Chapter Text
‘I am in your service until I lose my first life’
He was already beginning to regret his words.
The Idea of serving the other hadn’t seemed that bad in the few moments he had given himself to think about it. He couldn’t say the same now.
The desert was still far and he could only wonder how long it would take them to get there.
The other was set on basing there, for the monopoly, no regard to comfort and safety given.
Death and its rules were weighing heavy on his shoulders, moreso after causing one.
‘It was just a prank’
There was no excuse, no reason for his behaviour, other than a pull to chaos, a want to reflect his feelings on the foreign world around them.
Guilt was suffocating then, resulting in a promise that brought him here, his feet aching from the constant movement of the days and nights spent in the wild, repeated tumbling marking him with scratches.
Speak of the devil, his foot caught on something, ripping him from his thoughts. Trying to regain his balance sent him falling backwards. He hit the floor with a thump and stayed there, all energy draining from him.
His back burned where it laid flat against the floor,a feeling just as foreign as this world. At least he didn't have to worry about crushing sensitive nerves hidden beneath feathers, not that he’d be in this situation if he had the beloved limbs associated with the experience.
The canopy of leaves above him shifted with the barely there breeze, keeping out the shine of the sun and allowing him to gaze up without feeling like clawing his eyes out from the brightness
He did still want to claw his eyes out though.
A breath left him, frustration rising. He squeezed his eyes shut, opening them again to a quickly familiar growing face.
Scars littered around, stories that he couldn't help but be curious about, and a grin lifting the others cheeks as their gazes met, traces of worry and confusion in shining gold eyes.
The confusion was easily explained, stumbling forwards but falling backwards was unusual, even more so for him, he thinks.
The worry, though, rubbed him wrong. He was the reason for eyes shining yellow instead of green, the reason for another scar crawling up the other's collar and probably spreading even further underneath the other's clothing.
There was no explanation for the worry, no reason for the way the other reached out to help him up.
He stayed unmoving for a few seconds, waiting for the other to pull away and turn to leave, though when it didn't happen he sat up. He hesitated before grasping the other’s arm, the right one he noticed, the one that hadn’t been facing the explosion.
With the help of the other he got back on his feet, quickly letting the arm slide out of his grasp, feeling like sandpaper against his skin while also feeling so soft beneath his fingers.
He batted at his clothes, loosening the dirt particles, gaze focused on his feet.
The other shifted before him, turning to the llama standing a few paces from them. A few steps allowed an arm to sweep the bag from its back, a yellow heart flashing for a second.
The other looked at him, beckoning him towards the llama with a tilt of his head and a pat against its flank.
It resulted in him settling atop the llamas back, wool curling around his fingers as he tried to adjust his position to sit less rigid. The other stood close blinking at them before turning away, lead coiled around his fingers, and beginning to explain how it would keep the white coloured fluff calm, even though he was sure that it didn’t.
Warmth bloomed inexplicably inside of him, a smile spreading on his face as the other kept talking about the llama’s comfort and the desert, back turned towards him.
Breathing in he closed his eyes, tension releasing from his shoulders, pronouncing the dull pain in his back, though it was easy to ignore now.
He opened his eyes again, leaning forwards till he was settled against the soft neck of the animal beneath him. His head was angled enough to the side to allow him to gaze at the others back, just as the sun was able to break through the treetops, lighting the world up in a beautiful golden glow.
And in the middle of it all was the other, head half facing to the side, words still spilling out in a constant flow and a smile prominent on his face, sunlight spilling onto him in all the right ways.
It left him breathless.
He was caught in the moment, blindsided for its duration before his mind returned to him.
‘Scar, put your clothes back on!’