"You know," he starts, quiet and gentle, his tone soft enough to join the layers of steam and float up, up, so close to dissipating. It rises, as does the steady beat of his heart. A little breath. A shy smile, bringing his arms in to hug himself beneath the ripples on the water's surface. His giggles rang bashful, tittering off his lips between little slumps and lifts of his shoulders -- as if he couldn't quite get comfortable, but didn't feel unpleasantly. A cat, ready and knowing to be pet, but contesting the feeling out of an inability to fully process it.
Briar would always remain friendly, eager - earnest - but the close comforts were a pillowcase around his feathers. He hadn't had many chances to share these quiet spaces. It wasn't discomforting - but it was new, and he was caught. Caught up in it, even. "You know, Ves," the little wobble in his voice threatened a crack, but it came without stutter. Something sure, true. Shy but determined.
His fingers played at the angle of his shoulder, curling in for a firmer grip on the flushed pale until it could find the tan beneath. There was an innocence to the way he looked back at the other - sheepish, amazed - and the turn of his lips spelled pleasant. "You're really cute like that." He smiles, and it widens, and it brightens, and the fog is melted away by a light shone through it. It splits between them, Briar laughing under his breath at the various refractions of Vesper. "I-I mean ta' say, you're real funny, too. I'd love to be friends, Ves! That'd mean a lot, it would, and you wouldn't hafta feel lonely here again." A little shine in his eyes, sparkling, and a warm curl of his fingers into the side of his cheek while watching Vesper. He understood.
"'n then you'll be sworn to secrecy, won't you? Guildmates and best friends ~ forever! ~" It could almost be a threat in a voice not his own. He swayed to the sound of his playful tenor, poking his tongue between his teeth and blinking shape to the stars in his eyes to the chatter of Vesper's own. "Mm! I'm having lots of fun. I got to play with Miss Yu abouts earlier, and she was real good to me, and I got ta' cook for the first time and that was real fun, too ... and you're here, so I get to make up some for our first meetin', even if it meant ... well, embarassin' myself a little." His finger scratched at his cheek, chittering out his chagrin. "I guess that's a lot of 'real fun', huh? Then I must be havin' a really good time!"
He brings his hands in to clap, scattering droplets and leaning in a short way for the minute gap between him and Ves. Steam curls off his slightness, his every breath an exhalation in its atmosphere. "That means it's my job to make sure you have fun, too, huh~? Is there anythin' you wanted to do in Hosenka before we head back to Hargeon, Ves? I take bein' friends real seriously, I'll have you know! Briar Càidh, m-mage of famed Blue Pegasus, is at your service, pally!"
[ 552 | 1981 ]