[Closed] @eidxiety 🐉🐉🕊️

[winterbolt]

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[eidxiety]

Yeah, because it was stupid. Thanks so much for that, by the way. It definitely makes me feel a lot better.

[He is rolling his eyes. You'd think the literal constant panic attacks would keep him from sassing but no! No no! Ain has not a shred of filter when he's this upset. Or ever, actually.]

I guess, thanks for taking me away from my miserable home life.

[lupusxylem]

I ain't tellin' you this to win brownie points. I'm just tellin' you the truth.

[Wolfwood huffs, looking ahead at the storm that's getting progressively worse, as if to reflect the state of what's going on in the cave right now. Wolfwood AND Add have historically been really terrible at emotions but this is really taking the cake.]

...the best we can offer you is to drop you off hundreds of miles away from home where they couldn't get you even if you were recognized. Let you start a new life somewhere, I dunno.

[Add suddenly scoffs:]

So you're letting him go. After all the trouble of getting him, is that it?

[To which Wolfwood turns and barks back:]

What do you WANT from me? YOU just fuckin' blew up on him, he's already tried to kill himself once, are you gonna tell me now he's better off here??

[Add gets up from his book pile, then, and for a second it looks like he might come after Wolfwood, sparks jumping off his leathery skin...but after a moment of standing there stanced up, he instead decides to storm out, disappearing into the watery night. Wolfwood watches, and for a moment he thinks about going after him...but he can't leave Ain here, so he just sighs and looks at his empty bowl.]

...he'll come back. Anyway, I dunno...it's up to you at this point. If you want to leave we'll get you somewhere safe, at least.

[eidxiety]

[...just. sets his empty bowl down. Lays down in the nest. Man, he can't deal with this marital spat. Ain feels bad about their population declining, but he doesn't know how he's supposed to help...]

To be clear, I tried to kill myself because my options were "be at home depressed" or "get eaten by dragons".

[He's also just super depressed though.]

Just let me think about it. It's not like I can go anywhere with this injury, can I? As much as I'm so sure this is an inconvenience for you...

[lupusxylem]

I never said you were an inconvenience. If you were, we wouldn’t really have bothered to patch you up, or feed you.

[They could have just let him quietly bleed out and have that be that, but…here they are.

But Wolfwood won’t press the issue further now. Things are tense and the atmosphere is thick, so he’ll take their empty bowls and leave the uneaten food by the fire to stay warm until Add comes back. Though, he may end up going after him when Ain is asleep, thinking on it.]

[eidxiety]

Yeah. I guess.

...I'm sure you can tell, but I've been scared of you guys ever since. You guys constantly screaming doesn't help. ...I guess it doesn't matter too much. I'm a guest in your home, so whatever.

[Ain wiggles back under the blankets. He's not tired, but...]

My name is Ain, by the way.

[lupusxylem]

…Ain.

[Ain is a cute name, he finds himself thinking.

Wolfwood isn’t sure what this feeling he’s feeling right now is, but he doesn’t like it. Frustration, guilt, shame…it’s not like he’s cared this much before.

Yet maybe there’s something to the fact he doesn’t shift forms when Ain says he’s afraid of him, despite having no reason to stay human right now.]

Dragons aren’t kind creatures. [He says, even though that’s kindof a lie but-] We’re dysfunctional, but we really only got each other anymore.

[…mm. He was going to wait, but…]

You okay here by yourself? I’m going to go find Add.

[eidxiety]

I won't try to kill myself again, if that's what you're asking. I'll be fine. Bored, maybe, and in pain, but fine.

[Realistically, what's he gonna do? Hobble around some more and leave? No, he's just gonna lay under the covers and be a loaf for a while.]

He's your mate, so... Go get him. Don't get lost.

[dyn4m0]

[He wasn’t asking that specifically, but…good to know he isn’t, at least. Wolfwood watches Ain for a moment longer before he heads for the cave mouth, waiting until he’s outside before he transforms and flies away.

He’ll be gone for two hours. It’s hard to say what happens during that time, at least until the pair do eventually come back when the storm is so bad they barely make it in time to cover the cave entrance so it doesn’t flood. The fire is still going enough to keep the place lit, enough that Ain will see the pair of dragons slowly walking back in, except both of them are littered with scratches and bites. Nothing lethal, but definitely marks not there when either left. They don’t come too close before transforming into their human forms silently, with Wolfwood watching Add until he walks over to sit by the fire pit and eat the food that’s long since gone cold. He hasn’t yet said anything, though he did look at Ain for a moment as he walked in before looking away. It’s hard to say what he’s thinking, but he definitely looked humbled.

Wolfwood, meanwhile, drops a little piece of cloth on the nest next to Ain, untying it. There’s a handful of wild berries inside, blackberries mostly, that he leaves there for him before he goes to sit by the fire and breathe more flames into it to get it going brightly again.]

