bloodbound. (earinor & akira)

    • Yujin eventually went, back home, back somewhere that he was familiar with. The first thing he did, despite promising Richard he'd be back in half an hour, was take the quickest dip he'd ever taken without getting his hair wet, then scrambling back into clean clothes that - actually - consisted of a good amount of layers, despite the fact that he still had some that he left laying around on Richards kitchen floor. Well, whatever. After telling Muhan where he was going, in case Shuren would question his intentions, he did get something from his father - a bow, some arrows and a knife that, if he needed it, would definitely come in handy. And, oh. Yujin hadn't asked for that, but he still was presented with something else, well, it was going to be useful one way or the other, wasn't it? Whatever the case, he just chuckled about it and then went to the stables - he did have his own horse, but he barely ever rode it, instead, he did just pay attention to it and like the maniac he was, liked to hide in its stable from time to time, just to escape his fathers watchful eye or anything else like that. Hm, what else could he need? A second horse? Sure, Richard would do fine with just that, after all, he definitely knew how to ride one of these beasts, even if they were all fluffy, right? Maybe they had some of these in Fhaergus, yet ... Richard had only been of Fhaergus by name, right?

      Yujin eventually shook his head and packed up, he dragged some wood along - as an excuse to cook whatever they hunted - and he also got some matches, but that was it, that was all that he could exhaust without seeming too suspicious, which was too bad, but he'd find anything else in the hut or Richard had already prepared it. Whatever the case, he eventually did saddle both horses, sat on his own and dragged the second one along as he went out of the stables and off toward the horizon - he didn't know how much time he wasted, but it couldn't have been much more than 45, maybe 50 minutes and that was it. Well, whatever. "Are you still there?", he eventually asked, not bothering to get off of his high horse, quite literally, because that would be a pain, especially when he had to hold the other one to keep it from running off. "I've got everything ... oh, wait, your coat!" Right, they wanted to tie that, so Yujin did get off the horse, bound them both to some wooden part of the hut and then, he did stumble inside to look after the blonde and the dilemma he probably found himself in. "Why did that old guy never teach you how to tie that? Did you only have adrestian baby clothes?" The worst case would be seeing Richard naked ... but, no, he had done that a few times, that didn't matter.
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • Richard packed everything he deemed necessary in two bags and some of the things he stuffed in smaller bags which they could put into the saddlebags of the horses. He found his bow and a second one for Yujin and left them by the door for now. He also got a hunting knife and thought about where to put his sword if he was going to use Thrian clothing. Maybe underneath? That would help with it freezing in the sheath actually, but it was stupid to draw... well he'd do it like that. He got the rest of the things and placed the bags at the door too. After washing a little bit he got some different clothes, put them on and eventually, while he was in his room, grabbed some extra fur to bring it to the other stuff. He even wrote a note for Nayantai this time, but it only said: 'Out with Yujin'. Nothing more, not were to or how long he'd be gone. That was enough. Then he got his Thrian coat and tried to put it on himself for quite a while, actually until Yujin arrived. Richard was about to open the door, when Yujin remembered he had something to do and barged in to get to it right away. "I never wanted to learn it.", Richard answered and watched Yujin dress him. "Thanks..."

      After he was all set he went over the things he packed once more and after they agreed that was everything they needed, Richard grabbed one of the bags and gave the other one to Yujin. Then he took some of the loose things to carry outside and put them in the saddlebags of the horses. "They are almost like sheep!", he pointed out somewhat surprised. Fhaergus had strong, short legged horses with a lot of fur, but not something like this. They were actually quite cute and it was hard to find their eyes under all that fur. Richard got to both of them and stroked them, introducing himself like an idiot. "Which one is mine?", he asked Yujin. "And do they have names?" Ugh... why was he always this excited when he was around animals? That was something that hadn't changed, even after all that happened, but why would it. Animals were all the same and predictable. Every single one could be kind if treated correctly or simply left alone. He liked animals and he always wanted a pet, but Nayantai refused, telling him that they dragged too much inside that could potentially harm his father.

    • "You never wanted to, but you did have clothes? Did your father just tie them for you all up until you stopped wearing them?" Richard was odd, Yujin knew as much, but right now, he not only questioned his behaviour around him, but also around others. What was it with him and his dislike for thrian things? Was it just something he'd gained over time for one reason or the other or did all of this happen for a reason? Yujin wouldn't dig deeper than that, if Richard wanted to, he would tell him and if not, he'd ask eventually. "No need to, I agreed to help you and I liked the experession you made even more!" The wolf was being completely honest with him, that much was for sure, but he also was wondering how long he could be until the blonde lost it again, over something minor that triggered something in his brain, anything - eventually, something would cause him to lose it once more and if that happened, Yujin hoped he wasn't the one with a fist in his face. They'd have a days ride ahead of them and once they were done, they'd still have to ride some more to get back, but they could worry about that tomorrow, when they actually were riding back and not just fantasizing about it.

