[ b ] Waiting For Rain (Rainfall & Nettle)

[rexcorvus]

On the edge of sandy bank, in the middle of the night, Rainfall stood with his hooves just at the edge of the water and sighed. Behind him were the quiet sleepers of the Crescent Bay tribe, including his father and many of his siblings, but no one was making a sound.

He made a noise in the back of his throat and then, with another sigh, Rainfall sank to his knees, folding his legs beneath him to rest in the cool sand and wait.

[blue]

"You're snoring."

The voice came low, and annoyingly close to his ear. At some point, Rainfall must have drifted off -- and Nettle, despite his size, despite the fact that he was skinny and old enough that it looked like his bones should rattle up against each other, had somehow gotten near without shaking him out of that sleep. His eyes glowed a brilliant yellow, brighter than other kin. It was the only exceptional thing about him, and it was set into a face that looked thoroughly unimpressed.

Had Rainfall been snoring? Hard to say. But Nettle would stick to the statement until his dying days.

[rexcorvus]

He hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep.

Rainfall awoke with a startled jerk, head snapping up and missing the ancient head of the one towering over him by mere inches. He had split second impression of vividly glowing eyes, and then Rainfall was scrambling backwards, his eyes narrowing, tail lashing in the sand behind him.

"What - who - are you?" he demanded, trying to blink the sleep from his eyes. They felt unpleasantly gummy and his mouth tasted of dust. "What do you want of me?"

[blue]

Nettle's response was a snort, unimpressed by the dramatics. His own tail lashed with annoyance, the dark tuft at the end sandy. The feel of it grated; in general, this wasn't Nettle's favorite part of the swamp. As a snake, it had not been so bad; as a turtle, also, it was okay. But covered in fur like this, it made his skin itch, it made him want to shake himself. "Don't look at me like I'm crazy. You're the one just about taking a swim at midnight."

[rexcorvus]

There was a short pause while Rainfall stared at the other kimeti, trying to parse what exactly was happening. "Who are you?" he asked finally, feeling more than a little discomfited. "What are you doing here? And I like swimming at midnight," he added, somewhat defensively.

[blue]

He was old, and he was craggy, and his eyes glowed brighter than any other kin -- and so Netttle gave Rainfall an unimpressed kind of look, head cocked. It was the are you stupid? look, and perhaps unfairly. Maybe Rainfall had never run into a kin who'd gone through ascension before. Or, perhaps, Nettle was just so craggy and hostile that it was hard to imagine him in that position.

"A better question, all around, is what are you doing here, with all your dramatics?" A beat, and then Nettle added, slightly less hostile, "Whata re you looking for?"

[rexcorvus]

For some reason, the questions - and the looks - made him feel self-conscious, though Rainfall had a sneaking suspicion that was in large part due to the fact that he himself wasn't sure of what he was doing here. He pawed restlessly at the ground, felt a splash of ocean water against his hooves, and then blurted out, "I'm going to - have children - "

He choked on the words, coughed, and finished, in a somewhat embarrassed tone, "Well, not me, but - but my - "

Rainfall trailed off. Stupidly.

[blue]

"Ah." Nettle thought about that for a long moment, his head cocked a little and eyes narrowed. They still glowed, too bright, his tail lashing behind him. Then, finally, he asked: "Do you need a weed that'll help prevent that?"