[eidxiety]

[Ain is, surprisingly, asleep when Wolfwood and Add come back, not that he'd really intended to sleep. It's nighttime, though, and he's still sick... Well, in any case, Ain's sleepy baby ass is woken up by the boys, and when he looks up he's essentially blasted with NUTS thanks Wolfwood.]

Are these edible...?

[His voice is, expectedly, quite scratchy. And yes, he does see the marks all over both boys, and bites his tongue. Ugh. Glad you got all your fighting done outside, but maybe stop biting each other!!]

[dyn4m0]

[You’re welcome he has them :) ]

They’re blackberries.

[Add speaks up from the other side of the fire pit, still not looking up as he eats his stew. Wolfwood, realizing Add just assumes Ain knows what those are, adds in a grumbling undertone:]

They’re edible. Add sprinkled some crushed up herbs that…they should make you better.

[Add rolls his eyes and explains since Wolfwood can’t.]

It should promote healing and help with the sickness. It’ll soothe any pain you might have.

[Like ye olde Tylenol.]

[eidxiety]

Oh... okay. I like blackberries, but I've only ever had them on cakes before.

[Reminder: He was a rich brat until 24 hours ago. Or, well, a little less than that, but they're nearing that mark anyway. Ain sits up and carefully scoops up a handful, using his palm as a bowl to eat out of. They're far more tart when they're not on a cake, he's realising. Maybe that's part of the herbs.

Ugh, he's never going to have cake again, is he? This is the worst. Maybe he can find some way to build a stove and cook... it can't be that hard. And both dragons seem to know how to cook things, so it's just a matter of getting grains... mm, maybe Ain could start a farm for that, actually, he's good at gardening. That's the one thing his mother let him do.

Theoreticals to entertain later.]

They're a lot more sour when they're not mashed up into a dessert item.

[dyn4m0]

Have you not had them normally? That’s just what they taste like.

[Add makes a muffled sound, which is Wolfwood punching him in the arm. Don’t you have something to say…?

The purple dragon huffs, poking at a potato with his claw.]

…I’m sorry for scaring you, or whatever. I’m used to humans making fun of us when they find out what we are, so I thought you were patronizing me.

[eidxiety]

[Munch... chewing contemplatively...]

...oh... no, I wasn't doing that. I just wanted to talk to someone, I guess, that's all. [Ain runs his hand back through his hair, finding that it comes off expectedly dirty and sweat-soaked. Coooool. Maybe when the rain stops he can dunk his head in water and clean off. He's sure he can't take a bath because of the stitches, but... yucky.] Thanks for saying sorry. And for patching up the wound. You didn't have to, but I appreciate it.

...sorry. It's just that you guys are larger than me, and I'm sort of just a squishy little human, so it's hard not to be scared sometimes. I'll get over it.

[dyn4m0]

[As he eats, Add does happen to look over (he’s hanging on Ain’s response here, despite trying to make it seem like he doesn’t care), and he notices the way he touches his hair and seems bothered by how dirty it is.

>Add will remember that

Wolfwood is grabbing portions of the rest of the food from earlier kept warm by the fire, pouring the last bowl of stew that he places by the berries for Ain to eat if he wants. This was more for him anyway, since they can just go hunting.]

Is it better when we’re like this?

[Wolfwood asks, which kinda gives away the fact he probably made Add shift with him before they came back inside, soaked with rainwater as they are.]

[eidxiety]

[Yeah he's onto you— the apology and the shapeshifting have clued him in. Hm hmmm...

They're making an effort, so Ain will try his damnedest to calm down. It's fine, they're not hostile (possibly)...]

You're less scary, and wayyyy easy on the eyes. [Please GOD are you SCARED or HORNY.] Haha, I'll calm down about you guys being big lizards soon, I promise. Just give me a couple days. I have to grow to trust you more, I think.

[So scared-horny. Scorny.]

[dyn4m0]

[Every time Ain says something like that- how they're easy on the eyes, for example- Add goes from his usual pale purple to a DEEP red. He's finished his food by now, but like...that fluster hasn't gone away.

Mrhrhrhghg.]

Just tell me when you're finished eating. I'll bring you to where we bathe so you can wash your hair.

[eidxiety]

Oh, you saw that, huh... haha, I've never actually been this dirty. Um, is it okay to bathe with the wound?

[He honestly doesn't know. He might be giving himself a whore bath instead of submerging his lower body, but that's fine. They're dragons, so they probably don't care as much about nudity... Ain, though, very much does. Just because he's gone into objectification mode now doesn't mean he won't be super flustered when his head is clearer later. Like, you guys have got to put your nuts away.]

I'm almost done, though. Promise.

[lupusxylem]

Take your time. Ain't like we got anywhere to be.