      "Sheep? They are quite fluffy, sometimes I do sleep in the stables just because", he informed Richard and he had done that a few times, especially when he didn't want to be found the next morning or he loathed something he was supposed to do. The horses provided great cover, they were fluffy and mostly tame, just a bit stubborn, but that - usually - also was the fault of the owner. Richard, however, seemed as if he was having the time of his life and it did make Yujin chuckle. "Pick one. Mine's more tame than the other and I don't know how much experience you have with riding, but it should be pretty much the same", he said, before pointing at one fluffbal, then the other. "They do have names, but they are painfully thrian - and I don't know them, actually. We gave them nicknames, you don't want to butcher a name from a different part of Thria and then tell someone, that you might have offended, they share a name with a horse. The brown one is called Tse and the grey one is called Batu", Yujin elaborated and now that he did give it a thought, those names sounded awfully like the place that Nayantai got his from, even though those names were all a mess - none of their cultures were the same, yet they matched and overlapped and Yujin could only help but chuckle. "Batu is mine, but actually, you can call her any silly nickname you want, she will listen regardless." How many silly nicknames did he even have for that horse? A lot, definitely, and everytime he talked to her he seemed to come up with an new one.
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • "I never had Thrian clothes in Adrestia and when we visited my aunt in Thria I always was fine with the Adrestian clothes I had. I'm fine out here too, right? Nayantai got me some clothes when w came here, because I don't have much of my own and because it is colder out here than in other parts of Thria. And the last few weeks I wasn't interested in learning how to wear those.", Richard explained and eventually sighed. "I never wanted to come here. I don't want to adjust... you know?" That was all. He didn't want to be here and he didn't want to stay, why would he learn something he had no use for in a few months anyway? He didn't want to get used to the life here and also not t the people and yet he already felt bound to Yujin even though he didn't want that in the first place. "What expression?", Richard asked somewhat ticked off, did he look like an idiot? He knew that he should be old enough to dress on his own! Goddamnit! Nayantai should have forced him to learn that, just as he should have taught him how to use those chopsticks.

      "You do?", Richard asked somewhat surprised while still looking at the horses. He didn't see many animals since he got here, besides the one he hunted down with Nayantai. Richard actually regretted that he didn't have any treats for the horses but that got him to another point. "Shouldn't we pack food for them? That's... not much of a concern in Adrestia usually, but I don't know about here?", he asked. After all there was no grass they could nibble on when they got hungry, there was actually nothing out there and the horses wouldn't live off of snow or meat. Richard looked at both horses again, but he actually didn't want to steal Yujins horse, but then he almost laughed. "Are you kidding me? I probably rode out more than you did. I had a horse in Adresta too and when we traveled somewhere no one could contain us in a carriage.", he answered. Fuck he was thinking about Dayan again, but he shook those thoughts off and instead tried to memorize the horses names. "I'm fine with Tse then.", Richard explained after Yujin announced that Batu was actually his. "Ah fuck... and do the horses need some kind of... tent too, if we can't find something else to sleep in? Should I get more fur for them? For the night?"

    • "Ah, so you're still kind of experiencing a cultural shock, aren't you? Well, it isn't much of a shock, you grew up with knowledge about Thria and the customs your father knew about, but I think the clothing does look foreign - and it's probably also weird to see your father and everyone around you dressed and draped in it, when you yourself can't even get into those clothes without ny help", Yujin admitted. It had to be weird, but in any case, he probably had no idea how to wear adrestian clothing the right way either, especially some of the more pompous things that Richard, most definitely, didn't have with him. Instead, he had a coat that, by now, had sunk to the bottom of the ocean and would eventually wash ashore somewhere, or never be seen again. "It's fine, no hard feelings", he tacked onto that and gave the fallen prince a quick smile, this was nothing compared to the usual and if he was honest, it eventually had to go there, they eventually would have done this, one way or the other and it only followed that they were about to have fun. "When you slightly blush and get shy, as well as a bit embarrassed. I like that a lot. I think flustered would be the right word?" It was ridiculous, but sometimes and only sometimes, Yujin enjoyed all of this a bit too much, didn't he?

