Move Along {Brennan}

[Amaltheia Monarch]

Amaltheia awoke slowly. For a moment, she almost slipped back into that dismal mood she'd been so familiar with for the last umpteen centuries, but today was different. No sooner had she stood than her wings unfurled themselves as much as they could, and she strode to her tall mirror to admire them. They were lovely, as they'd always been -- as she'd always been. Now, however, she felt it. Her hair still wasn't splashed with that aqua and indigo hue she had come to love in her previous life, but she figured it was only a matter of time before she got back into the full swing of things.

She dressed accordingly, a low-back top and a pair of fitted jeans today. She left her feet bare, preferring to feel the fuzz of the carpet as she padded silently to the guest room. She tapped on the door gently. "Brennan?" she called softly. "Brennan, are you awake?" She pushed the door open a little, poking her head into the dark room. All of Theia's windows had black-out curtains on them save the ones in the front room. She never desired to know the time of day.

[Brennan Shardae]

Not surprisingly, considering the fact that he'd actually died during his last conscious period (since it may have been more than a day, he didn't know), Brennan wasn't actually awake when she tapped on the door and called his name, though he was close enough to getting up himself that he groaned softly and pulled himself first to a sitting position and then started to get out of the bed as she opened the door and poked her head inside.

That was when it occurred to his sleepy mind that he'd had to shed his bloody, grimy clothes in favor of a shower and a clean bed, and he hadn't exactly slept in a robe.  Considering his avian upbringing, that resulted with what pretty much amounted to a dive back for the bed, and the sheet that'd give him some semblance of dignity. 

"Yes, I'm awake!" he told her quickly, finding a compromise between covering the necessities and not looking as though he was cowering beneath the sheet in returning to an upright sitting position.  This was all sorts of awkward.

[Amaltheia Monarch]

If Theia noticed, she didn't say anything. "Good, you're awake!" she squealed. She ran into the guest room and jumped onto the bed, bouncing up and down a few times when she landed. It was a comfortable, fluffy thing. "We slept for a whole day and a half. It's sunset outside," she explained. She realized that he was still just waking up, by the dim light that still shown as the oranges and reds fell off of the horizon. She reached over and turned on a little side-lamp, allowing the warm glow to illuminate the peach-coloured room.

She tilted her head a little as she watched his nervous movements. He sucked at trying to hide his flighty gestures from Theia, at least, when she was in a good mood. She locked eyes with him and smiled. "You aren't wearing anything, are you?" she teased. She was half-tempted to make a grab for the covers, but she knew Brennan would just get pissed off. "You know, the Falcons aren't as cold as the rest of the birds," she reminded, but stayed where she was for the moment. She wasn't about to run him off - he was... He was her only friend.

[Brennan Shardae]

Having her run in and jump on the bed was the LAST thing he expected, and it was an effort not to make any kind of startled noise at the sudden 'attack'.  She seemed pretty pleased, so he tried to slow his heart and not seem too bothered by the fact that he was naked under the sheet, a married man at that, and with her laying on the bed right next to him.  At least she was dressed.

"Actually, I'm not," he answered rather quickly, not looking at her and instead focusing on the edge of the sheet, which he was turning over between his index finger and thumb.  It was just for something to focus on, really, a flighty little nervous habit.  He might have actually fallen off the bed in an attempt to keep the sheet, had she tried.  Fortunately, she didn't grab for it because that would have been VERY damaging to his dignity.

Her next comment had his attention, and he flicked his now obviously violet eyes in her direction, despite his nervousness about being in his present situation.  "I'm sure they're not, but seeing as I'm so new at this, and used to behaving like a raven, I'm not really surprised that I don't know what to do." 

[Amaltheia Monarch]

Theia watched him carefully, knowing by the telltale pounding of his heart that nothing she was doing was going to have any positive effect on him. She turned, and scooted to the foot of the bed, leaning against the board of it, and wiggled her toes contentedly as she watched him, whole body slanted slightly to the right.

"Try, 'whatever you want', Brennan," she said. She smiled, but she was serious. She sat up a little, drawing her knees in to sit Indian-style. "Listen. This is.. it. I mean, this really is it. This is the shit that little sparrows dream of, wielding a magic that can be so silent it can lull you into eternal sleep, or so loud it's smashing you in the face like a piece of marble. Brennan, we - you, me, all of us - so beautiful that our mere presence could make a mortal weep." She sat back a little, realizing she was a bit too passionate about something he hadn't really begun to grasp.