[Wolfwood is gathering up bowls and utensils as he says this, clearly intending to clean them when they're done. Seems like these dragons have SOME standards, standards they've undoubtedly come to learn in their attempts to get a Princess to stay with them. Time and again, they'd recoil at their hygiene, or their lack of cooking, or...clothes. The clothing isn't something they've seem to caught on to just yet, it seems.

But it's clear they're trying, in their own weird dysfunctional little way.]

You can't. You'll have to wipe yourself down, but you can still hold your head over the waterfall just fine.

[eidxiety]

Okay, that makes sense.

[He'll eat, then, and when he's full sigh and stretch and ow ow ow okay no stretch stretch is bad— and then look over at Add and offer his most Polite, Nice Boy smile.]

Will you help me get to the waterfall? I don't know how badly I'll limp when I get up.

[dyn4m0]

[Wolfwood and Add exchange a brief, wordless glance. Wolfwood just kindof looks at him and smirks in a way that is just...inexplicable as he continues gathering up stuff to wash. He'll just take it outside and rinse it with rainwater, let's be real. Meaning that this is all on Add...

Add's tail curls behind him as he gets up and makes his way over to where Ain is laying, looking down at him for a moment. Instead of leaning down to pull Ain's arm over his shoulders to help him walk deeper into the cave, as Ain probably expects, the dragon instead just

scoops Ain up. Completely. He pushes his arms up underneath his back and legs and scoops him into his arms against his chest before he turns and makes for deeper into the cave.]

It's not far, but it's also not close enough that you'd be able to make it with an injury like that.

[eidxiety]

[Ain squeaks like a little mouse when lifted, suddenly having to cling around Add's neck to actually feel like he won't suddenly pitch forward and fall. It's not like he expects to be dropped, but he's never been lifted...

Hot man picking him up aaaaa A A A a a A fd fhdffkl—

Ain, whose face is burning hot right now, is pretty sure he's dying.]

[dyn4m0]

[Yeah Add is feeling pretty flustered too, don't worry!! But at least he doesn't have to carry him THAT far...

The cave, as it turns out, goes deeper than just the main entrance, though it does require a short trek through a tighter corridor that's only just barely lit up with some naturally bioluminescent plants and fungi growing on the damp walls. Add has no trouble seeing regardless because dragon as he carries Ain to a secondary chamber, one that Ain will hear before he sees it.

There's a waterfall that opens up to another entrance on what must be a different side of the mountain edge, falling across the opening like a curtain. It's fresh spring water, making it safe for bathing in, and alongside it is a flat pool that sits within the cave for soaking in, if one were so inclined. Ain can't use that right now since he shouldn't be submerged, but perhaps some other time.

This is where Add will bring Ain, carefully sitting him down on some soft nesting material that the dragons laid down all around the pool to absorb any wayward water (it probably gets changed out a lot to prevent molding). Despite everything, it's all weirdly warm.]

You can wash here. Just don't get in the pool right now.

[eidxiety]

Whoa...

[It's so beautiful, Ain thinks. There's a natural spring in here? Fresh water and everything? Are there little fishies who have fallen over the edge of the waterfall, he wonders? He really wishes he could swim in it, but that's for another day, when he's not injured and bandaged. Although he doesn't know what to wash off with, if he's honest, but maybe just scrubbing down with his hands will do for now.

He sits there, on the edge of the pool, wondering how it's warm in here versus the rest of the cave. Maybe the bedding, or the spring has something going on, he doesn't know. He's not a man of science, he's a man of flowers and music.

Slowly, he starts to unbutton his silk shirt, the one that's currently blood-stained and would be better off forming rags if he didn't lack clothing entirely.]

It's pretty, especially with all the glowing plants. I've never seen something like this before...

[dyn4m0]

This room was why we decided to make this our territory. We'd never seen anything like it either.

[Add sits down nearby, intending to supervise so Ain doesn't fall in and drown. In this AU, he has no qualms about nudity whatsoever, so he's sitting there cross-legged with his sheath and balls still Out, not thinking about the fact Ain might want privacy here.

Ain may notice there are indeed little fish in the pond, though they're mostly tiny minnows and the like. The water itself is warm because the spring itself is just warm naturally, so he won't have to worry about contracting hypothermia while bathing here.]

This spring is both our drinking and bathing water. If we didn't have it, we wouldn't be able to stay here.

[eidxiety]

I get it.

[Pretty and functional... And full of cute little fishes which Ain happily squeals over before he finishes undressing. It's... Awkward, maybe, having Add there — but dragons lack his hangups, so Ain will have to get over that, too. He just has to strip down...

Ow his side.

...he does, eventually, get undressed fully and start to scrub himself down with his hand cupped and his nails scratching off any stubborn dirt spots. Annoying compared to using a cloth, but that's the outdoors for ya.]