      "Yes, sometimes - should I invite you to the cuddle party next time? I'm sure you'd have fun." While he didn't know who Richard was before, he seemed to be impressionable and he also, for one reason or the other, seemed to like the horses a bit more than he original thought he wouldn't, wasn't he? Surely, not everything of the old Richard was lost to time, he was almost sure about it, but he would see about that anyway. "I have food for them, don't worry. Muhan made sure I pack something, but normally, they are fed and they got something to drink, so theoretically, they might be fine", Yujin answered, then pointed at the bag he had brought - it wasn't a lot of food, but the bag wasn't too small - it was enough rations to keep their horses happy, fed and maybe even a little bit warm. "You sound like you were a pretty wild guy! I ought to drag you to one of those stupid noble meetings then, it's just idiots with a title and some good sense of humor, oh, and there's booze and alcohol, but still, that's besides the point, I'd love to drag you there", he admitted and he did mean it. That, however, meant that some hungry gazes were going to lay on Richard and Yujin would have to fight through those to get to what he wanted. "I've got everything they need, don't worry. We do have everything, right? Or ... should we dismantle your bed a bit and take some fur?"
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • "It almost feels like Nayantai is glad to be here... it bothers me. This is not my home. I know it's his but... it feels like he is reliefed my father is dead and he could finally return here, away from Adrestia.", Richard admitted, but that was probably nothing they should talk about right now. As if the horses felt it, Yujins actually bumped Richard with its head and he almost got flustered by it, as if he felt caught. "Sorry...", he mumbled towards the horse and stroke it a little bit. "I...! I'm none of that!", Richard retaliated, but he knew it was useless to say that, he was still himself somewhere in there and Richard always had been that. Shy, careful and flustere easily, even if he didn't how it most of the time, or at least tried to hide it. But on the other hand he got dragged into so much adventure, he knew how to handle danger and he knew how to have fun. What person would he have been if Dayan never had been around? Not him, right? And now he needed to figure out on his own who he was and how he was supposed to behave. Now he was the one dragging Yujin somewhere he shouldn't be, to do something reckless.

      "I...mh...", Richard didn't know what to answer. Because yes, he'd like that, but he didn't want to admit it. On the other hand it also sounded pretty weird. Sleeping next to Yujin and some horses in a stable? That would just be odd. "Alright then.", Richard said looking at the bag Yujin pointed at. "I did a lot of stupid stuff.", Richard nodded, even if it mostly hadn't been his idea. Doing something like that again felt good, though he never intentionally enraged his fathers and Dayan didn't either. Well Shuren wasn't his father, right? And he ought to let Yujin go at some point. "I'm no noble anymore though.", Richard said, not sure what he'd be then, if he was dragged with. Odd... an outside, as always. But if Yujin truly wanted him there it was hard to tell him no, like always. Richard again went through the list of things they packed then shook his head. "I got some extra fur already, I think w can go.", he said and noticed only now that Yujin actually hd his own bow and arrows. "Just a second.", he announced getting his own bow and arrows and putting the other one where it belonged again. Then he walked to Tse, loosened the leash and eventually mounted the horse. "Can you actually remember which way to go? Or should we just pick any direction?"

    • “She got you!”, Yujin laughed as Batu actually headbutted Richard ever so slightly and he knew that she was gentle, but sometimes she could be a bit on the rowdy side, even if she just was trying to help, which probably was appreciated my many more people than just him. “And yes you are, sometimes you make really nice expressions and you don’t notice it yourself - why do I think I sometimes start grinning like ab idiot at random?”, he demanded to know, but he had a lose idea as to why. That idea was, in fact, that there was nothing to be worried about, not when they both ran their mouths and played ever so slightly with the other - and especially not when they both went out there to have some fun, to walk a bit and then some more, even if it only were on their horses. “All jokes aside, you already know that you are hot but sometimes you just seem a lot more kissable than you should be, too, and I do enjoy that.” Being able to speak his mind freely was good, especially when the two of them were having their own fair share or fun, like they’d always do from here on out if they got the chance, right?

      “It’s settled then, one slumber party in Silesses biggest stable”, he giggled and he meant it. Whatever box they picked, Batus was probably the best and even if it was only for the fact that she liked to dote on any of them and she was used to an annoying little wolf cuddling with her, she wouldn’t be opposed to a second in the slightest. “You sure do sound like a troublemaker, but at least you didn’t fuck just about anyone you found cute, not like me.” Yujin knew he was a slut at best, but that didn’t meant that he couldn’t at least have some sort of fun with someone, however stupid it may have been - it all was in good faith. “Doesn’t matter, I can still drag you their and give you a false identity, they wouldn’t ask, they are - unfortunately for this country - pretty preoccupied with themselves.” Some of them, however, did pick fights but none of them would outright want to rio the blondes head off, would they now? “We’re settled? Thank goodness. Time to have some fun, them.” He tied Batu loose, too, and then got back onto the saddle - this would be going one of two ways, only one of them would be insanely fun. “Yes, the memory itself is pristine, for whatever reason and it doesn’t make sense - but off we go!”, he announced, before he got Baru to move and right shout now, it was fun out here, wasn’t it? “I’ll guide the way.”
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • Horses as much as other animals wre able to figure things out better than humans did, wasn't it that? Well... Richard wouldn't have thought but having the horses around him actually helped sooth him. That was probably better than searching for a fight to get another black eye, or to fuck mindlessly around. Alcohol and smoke weren't helping in the long run either. A horse at the very least didn't permanently damage him... well if it behaved. "I.. I'm not... ugh... idiot!", was all Richard could anser to that and once more he was in fact flustered, wasn't he? For some reason it was easy for Yujin to peel Richard out of his shell and see him for what he actually was. "Kissable?", he asked, where his cheeks turning red now too? Gods... why was Yujin making him act like that? It was embarrassing! Richard actually didn't know why Yujin hadn't kissed him by now, but it was fine. They weren't a couple and once they cuddled up in a tent, they probably did kiss anyway. This was going to be fun, right? Why did he enjoy Yujins company that much?

