Don't whine about my wine! It's expensive.

Posted 8 years, 10 months ago (Edited 8 years, 11 days ago) by Egalan chiauve

          It was custom among the tribes of the Valos to afford every hospitality to their guests; travelers were to never want for anything during their stay and to receive supplies and gifts before they departed. This had been the way for as long as the Valos' memory. The Manhattan Tribe, on the other hand, held the custom of a guest presenting his hosts with a gift, and Egalan, Hawkfather of the Atlantic Clan, decided to partake in this strange method.

   He approached the modest home in none of his already sparse finery, preferring to attract no attention to himself and his hosts. In his hands he carried his gift: a bottle of fine (and potent) Connecticut Tribe wine, which he stole with no remorse from Hawkfather Adlic's personal stores. It was not like the younger man would notice the loss and if he did… Well, he could suck it up. The Manhattan Tribe were too attached to their things anyway.

   It was a pleasant late afternoon waning towards evening, the sun dipping behind the tall buildings and casting the streets in shadow. He hefted his prize in his hand and turned the corner onto his friends' home street. Egalan had no intention to return to his temporary apartments in the city center tonight.

Aluran danlion

The sun was slowly setting on their home, but Aluran did not budge from his spot looking out the window. The Hawkfather gathering had been today, he'd heard, and he had spent the day preparing for Egalan's arrival. Every nook and cranny in their admittedly small house was cleaned, the tub was spotless and stocked with newly made evergreen soap, and aged venison was sitting in their icebox waiting to be cooked.

Tebric had woken up once to water his plants and then fell back asleep.

Now, for the past couple of hours, Aluran had been sitting near the window, waiting for his friend. When he saw that familiar silhouette turn the corner, he smiled to himself and popped his head out the window, waving lightly in greeting before retreating back to wake Teb up.

"Teb," he said, gently shaking his everyn, "Wake up, Egalan's here." Tebric offered no response and only continued to lightly snore, so Aluran shook him harder, eliciting nothing more than a dismissive 'hrmph' and causing him to roll over. "Don't be like that... You don't hate him anymore, you told me so. Get up and cook the venison."

Teb groaned and brought a hand up to his face, pushing his bangs out of his eyes and giving Aluran a half-hearted, sleepy glare. It didn't last long as both of them broke out in smiles, Teb leaning up to give Aluran a small kiss. "Mm. I'm right here though, why don't you do this kind of thing for me?" Teb asked, sitting up and nuzzling his everyn.

"Because I have to deal with you every day. Now stop sucking up to me and get started on the venison, you know I can't cook."

Teb snorted but did as he was told, standing with a yawn and a stretch and shuffling off to the kitchen, still clad in his unnecessarily ornate nightgown.

Egalan chiauve

Egalan was barely around the corner before he saw Aluran poke his head out the window and wave. He couldn't help but chuckle as he returned the gesture before Aluran disappeared back inside. Nothing like a young man happy to see you to make one feel wanted.

It was an odd thing, when he thought about it. He'd rescued victims of the karkan before and while grateful they had little want of contact with him after they recovered. Understandable, considering what they had gone through and what he undoubtedly represented to them: the dark aftermath of their captivity. Yet when he'd accidentally crossed paths with Aluran, barely a year after they'd parted ways, the young Valon had greeted him warmly and invited him to his home for a meal. Things had continued from there and Egalan made an effort to see Aluran and his everyn, Tebric, when he was in Manhattan.

Despite the fact Aluran knew he was there, Egalan knocked when he approached the door and waited.

Aluran danlion

At the knock on the door, Aluran stood up from where he was still kneeling, a small smile on his face. Although Egalan could always be counted on to drop by, he did not do so often, and Aluran was overjoyed whenever he got to see his friend again.

He strode to the door quickly and opened it, his smile growing slightly larger as he laid eyes upon Egalan. “Hello,” he said simply, finally grinning as he pulled the man into a hug – and ignoring the smell that wafted up into his nostrils. Although he would never admit it, Egalan’s scent actually made him feel safe. And a little nauseous at the same time, but he held him for a moment regardless, cheek pressed against the side of his head.

“You didn’t have to bring a gift,” he said as he pulled away, his hands still on the hawkfather’s shoulders. “You’re our friend, it’s unnecessary. Wait…” Narrowing his eyes, Aluran let go of Egalan and pulled the bottle of wine from his hand and examined it suspiciously. “Where did you get this?” he questioned. As Egalan was a Hawkfather it was possible it was given to him, but knowing Egalan…

Egalan chiauve

"Do friends not present each other with gifts? You put up with me, so I wanted to bring you something special," Egalan said, avoiding Aluran's second question. Besides, while he didn't have much currency he had enough that he could buy such comforts if he wanted, it was just more fun to drive Adlic to drink, and then not be able to.

He pulled off his heavy cloak and unceremoniously wadded it up. He was about to toss it in the corner when he remembered his hosts might not like that. One could never be too sure with these city folk. He was so used to sleeping in the damn thing it ended up anywhere.

"Um, where should I...?" He was here so rarely he could never remember what Aluran did with the cloak, damnit.

Aluran danlion

Aluran eyed Egalan over his dismissal of the question. Suspicions confirmed, then – and ignored, as Aluran didn’t bring it up but instead shook his head and waved Egalan inside. He began to head towards the kitchen to set down the bottle of wine, but stopped when Egalan asked what to do with his cloak. Turning around, he saw that he’d squished it up into a ball. That poor cloak had been through so much… and he could smell it from there.

