Only one bed

[madmeemey]

there's only one bed!

Two characters have to share a room for the night. Every room is occupied, but fortunately there is one last room available.

There's just one problem — there's only one bed, and the characters aren't comfortable sharing it.

- TV Tropes

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[alivian]

...Yes.

[He's definitely moving more smoothly, putting more weight on that limb than prior.

[He glances over when he notices that Logan's bringing their clothes with them. In a bind, his coat will be a decent towel, too. So long as it's dried by the fire after.

[Once he knows where they're going - or rather, Logan leading, Alivian falls into line, resisting the urge to follow behind rather than beside.

[After everything, they both utterly stink compared to the air outside. Alivian isn't accustomed to sitting in his own filth for long, anyway, even if the scent of sex and the resulting aches makes him feel pretty damned good, now that his mood has settled. Walking towards a slow, agonizing death aside, he feels... alright.

[His body doesn't ache as much within the bones, and his leg doesn't feel so shaky. It's... well. Not as bad as he thought he'd be off, after that.

[It seems they both need someone. They're probably not right, but... he can't bring him to fully turn Logan down, and walk away.

[Buzz relief aside, there are important matters to deal with. A bath first, even if the wolf in him desperately wants to sit in this stink and feel pride over being (however erroneously) chosen. His fur and skin are tacky with sweat and blood and if he doesn't wash it off soon, he's going to have to relieve himself with his hand for a time.

[But they don't have that leisure. Even as Alivian half-thinks he should return to his world, if he leaves without Logan, then... Well, he'll die and that'll be that. Just like he expected to.

[And there's no guarantee that Logan will want his attention once they escape (probably false,) his company (likely false,) even if they return to Logan's world (probably, definitely, not escaping him.) They fucked. (Logan told him that he won't be able to forget.) That's it. (That's not it. It's so uch more than that!) They're strangers, otherwise, in a land that seems hardly fit to house life at all. (True.)

[Once they arrive, Alivian immediately takes a (fast, proper posture) running start to dive into the lake, only to take off at a brisk swim just under the surface of the water. It feels good, his bones and joints getting an additional break from carrying his weight. He takes a quick breath, and then dives, scaning along the bottom of the lake for any fish to catch, and maybe a stick to catch them with.

[Hopefully Logan doesn't worry as the seconds he's been underwater extend to a minute on.]

[educated_wish]

[ Hell yeah, he worries. He doesn't go into the lake but he crouches at the edge of it, keeping an eye on where Alivian disappeared into the water. He's waiting for him to resurface, watching for bubbles, trying to judge whether he should go in. He doesn't want to do it frantically - that would just result in dire straits for both of them. But he still worries. ]

Hey, wolf? Surface now.

[ He probably can't hear him, right? Not under there. If it takes any longer, he's going in and seeking him out. ]

[alivian]

[Nope, water's too deep, and also in his ears. Sorry Wolvie, can't hear you.

[Alivian, on the other hand, is quite enjoying the deep dive. It's not as cold as the lake back home! He also feels like he could do this for hours. That's stupid and impossible, but it's a feeling.

[Not wanting to take chances, it takes him another thirty seconds to resurface with a short gasp, and some focused head shaking to instinctively combat the feeling of water in his ears.]

[educated_wish]

...you stayed down there awhile.

[ Logan's tone is almost... accusatory? It doesn't fit the words at all. But the tone of communication is clear: you worried me. ]

I'm coming in now.

[ And so he does, walking into the water with a shiver at how cold it is. It's a shock to his system, but he always likes those, no matter what form they come in.

Pain slut ]

[alivian]

[He sees Logan's mouth move, and frowns, then points to his ears.]

Water in ears.

[Sorry, still didn't hear you. Alivian takes a moment to wade into shallows and repeatedly tilt his head a bit to try to let the water drip out of his unfortunately-placed ear canals: namely, the top of his head.]

Water's pretty warm.

[More awkward head tilting.]

[educated_wish]

[ Logan eyes him as he wades into the water, coming up pretty close. He looks amused at how the awkward head tilting looks. The offense is all but forgotten. ]

Should I even bother saying anything else? You need help with that?

