Evania Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The morning light leaking into the cave awoke Phillip. He stretched and sat up, sighing in relief as a cool wind blew through, chilling his slightly sweaty skin.

The nest was always a little too warm these days. But, that was understandable, seeing as he was sleeping between two very large heaters.

He laid back down and rested his head on Damien's chest, the Night Fang still sleeping soundly. Behind him, Koen was curled up tightly, snoring softly. He honestly had no idea how someone so bony and with such long legs could curl up as tightly as Koen always managed to, but, then again, Koen was always full of surprises.

A clawed hand slowly lifted and squeezed him close, a handsome face nuzzling his hair.

Pip smiled, whispering, “Good morning, love.”

“Mornin'.” Damien replied, voice gruff with sleep.

A sudden and violent jolt from the body to their left alerted the parents.

Koen curled up even tighter and shuddered, before stretching his limbs, legs extended far beyond the rim of the nest.

“Koen?” Phillip called softly, sitting up, “Are you okay?”

The boy jerked slightly when he heard his name, “Uh, yeah... I'm good.” He rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself onto all fours, looking over at the pair, “I didn't sleep in, did I?”

“No, if anything you're up early.” Damien informed him, sitting up with the others.

“Oh, okay, good.” Koen mumbled.

“Koen, are you okay?” Phillip asked, more forcefully this time, worried about his child.

“I'm fine. It was just a nightmare. I'm fine.” He shook his head, seemingly trying to rid himself of whatever remnants were left in his head, “I'm gonna go out now... Be back later.” He went to scurry from the nest and exit the cave, but a tight grip on his horn stopped him.

“Koenraad.” Phillip snapped, voice dangerously serious, “We are going to talk about this.”

“It was just a nightmare. They happen. I'm fine.” Koen groaned, “May I please go now?”

“Where are you going?”

“I want to hang out with my friend.”

“Rori?” Damien asked.

“Yeah...”

Phillip released his horn and the two parents glanced at one another, then looked back at him.

“We'd really like to meet Rori.” Pip said.

“Uhhhh...” Koen paused, thinking quickly, “Well, he doesn't really leave his cave much, since the sunlight is such a problem, you know? But, I'll invite him over...” Lying was becoming a little too easy...

“When can we expect you back?”

“Lunch.” Jeez, when did his parents get so damn interested in his business?

“Alright...” Pip muttered, looking at him pleadingly, “Don't do anything dangerous, okay?”

“I won't, mom.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” He whined, getting antsy. He really wanted to get there before Rori woke up.

He liked watching him sleep. He always looked so calm and relaxed; it was a nice change.

That wasn't creepy.

He wasn't creepy.

“Alright then... We'll see you later...”

“'Kay, bye!” Koen called, bolting from the cave.

“We love you!” Pip yelled.

“Love you!” He spread his wings and jumped away from the ground, pushing himself far into the sky.

--

As predicted, Rori was sleeping soundly when he arrived. To avoid possibly waking him, Koen had taken his nose dive several feet from the cave and then walked to it and climbed up the wall.

He sat quietly beside the nest, gazing down at the albino in silence.

He liked Rori. He liked Rori a lot. More than he wanted to admit to himself.

It wasn't good. They were a bad match. Dragons and harpies don't mix well. His dad would be pissed.

So pissed.

But, man, he really wanted to just... Cuddle him. Or, something. Is that what mates do? Yeah, pretty sure. He wanted to crawl into the nest and lay with him. That sounded nice.

But, that wasn't going to happen. Apparently, you “don't invade a harpies nest, you fucking idiot” for whatever reason. He'd gotten a face full of claws the last time he'd tried.

Then again, they were friends now, so maybe-

It wasn't smart to get hopes up. Only led to disappointment.

He tilted his head, watching Rori shift slightly.

He was pretty. So pretty.

With his snowy white hair and pale skin and feathery wings.

He liked his personality too. It wasn't the best, admittedly, but he liked that Rori wasn't afraid of him.

He wasn't sure why so many were afraid of him...

It could have been his size, maybe it was his overbearing personality, his loud voice was a possibility, but he honestly wasn't sure.

He didn't have a lot of friends.

But, he did have Rori.

“It's rude to stare.”

Koen jumped, heart clenching as a rough voice jerked him from his musings.

“Wuh, uh-”

“You are all sorts of creepy.” Rori said, stretching, “I've been awake since you got here, you know? I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I decided to pretend to be sleeping. I got bored though. Damn, you are fucking creepy.”

“Sorry, I... didn't wanna wake you...” Koen replied, looking at the ground.

“Well, you didn't have to stare.”

“Sorry...”

“Whatever. No harm, I guess.” He sat up and looked at his friend, “Why don't you get breakfast? I'm hungry.”

“Okay.” Koen grinned, mood elevating.

--

After a messy breakfast, the duo went to the river to wash.

At the shore, Rori looked toward the sky, “It's pretty cloudy today... Wanna go for a swim?”

“Sure!” Koen agreed, removing his pants.

Rori removed his own and stepped into the water, “Not too cold today.”

“Awesome.” Koen strode past his friend and into the water. It was a little chilly, but nothing he wasn't used to. He walked in to his waist, then dropped, immersing himself.

Rori followed, lowering himself to his shoulders and swimming out.

The river was wide here, and likely very deep too, but that didn't stop the albino from swimming to the middle. He paused once there, grinning, “Hey, BB, come here.”

“Why?” Koen asked, perfectly comfortable where he was seated.

“I can't feel the bottom. I wanna know if you can.”

