welcome

[Nozomi]

Two AM on some idle Tuesday (or the Pernese approximation), Vityai lie awake in his bed, eyes on the ceiling, his hands crossed over his stomach. He had the day off, no late shifts, no early shifts, just time to do as he pleased save for maybe a lesson or two with Taravi. She slept at the foot of the bed, curled up into a tight little ball, radiating the discontent of her handler. Outside, a thunderstorm raged to the point where even Vityai could hear it in the barracks, thick crashes of thunder echoing through his little weird head.

Vityai liked thunderstorms. His first kiss had been in one, lost in it because he could be with some random boy he forgot the name to. They were chaos controlled by something outside of Offworlders or the dragons, a force unto each and every storm. They were controlled destruction. Vityai rather enjoyed the fancy of that.

He swung out of bed, careful not to disturb Taravi. Vityai shrugged on one of his loose tank tops and padded out of his room and to anothers, clad in aforementioned shirt, loose pants and... that happened to be it. Vityai hesitated before entering this other room, and instead just pushed the door open a few inches, not enough to look in but enough so his words could be heard without waking the entire damned group of them. The Baker rapped at the door frame of Taavi's room, clearing his throat.

If he walked in on Taavi with some random girl, he'd lineface. Fuck linefacing. He wanted to go outside.

"Taavi? Are you awake?"

[Ferret]

Theoretically, there was an actual bed in Taavi's room. He had to take girls somewhere, right? In practice, it was more like a mound of pillows and blankets. Taavi liked having a place to burrow into, like his own little private den, leaving a small hole for air. And the sound of Vit. Shards, by this time, he was wondering if there was some little bit of his brain permanently wired to listen for Vit-sounds.

After all, getting hit with a spatula probably hurt. He didn't want to wake up some morning only to find Vit waving a spatula at him. Maybe waking up and finding Vit would be alright, but only if he was waving a smile around an...

...

Ok, end of thought THERE. Taavi opened and eye and sleepily glanced at the door. "No, I'm not awake. I always talk in my sleep. Zzz. Zzz. Zzz." Ok, Making snoring sounds was probably not going to work. "Shit, what are you doing awake at this time anyway, Vit?"

Taavi tilted his head to one side to listen to the sound of rain and the rattle of thunder. It was a marvel that the baby hybrids were able top sleep through that mess. Thank Faranth for whatever mixtures those Healers managed to come up with...

Well, almost every hybrid. Gustav was still awake. And watching the door. Waiting. He liked Vit.

[Nozomi]

"It's storming," said Vitya as if this explained everything positive in the world. He pushed the door fully open then, pausing only momentarily in the doorway. Then in he went, sparing Gus a glance and an idle pat on the head. "Hello, Gustav. Taravi is asleep right now."

And then suddenly a Vityai, leaning over Taavi's air-space, his fingers on either side of the blanket/bed mound thing. He cocked his head to the side, eyebrows arched, and completely line-faced. This, ladies and gentleman, happened to be a curious Vityai expression.

"I want you to go out with me," He tugged at the blankets, frowning. "With the thunderstorm. It'll be fall soon and then there won't be anymore."

Like anyone sane would want to go out there in a thunderstorm or worried about being in a dark place alone with Vityai. He tugged the edges of that fort bed thing again, mainly because he could. "Come on. Get up. Before it stops."

[Ferret]

A second rumble briefly competed with the thunder. That was Gustav growling, but in a strictly friendly fashion, or as close as he could get to the emotion. But at least he didn't attack Vit at all. Nope, he was recognized as 'Taravi's Person' and was therefore important in the hybrid's world.

Taavi pushed enough of the blankets aside so he could glare at his friend. It wasn't very effective, though. Like throwing a small rock at a big rock. "You want to go outside. In the middle of a thunderstorm. In the rain. When we could just stay here, all nice, warm, and cozy." He repeated the words slowly, just so he could get his mind around them.

Another crack of thunder growled across the sky, ending somewhere over the Weyr. Taavi pointed up. "See that? See? You have angered the thunderstorm with your unnatural suggestion. If we go out there, we'll get smitten." He pulled the blankets more tightly around himself before speaking again. "What time is it anyway? Besides Slightly Before the Asscrack of Dawn?"