      "Isn't it Silesses only stable?", Richard asked and wasn't sure how to feel about that invitation. Well he'd see eventually. "What makes you think that?", Richard asked, Yujin was wrong. "I slept with a lot of girls, brought one back to my room for every party I attended." And it hadn't been hard. Who didn't want to sleep with the crown prince, after all maybe someday something more came of it? Maybe even a child that would force him into marriage, but that never had happened, he had been careful. Besides, Richard had much more girls to go by than Yujin with the about fifty people he knew overall out here. "They wouldn't ask why you bring a blonde sheep?", Richard asked, not believing it, but up until now nobody questioned more than that. Him being a sheep, not from where or why he was here in the first place. Yujin probably was as eager to leave as Richard was and once they both got on their horses Yujin rode ahead and Richard followed him. His horse behaved well and he liked the feeling of riding again, he missed that too and the horse actually was comfortable warm in this cold weather.

    • Sometimes, focusing on something that wasn’t ideal or even remotely useful was the right way to do all of it. Richard was thinking too often and too much about things that, albeit they were meant well, didn’t make much of a difference to someone like him, because in the end, no matter what, he still was the one that was saddled with inconceivable guilt and the fact that he was the last of his blood, all alone out here in Silesse, where there was nothing but an annoying wolf keeping him company and too much time to think about everything at once. “Don’t you have a better insult? Stammering also doesn’t make you any more believable!”, Yujin giggled, knowing that Richard had come to ever so slightly accept his fate, at least in the wolves hands. Truthfully, there was no need to tease him some more about the things that were and could be, especially not when they were about to take a trip to take their mind off of things, to get somewhere they’d never been at and once they did, all of this would turn into a wild goose chase, especially if they left Silesse for this, which they most likely would eventually. “Your lips are plush and soft and looking at them makes me want to kiss you, but also your reactions are cute, so both just makes you even more kissable”, he explained and grinned like the idiot he was. Well, hell. This was going swimmingly for once and he wondered why? Was it because of their little talk?

      “No, there’s one more at the other side of town, but it’s smaller and some people do have their own, but considering how underdeveloped Silesse is, especially compared to Adrestia, it’s nothing fancy just yet. They only thing we can brag about is a never-melting castle made of ice, so thick, that even if you blew it up it wouldn’t all be gone.” At least it wasn’t brittle, but nobody expected it to be, not when its owner - the owner of a theoretically fully transparent castle - was the least transparent person in all of Silesse and its surroundings. “So you did? I don’t know, you just don’t seem like the type to mindlessly fuck around for fun … wait. After saying that outloud, I would like to retract my statement”, the wolf announced. Richard did seem like the type that would fuck about anyone if he was drunk and interested enough, so all of this was - in fact - wrong. “Oh, so you probably fucked and shoved hundreds of girls off of your bed in hopes of not getting them pregnant?”, he asked, then laughed about it. Yes, that had to be the gist of it, but in hindsight, it was still funny to him that that was the best idea Richard could think of, even while fucking a man, but there was no way for him to get pregnant anyway, so this had been ridiculous on his own. “No, but they’d ask if they can fuck the blonde sheep - not all of them, but some people just go there to fuck around, literally. We call it a hunting trip, but it never really is and I’m sure that anyone who’s ever been considered a prince or princess of Thria knows.” Which, by default, included Richards father, but that wasn’t something that Yujin wanted to think about or concern himself with - it all seemed as if it were a big hassle with no positive outcome. However, what was nice was the slight breeze that hit him, now that he did ride around on a horse for once, and had a definite goal in mind. “You know, I’m curious. You said you never slept with a man before this, but was there anyone you saw back in Adrestia that’d you’d have been down to fuck if he’d be interested? Like, what even is your type?”
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • "Twat!", Richard retaliated then, was that a better insult? Richard didn't want to be cute, but yet he somehow was and always had been, especially when compared to his brother. He never had been that strong and actually had been soft spoken most of the time, but while his father raised him like that and the lessons he got preparing him to be king contributed to that too, Dayan was the one forcing him out of his shell and making him more wild and irresponsible, at least when it came to himself. He always knew that came the day he became king a lot of things would have changed and he couldn't mindlessly ride off into the sun with Dayan to come back whenever they liked. That was why he may have wished for something to save him from this burden and now he was, as if his wish came true, a wish he should never have uttered. It was one more reason to feel guilty about all of what happened. "They are not. And you haven't kissed me yet, so it can't be that great.", Richard answered and let his fingers run through his horses fur, maybe that helped him calm down a little bit. Everything always brought him back to the guilt he felt.

