chatime | ✧ — peach iced tea.

[ imagine if they had to upend their life a second time because they had to escape naked i would simply vanish and never appear again

but yes they can make out, pretend they're chaste, and exchange more intimacy until the sun starts peeking through the clouds and the stir of life picks up from outside the haul. he parts reluctantly, though his arms will keep thorns close.

there are new hickeys. ]

… We should get ready for our moment to disembark, I think.

[ sad ]

I suppose.

[ sad!!!

... sorry, he is going to start kissing elysium again for at least another two minutes before he finally pulls away for real. ]

Let's get our stuff. Put the jacket back on, we can try to blend in with the crew.

[ the good thing about these types of ships is that it's normal for crew to come and go so people may not realize immediately they're not supposed to be here if they're spotted outside of here. the hard part is making it out after the realization does hit. ]

[ elysium is fine with this. if there are consequences for their poor decision-making they can deal—because they have been sooooo good about doing just that. ]

Right ahead of you. We can make it look like we're helping unload cargo?

[ they follow the chain of command and then

nyoom ]

[ once they've gathered their belongings, thorns will go and make sure that there's no one in the passageway immediately in front of their door so they don't get busted ten seconds in. once he's sure to coast if clear, he gestures for elysium to follow...

it sounds like most of the crew is above deck, likely getting everything squared away for docking. there's an odd feeling in his chest watching it. it's funny, since he think he and elysium really could have been happy out at sea together, but the major gap in their ranks was really killing them. ]

[ born to slowburn over decades forced to fastburn in half the time

given the rapport he'd built with the crew in the original timeline over years of sleeping over whenever he was on business with rhodes, it isn't hard to picture it working there too if only things hadn't gone so astray. but that's neither here nor there; when thorns stills in place, elysium only tilts his head.

it isn't the moment to press, so he just taps his shoulder instead. ]

[ oh. he offers a thumbs up to show it's fine!!!

and then just starts walking, moving slow enough so that he won't get too ahead of elysium. they have no idea if the ship is going to be docked for a long period of time or if it's just a quick stop, so it's best to get this over with as soon as possible so they don't get accidentally stuck on this thing for longer than needed. ]

[ does thorns think he's geriatric. why is he moving so slowly. ]

You can go faster… want to just book it?

[ a little adrenaline never hurt anyone ]

... We might as well. When I say go?

[ he reaches over to grab elysium's hand. he cannot afford to lose him even though he is a grown man who is perfectly capable of running on his own without a metaphorical leash. ]

[ if thorns runs off without him he will get lost and they will never find each other again. this is an implausible scenario when thorns has cheater abilities but these are the thoughts that keep them up at night regardless.

he grips thorns' hand back tightly. this is so unnecessary but necessary at the same time. ]

On go. [ echoes back. ] Ready.

Three, two, one... go!

[ and off they go!

there are a few shouts of surprise as they run by, but thorns ignores them all as he pulls elysium along with them. his main concern was getting caught before they docked, but now even if anything happens, he's sure they can take care of it.

pushes someone out of the way!!! onward. ]

[ they aren't exactly putting their heart into the chase either, taking a few half-hearted steps before giving up. over his shoulder he calls for them to check out the part of the ship they'd helped fix and apologises for the trouble, which only leaves them looking even more confused. can't have anyone taking their credit…!

it doesn’t take long before they lose them completely, and by the time they manage to duck around a corner and shake them off— ]

See? No point overthinking it.

[ smooches thorns' cheek. good job. ]

[ well, he won't explain what he was actually thinking about.

thorns returns the kiss and then steps back to look around. where are they, anyway... ]

Should we look around?

[ being a port city makes it easier for them to continue to disappear into crowds. but as much as he'd like to dive straight into exploring— ]

Our disguises first? Dye and a change of clothes? [ before they travel too far and leave too much of a trail. ] The river branches off into smaller streams through the forest; we can check if there's a good spot for us to get to work there?

That works.

