"
Good."
Only is too quick with the word - too quick with his relief - too quick with the change of his voice. They move on without much ado, Only seems distracted by his own thoughts as much as he is by Averin and keeps glancing back at him whenever he thinks he's being watched. Averin steals his glances and Only wishes to catch him in the act, the dance is a strange one between the two strangers. Where do either of them stand with one another? Only isn't fit for this kind of role - what could he have possibly been thinking?
This was all pure insanity.
Stephan
laughs in the dark spaces between Only's sleek black ears - each barking
ha-ha-ha steers them into different directions as if he is trying to listen for strangers in the woods. Only grits his teeth and worries about the things he thinks he hears - about the things he cannot control - it drives him
mad. His tail tick-tick-ticks one way against his left hip (he isn't one to simply
swish his tail) out of nervous wonder, is Stephan out there? Are his associates waiting in the dark? The long blond hair that billows and blows like wheat around him makes him jump as an autumn breeze kicks up around the river bend. It is as if he is afraid of himself (as he or anybody else
should be) and can only relax after he snaps his tail back possessively to send the plumes of hair billowing into submission behind him.
The wind carries on. The way it puffs and flares the softer, fluffier parts of Averin's wings is a problem - and it would appear that Only's crocodile eyes catch it despite all his anxious behaviour. The wind ruffs the pretty white wings again and Only's eyes dart quickly to another fluttery part of his new companion. The curiosity in them betrays the grim line his mouth tends to be pressed into. That, or he frets at the bottom of his lip, nibbling and chewing worrying away at it until it bleeds.
Speaking of worrying,
"Stay that way." Only says at long last as they walk in tandem together along the water's path. "And if anyone ever tries to force you -" an unnatural rage has already filled him before he finishes that thought, "- well, I
will kill them." A five-star extra spicy threat that he has every intention of following through with if such a situation arises. Only has nothing to lose, just his terrible-terrible shadow and, quite honestly, it would be more of a blessing to be rid of Stephan than to keep him (
them) around, they would only continue forcing burdens onto everyone they know and meet.
For once, Stephan does not have anything to say to his ball and chain this time. A satisfied silence fills all those places that Stephan likes to fill with his own opinions. What was with that? Has Only finally figured out a way to silence his own worst enemy? That's it? All he has to be is meaner than mean?
"How did someone beautiful like you end up traveling with a bunch of clowns for so long and still be so virtuous? I only ask because I want to know how many skulls I'll have to crack to keep you safe. You know how many sons of bitches there are out there that would be more than thrilled to tear you apart? "
I am one of them -- ah, there he was. Stephan's interest made Only nervous. Only huffed aloud and jerked his head forward as he dismissed the sibilating thoughts that wore away at his own patience.
"You know what your name will be?
Trouble." A bit harsh but Only's tone suggests nothing but worry about the whole situation. "You'll stay close to me - as close as you can stand to be. At least until I've shown you a few ropes. Tell me about yourself - tell me what you know how to do."
@Averin
.only
si vis pacem para bellum
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
For many are called but few are chosen.