      "I'm a different person than I was in Adrestia, so trust me when I tell you you can't really judge that. I flirted with a lot of people, had a lot of fun, drank, played games, all that.", he explained, it was very different to now, even if he went out with Yujin and drank. Richard always had had a smile on his face, there was no need to fret, but now all that went away and since he was here he smiled maybe two or three times, that was all. All of his previous personality seemingly just went away. "I only shoved you off the bed.", he made clear and said it as if he had deserved that back then. "Well I can tell them to fuck off myself. I'm not a trophy and I'm not even a full fletched sheep." His father should have known that it was a bad idea to get a hybrid as son. His grandfather had been one and it killed his mother and forced him into hiding in Thria. Richard had the same fate, only it killed all his siblings, it had been a mistake to try to please Nayantai and prove something stupid to the rest of the world. If Richard just had been a sheep, maybe none of that would have happened. That was probably why he didn't want anything to do with Thrias culture. Not their clothes, not their food, nothing. Richard looked at Yujins back since he rode in front of him and thought about his question, at least it made him think of something else. "Mh... I don't think so. And I don't know. I'm probably also not your type, so that is a stupid question anyway."

    • "Well played", Yujin sighed - he meant it. Richard outdid him, well, he didn't exactly, he just used the vocabulary at his disposal and let Yujin know all of it for what it was worth. There was no need to think twice about anything, to think twice about how the world only revolved around the obvious and how nothing mattered once they died - they wouldn't be remembered and they'd find that, in the end, they were just specks of dust on someones legacy and just because they were born, that didn't mean that they had to do anything about that - in the end, what mattered the most was their own wellbeing, as well as the fact that they were trying to cope with things they'd lost, they'd never regain, but also with the fact that nothing was permanent and from here on out, it never would be, ever again. "Are you pissy because I haven't kissed you today? Do you want one? C'mere, I'll give you one", the wolf dared and he was all but brutally honest. Richard could get the things he wanted himself, not because Yujin loathed him, but because he wanted to see how far and how fast he coudl drag the blonde to do at least some of his bidding - not all of it, some of it was fine and that meant, by default, that nothing was waste on something as silly as that, not at all.

      "You only shoved me off of a bed? That's ludicrous, but at least something to remember me by." First guy that I fucked and shoved off a bed-award didn't sound too bad in his opinion, but maybe Richard didn't share that sentiment at all - maybe it would be better if they just forgot one another, never talked about any of this again and took it for what it was, but why was he the one having doubts now after Richard was slowly but surely coming out of his shell? Was this really not what either of them wanted? Yujin felt like an idiot. In the end, though, it didn't matter, because they both were still themselves, or the people that they considered themselves and anything else was almost stupid. "That's true, but I guess I might just give you a firm warning beforehand if you actually want to go." They were wild, sometimes unpredictable and while Yujin did enjoy some of that, he also knew that nothing was going to change if they just went on and about their days like they had before the war - not a lot of those idiots even seemingly cared, but why was that? Because they were still young and hopeful that by the time they were dead, there was no war in sight? That seemed selfish but also unlikely, especially with the key to peace stuck in Silesse. "What makes you think you aren't my type? I wouldn't be blatantly offering to fuck you just to take your mind off of things, you know?"
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • Richard eventually let his horse pick up some pace to ride right next to Yujin as if he had to prove something. He stayed there for a while without saying anything and eventually he looked at the wolf. "Just don't fall off your horse, alright?", he said and then just leaned over to snatch himself a kiss. He had wanted one for the longest time and this was nice, but he pulled back soon enough and rode ahead a bit, just a view steps. He didn't know where to go, but there was nothing much to stop them, keeping the direction Yujin picked was probably good enough. Fuck, he did like that idiot way too much, didn't he? But still, having him around more than once a week seemed like something Richard wasn't able to do. Sometimes he just needed some silence. Maybe it was a bad idea to ride off with Yujin, since he was stuck with him for a while then, but on the other this was exactly what he wanted to do. It was stupid and reckless and for whatever reason, since Yujin had told him he wasn't allowed to go anywhere, he wanted to drag him somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.

      "It's more memorable that you couldn't get up yourself afterward.", Richard answered and wasn't it funny that Yujin remembered that of all things? But then when he talked to that merchant after fifteen minutes he forgot about it. Richard didn't know how his brain worked. Not, was probably the answer. "Some new noses to break sounds nice, doesn't it?", he answered, not sure about meeting some hungry wolves that had it out for a sheep. Wasn't it that? Either they hated him or they set their minds to fucking him, was that how all wolves were? Yujins friends didn't seem too pleased the first and second time Yujin brought him along, but then they straight went to flirting. "I doubt your type is blonde sheep if you never ever saw someone like me.", Richard answered and looked over his shoulder to Yujin. "I also doubt your type is asshole. So what is your type then?" Someone broken he'd be able to fix? Was that it? Someone he could scrap from the floor and feel good about it?