[Nozomi]

Vityai was unsure of how to deal with Taavi's refusal to do something stupid and possibly life threatening when it came to... well, life in general. To Taavi-things, really, all of the Taavi things. Was that a flash of upset on his face? Of course not. Couldn't be.

Nope, nope, he scowled right back at him and, in fact, threw a rather rude Offworlder handgesture towards Taavi. "Yes," said Vityai, grumpier than before. "I do."

Vityai raised his eyes to the ceiling, eyebrows furrowed. How people did not enjoy thunderstorms? He never understood it. But Taavi asked, and Vityai shrugged. He looked back to his friend and leaned over, despite those tighter blankets, to ruffle at what parts of Taavi's hair that he could.

"Thunderstorms make me happy and I wanted you to come with me. That's all." His hand withdrew and the other Baker shrugged followed by another, shorter shrug as he actually thought about what time it happened to be. "... Around two? Maybe nearing three? It's about time we'd get a break in the late shift."

[Ferret]

... ok, that was just an unfair move, Vit. The glares would've been easy to deal with. Taavi could've just told himself that it was just Vit being Vit and ignored it utterly. But the hair ruffle and the confession that he wanted to share something that made him happy? That melted Taavi's heart.

Or closest approximation thereof.

Taavi retreated further within his bed fortress of solitude and made another announcement. "...Fine. Just hand me my shirt," he said and extended his hand through the opening. "And my pants. And my smallclothes. That's my price for waking me up at two or three in the morning. There should never be two two o'clocks in a day, Vit."

[Nozomi]

Vityai almost smiled when Taavi agreed. Ha! He didn't, though, just leaned back a little. How horrible would Taavi have been if his socially awkward friend with issues asked him to share something special and he turned him down? Horror! Horror and destruction. His lips twitched upwards just a moment before scrambling back to find his clothing.

"There are always two two o'clock's in the morning. You just happen to sleep too much." Vityai snorted, made his way back. He shoved the clothing in to that air hole, small clothes first followed by pants and shirt. "I'll wait out in the hall. Don't take your time."

He patted the pile of blankets and Taavi before he beelined it to the door. Gus got another pat on the head. "Now you can say that you had a boys hands on your underthings," he called back, snickering and waiting out there for him. Vit waited.

Once out, Vit took his hand. Taavi had no choice! Vit's smaller hand slid into his, fingers wrapped around his, in order to start pulling him along.

"You've never done this before?"

[Ferret]

"Hey, I sleep just the right amount of time! Not all of us can get by on half-an-hour and all the puppy tears we can drink," the handler grumbled, but he accepted the clothes. He even decided to be a gentleman and wait until Vit was outside before getting dressed. "Pfff. More like you can say that you've had your hands on my underthings!" he called out through the door, now that he was feeling more awake.

What was he even doing awake? Thanks to all the early shifts Vit had shoved at him (Which Taavi deserved, he would admit. Not that this would stop him from whinging about it), the older Baker retaliated by trying to sleep even more. And now look at him! Leaving his warm cave of pillows for a rainstorm. Then again... you saw what Vit was wearing. Imagine what that will look like wet, all slick and nearly see-through shirts an... Taavi waved the thoughts away, feeling thoroughly confused.

Right. He'd... woken up. From a nice dream. Would make any man a bit confused, wouldn't it? As soon as he stepped from his room, he was suddenly seized and hauled away by Vit.

Not that he was going to complain. "Well, no. Since when have you known me to purposefully do anything uncomfortable?" he asked. Well, ok. It wasn't strictly true. He'd go out into the rain for a few select reasons, but never just for shits and giggles.

But it wasn't like the thunderstorm would last. "Come on, we better hurry. We don't want to miss our chances to get hit by lightning," he said, finally cracking a grin.

[Nozomi]

"I don't live off of puppy tears, they're too fattening. I make firelizards cry instead and herdbeasts quake with fear." Vityai's lips twitched. Sense of humor? Ha! What sense of humor. He didn't need no stinkin' sense of humor. Bah and humbug.

"I bet if I were a girl you wouldn't be complaining so much," Vityai shot him an irritated look, line-face back once more. Fine then! Although it didn't mean he loosened his hand any on Taavi's, but rather that he held harder because Taavi had come anyway, even though Vityai did not happen to be that sort of girl. "I've known you to purposefully do things that are stupid and crazy and that no one else would want to ever do. Let's consider this my stupid and crazy thing."