[ hm...

it will be faster to find a shop selling clothes, so they will hit that up first. sorry, thorns is going to have to temporarily abandon slutty clothes for a little while and chooses something oversized again with a wraparound cape.

it will be best to go to another shop for the dye. elysium can pick the color he wants. ]

[ 'temporarily abandon slutty clothes' like he is taking prolonged dot damage over it. okay. elysium just picks up another zip jacket since he'd been seen in the one thorns bartered for, but squares it away nonetheless. he traded an entire ring for it…

at any rate, practicality is irritating, but necessary. they can duck into a drugstore selling cosmetics; elysium snags two boxes of black dye easily enough, but the third and fourth take longer. his eyes flick between the shelf of colours and thorns himself. ]

Your hair already looks brown in the sun… [ mumbles. ] Should we just pick a lighter shade? Bleaching it entirely will take too long and wreck your hair. Who knows when we'll even have the time for masks…

[ he frets for another few minutes, torn between making thorns an abyssal hunter white or just a softer brown, before conceding. white hair is eye-catching in its own right, especially when the person in question is an aegir. ]

Okay. The extras are for if stay anywhere long enough to need to touch up our roots.

[ thorns thinks he really should have just shaved it all to have made this gone faster.

hmmm. he buys a bigger bag than the one he has. the turmoils of having to travel with everything you own but quickly... ]

Where are we going to do this?

[ thorns has never dyed his hair before (on purpose and not during an experiment gone wrong) so he is not sure how long this process is and if they need to do anything specific for it. ]

[ how can they have matching braids if thorns is bald ]

We'll have a chance as we head further into the countryside. Too close to the city and someone’s bound to stumble across us… [ there is simply too much traffic too and from. ] We can save on an inn, too.

[ on the bright side, elysium had the foresight to bring their collapsible tent. on the less bright side (or maybe it's a brighter side…?) there is only a single set of bedding. ]

If we're avoiding roads, it'll be a long trek before we hit our first village. Was there anything else you wanted to pick up?

[ hmm. they stole enough food to last them until then, and they have their medical supplies since it would have been extremely stupid to not have grabbed that from the hotel. thorns wants to get elysium a better weapon but he will concede that has to wait until they have more funds because it's not a priority as long as he currently has one. ]

... I think we're good.

Okay.

[ so begins their cute and wholesome travel montage! one where they aren't running for their lives. elysium slips easily into the role of tour guide, as he always does; the prosperity of yan makes foraging for simpler nutrients easy, and on top of what they have they really could've picked worse for directions to stow away in, plucking berries as they wander along, up until they find a stream for him to rinse them clean against the current.

thank you!! miss shu!! ]

Goji berries. [ he pinches one between two fingers, holding it up to thorns' mouth. this falls under minimal flirting, apparently. ] Say 'ah.'

Ah.

[ they are so annoying.

but he opens his mouth and lets himself be fed. the single blessing is that they are no longer forcing other people to witness them doing things like this, so being on the run does some good in the world. ]

Now you're spoiling me...

There's no point in being together if we don't.

[ he slips another berry past thorns' lips. then another. he'll keep going for as long as thorns indulges him, he's gathered more than enough by now.

still, it's nice. they have a destination of sorts—somewhere to lie low, pick up work, and let the heat of their disappearance fade, but the specifics matter less than the fact they're headed there together. he smiles to himself as he pops a berry into his own mouth. ]

What are you going to do for me?

You want more?

[ this is the greed they talk about in the bible.

also, what happened to the minimal flirting? literally the only thing they are being stopped from is banging like crazy because they don't have that many changes of clothes. ]

Things taste better when they come from you.

[ he's not even sure what 'more' is in this context but he's saying yes anyway

this is beyond the bible they're playing straight out of satan's guidebook. ]

[ thorns doesn't think this is factually true but instead of explaining how taste works, he will feed elysium some berries like a good boyfriend.

... fiance. oh my god when are they getting married. ]

Better?

[ they have been engaged for however many comments by now i don't know what to tell you.

he does the thing where he deliberately licks any juice off of thorns' fingers. ]

Yeah. Definitely sweeter.

[ what is marriage but a piece of paper. they've been acting like they've been married for years since forever ]

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