Daybreak Peaks you can't imagine the stars that align

They could dance around it, he decided. It was easier that way. Better even. It allowed things to be idyllic between them without the chokehold of...everything else.

So he was easily beckoned closer, to come and settle alongside Clouse with a warmth between them. One that not even the icy cavern could crush. That much he had felt certain of.

Blue's a good color for you. Was that how one flirted? He assumed so. Still he reached out to press a quick little kiss to the other man's jaw. They may not have been the most touchy feely back at the Fisher's Split, with the tension floating around, but here it felt more available. Freeing.

Sue him for wanting to smother his company.

Clouse welcomed him affectionately, tail tapping the icy ground as it wagged. He too savored the proximity that such solitude afforded them, and realized then just how much he had missed it since they met. The compliment, unadorned and yet so enamoring, only further herded him closer. He snuggled into Loach's strong frame, soft and solid at the same time, and took a deep breath. When released, he felt tension melt away from his body, and he relaxed fully.

The silence of the cave was deep, and closed in fast. It felt like the only sound in the world was their breathing. He rolled, halfway onto his shoulder to look up at his sweetheart and simply observe the angles of his features for a moment. His eyes were dark and vibrant at the same time, the color almost endless in its depth. Clouse could only assume they were the exact hue of the forbidden fruits he'd been so warned about.

"... tell me something else that makes you happy. Y'know, besides water n' cute guys."

He wasn't ready for the moment, or the trip, to end. And... he wanted to know more about Loach. So, so much more.

Water and cute guys!

His nostrils flared with humor. Did Clouse think him some kind of siren of sorts? Flattered and insulted in equal turns! Loach had not made a habit of wandering into cute guys often. Especially not since...well, Clouse.

He lifted a foreleg, to drape it over the man. Hold him a touch closer. Looked into the pale moons that greeted him as eyes. Perhaps that should have been his warning sign that he truly was a goner. Ah, but that was too much to talk about. Too much to think about much longer.

My whole life has been water. All my answers will rotate 'round it. He snorted with amusement. I could say fishin' or swimmin'...maybe kissin' you, hm? Perhaps it was not so horrible to be a goner. An' you ain't just any cute guy. Better than that.

Clouse listened, practically enraptured with every word. The moment was the essence of comfort, allowing him a sense of complete contentment. The kind that made you fall back in love with life. Still, he felt the thinnest of strings still holding him to the ground even while feeling miles above it. It wasn't hurting him, wasn't even truly limiting him, and could even ultimately be for his best interest; but there it was plucking at a single nerve in the back of his neck all the same, like a distant warning.

Tread carefully.

His grin grew toothily at the mention of kissing, and he gave the other wolf's chin a fond lick.

"Oh? What am I then?" the playful words were out before he could think better of them. The string tugged.

Was it a trick? He did not know. Only knew that his company was very handsome in his coyness and that the coldness of the space had him snuggling a bit closer. Enamored, truthfully.

Dunno. Still figurin' you out. Ain't that the best part? And he sought now to kiss Clouse's brow, to give him all the affections he felt he truly deserved. Yer a bit o' a mystery to me in a lot o' ways, Clouse. Yet his voice explained he was not bothered by this. Let the man know that Loach wished to figure him out. To unravel the webs they wove around one another or trace the tangling strings of his heart.

In his usual way, Loach chased away that bit of tension effortlessly. Clouse hummed in agreement to the other's words, eyes closing as his crown was adorned. Indeed it was. They could only be so deep though, couldn't they? What happened when one ran out of novelty to share? The idea of finding out made him anxious, but he and Loach were still so far from that moment it did not yet touch him. For now he could savor taking it slow, parceling out the questions and these instances to keep them sweet despite craving them always.

"What do ya wanna find out this mornin'?"

His companion could keep things light, or take riskier steps. Clouse promised himself whatever questions came, at least for these next few hours, he would give Loach complete honesty. That was part of the dive, wasn't it?

(This post was last modified: Dec 17, 2023, 04:49 AM by Chan.)

Yet Loach kept his fear close to his adoration. Even when the chance rose before him. It was easier to play it safe, to do the things that he knew Clouse already liked. To weave a siren song between them and let the rest fade into the morning's hours.

If ya know how to sing. It was an odd request, but Loach had reason for it. Lemme teach you something from my edge of the coast. Another kiss.

Then he planned to begin teaching Clouse a melody as old as he knew time to be. Of a wolf out at sea, hunting in the depths of blackwater. This was a thing to be meant for just them.

A moment kept hidden in the glacier caverns.