“Oh, okay.” He leaned forward and pushed off the bottom with his feet, doggy-paddling his way out to his friend.

He stopped a foot away and attempted to stand.

“Um, I can't touch either, I guess.”

“You guess? You're not fucking sure whether or not you can feel the ground under your feet?” Rori asked sarcastically, giving him the look.

“I... I can't touch.”

“Oh wow you sure got over that handicap pretty fucking fast.”

“I'm gonna see how deep it is.”

“You do that then.”

With a roll of his eyes, Koen took a deep breath and pushed himself under the surface.

The water was relatively clear, allowing him a slightly murky eyeful of... Rorick.

He looked away, blushing, and used his wings to push himself further, just like uncle Leo had taught him. He flipped himself over, now facing the riverbed, and was surprised to find it only a few feet away.

He had plenty of air left. Some exploration was in order.

Fish swam by as he slowly made his way down river along the floor, using his claws to drag himself. He looked under crevices and pushed over large rocks as he went, enjoying this mini adventure. He marveled at colorful fish and pretty rocks, ignoring the slight burn in his lungs as his air supply slowly dwindled.

A glimmer caught his eye and he stopped, lightly picking at some soil near where the light from the surface had caught something shiny. He dug his claws in and grasped something about as large as his palm, pulling it out with ease.

He moved away from the cloud of disturbed soil to get a better look at his loot. He tilted his head, moving his hand and the object around in the water to wash off some clinging dirt and rocks.

It was perfectly round, save for a large notch on top where a chain was attached, but flat, and gold, with pretty ornate patterns carved on the front. The chain was broken, having only about five links left in it.

He stared at it a moment, trying to remember what his mother had called this. He'd seen one before, when he was very young, when uncle Ken had brought it by to show him.

…. Pocket-watch!

He grinned and pushed himself away from the bottom, tail driving him upward.

He breached the surface and took a deep breath that he hadn't realized he'd so badly needed.

“Hey, check out-” He turned and was surprised to find Rori gone. His almost immediate panic was interrupted by a familiar voice.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” It was Rori, but he sounded really far-

Oh.

“Don't just fucking leave me like that you dick hole!” Rori yelled from several yards up the river.

He hadn't realized he'd gone that far...

“S-sorry! I'm coming!” He took a breath and dove back under, using his tail, wings, and feet to quickly swim back to his friend.

He breached the surface a few feet away from him and gave a sheepish smile.

“What the fuck was that?” Rori snapped, glaring.

“Sorry... I didn't know I'd gone that far...”

“You're such a fucking-”

“I found something really cool though! Wanna see?”

Rori paused, glare hardening from being interrupted. “What?” He snapped.

“Check it out.” He proudly presented the golden article, holding it by the chain to let the watch itself dangle, “Cool, huh? It's a pocket-watch. Humans use them to tell time.”

Rori stared at it, eye following it as it swung back and forth in the dragon's grip, seemingly transfixed.

“...Uh, Rori?”

The harpie shook his head briskly, snapping himself out of... whatever just happened. He wrinkled his nose, “'Tell time'? The fuck is that? Can't they just look at the goddamn sun? Who cares anyway?”

“Oh, well, they have a lot of important stuff to do, so they like to know exactly how long it will be until it's dark... It's hard to explain...”

“How do they tell time with a shiny rock anyway?”

“Oh, right.” Koen held it close, using his claws to carefully press down on the notch on top to pop the front open. He showed it to Rori, “See, these little hands point to numbers that tell people what time it is, so they know how much longer it will be til it's dark... The water made it stop working though...”

“That's... interesting, I suppose. Can I see it?” He asked, holding out a clawed hand.

“Sure.” Koen handed over his newest treasure with care.

The albino examined it intently, turning it around in his hands, pulling at the chain, tapping at the glass, running his palms over the engravings to feel them, “This is actually kinda cool.”

“You like it?”

“Yeah. Good job finding it.”

“Thanks. ...Do you want it?”

“What?” Rorick looked at him, surprise evident.

“You seem like you really like it. You can have it.”

“N-no I can't. You found it. It's yours.”

“Well, I'm giving it to you.” Koen smiled, “It's a gift.”

“Gift?”

“Yeah. Friends give each other gifts. We're friends, remember?”

“O-okay...” Rori looked back down at the watch, eye wide and cheeks oddly pink, “Um, thanks.”

“Sure! Want to dive with me? Maybe we'll find something else cool.”

“Naah...” Rori shook his head, looking up at him, “Clouds or no, I still can't be out too long. I'll burn.”

“Ah, right... We should probably head back then.”

The two swam back to the shore and sat out for awhile, allowing themselves time to dry before putting their pants on and heading back to Rori's cave.

--

“What're you doing?” Koen asked as he sprawled out on the floor, watching as Rorick forced a stick into the wall a foot above his nest.

The albino didn't reply. He shoved the long stick in several inches, leaving less than half exposed, before lifting the watch up and hanging it by the third chain.

“There.”

“Uh...?”

“What? I don't want it to get dirty on the floor or break it in my sleep or something. It'll be safe up here and I can always see it.”

“That seems... oddly sentimental of you.”

“Fuck you it's not sentimental its logical.” Rori hissed, falling back into his nest, “Am I not allowed to take good care of and enjoy a gift from a friend?”

“Well, no that's fine, I just didn't think you'd go and hang it up.”

“If you don't shut up, I'm going to throw it at your nasty face.”

Koen chuckled and grinned, “Okay, okay. Sorry.”

“That's better.”