A ghost of a smile flickered over Vityai's face. He pulled Taavi's hand once more since the other Baker finally agreed to go without physical resistance. The running began in order to get outside before the storm ended, pulling the sleepy!Taavi through the hallways until suddenly water, a bit cold with the upcoming weather and the fall, drenching Vit instantly because it damn well could. Barefoot meant mud on the toes when they got that far, instantly ruined ends of his pants, hair wet and slicked to his head in some dark cap.

Vityai peered up at the sky, lightening slicing through the dark clouds and black night to strike some unsuspecting distant mark, thunder sounding almost immediately afterwards. Delightful, there were right the fuck there and Vityai grinned in the darkness, any lightening occurring bringing somewhat dastardly shadows to his face. "If we get hit by lightening, I will bake you a cake to console you!" said Vityai, having to use an exclaimation mark to be heard over the sound of rain and thunder and everything glorious in the world. He didn't let go of Taavi's hand.

Silly Vit, there you go, being all happy and shit.

"Keep a look out for hoppers. I hear they're delicious."

[Ferret]

W... was that an actual Vit joke? It took Taavi a few seconds to figure it out, mostly because it was all too easy to imagine the pint-sized Baker roaming the herdbeast pens and frightening the calves. Taavi felt blessed to be present at such a rare event; it was like seeing a meteor shower only a whole lot closer and there was a real risk that the meteor would punch you if you dared mention it. But he was a risk-taker. He never could see a mountain without trying to scale it. "I always did wonder why you kept a pantry full of firelizards. I was always too polite to ask."

He opened his mouth to snark about the girl thing but... really, there wasn't anything to say. He wasn't exactly complaining but... He found something to say anyway because talking when it wasn't necessary was kind of Taavi's deal: "Fine, I'm sexist. Does it even work like that? That doesn't sound right. By that logic, you're sexist for only dating guys."

OHFUCKBALLSCOLD. It wasn't raining, it was a goddamn torrent. It was like standing under a waterfall, only it never ended ever. Taavi swore that it instantly soaked through his clothes and went straight to the bone. Why am I doing this again? Taavi thought, his normal good cheer dampened considerably by the... err... damp.

And then Vit smiled.

Taavi grinned back. "If this cake is a lie, I will end you. Come on, there are bound to be hoppers around here somewhere. Good weather for them!" Now it was his turn to pull Vit around as he sought out places where the almost-but-not-quite-amphibians were likely to hang out. Like Terran frogs, it was essential for the animals to keep their hides wet.

Perfect weather for them to be out and about. "You've never tried them?" he asked between cracks of thunder.

[Nozomi]

"They stare at me with pitiful eyes while I eat in front of them. They cry." Vityai didn't mind the snarky retorts any more then he did the rain. The Baker rolled his eyes with Taavi and his silly 'blah blah blah sexist', pulling at his friends hand. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sexist and I'm here with you. Go hit on your girls later. You've agreed to be with me for now."

Whine whine bitch bitch, Taavi. Don't you know how to be anything else but straight and reminding people of it? Vit hid the flare of irritation because water and lightening and Taavi grinning down at him like a silly ass.

Damn that silly asshole smile. Vityai didn't bother stopping his own grin, whipping around to stare out into the blackness of the night. "No, I haven't. The kitchen staff at the Hall were never able to get their hands on many and we haven't had them here. You have?" Although, really, he didn't think he really should have had to ask. Stale bread and all that. ... Annnd that was when Vit started to feel like an entitled asshole. Brilliant.

He dropped Taavi's hand to tug at his friends hair, spinning back around to stare at the ground to look for the damned almost-amphibians. "How do we find them?"

[Ferret]

That was the nice thing about being a gambler. Sometimes, you actually won. In this case, the prize was not being hit by Vit. It briefly occurred to Taavi that, as far as prizes went, it wasn't very good. After all, he could avoid being hit by lots of people. But that wasn't nearly as much fun.