[ He gestures towards his ears, though he's not exactly sure how he could help. ]

[alivian]

[Alivian carefully tries to focus on Logan's mouth for help, picking up some amount of sound from it, thankfully. He nods and pats his waist once.]

Balance help, please?

[His equilibrium is off, he means.]

Need to lean over to get the water out.

Bunch of the fish at the bottom, so after clean-up, I'll want help one more time with my ears after we get them. Or to lie down on a blanket and roll over a few times.

[Frowning, he lightly fusses with a waterlogged ear.]

[educated_wish]

[ Putting his arms around his waist, he gives the balance help that was asked for. It's easy enough, so why would he deny him? Besides, he's already started to have it bad. He'd help with anything Alivian asked for, as long as it didn't hurt him. As was made obvious by that argument before.

He's already thinking about what it would be like to lay on the blanket with him, holding him close - but that wasn't the topic at hand. Fishing was, after fixing those ears. ]

This help?

[alivian]

Mmhm.

[Time for him to bend over as far as he can, tipping his head as far upside-down as he can to let the water drain out. He groans a little at the awkward sensation.

[Hopefully Logan doesn't mind having that ass and soggy still-soft tail almost perfectly level with his groin.]

Only thing I dislike about swimming. Ruins my balance once I'm out of the water.

[He gently braces a hand on Logan's forearm when he finally moves to stand up after a few seconds of fussing.]

Gonna need to either find a stick or catch 'em with my bare hands. It's also... deep. Thirty seconds down, thirty up. Gives me an additional minute to hunt if I push it. Not going to. Too risky, even without ice in the water. Visual is also bad down there.

[He seems to have forgotten that he's being held as he mulls over his options...]

[educated_wish]

[ Logan grunts at everything, but tries to keep his cool. But he's never been very good at that, so it's obvious he's thinking about something he doesn't think he should. Something very delicate and hot, that doesn't involve hunting at all. ]

Yeah, alright.

[ Is he even listening? Yeah, not really. ]

[alivian]

[Alivian's out of it too, until the sort of... distant sound to Logan's voice clues him in. He blinks once, and then notices where his ass has been.]

Sorry.

[He pulls back a bit. Not long after fighting, and.. well. He supposes they're both touch-starved to be that into each other. It's novel, though... to not be hated for a long period of time.]

Copper for your thoughts?

[He honestly isn't regarding his game plan.]

[educated_wish]

...you don't want them.

[ He's still thinkng about that argument, not anything that was before. Well, that's a lie, he's completely thinking about what was before. But he doubts Alivian would want to repeat it. ]

They're... unsuitable.

[alivian]

[Alivian arches an eyebrow at him, gaze flicking over his entire frame.]

I think I can handle it.

[His expression softens, and he has the grace to look at least a little embarrassed.]

And if it's about before, I'm... calmer.

[Hopefully Logan catches on that he's meaning that he's less likely to react like he did before.]

[educated_wish]

I want to touch you again.

[ Alivian isn't the only one looking embarrassed. But it was to be expected, with how much he fought revealing this. ]

But now isn't the time. We need to find food.

[ For one thing, expending as much energy as he had has him hungry. ]

[alivian]

["You shouldn't," sits on his tongue. His gaze flicks over Logan's thoughtfully, and then he nods once.

...Alright.

Let me catch the fish at the bottom. I don't know their preferred movements when fleeing from predators, but you might have some luck at the mouth of the stream.

[He thinks a moment.]

I know enough on how to skewer them and grill them next to fire, but that's it. My nana likes fish enough that I know how to work with them... in theory.

[educated_wish]

I know how to cook damn well. I can do the cooking. i wasn't bothering much because it was only me.

[ He's had 200 years to learn, though he learned most of it in his early days, when his father was still alive to teach him. He acknowledges the rest of the words and nods. ]

I'll head there. Seperation is - probably good right now.

[ With deliberate and forced movement, he steps away and lets go. ]

[alivian]

[Separation being good gets a very dog-like headtilt out of him (even though it's a perfectly reasonable course of action,) but Alivian lets him go without fussing.

[And so long as Logan is walking away from him, Alivian catches himself staring at Logan's back, searching his shoulders for marks that aren't even there anymore.

