ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

The second time the tail moves Autharyx is not caught of guard and all it does is send a little shiver up his spine. He feels... heated up in a way he hasn't before, not even under the midday sun and it's intriguing to say the least. He feels like there's something he's missing, but it's not something bad and he wants to... wants to...

He's not sure actually, but it involves staying in bed and seeing where this strange new thing leads and that isn't an option. Because Viltez is looking quite miserable with the whole situation, body tensing up as he stammers through his words with a strained-sounding voice. Autharyx might be curious, but he won't make his host uncomfortable to satisfy his silly whims.

"It didn't, I woke up on my own," he said with a smile, injecting some calm into his voice in an attempt to make Viltez more comfortable. The tail around his leg had felt nice, but it is a bit of a bother now that they are trying to move apart. It wraps tighter and Viltez' expression drops even further. Autharyx only hesitates for a moment. Touching the tail in the past had not always gone well, but it had at least gotten a reaction out of the appendage and it is the only thing he can think off to do. Other than waiting, of course, but thus far that had only led to the miserable look on Viltez' face and he doesn't want any more of that.

So he reaches down a bit to run his fingers through the fur of the tail where it starts coiling around his leg. He pets it lightly before threading his fingers into the fur and scratching it a bit, offering his arm in an attempt to get it to wrap around that instead.

When the Roar Falls ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

Up close, Viltez is fascinating even in his sleep. For a while his breathing is deep and slow, but then it starts to gradually speed up a bit, which Autharyx presumes is a sign of waking. Surely enough, his host's fingers flex where they are warm against his shoulder, followed by a slightly indefinable murmur that might be his name. Autharyx hums a little in reply, turning his face a bit more into the other man's chest as he subtly shifts around.

Something sends a small shiver through Viltez' body, but he soon relaxes again, to Autharyx' approval. He was afraid he missed all the cuddling by sleeping all night, but this is nice too, even though he feels his brain might be a bit too foggy to appreciate it properly. He breathes in deep through his nose in an attempt to clear his head of sleep, but only succeeds in getting distracted by Viltez' scent. He's not sure if he had just not been paying attention earlier, but it seems like there is something... heavy and warm about the beast-man's scent that hadn't been there earlier.

Before he can try to find out though, Viltez is shaking his shoulder gently and calling his name. Right, he got up early yesterday as well. Of course he wouldn't be interested in lazing about in bed with him. He somewhat reluctantly starts to pull away.

"Yeah, yeah, 'm aw- ah~" the tail flexes around his thigh, and Autharyx makes a noise somewhere between a gasp and a moan at the sensation.

"Heh, that... tickles," he says a little uncertainly, as if unsure 'tickling' is the word that fits the best for the sensations skittering under his skin. It's helping him wake up a bit more, at least, even though it is starting to get a little warm with the both of the beneath the cover.

When the Roar Falls ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

At 'anything is fine' an image raises to his mind of him in his true form, curled up nearly all the way around his host while his tail hangs over the edge of the bed for lack of space. It's just a baseless fancy, of course, but the image still gets a slight chuckle out of him, breath puffing against the skin of Viltez' neck as he settles in closer. True to his words, Viltez starts to relax almost immediately and Autharyx is surprised by how easy that makes it for him to relax in turn. Is this a mortal thing or a Viltez, he wonders briefly before deciding it matters very little.

He is both mortal-shaped and with Viltez at the moment, and if that feels this nice he's not about to question it any further. As the beast-man's tail drapes itself over him, Autharyx reaches his arm out to rest on Viltez's side, careful at first and relaxing when it seems Viltez doesn't disapprove. His nose is nestled very nearly into the crook of his host's neck, and he is pleasantly surprised to find the beast-man smells even better up close. With another body next to him, it's easy to focus on that rather than everything pressing at his own body, and it doesn't take long for him to drift off, lulled by Viltez' steady heartbeat.

Now that he hadn't spent half the night tossing and turning, he slowly drifts back into consciousness while the sky outside is still dark. The feeling of lost time that comes with sleeping is still a bit disorientating, but far more manageable now he had something else to focus on. Namely Viltez. Even though he has no memory of it, they had somehow managed to shift around during the night, so that they are now facing each other. Viltez seemed to have scooted up a bit, leaving Autharyx with his head curled in against the top of his host's chest. Their knees are tangled together and Autharyx can feel a warm presence around his lower leg that can only be the beast-man's tail. It will be nigh impossible to untangle himself without waking Viltez, which is as good an excuse as any to close his eyes and simply enjoy the proximity some more.