    • "Why would I fall off my h-", there, there was his reason to fall straight of Batu and have her trample him, just like that, but instead, he enjoyed the short kiss he got, but before he could retaliate, Richard was already up ahead and Yujin wondered where any of this might lead. Obviously out of Silesse, even if only by a few steps, but Silesse was vast and even past the town that called itself its capital, there were only small settlements that did have it harder than those that remained close to the sea. Wolves were stubborn, they always had been. "Now I know you are a good kisser and those lips were as nice as always!", Yujin giggled after Richard, who had gone ever so slightly ahead - normally he'd let him have it, but this time, he caught up to him in no time - he wasn't impacted by his own body being trash - and leaned over, with the slightest warning of his hand on Richards shoulder, and gave him a kiss, too, one that didn't last too long either, but they had time for that once they reached where they wanted to be and put up their tent, cuddled up in a mountain of fur and found themselves wondering what it was worth if they just kept all of this going the way it was, without ever thinking about what the future was going to bring them or take from them.

      "My leg is useless, you know that", he chuckled. Yujin didn't remember much after that, hell, that was the one thing that stuck with him and selectively would for some time, but even that - even the more memorable moments - would eventually be gone and he wondered if Richard was able to deal with that, because Yujin would forget everything at some point, all the things he told him, all the trauma he shared with him and wasn't that going to be its own kind of pain? "Do I get a front row seat?" That'd be nice and he was glad that his own wasn't crooked, yet, the swelling had gone away and it looked like before, as it should, though, why did that stick with him? Cause it made such a huge impact on him? Or was it something else that he was unable to figure out during this time? Whatever the case, it might as well be something annoying that he had to figure out himself. "Hm, what my type is?", he said, then he mulled over it, but nor for long. "Someone I can talk to, as open as I do now, without having to worry too much about what I say", Yujin declared, yet, Richard wasn't always exactly that. "Someone with soft lips is nice too, especially when they get flustered over the littlest of things ... but they should be able to pack a punch too, and not always cling to me - every once in a while, every few weeks, is fine." But, that was too specific. "Though, to be honest? People with a nice smile and a good laugh and you have both."
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • Richard rode ahead because his cheeks were red and because he didn't know why he kissed Yujin in the first place and why he even wanted that. He didn't want him to see his face while he wasn't sure about what he'd see, but it was no use, because Yujin let his horse ride right next to Richards again. A touch on his shoulder made him turn his head and then he was the one receiving another kiss that left him with a strange feeling in his chest. He cleared his throat afterwards and let his horse run faster, instead of going this slow. "If we want to get anywhere, we probably should travel faster...", he mumbled as an excuse to get a little distance between them and in the end it was also true. He wasn't sure how far they'd ride in the first place, but it had to be far enough, away from the town and any other person that might have been somewhere out there. "Depending on if we want to hunt for real or not, we have to stop a little sooner before it gets too dark, or do you want to try and hunt on the way?" Did he even want to do that in the first place? Richard had nothing against it, it was a nice change of pace.

      "Yeah, still you looked like an old man... or a beetle." Did Yujin ever see a beetle in the first place? Probably not, there was definitely no insect out here and thus Yujin probably didn't even know what Richard meant by that. "In front of my fist?", Richard joked, then shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, just tell me who to beat up.", he said. He didn't mind who it was anyway, as long as it wasn't someone that had no chance, he didn't like an unfair fight. "Can't you talk to your friends like that?", Richard asked somewhat confused, the wolves all didn't seem like they cared much about who said what. Then Richards cheeks turned red again and he furrowed his brows. "Now you're only describing me!", he complained, that wasn't his type, it was just who he had a crush on right now. "You didn't even see me laugh and I smiled like what? Three times? That can hardly be prove I have that!"

    • Richard was really elusive today, yet, not like all those other times - something was different and if Yujin had to take a guess, it probably was the fact that he actually wanted this, despite not being drunk in the slightest. So be it, they'd have their own kind of fun like this and the wolf was never not good at teasing the blonde, so it was a fair game, especially when he had to go after him, even on a horse, and eventually caught up, but rode ever so slightly in front of him, not looking back, just to offer Richard the illusion of security for a while. He was supposed to lead the way, they wanted to go faster, so he did and he stayed at the pace - on that wasn't slow and would get them somewhere in a matter of hours. Yujin wasn't always good at everything, but he knew where he woke up, as if something was calling out to him to let him know that the lost memories were there, that he just had to go back there and find something like his own scattered brain, but whatever he'd find, it would be nothing much except, maybe, memories that he had just locked away a good while ago - or he'd go further and beyond that, that was all he could think of. "Hunting on the way sounds fun, if we do run across something, but it'll take some time until we reach any forest ... if we do, this is going to be fun, though."

