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[The first thing Sorey thinks as he falls is what Lailah said as they left Camlann; that without his domain, all of them would instantly be hellions. The ground collapses beneath his feet, the wind drake behind him snaps up his cloak in its jaws and he sees the terror on Mikleo's face just before Symonne's laughter shrieks out and he and the drake fall together.

If they're too far away from me-

He can still feel their connection. He can still feel them, even if they can't go to him, and Sorey prays that's enough.

Wind rushes past them and Sorey tries to wrench out of the drake's grip (It's gotta be a wind seraph, Zaveid had shouted as they were thrown into the thick of battle in the tight corridors of the fortress), twisting and turning, sword in his hand. They'd weakened the drake considerably as a team but he's not sure he's powerful enough on his own to purify it, not even with all the strength he's gathered. Not without the others.

Hopefully, because Rose is there, they'll be okay. Please, please, I can't lose anyone else-

They fall far but hit a collapsed spire at an angle; in the mess the drake releases Sorey (or maybe his cloak tears, he can't tell) and he tumbles, bumps against it and hits the ground hard enough to rattle his teeth in his head and jar his bones. He pushes himself up, ignoring the bruises and aches, the constant, thumping worry of his heart and puts his sword between he and the drake as it sways up to its feet.]

Don't worry, [he promises the poor thing, because thank god, thank god it's not a dragon yet. There's still hope.] I'm going to save you. Don't worry, it'll be over soon.

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[Dezel reappears with a very lovely-smelling bag of food and a smaller package besides. He finds Sorey whole and not bereft of his clothing, which is about as much as he can ask for.]

Hey, hope you're hungry. [He hasn't noticed Sorey's parcel yet.] Let me pay for a room and then you can open this.

[Dezel goes on ahead to the innkeeper and hands over the gald, and he receives a key in return. He finds his way to the back of the inn. It's a secluded room with... only one bed, but since Dezel doesn't need to sleep, he sees no problem with this.

He spreads the contents of the bag on the table. Breaded chicken pieces, a side of mashed potatoes, garden salad, and some kind of cool vanilla and dough confection in a cup.

The last thing to hit is a box. Inside is a neatly-folded letter from Rose... and, as it so happens, one of her hair decorations. It's been made into a talisman with elysalark feathers much like the ones Sorey wears.]

Edited 2017-01-18 06:09 (UTC)

[Sorey is already digging into the food when he sees the box. He glances up at Dezel, sets aside his utensils and pries open the lid. The paper is old but preserved, maybe even by way of seraphic artes, because that's absolutely Rose's original handwriting on this thousand-year-old letter.

Sorey unfolds it as if caring for a sacred altar cloth, laying it atop the table and smoothing it open. He reads the letter in its entirety, then again, and a third time with his lips pressed in a thin line as he fights back against tears for what feels like the millionth time.]

...do you know what it says?

[The wind brushes gently, so gently along the trinket that Rose wore for many years. Feeling it is like having Rose with him again, and he needs a moment to collect himself. For a second he's so lost, so deep in it that he doesn't realize Sorey has spoken.]

... No. The Scattered Bones held onto it for all this time. Rose asked them to.

It's amazing that they held onto it for so long. [Sorey rereads the letter again, especially that footnote, before folding it back up and gently tucking it away.

He lifts the talisman out of the box, the color and fastenings still pristine, before ducking his head to slide the cord over his hair.] I'll have to go thank them before we leave.

Edited 2017-01-19 23:12 (UTC)

I'll take you to meet them tomorrow morning.

[Sorey's wearing the charm now, and before Dezel can really think about it, he's reaching forward to touch Sorey's collar with his fingers. Abruptly he realizes what he's doing and pulls his hand back, resting it against the table near him instead.]

I got us a spot on an airship. You wanted to see the ocean, right?

[Sorey stills when Dezel reaches for the charm, taking it between his fingers when Dezel backs down.]

...-ah, yeah! Yeah, and we gotta catch up to Mikleo, of course. [Sorey shifts his weight and drops the talisman back against his chest before reaching for the parcel he'd been carrying.] I brought you something.