"Heh... like I said. You do.. whatever you want." She almost added, 'Damn the consequences', but she was still scared inwardly, and she'd NEVER say it, that she'd be stripped of her power again. She'd kill herself if it happened again. She really would.

[Brennan Shardae]

He stared at her, watched her speak, and it was obvious to him that he really wasn't getting it.  He didn't have the slightest clue where to go with any of this, and it was more intimidating than anything else he'd ever experienced.  Other than his JOB, he didn't exactly have much in the way of choices to deal with.  His entire life had been laid out before him from birth, and it had revolved completely around Avalon.  His every decision had been easy, all dependent on her, and now he had something before him that had nothing to do with her and everything to do with him, and there was nobody there to lay it out for him.  There was just Amaltheia, and she seemed determined to MAKE him figure it all out himself.

Really, her passion about the subject really didn't help, though he couldn't honestly say that it hurt.  It just made it obvious to him that he didn't have the slightest idea what he was dealing with.  She did, which made her invaluable to him, but he wasn't so sure that he WANTED to know.  This was all such a mess.

"This may sound unbelievable, but I don't KNOW what I want.  My life revolves around keeping Avalon safe, and helping her with her duties.  Tending to the Flight.  I don't know how to return to any of that like this, not without causing a huge mess.  You call this beautiful, but many of them will call it frightening and monstrous.  I don't understand it, so how can they?  They won't understand, and they'll be afraid of it," he told her, obviously not completely certain, but he had a good idea.  He understood crowds and what happened when people talked, and it wasn't going to be good. 

[Amaltheia Monarch]

"No, I get it," she said, though she sounded more polite than sympathetic. She reached out and squeezed his hand a little, though, which was something. "Be right back," she said. She got up and left the room, the sound of denim and Theia-feet moving into the kitchen. A drawer opened, and was pilfered through, before it slammed back shut, and she came barreling back down the hall. She jumped back onto the bed, this time settling next to Brennan.

Before he could protested, she leaned all the way across him, until she'd found something. "Here," she said, holding out a pair of green scissors to him. "Cut this tag, would you?" she asked. "We'll liberate you from your eggshell in babysteps," she said, looking up at him with a smile. She was still leaning across him, though careful of her elbows and whatnot... but she looked so refreshed and alive that it was almost like seeing a different person than he had before today.

[Brennan Shardae]

Brennan had absolutely NO idea what she was doing when she took off for the kitchen, so he just watched her and pulled the sheet up a little more again, just...because.  Within a moment of pilfering around the kitchen, she was racing back to the bedroom and leaping onto the bed, and he had to admit, at least to himself, that she really was beautiful with those wings of hers, even if the indigo and aqua coloring in them seemed so foreign to him.  That naturally wasn't helping his current predicament.

Fortunately, when she landed on the bed, she offered him a pair of scissors, and that was enough of a distraction.  "Were you never taught not to run with scissors?"

Was that a....joke?  WAT?

Maybe she was making progress, or maybe he'd just snapped from the stress and strangeness.  Whatever the case, she was offering him scissors and leaning over him in a manner that had him much less worried about how careful she was about causing pain to sensitive areas with elbows, and much more concerned with less appropriate things, and telling him to cut a tag.  What tag?  He could cut a tag.

"You mean, the one that says 'do not remove under penalty of law'?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow up at her as he asked, and trying for all that he was worth to forget that he was naked under the sheet, with an attractive falcon leaning on him, and focus on the strangeness of her request.

[Amaltheia Monarch]

"Brennan," she chastised, flipping her blonde hair back to look at him. "Did you just make a joke?" She had a playful tone to her voice, one she wanted to instantly slap herself for, but, ah well. She shook her head at him, making a tsking sound with her tongue, and yet ceased to move until he'd cut the tag.

