Clearing in the Preserves, Tuesday Afternoon

[not_every_mage]

Anders was relieved to see the day he and Nathan had set for their picnic had dawned clear and warm. He made his way to the clearing and got the space organized, spreading out a blanket and putting the cookies, fruit and drinks he'd brought to one side.

The shop had refused to sell him the ale he'd wanted -- something about drinking laws -- but he'd gotten lemonade and sweet cider, and those seemed almost as good. Not that he thought the choice of beverage could ruin his time with Nathan, but fussing over that kept him from fussing over anything else.

He was, perhaps, a tad excited. (And a tad nervous.)

[OOC: For that one boy.]

Comments

[not_every_mage]

"You have to wait until you're 17?" Anders asked, musing it over. "Maker's breath, it would be such a disappointment to wait that long and come out of it with powers over paperwork. We usually start showing powers before we're 10."

He tilted his head at Nathan. "You look like a regular human," he pointed out.

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

Nathan nodded.

"I do. Mostly. I'm not sure if you'll be able to see but the only way to tell that there's something different about me is by my eyes."

His black eyes had dark triangular glints that rotated slowly and weren't really glints at all. They weren't shiny black, but a sort of hollow, empty black. He knew other witches could see theme but he wasn't sure if Anders could.

"No one else has eyes like mine," he said. "You can look."

[Totally up to you if you want Anders to be able to see the eyes. I'm good either way!]

[not_every_mage]

"I'm not sure," Anders said, and leaned closer as his own hazel eyes widened. "Hold still."

He blinked again and then saw the not-glints. "I see it now," he concluded. "Someone could fall into those. What is it?"

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I don't actually know," he murmured now that Anders had leaned closer and he became acutely aware of Anders' nearness. He blinked. "I think it's just something special to me because of what I am. It's why I wore sunglasses at first. I didn't know if they'd freak people out."

[not_every_mage]

"They don't freak me out," Anders told him, staying right where he was. "I like them. And I'd about forgotten the sunglasses, but everyone looked a little strange to me the first few days. You could have been wearing a nug on your head and I wouldn't really remember."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Nug?" Nathan asked at that unfamiliar word. He didn't know if it was something familiar to his world or not since he didn't recognize a lot of things. "Is that a hat?"

He stayed right where he was too.

[not_every_mage]

"Stupid little animal," Anders clarified, after a snort of laughter. "Like a miniature pig with a long snout. And it tastes like chicken."

Didn't everything?

"Though I'm sure someone, somewhere, has worn one as a hat."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"So, a little more involved than a hat," he said, reaching a hand up to touch his hair. "I think, along with looking ridiculous, my hair would be a mess. It's already messy and to add a live animal? No one would want to be around me. I'd be a reclusive hermit with only a little animal for company."

Sad situation that one. "And bad hair."

[not_every_mage]

"And claws digging into your head," Anders added. "You can't forget that. They aren't sharp but it still bloody hurts. So you'd be in your cave, smelly, reclusive, and with welts rising underneath your hideous, nug-decorated hair."

That ... was quite a mental image. Almost as good as the bathtub octopus.

"It's better you were only wearing sunglasses, really."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I'm actually glad I got rid of those," he said, snickering a bit. "Everything was very dark."

He was trying out the whole 'making jokes a little more regularly' thing.

"But, you've just made me grateful for the hair that I have. I didn't think that'd ever be possible. I always thought it was too, I don't know, dark and uncooperative. But, it's not nug covered so I'm better off."

[not_every_mage]

"We should always be grateful for small gifts," Anders said, and finally, with some effort, pulled far enough back that he wasn't completely invading Nathan's personal space. "Your hair's fine. I don't mind the color of mine but I can't stand having hair in my face, so I keep it long enough to tie back. I look silly with it short."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I like your hair," he admitted quietly, pulling his eyes away from Anders' face so he could glance up at the hair in question. "It looks soft. It reminds me of sunsets, actually."

He bet it felt soft too. Nathan tilted his head and let his eyes flick from hair down to Anders' face and then back again.

"And when it falls in your face, you just need someone to push it bac -- " Well, that had come out before he'd even realized what he was saying. He meant it, yes, but didn't know if it was too forward of him.

[not_every_mage]

It was forward, but Anders appreciated forwardness in times like this. It tended to clarify things.

Right then, what it was clarifying was the feeling that everything had stilled except himself and Nathan, as if this was all that mattered in the world.

"You could touch it if you want," Anders said, and slowly reached his own hand up to brush it over Nathan's dark locks.

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"You wouldn't mind?" Nathan already knew the answer to that question since Anders had offered but he was a little distracted and unfocused with the hand brushing over his hair.

He closed his eyes and sighed quietly.

[not_every_mage]

A low laugh. "I wouldn't have offered if I did," Anders said. He reached behind himself with his free hand to take out his hair tie, and the strawberry blond strands fell forward.

The other hand busied itself in Nathan's thick,dark hair.

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

Nathan opened his eyes and after a moment longer spent enjoying the hand in his hair, he finally got his own arm into the game.

Careful to not disturb Anders' touch, he reached up and gently brushed his fingers over Anders' hair. The touch was tentative at first, exploratory but got a little more assured as time passed and nothing horrible happened.

Hey, he'd been conditioned and it took time to get over that.

[not_every_mage]

Nothing horrible happened. Nothing horrible was likely to happen, unless Nathan had some objection to the way Anders' breath went soft and ragged at the touches. Unconsciously, he curled closer to Nathan.

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

There were no objections on this end. None at all. Actually, he might have looked briefly amazed that he could cause that in someone. But, no objections.

When Nathan (eventually) noticed that Anders had curled closer, his fingers actually started threading through Anders' hair, letting his fingers disappear into the strawberry blonde locks and reappear again every so often.

[not_every_mage]

"Good hands," Anders said softly, after a long moment. "You're right, if I had someone to do this all the time I wouldn't tie it back."

His own hand slipped down,finger tracing delicately along the line of Nathan's jaw.

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I was right about another thing too," he mumbled, lifting his chin a bit even as he leaned towards the hand on his chin. "Your hair's soft. Easy to have good hands when something's so nice to touch and feel."

He got a little more assured and pushed the hair back like he'd do if the hair was in Anders's eyes.

[not_every_mage]

"Nobody ever told me that before," Anders said. "Not that anyone's ever had much to say about my hair at all, really. I like that you like it."

He smiled at the hand brushing his forehead, peering into those bottomless black eyes. The hand on Nathan's chin edged toward the corner of his lips.

[OOC:NIGHT.]

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I've never really touched someone else's hair before," he admitted, keeping his fingers there. Maybe he'd touched Arran's once or twice but he was mostly a 'hand to himself' type of person. Just for his own safety.

Letting go of that felt good.

When he felt Anders' finger move closer to his lips, he shivered. Good shiver, though. It was just an electric sensation no matter how light and gentle. He had to fight back licking his lips. Just breathed quietly and kept watching Anders intently.

[NIGHT!]

[not_every_mage]

Anders' lips curved into a tiny, blissful smile at the scrutiny. And then -- before he could second-guess himself or hesitate so long the moment dissipated -- he took the finger away and moved in to put his lips where his fingers had been.

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

Nathan couldn't stop a small, quiet sound of pleasure from slipping out when fingers were replaced with lips. That was an all too strange feeling but a good one. One that sent a flash of warmth through his body.

His hand stilled in Anders' hair only so he could soak up the moment and remember how he felt.

[not_every_mage]

That sound was lovely. Anders wanted to see if he could make Nathan make it again. He pressed forward, just barely parting his lips as he smiled against Nathan's mouth. His whole body felt like joy.