      Forests were rare in Thria, but if one found some, they almost always were a frozen hellscape filled with untouched wildlife and in Silesses territory, they were like that all year around. Surely, there were almost no non-needle trees, but they made do with what wood they had anyway - Richard was right, Silesse was a barren wasteland and maybe, it'd never be more anyway. "A beetle?", he wanted to know. "I've seen some of them in books, but nothing more than that", he admitted and it was almost embarrassing, but given the fact that out here, nothing lived except a few humans that were about as cold as the temperatures in this freezing land, maybe it wasn't so surprising. "Hm, maybe not that close, but I sure as hell can tell you who deserves a good beating and who doesn't." Was this a deal? Who knew, they could make it one if it had to be and he wouldn't mind that in the slightest, after all, that meant he had to do nothing and could just enjoy his time with Richard, like he did now, when he looked back at hime and couldn't help but giggle. "I like describing you because I like you! And I've seen and hear you smile and laugh plenty of times, you don't even notice it yourself, you dork! It's a lovely sight, though."
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • If they found some place to hunt that was fine but depending on how long they'd take to actually shoot something down, they might not be able to go as far as they wanted. "What would your father do if we were away more than one day?", he asked but also wondered if he even noticed, in the end Yujin didn't come home every night and even if he did, Shuren probably didn't check on him all the time. It was different with Nayantai and Richard, because they only called three rooms their own and if there were no shoes at the door, nobody was home, it was as easy as that. Either way, Nayantai probably didn't mind if he was away for two instead of one nights, after all he wrote him that he was out with Yujin. He probably also didn't care where he went as long as he didn't try to go back to Adrestia on his own, which he didn't plan on. He didn't do this because of himself, he mostly did it because of Yujin, because he deemed it stupid to lock him up like that and because he wanted to prove that there was no harm waiting for him a few days away from his own. He wasn't a child, he was able to take care of himself.

      "Most of them can't stand up when they fall on their back. And then the die most likely.", Richard explained. All of that was so stupid. Shuren had friends in Adrestia, he knew the king and yet he never brought his children to visit even though he wanted them to know everything about that country. Yujins father was an idiot and scared for all the wrong reasons. At least he got away to meet those other princes? But probably only if they met around here, not if they met in other parts of Thria. Richard looked up when Yujin turned around and his cheeks turned red again, but he could blame the cold for that. Did he truly smile and laugh around him? Impossible... there was nothing to smile or laugh about! And how wouldn't he notice? He wanted to hide his face and in the end he did pull some of the fabric up and over his nose. The wind was cold anyway, especially when they went so fast and it was hard to breath for him. He wasn't a full fletched wolf after all, but like this it was just fine. He brought a scarf for a reason and he also wore those Thrian clothes for the same.

    • “Pluck my head from my shoulders, but I wouldn’t mind, as long as somebody knows - and Muhan does - I’m good to go. They won’t come looking for me after a day or two, so as long as they don’t know where we are going, or that we are leaving Silesse, we should be fine.” In any case, Richards father could lie to him, unless he was crap at it, but they still were old friends, so maybe Shuren would listen to Nayantai when he told him off? They’d figure that out, but right now there was no need to, because it was fine, all of this was and the silence that befell them was nothing they had to worry about. “Whatever we do, I don’t mind if we stay out more than one day, it’s not going to hurt, right?” That was some sort of invitation and if Richard felt like getting out of his skin, Yujin was the last person to deny him that, he was going to enable it instead. Both of them were stuck in Silesse, in a world that they didn’t necessarily want to be in all the time and that meant that they had to figure something out, that meant they had to go somewhere and do something - none of this was important, though, as long as they were having fun.

      “Huh, just like me when that happens somewhere and it doesn’t go away. You know what’d be funny? If my legs acts up and your heart acts up, then we’re both fucked!” They would be, very much so, but Richard wouldn’t die and he wouldn’t either, not yet, not now or anytime soon, not when they went further and further away from the sea and closer to other places. Actually, he the sound of the waves clashing against ice grew fainter and he wondered what it meant to be someone with a destiny he couldn’t fulfill because he was stuck at the end of the world, without any viable way to return home just yet. How long did they ride? Yujin didn’t know, but it was a good while, he couldn’t hear the sea anymore and he could see dead grass peaking out of some of the snow already, which meant nothing but that they were close to the forest - that ages ago, something was capable of living down here. “Are you okay? We’re almost at the forest”, he announced and pointed ahead of them, where strong and yet faint green colors were almost entirely swallowed by the endless white, but it was color that they had wanted to see. “Once we get in there, we should be fit to hunt - any preferences? And watch the brambles.”
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • "What did you tell Muhan?", Richard asked interested. "Just that you're hunting? And that's enough? Did you never try to run off?" Richard was somewhat surprised, after all it was easy for Yujin to run off like that then, why didn't he? Sure they intended to come back eventually, but even that was nothing Shuren wanted for him, right? He still wondered why, what was supposed to happen to Yujin out here? "Yujin... do you know where you were kidnapped from? Were you out, or in town?", he wanted to know, he simply was curious about Shurens reasons and since Yujin was no use explaining that to him, he needed some more information. Actually that was probably not working, anyone else probably knew more than Yujin himself. "Do you know what's around here anyway, or do we just go ahead and see where it leads us?" Richard didn't mind either way, a good adventure was always good and they had enough to eat and knew how to read directions. The only thing possibly fucking them over would be some snowstorm, but they'd probably manage even that.