FxFxF RP Search ~ Have two looking for third ~ 18+

Sounds interesting! A couple of questions: what do you mean by 'active'? Once a day? a couple of times a week? With a faster-moving RP I think I could do 1-3 times a week, though I might be away for some weekends.

I'd love to hear some more about the plot to see if I would be a good fit for this RP.

When the Roar Falls ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

It doesn't take long for his host to settle in, and Autharyx is aware of every little movement. Even though it is pretty clear that Viltez is making an effort to keep contact to a minimum, Autharyx still enjoys the proximity. This room might not be 'his' in the way his cavern is, but the bed smells of him and that is enough to feel at least a bit at home.

The sheets also carried the beast-man's scent the night before, of course, but it is still different to have the man next to him for real. Apart from their brief contact after the collision in the woods, his host hadn't been terribly tactile. This quiet togetherness is a welcome change from the more... hectic nature of his dealings with humanity so far. The bed is meant for sleeping, of course, but for now Autharyx doesn't feel all that tired. Not bored either, though, as he takes a simple joy in simply feeling the slight warmth coming off the other man and breathing in their slowly entangling scents.

Viltez seems to settle down a well, as his body relaxes further into the mattress with a sigh. Or is he? As Autharyx feels the silky fur of the beast-man's tail slide past his skin and over his back, he feels equal parts surprised and delighted. He might have decided not to touch Viltez' tail on his own accord any more, but that doesn't mean he doesn't welcome the touch in return, especially when it seems to be an invitation to come closer.

He starts to curl in closer with a contented hum, but stops when he notices the line of tension in Viltez' back and shoulders. Right, he was talking earlier about his tail wanting something else, right? Or was the problem that he thinks Autharyx is the one who wants something else?

"Um... is this all right?" he asks quietly. He still doesn't like admitting he doesn't know things, but it is better than inadvertently causing his host discomfort.

When the Roar Falls ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

It does Autharyx a world of good to have Viltez assure him he did nothing wrong. Now that he knows his host’s nervousness has nothing to do with Autharyx’ manners, it becomes a little easier to enjoy his flustered state. He makes a fair attempt to hide a smile- no need to be impolite after all- but his eyes aer still glued to the beastman as he stammers through his explanation.

He can’t help but see a bit of fear as a compliment, especially when it is coupled with the admission that he is looking forward to it. Autharyx is thoroughly unfamiliar with the concept of being nervous when thing are going well, but he is very well acquainted with his presence invoking fear or nervousness, so he can work with this.

“Thank you for telling me, Viltez,” he says solemnly. There is vulnerability in admitting to weakness, and AUtharyx never knew he could feel flattered by such a thing rather than feeling the smugness such a realisation usually brought him.

“It seems that what ‘should be’ is not something that applies to our situations as often as it might to others. I propose we have both grown up to be… different-” he very carefully did not say ‘better’ “-from most people, and as such I propose we ascribe more value to what feels okay to us rather than what everyone else has decided ‘should be’.” It’s not like he ever had any intention to pay attention to the opinions of insignificant little humans, but he doubts saying so will go over well with his host. And if letting go of ‘should be’ might entice him to say more about how he likes the idea of sleeping together or having his tail pet, Autharyx is more than happy to listen to those admissions.

“As it is, I also find myself looking forward to the new experience of spending a night with someone other than myself.” He tried for a smile, hoping it wouldn’t come over too eager. “If you are worried for me, I would appreciate to hear it so that I can assuage your worries. I can assure you I am quite sturdy.”

After those words he considers the shirt in his hands for a while, before discarding it with the rest of his clothes. It was going to be hard enough to sleep with pants on, so he might as well not make it any more difficult for himself. He made sure not to move into Viltez’ space as he walked over to the bed, and just made himself comfortable on one side of the bed while still leaving room for his host. The instinct that wanted him to gather his possessions close so no one could try to take them away, was one better left ignored in this case.