"Yeah, my little sisters and I used to go looking for them up the creek if we weren't having any luck with larger game. Don't get me wrong, hoppers are tasty, but they aren't very big. Catching them generally wasn't really worth it, food-wise. Except on nights like this, really." He grinned in the dark and gave a little half-shrug. Things had been bad. Now they weren't. That was all the reason he needed to smile.

"Thanks for giving me my arm back there. I was beginning to wonder how I'd get it back. Either that or you'd have to do all the stirring in the kitchens from now on... ummm..." he squinted, pushing his recently tugged hair back a little bit. It was impossible to hear any chirps among the thunder. Hell, if he had heard a hopper's chirp, it wouldn't have been one he'd want to meet, not if it could compete with that racket.

"The barrels. Something that they can hide under. They like staying around cover, just in case any predators stop by. Plus it's a place where bugs might be. They love trundlebugs."

[Nozomi]

"I'm sure your stirring ability is what you were worried about." Vit rolled his eyes, appeased at Taavi and his lack of bitching about the rain going on, and allowed himself to be led by the other mans expertise when it came to hunting hoppers. Taavi, no matter his charm, managed to still irritate Vityai at times; it was good to be reminded why he didn't mind his friends company.

"Barrels. Right, okay. I know where those are." He turned, squinting off out into the near-darkness, assisted by the lightning in the distance. Ah ha! Barrels! Vityai tromped over to them, toes squishing in the mud in a way he would deny enjoying. He leaned over the closest barrel, a large thing he'd probably be able to fit in, squinting down into the mud. Despite his upper body strength, one of those mud-covered feet had to go up to help drag the barrel filled with something down and onto the ground with a grunt.

But then the barrel was down and Vit was crouching on the hunt for hoppers. "Get your skinny ass over here, I can hardly see them!" he said, even as he dove for a moving bit of six legged deliciousness.

[Ferret]

"Pffff, I was thinking of stirring until you brought that up, you ass. Oh, Vit! You taint my pure mind. I hope you know that it's all your fault when I finally have my fall from grace," Taavi fluted, one hand to his chest. He even batted his eyelashes, despite knowing that the darkness would hide most of it. It was the thought that counted.

And then Taavi learned an important lesson about his friend: small, slight, and pretty did not mean 'physically weak' as Vit demonstrated his upper body strength by moving a barrel on his own. Taavi certainly didn't think, oh fuck, that's hot. That would have been... weird. Instead he swallowed and tried very, VERY hard to look as though he was looking somewhere else entirely and not at his friend.

Ugh. Man, being woken up at the middle of the night gave him strange thoughts. Very strange.

"My ass is a marvel, Vit, don't you even try to deny i---SHIT!" that was because a hopper had suddenly hopped right across his feet, surprising a squeal out of the man. Stepping back rapidly, Taavi collided with a few other barrels and immediately tripped over them. Several more hoppers jumped away, cricking and croaking on the way.

"Ffffuck, my ass hurts now," the Baker complained, trying to regain his footing in the slippery mud. "And those sharding things are laughing at me, Vit. I demand revenge. Tasty, tasty vengeance..." he attempted to grab one of the slick creatures, but it managed to escape his grip without much trouble.

[Nozomi]

Taavi's mind hadn't been pure since he was able to wake up in the middle of the night as a teenager and wonder what that particular dream had been. But nevermind that! There were hoppers to hunt and devour and Vityai had better things to concentrate on, damnit. He just rolled his eyes at Taavi's declaration that his ass was something other than skinny, turning only to look at his fallen comrade.

... Or not fallen. Squealing and terrified like a five year old Weyrbrat comrade, falling back against barrels and scaring off the hoppers. He siiiiighed the sigh he had become accustomed to giving when it came to his friend, tromping through the mud and rain as if it were nothing.

"Maybe," said Vityai as he put his muddy, naked foot on Taavi's chest. "If your ass weren't so skinny, you'd not hurt it so much. And we'll get tastey, tasty vengeance on those croaking little hoppers." He peeled off his shirt, taking the time to twist and knot it into something like a bag, though it was stretched and wet with rain.

He offered the shirt-bag to muddy little Taavi, head cocked to the side and dropping it wetly on to his chest where his foot had been just seconds before. He grinned down at Taavi, hair hanging around his face in wet, black strings from the rain. Vityai held a hand out to him once he accosted Taavi with the shirt to help him up.

"Ready to seek your revenge?"