“Ah, you can just – put it on the chair,” he said, gesturing towards the chair near the window he’d been sitting in earlier. As he turned back to the kitchen, Teb popped around the corner to offer Egalan a quick greeting before going back to the venison.

“Does our great and powerful Hawkfather still smell like he took a swim in the sewers?” Tebric asked his everyn, a shit-eating grin spread across his face. Aluran scoffed, setting the bottle down next to the sink.

“Just body odor,” he said, not playing along with Teb’s joking, “He needs a bath, still, and his clothes need washing. Let him borrow some of yours, I’m not letting him put his back on until they are clean.”

Nodding, Teb’s grin grew somehow wider. “Don’t let him distract you so much this time, alright?” A moment passed as what the valon said sunk in, and Aluran sputtered indignantly at the insinuation, leaving the kitchen while Teb laughed behind him.

(ACTUAL DRUNK POST GO)

Egalan chiauve

Egalan wondered if his two friends realized their home wasn't really that big and he could hear every word they said. At the mention of "bath" he glanced at his wadded cloak and considered running back out the door. Instead he took a quick whiff of his underarm to assess the damage.

Oh for crying out loud. He wasn't that bad. So it was a warm day and he got a bit sweaty. The clean clothes given to him when he was in Manhattan were far too fine for him to be wearing in the streets so he'd opted for his usual tunic. So maybe it hadn't been washed yet. It wasn't that he didn't like bathing, he just hated the private bathtubs the urban folk seemed to prefer. It was so...confining.

And with dinner coming up he wouldn't even be able to play.

Aluran danlion

Aluran took one look at Egalan’s expression and knew he’d heard their conversation. “You’re not getting out of it, dear,” he said, gently grabbing the man’s arm and attempting to lead him to the bathroom. It was a rather small room with a wooden tub on a raised platform, heated by a wood-burning stove beneath it.

He began to ready the bath, first kindling the fire, then turning on the faucet. As the tub was filling, he went to look through his soap and flowers, debating on which to put in it. Settling on lavender, he tossed a handful of flowers into the bath and set their respective soaps on the ledge; pine for Egalan, lavender for himself.

When the tub was full and everything was set to Aluran’s standards, he undid his sash and let his robe fall to the floor. He felt no shame about his body around Egalan; the man had already seen him at his absolute worst. “Bath’s ready. Get in,” he said faux-sweetly as he stepped into the bath. He sighed in contentment as he was enveloped in hot water and the soothing smell of lavender. Egalan was insane to not like this.

Egalan chiauve

Egalan hmphed in his throat and crossed his arms over his chest petulantly. So Aluran was staying then. On one hand he was relieved, the bathroom was small and left Egalan feeling anxious when he was stuck in there; having someone with him helped. On the other he was in the midst of etsera and he hated beign naked in front of others in that phase. He was haivalo and his etsera was wrong somehow and his nakedness was just a reminder that he was an incomplete valon.

Oh hell with it. He reached up and pulled his tunic over his head. Years ago he had seen Aluran at his absolute lowest and that didn't color his perception of the man, the least he could do was afford the other valon the same trust. It also made him happy, and Egalan wanted Aluran happy. He still couldn't help his hunched posture as he finished undressing though.

He climbed into the tub and couldn't help a sigh as the hot water soothed the aching muscles in his legs and back. He thanked what gods there might be that he just got off the rag or this would be gross and he would have tossed Aluran out regardless. He sank down into the water as far as the confined space would allow until it was up to his nose, in which he blew annoyed bubbles and glared at Aluran.

Aluran danlion

Aluran shut his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the warm water, but opened them when he felt Egalan getting into the tub. He stared at him, blatantly surprised at how easily he got into the bath when the man had a hatred for tubs almost as strong as his hate for the karkan. He was even in etsera, too; Aluran knew how Egalan felt about himself, although personally he found Egalan’s “oddities” rather cute, and oh, seeing him for the first time in a year...

He made no mention of Egalan’s cycle and instead smiled sweetly before he spoke. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he said, laughing lightly at Egalan pouting and blowing bubbles like a child. “Don’t be like that, dear. Come here, let me wash you.” He picked up the pine soap he’d made for Egalan off the tub ledge and patted the water in front of him. 

Egalan chiauve

With a frustrated sigh Egalan edged towards Aluran. He didn't know why he was being so petulant, while he hated small tubs like this it wasn't the first time he'd been stuck in one and the faster he got clean the faster he'd be out. Dinner was soon anyway. Still, Aluran knew he hated this and yet continued to patronize him about it and make him get in anyway.

It was time for revenge.

Egalan smiled at his friend in a surrendering, agreeable fashion before turning to allow Aluran access to his back. He waited and them moved back, too close, and let his hand 'accidentally' rest on Aluran's thigh, his calloused thumb dragging slowly upward.

Aluran danlion

Aluran was relieved that Egalan didn’t put up a fight. Surely he’d realized by now that if he’d cooperate it’d be over quicker… but that smile that Egalan gave. Something was up.

As he reached to run the soap bar over Egalan’s tanned skin, the other valon suddenly scooted backwards, close enough to be pressing against Aluran’s body. Aluran felt himself flushing, and at Egalan’s touch on his thigh, a small choked squeak escaped him. He hadn’t seen him in such a long time, and now this… Aluran might not have been well-endowed but what was now pressing against Egalan’s back was unmistakable.

He took a moment to mentally sort himself then continued with his task of gently scrubbing Egalan’s back. Completely ignoring what had just happened would be the best idea, he decided. He would have liked to play along, but he refused to fall for it again. Dinner was soon and he wanted to actually get his friend clean; they could play after.

“So,” he started, voice cracking slightly, “How have you been, dear?”