A Clearing in the Preserve, Wednesday Afternoon

[not_every_mage]

The different calendars made it hard to track exact dates, but Anders reckoned it was right about a year since the last time he got dragged back to the Circle -- and almost a year since what he hoped was his final escape had taken him to Fandom.

It was a victory. As far as he knew, no runaway his age had ever lasted anything like that long.

The thought of all that kept him cheerful as he set up for a picnic in the preserve with Nathan. He spread out a blanket, laid out the pasta salad, cheese, and fruit -- and then, out of restless energy, started picking violets. He wasn't sure what he'd do with them, but they were pretty.

[OOC: For the boy, please.]

Comments

[not_every_mage]

"Have you ever seen sun poisoning? You can get blisters as big as your hand," Anders offered, and then gave a slyer smile as his fingers began to trace spirals on Nathan's thigh. "Besides, coming up with excuses for you to touch me is one of my favorite hobbies right now."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Whiplash," he laughed, shaking his head. "Going from gross blisters to making me touch you all in one breath. That's impressive."

[not_every_mage]

"I'm a complicated man," Anders told him. "I can hit on you and talk about disgusting skin conditions at the same time. It's a gift, really."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"You're lucky I have a strong stomach," Nathan said, laughing again. "Lesser people might have gagged and made gross faces."

[not_every_mage]

"So what we're saying is, people don't want to hear about things that might make them throw up when I'm trying to be cute?" Anders asked, also laughing. "Thanks for the tip."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Hey, I'm fine with it," Nathan said, tapping a few fingers on Anders' hand and shrugging. "But, I might be a special case too. Weird and different."

[not_every_mage]

"I don't mind weird and different," Anders told him, smiling at the touch of Nathan's hand. " I even like it when it's cute."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"When it's cute?" he asked, snickering. "I don't know if I'd describe myself like that but thanks. You're cute too even if you like to talk about blisters and touching."

[not_every_mage]

"Excuse me while I swoon," Anders laughed, and pretended to do exactly that to lay on the blanket.

"... the clouds are nice."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Did you hit your head on the way down?" Nathan asked, peering at him from above and laughing. "What's up in the clouds today? A dog?"

[not_every_mage]

"It looks more like a ram, actually," Anders informed him, undaunted. He pointed up to show Nathan what he was talking about. "Look. Head, legs, tail, and I think it's wearing a hat."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"What rams do you know that wear hats?" he asked, sliding onto his back to look up. "It just looks like a blob of white to me."

[not_every_mage]

"The hatted rams of Ferelden," Anders told him, rolling slightly to the side to nuzzle against Nathan's shoulder. "Use your imagination."

He squinted some more, pointed up again. "See? That one's a duck playing guitar."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I don't have much of an imagination," he stated, squinting at the clouds. "Not often, anyway. It looks like...I don't know, maybe a shoe to me?"

He glanced down at Anders.

"Are there clouds on my shoulder?"

[not_every_mage]

"There's me on your shoulder."

Anders had gotten bored with chatting and was trying to be halfway smooth about kissing Nathan. He suspected he wasn't doing a very good job of it.

... But at least he'd stopped talking about skin conditions, so that was something.

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"You're probably a little more interesting to me than clouds," he said, smiling quietly. "Or maybe a lot more interesting."

[not_every_mage]

"I'd be sad if I wasn't ," Anders said, more softly, and finally tilted his head up to claim a kiss.

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"Clouds are pretty cool," he mumbled, giving Anders that kiss he was trying to claim. "All white and...fluffy."

[not_every_mage]

"Mmm," Anders agreed, mumbling between kisses. "Fascinating. Tell me more."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"About the clouds?" he asked, snickering quietly. "They move slowly and they're like sunglasses for the sun."

[not_every_mage]

"The sun needs sunglasses?" Anders asked, a smile in his voice. He'd moved a hand into Nathan's stomach to toy at the hem of his shirt. "I'm learning lots of things today."

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

"I think it does," Nathan said, nodding. "I mean, what's the sun doing when the clouds cover it up, right?"

[not_every_mage]

"Makes sense," Anders agreed. "Probably it likes having them to talk to, too. I bet being the sun gets lonely."

His hand kept creeping up, running across smooth skin.

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

Nathan squirmed a bit but kept snickering and stayed mostly still. "What would the sun and clouds talk about? Us? Puny people below?"

[not_every_mage]

"They couldn't see us, could they?" Anders asked. He wasn't sure how to read the stillness, so his hand stayed about where it was. (It was a good place for a hand, anyhow.) "We're too small. Maybe they talk about the shapes they see in the land and the water and the big buildings."