[He turns away, himself, takes a breath, and dives right back under again.

[Each dive is at least relatively successful. Given the size of the fish, he they hopefully won't need much.

[He makes sure to dispatch them himself with his teeth before planting them on a relatively clean-looking flat rock. (It's distressing to pull them out of the water otherwise...)

[They're not the largest fish, so he caught more of them, but hopefully, the meat they have will be just enough.]

[educated_wish]

[ Logan, for his own part, is trying to fish by stabbing the water when he sees it moves. This isn't generally productive, but eventually he gets one thing. It's large, it's furry and it lived under the water with a very flat mouth. He kind of raises it up on his claws and looks at it with an odd look.

Why does it have fur? What the hell is it? It blinks at him a few times before expiring gladly. ]

[alivian]

[Alivian happens to be surfaced when he sees Logan catch such a weird thing. With the workout he's gotten by swimming, his filter is... lower. He makes a stupefied face at the fish-thing.]

The fuck is that?

[Hold on a moment while he tips his head to empty his ears again.]

[educated_wish]

[ He laughs at the unexpected comment. He's talked to him enough by now to know he doesn't generally swear. They've gotten to know each other quickly, kind of like a trial by fire, though obviously there's still much to learn. ]

The hell if I know. It was the only thing I could stab.

[ He shrugs a shoulder. ]

Guess it was slow.

[alivian]

Hmmm.

[It takes him a minute to empty his ears on his own, and then wades out of the water to give the fish-thing a closer look, both ears tilting sideways.]

Wonder if other seasons in this place means it gets cold, or... could be a shelter for a symbiotic pair.

[Not that it matters; they're likely going to eat it anyway, unless it's absolutely putrid.

[He makes a note to make the spear they need for Logan, instead. Or hell, make two if there's enough to work with.]

Do we need any more fish than this?

[educated_wish]

Other seasons? Like hell. [ Logan scoffs. ] The weather doesn't change, the seasons don't change. I've been here awhile and I haven't seen it.

[ It was just odd, it boggled logic, but that was what this place was in its core. ]

Probably not. I didn't catch as much as you, but it's bigger.

[ And gross looking. And slimey. And - yeah. He's definitely touching it last. ]

[alivian]

Strange.

[That's all there is to it. It's strange, but he's willing to take Logan's word at face value.

[Reaching out, he pokes some parts of the fish, brow furrowing (and his glare very slightly upticks in intensity.) The slimy texture definitely is... not pleasant. As soon as he pulls his touch away from it, the additional pressure vanishes.]

Want me to prep the big one? I'm curious about it.

[He honestly doesn't mind even though he has decided that he doesn't like its texture. Maybe it will actually taste decent?? And studying its anatomy will also give him a better guide as to where to stab it if he fishes with a spear.]

[educated_wish]

Be my guest.

[ Logan immediately tries to hand it over, figuratively washing his hands completely of the thing. And then literally, dipping his hands and claws into the water before retracting them. He doesn't want to get any of that nastiness into his body, thanks. He'll probably try to refuse to eat it even when prepared, too. ]

I'll get the rest. Show off a little.

cw: monster fish dissection

[alivian]

[Makes sense, given that the claws retract where they do. Still, he watches where they fade into again, and then turns to the dead, slimy, furry fish-thing in his hold. A minor sense of revulsion hits him, and he wonders if Liora would feel the same if she saw this thing.

[Checking its mouth to see if he needs to be careful of its teeth, he holds the thing by its lower jaw and shoves part of it back into the water to try to scrub off the slime and check its fur. No hidden passengers in that pelt, at least.

[Unlike how Logan has claws to work with, Alivian just has his teeth.

[Once he's satisfied enough with however slime-free it's going to get, he sets about opening up the lower part of the fish. With his teeth.

[Whatever "taste" it has doesn't even register to his tongue, thankfully, and he's able to carefully open it up the rest of the way with careful movements of his fingers.

[It stinks worse once it's opened; Alivian chalks it up to the digestive tract, and doesn't waste further time in working to prep it a little more. What scales it has are difficult to get off barehanded, though.]

Incoming stinkbomb, Logan.

[Still, he works without cease in the hopes that once it's fully prepped, it won't stink as bad.]