When he'd snipped it, she picked it up and held it next to him, nearly touching noses as she sat back up. "This is liberation, little Falcon. Today, a tag. Tomorrow, the world. Ah, you can laugh! But soon you'll be ready to conquer," she said. She was being dramatic on purpose, and it was even funnier in close proximity like this. She hadn't forgotten his situation, either, but she did her very best not to capitalize on it with comments, moreso because he never seemed to react the way she wanted him to.

She stayed in his face long enough that she wondered when he'd push her away, and turned to go back to her place at the foot of the bed after she didn't get any reaction from him right away. Theia was weird when she was giddy - which she was.

[Brennan Shardae]

"Absolutely not," he returned seriously, though there may have been a touch of amusement in his voice, if she knew what she was listening for.  His humor was pretty subtle most of the time, and would probably be for awhile.  It existed, though.  He proceeded to cut the damn tag so that she'd be satisfied, and she went on about conquering with an incredibly dramatic air, but it wasn't what she was saying that really had him.  It was the fact that their noses were practically touching, they were so close, and he wasn't really even paying attention to what she was saying.  He was, but he wasn't really worrying about it. 

He hesitated, the story of his life lately, and it was as she started to move away that he suddenly grabbed her shoulder to keep her from escaping immediately and just as suddenly...kissed her.  Why?

When he released her, which wasn't long after the initial surprise hit them BOTH (he couldn't believe he'd done it, either), he covered up his own awkwardness and disbelief with a suitably snappy comment.  "Now we're even.  I owed you that one," he told her, remembering rather clearly when she'd done the same to him.  Actually, it'd involved him saving her life, and this involved her bringing him BACK to life, so it was pretty fitting. 

[Amaltheia Monarch]

Theia had been all settled to go back to her corner, when Brennan spun her around on the shoulder and drew her in for a... kiss? Stars and feathers, she hadn't thought - but he was so warm and he was a Falcon now, and so familiar, like flying...

And it was over, and from the tone of Brennan's voice, he was covering up his nerves with a spiteful remark. Theia, well, her mouth was slightly open as she sat, stunned, staring at him. She couldn't even think of anything to say to... he had stolen the words right out of her mouth. Literally. So, she did the only thing she could think of to do that would snatch that upper ground from him he'd just reclaimed, and quite cunningly, if she did say so.

She kissed him back. And it wasn't just a 'grab and kiss' sort of kiss, not like the kind Brennan had just tried to pull on her - no, this was a real kiss, and damn the Avian 'niceties' that Brennan knew, because Theia wasn't havin' any of those. One hand shot out to steady herself as she did this, because she wasn't about to jump on top of him (seriously, she wasn't anywhere near that point), and she did want something to support her weight with, since she was leaning forward quite a ways. The other hand rose, to run her fingers gently along the line of his jaw - flawless skin, with just the traces of stubble, something that made her smile as she kissed him, which caused her to pull back.

Whoops.

"Guess I took a little too much initiative.." she said guiltily, although if you knew her, you'd know she didn't feel too bad at all.

[Brennan Shardae]

Was he expecting her to react as she did?  No.  Should he have?  Perhaps.  Just as she was realizing that he never really reacted the way she thought he would, he was starting to understand that the same was true in reverse.  He had no way of knowing how she'd react to anything, which was making him want to be extra-cautious.  He'd just tried the opposite, gave that impulse factor a chance, and now, there he was.

He couldn't deny that he liked it, not without lying through his teeth, but there was far more intimacy than he was used to in that one little situation.  Even when he'd taken the initiative and kissed her, gotten her back for her stolen kiss before and turned the tables, it hadn't been like this.  He'd been quick, surprisingly forceful for an Avian, and let her go.  This was lingering, pressuring, but not really so forceful.  It caused his mind to halt mid-thought, only to shoot right back to full working capabilities when she let go. 

Fortunately, he was bad at judging emotions under normal situations, so he fell for that guilty tone rather easily.  The fact that he'd jerked back rather suddenly (even as she was pulling away and getting some distance), and smacked his head on the headboard didn't exactly help his emotional understanding.  What it REALLY hurt, besides the back of his skull for an instant, was his dignity, but he was already so off-kilter that being so startled wasn't really all that...startling.  He recovered quickly, acting as though he HADN'T just bashed the back of his head off the headboard, and if he'd been in a bird form at the time, he'd have just fluffed his feathers up as he straightened somewhat.  No, there wasn't any added color in his face, and he wasn't feeling out of place, why would you ask?