[Inside the parcel is one of Dezel's old pendulum sets; the last ones he'd used before he'd 'died,' actually.]

Rose...kept these. She was going to make them into hair ornaments, or something she could wear or use I think, but we never really had the time. Things happened so fast, after Pendrago.

[Sorey ducks his head and scratches his nose.] Anyway, she asked me before we left to fight Heldalf if she could leave them at my house for safekeeping. ...in case she didn't make it back. I think she must've thought it would be in poor taste to get them with you alive, so.

But I thought you might like them back. Or that you'd at least like the story.

You didn't have to -

[He falls silent as he feels it, hears it, a song on the wind long forgotten. He hasn't seen these since he lost them. Rose never told him... but Rose had Dezel, so of course she wouldn't need the pendulums. Of course. Dezel is so touched and so stricken at the same time that words completely and utterly fail him, leaving him stranded with his pale eyes wide.]

Sorey. How did you...

[Oh jeez. Oh hell, he hasn't felt like this in an eternity. He wraps a pendulum around his fingers tentatively, as if it might break. Thankfully it does not. He sets it back into the box.

Dezel, on the other hand-- he's having a little bit of a hard time keeping himself together. After a minute he shoves it into Sorey's hand, making sure to curl his fingers around it. Rarely is Dezel so openly touchy but he's giving it to Sorey for a reason.]

Thank you. But I think... I want you to have 'em.

[Dezel finds a smile, finally.]

I'll teach you how to use them.

Really? [Sorey can't help the boyish grin crossing his face, and he covers Dezel's hand with his own. It's a far cry from 'just don't hurt yourself,' Dezel wanting to pass on techniques he likely picked up from Zaveid and Lafarga.] It'll be a lot of work to teach me. I can be pretty clumsy.

[Dezel's a little surprised at the hand covering his but he's more surprised at the flutter in his chest. Sorey seems so happy, at least for the moment. The wind seraph doesn't mince words and he doesn't make empty promises; he fully intends to train the former Shepherd.]

I'm sure you can handle it.

[He lingers in the warmth Sorey's hand provides for just a moment too long, and then he carefully pulls away.]

Your food's getting cold.

[Okay that wasn't just him, right?

Well, Dezel's funny when he's all embarrassed but if he goes too far then he'll stomp off so Sorey just grins again and starts dishing some food out for himself.]

So, do you know what Lailah and Edna have been up to? Are they traveling around like Mikleo?

[No, no it was not. Dezel leans against the wall beside the table. He could take a seat, but the room's pretty small, and he likes doing the wall sulking thing.]

Yeah. They're watching over a Shepherd, last I heard. I don't know her name but she's pretty young.

[A pause.]

One of the Sparrowfeathers told me she fenced off a massive hellion with an umbrella. Not sure where she got that from.

Nope, that doesn't sound familiar at all. [Sorey leaves the box with the pendulums on the table, reluctant to just tuck it away before he gets a good look at them. Actually, he should probably look into getting weapons while they're here; at the very least, a bow and quiver and a hunting knife.] I'm glad to hear Edna stuck with it. She's warmed up to humans a little, huh?

A little. She hasn't changed much, though.

[They're not terribly close-- Zaveid and Edna are far closer-- but Edna's brand of grumpiness has some familiarity to it.]

You should probably get some sleep. Big day tomorrow.

Yeah, you're probably right... [Sorey is still reluctant to sleep -there's so much to see and do!- but he can't deny that he's lagging.] Are you gonna sleep also?

[Dezel blinks slowly. His head turns in the vague direction of the bed-- singular.]

... Do you want me to?

[He can take it or leave it when it comes to sleeping, but there's literally only one bed, and he's not about to invade Sorey's space unless Sorey wants it. Hugs are one thing, spooning is quite another.]

[Sorey's about to automatically deny it, too used to being coddled by his seraphim friends (maybe there's something novel about engaging in human activities, like humoring a child afraid of the monsters under their bed) but there's something...different in Dezel's tone. More considering. More unsure.]

Well. [Sorey tips his chair back on two legs, rocking.] I'd like the company. I've spent an awful lot of time sleeping by myself.