      "I wouldn't call that funny. And my heart doesn't act up that often, we probably don't need to worry about that. Anyway, when I'm not totally worked up about something else, I most of the time notice that it happens and from that point forward we have about five to ten minutes to get me somewhere safe.", he explained, even though Yujin probably forgot about it anyway. For now it was unimprtant anyway, they just rode further and further until in the end they reached some form of wood. "Why wouldn't I be okay?", Richard asked, not sure why Yujin asked something like that. "Maybe a bird or some rabbit? That'll be enough for us two.", Richard suggested and put the scarf from his mouth so it was easier to talk. "What about the horses, do we take them with us? Or do you want them to wait somewhere? How dangerous is it out here anyway? Wolves? Bears? Something else to worry about?"

    • "That I'll be going on a hunting trip with you and that I'll be sleeping over at your place, so he doesn't have to expect me tonight or the day after that, or anytime soon. Something like that always helps to get the message of 'don't tell your husband everything' across, kind of? Muhan isn't even the problem", Yujin explained and it was just like that. Many people had a strict parent and a not-so-strict one, and in his case, the burlier man with the quite expressionless face was the softer one, which usually threw people off, especially if they thought they knew who Shuren of Silesse was, when he - in fact - was nothing like how they imagined him. "I tried to run off sometime after the accident, I think? I mean, I remember being able to go where I wanted before it, so that's besides the point, but I think that my father always found me, whether it was him or some of his servants, so, once we cross the border, we have to be careful not to set off any of his stupid little traps." Shuren had made sure that, even if a sheep were going to come all the way down here, it'd eventually find its demise by stepping into one of the lethal traps or setting off a wire trap that did nothing but alarm the next outpost that someone had entered their territory unannounced and the wrong way. "I was out, with Quan, and we were just toying around. Like, going as far as our legs could carry us and then some more." That hadn't been much of a grand adventure, though.

      "Mh, the forest is there, past the forest is another empty wasteland, but it eventually ends in some rotten grass and dead trees around the border, which is signifed by wooden markers. Past that, there eventually should be some hills and between those, in one of the ditches, surrounded by some more trees, should be where they found me." Yujin had an idea of what he was doing, seemingly, for once and there was no shame in admitting that he wasn't exactly a fan of that, nor that it would be easy for him to find whatever was left. There would be no blood, he knew as much, but if they left him there, whoever it was, they'd have a hideout there, somewhere. "Five to ten minutes isn't much, but I'll make do - and if I can't, I'll just try to improvise." Tse wasn't going to run off just because Richard fainted on her back, right? No, that seemed stupid and both of their horses weren't all that rowdy, that much was for sure. "Oh, because you covered your face earlier so I thought I'd ask if you're cold or something." Yujin wasn't sure what to make of this anyway, but once they did make their way to the forest, he felt like he was already eons away from the place that he didn't even want to be at. "We'll continue through the forest, so we'll take the horses with us, but other than that, maybe the smartest decision would be to just say on them and go slow. And, from what I remember, maybe wolves, but they don't show their faces during this time of day, so we're good."
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • "Hm... funny, because I told Nayantai I'm going out with you and I guess he suspects I'll sleep at your place.", Richard pointed out, almost chuckled about it. Hopefully those old men wouldn't come across each other and ask stupid questions. Also, Nayantai probably knew that they were hunting too, because there was a bow and a knife missing and the camping gear if he checked the storage, but why would he do that? Either way, then again their story made sense, right? And Nayantai won't check their hunting spots for the two of them, he usually left them alone. "Traps?", Richard asked and wondered what exactly those were. "How does he know it's you and not some other person, I bet a lot of people take trips? It's boring to stay in Silesse forever, isn't it?", he asked. Or was he just sending people to check every inch? Well Richard didn't plan on being caught. "Maybe we should take a slightly different route? Would that help?", he asked, because frankly, he had no clue. "And what does Quan say about all of that? Is that all? You went out - boom - you were found? That's it? If you weren't alone he needs to know something, right?" Why did Richard want to know all that in the first place? He didn't know.

      "Were you ever there since it happened?", Richard asked, but going there to find answers wasn't why they were out there, right? Richard rather wanted to push past and then camp, just past the point that was farthest from where he ever was. But now he asked himself if Yujin just fell in a trap his damn father built in the first place. "As long as we're not chased by wild animals, it's fine to just leave me on the ground for a while. It takes a view minutes, but then I'm up and running again." Well he could go on then, but usually he felt like he was dying afterwards too. He usually was tired, shaking and maybe even scared, but if he had to go further, somewhere they could camp, that would work. He also could hold onto that horse of his, so that was fine, besides, probably nothing happened anyway. "The air is hard to breath for me sometimes is all.", Richard answered, but there was no reason for concern, with the scarf he was just fine and without he was too. "Fine then... the first to shoot us some dinner wins?", Richard asked and pulled the bow from his shoulder. The horses weren't exactly quiet but if they alarmed a bird and they were quick, they'd be able to shoot one and Richard had plenty of arrows with him.