He was such a horrible liar, even in just body language and appearances.  This was why he acted so stuffy and stuck-up, since it was much easier.  Theia knew better, though.  She'd never let him keep that up.  What was he going to do here?

[Amaltheia Monarch]

She just giggled when he hit his head, reaching up to place a hand on it. When she didn't distinguish any blood pouring from the back of it, she ruffled his hair playfully, biting her lower lip. "Come on, Brennan," she said, her tone entirely different - happy, light, casual. Theia was good at being emotional, and it was a nice, pleasant sort of feeling, not like how she'd been before. She was much warmer and personable now, although that would soon draw away as she fell more into step with her power... Enjoy it while you can, Brennan.

"Put some clothes on, I'll make something to eat." She rolled to her feet, straightening her shirt a little as she did so. She picked a small feather from the down comforter off of her shoulder and blew it away, walking to the door without missing a beat. She turned and smiled at him a little before disappearing into the hallway, wings sewing themselves up and vanishing behind her into nothingness. Theia didn't stand in the kitchen around potentially hazardous appliances in Demi-form, ohhhhh no.

[Brennan Shardae]

It was incredible how different she sounded with that playful giggling and the way she teased him, not to mention the ruffling of his hair.  If he hadn't known better, he'd have never believed this was the same woman who'd jumped off of a building the first time he'd met her. 

How sad was it that he'd probably lighten up just in time for her to fall back into step with her power and grow cold again?

'Put some clothes on.'  Maybe he just felt guilty, and he did, make no mistake, and that was why it sounded worse than it actually was, but he didn't give her any indication that she'd gotten to him with that one.  His reserve was getting clamped back down and into place, if only to save his dignity a few more blows.  Clothes would definitely help with that.

His shirt was a wreck and his pants were dirty, but not nearly as disgusting, or as damaged.  He was going to have to figure something out in the near future to deal with the clothing situation, but for the present moment, the pants he had would work.  He wished he'd had a shirt, but he'd deal.  Throwing a 'temper tantrum' was really the last way to get anything done, and he'd avoid it if he could help it, just as he was going to try avoiding another awkward situation with Theia.  His life had gotten complicated enough without having to worry about any of THAT.

With the clothing issues taken care of to the best of his ability for the time being, and Theia apparently cooking, he couldn't even begin to deny the fact that whatever she was making had rather suddenly reminded him that he hadn't had anything to eat in a very long time.  When was his last meal?  He hadn't been eating all that much before he'd been attacked, just because of his mood and how badly his life had gone to hell, and he'd slept for a day in a half (not to mention dying and being brought back as something he wasn't supposed to be), so it was understandable that he'd be hungry.  He still didn't feel like eating, but the needs of the body were likely to take precedence over his personal preferences.

He was hungry, and Theia was making food.  That was all that was necessary to get him into the kitchen.  "What are you making?"

[Amaltheia Monarch]

A smile flickered against Theia's expressive features as Brennan emerged from the back of the house, shirtless.  She bit back a comment about how she'd only kissed him twice and he was trying to parade around naked now, knowing he would take it the wrong way no matter how much she meant it as a joke.  When he inquired as to what she was making, she only looked guiltily away for a second, and held up the frying pan.

"Eggs?" she asked.  "Actually, omelettes. Is that bad? They aren't Falcon eggs, so technically, I'm not a cannibal.  You won't vomit, will you?" she asked, only slightly concerned as she regarded him, the pan still tilted upward.  The burner began to smell funny, and she set it back down, scraping the cheesy-egg combination off skillfully with a plastic spatula and depositing it onto a white plate with blue leaves painted into the edges of it. 

"If you don't like it, I can make you something else.  I'm really feeling breakfast food right now, but I've got..." she trailed off and opened her freezer.  She looked so normal just then in a pair of jeans and a tank top, bare-footed and hair touseled just so.  It was almost surreal.  But she was talking again - "Eggos, Jimmy Dean sausage... Orange juice, bacon, ham.. pancakes?" she asked, looking back at him. She held the Bisquick box up close to her face and smiled, like an advertisement.  "I have maple syrup," she offered temptingly.