[It's made it hard for him waking up, actually. Sometimes in that moment between awareness and sleep, he'd thought for sure he was back on that stone slab, unable to move for another thousand years. Highkey unsettling.]

[Sorey has a good point. A thousand years is a long time, and it makes sense that he'd have trouble sleeping even for little lengths of time. His rest after they'd left the shrine-- more like a tomb-- had been brief and troubled.]

As if I'd leave you alone.

[He strips off his gloves and shoes as he sits on the very edge of the bed. After a moment he removes his hat, too, and sets it on the nightstand.]

[Wow he...didn't actually expect that to work. Sorey drops his chair back down on all fours before pushing back from the table to stand up and head over. He folds his cloak up, tugs free his gloves and boots and scoots into bed, a little curious.] When's the last time you've slept?

[The coat is the last thing to come off, and he leaves it draped over his boots.]

Don't remember.

[He finally slips under the covers. He's not really big on sheets, but this time he'll make an exception. It'd be disruptive to Sorey otherwise.

The last time he slept in a bed with someone... it had been Rose, and less sexy than you'd imagine. She'd ended up adopting a kid barely old enough to walk, and the kid had slept so soundly between them that it became a sort of tradition. There may have been more. There are stories. But they are stories that Dezel never, ever tells.]

[Dezel looks much less foreboding without the coat and the hat to make himself look larger. Sorey hadn't ever really been intimidated by him before, but like this he seems so...small. It's kind of lonely.

Sorey thinks for a moment, drawing the covers up before sticking his hand out of the top and staring at Dezel expectantly.]

Edited 2017-01-24 08:02 (UTC)

[Maybe he looks young. He isn't young, not anymore, but he still looks the same as he has for several years. He reached the peak of his power a long time ago, and even though Mikleo has grown and blossomed, Dezel still scarcely looks twenty-five.

His bangs drift into his eyes as he adjusts his head on the pillow. His silver eyes are still pale and sightless-- the same color as the drake Sorey fought and purified so long ago-- though they drift closed when he realizes he might be staring. The wind tells him that Sorey certainly is.

... Are they supposed to hold hands? Is that what he wants? He is so damned clueless right now. Tentatively, he reaches up and gives Sorey's palm a poke.]

[Sorey snorts in amusement, taking Dezel's hand in his and squeezing.] So you know I'm here. I'd kind of like to not have a breeze in my face all night.

[It's a weak excuse. Dezel can still feel the dip in the bed, can still hear and feel the air moving in and out of his lungs, but this is a little more...immediate. Sorey is playing it down because Dezel, like Mikleo, gets flustered when he's told the truth. Sorey will hand it to him in pieces then, behind gentle little fibs, in a language with which he's so familiar.]

[Oh. He's a little surprised at the hand-squeezing, but he doesn't pull it away. If that's what Sorey wants, then... Dezel will give it to him. That's fine.]

I'm not going to... [He huffs at that, sending a little breeze to tickle Sorey's nose. He raises his other hand and snuffs out the lantern with a soft snap of his fingers. Now it's properly dark and cozy.

Only then does Dezel squeeze back.]

Show off, [Sorey mumbles into his pillow, grinning. But this is the most relaxed he's been trying to sleep since he woke, Dezel's hand warm and sure in his own. He laces their fingers together, closes his eyes and if at some point during the night, scoots right up against Dezel's side, well, it's normal. Humans need a lot of comfort, you see, and they thrive on community and companionship and maybe, maybe Sorey wasn't as unaware of those one thousand years as he thought he was, because the fist he unconsciously makes in Dezel's shirt is tight and just a touch desperate.]

[When Sorey wakes up, he'll find Dezel is still there. Yeah, at some point during the night Sorey tried to cuddle-- but that's all right. Sorey's always been the type to sprawl or cuddle whatever's within grabbing reach; Dezel's seen it before, though not in a thousand years. He'd almost forgotten.

It's now comfortably morning and the birds have already eaten. Dezel doesn't move except to draw his bare fingers through Sorey's messy hair. He could stand to lay like this for a while longer, but they do have to run an errand or two before departure.]