Sunset In Technicolour (Shiny)

[Kisha-Ra]

It had not been the most productive of days, in fact it had been anything but, however it had been an enjoyable day (apart from all the sand) but now it was winding down, the sun had turned fat and red and was now slowly disappearing, leaving the sky a multitude of purple, red, and orange shades and staining what had been fluffy white clouds a rather garish pink colour.

From his wonderful vantage point, flat on his back on a blanket on the sand with his arms pillowed behind his head, J’on was watching the slowly changing sky with no real interest, it was just something to look at while his thoughts drifted a bit and it was really quite pretty, if not entirely tasteful. Really it was too bad the water was cooling off, either that or the night breezes were starting up early, he might have to give up on swimming and help J’ash with whatever sand construction he was making.

Now that, the greenrider thought, looking over at the slight figure of the blonde rider, had been something good about this day in spite of the sand (it was true J’on hated sand), he’d gotten pretty much a free pass to ogle J’ash as much as he liked, although the bluerider didn’t seem entirely keen on swimming to J’on eyes. It was just a bit tough though; J’ash was highly accident prone, and lived right by a river, so he was learning to swim better even if J’on had to force him. He didn’t want to be reliving the moment J’ash went over the falls in his nightmares, the one where he relived the moment J’ash fell off the top of the drum tower was bad enough that if J’ash wasn’t actually with him J’on would have to get up and go looking for him.

‘Hrrrm…’ J’on rolled over onto his front and propped himself up on his elbows, shivering a little as a new area of his bare skin was exposed to the breeze. ‘Dare I even ask what you’re thinking now?’ he asked, inspiring a mental snort from his dragon, who was pretending to sleep. Oh stop that Rina, Snipe at Craivaruth some more why don’t you? J’on was almost certain the two dragons were still not getting on, and he supposed he really needed to speak to both of them, separately, at some point.

[Shiny]

Scraping sand towards himself with his hands, J'ash gathered the new pile of wet sand and packed it onto the side of the large lump forming beside him. The pretty Bluerider was unintentionally wearing a youthful, innocent expression, silver eyes shining with happiness. It had been a while since he had been on a beach, but this place always seemed to make him happy. It was simply beautiful, and the sand was soft and warm, and the water was constantly with the sky - what more could he ask for?

J'ash sat hunched over his unfinished sand castle with some of his fawn-honey hair tucked behind his ear in an attempt to keep it out of his face so he could see, but still some strands swayed messily, making the sight of him reminiscent of a Drudge working away at rolling out dough. After clapping on another fistful of damp sand, J'ash blew at the disobedient strands and stood, leaning forward to brush off his dark blue knee-length shorts. Thin muscles strained underneath tan skin as J'ash threw his arms up in a cat-like stretch that exposed his bare torso, rising up on the balls of his shoeless feet and sighing contentedly.

Gray eyes slid over to observe the handsome Greenrider, momentarily devouring him visually before sauntering over and plopping down beside him. "J'oooooooooonnnnnnnn," he whined playfully, flopping back to lie next to the naked man on the blanket, hair splaying haphazardly behind him. "You should help me finish my sand castle! I'll never get it done at this rate. And then I'll be sad. Won't you be sad if I'm sad?" He threw a pout at the brunette before mimicking him and resting his head on a pillow of crossed arms, looking up at the sky.

The sight that met him struck him with awe, and for a long while, J'ash was merely speechless. Splashes of pink and orange and yellow and purple were mixing together to make a backdrop for vividly-highlighted clouds, the colours blending so that he couldn't tell where one stopped and another began. A swollen red ellipse of heat hovered just above the horizon of the water, making it shine and sparkle with reflected colours of a warm palette. The water and the sky weren't just hugging anymore; they were having a conversation. Movement beside him momentarily distracted him from his newest discovery. "I've never seen such a sight in my life," J'ash replied somewhat breathlessly, a tiny alarm flicking him in the back of the head telling him that something was wrong going largely ignored.

Craivaruth sat curled farther down the beach, allowing his tail to be lightly batted by the tide. An eye cracked open to observe his surroundings at the increase of endorphins he felt from his other half, and paused to consider the situation. He snorted and closed his eye again. J'on surely knew J'ash was afraid of the dark, and His was being stupid and not realizing what time it was. Well, he would suffer the consequences, then. He wasn't going to be the one calming J'ash. Poor J'on.

[Kisha-Ra]

J’on reacted to the whining demand that he help with the sand… thing with a soft chuckle. ‘You wanted to play in the sand.’ He pointed out accurately. ‘Besides I don’t want to be covered in sand.’ That was a somewhat pointless statement as his feet and lower legs were already caked in drying sand, and there was just enough of a dusting of fine white grains over the rest of his body to make putting his clothing back on really uncomfortable, so he wasn’t going to do so until they were leaving. He was certain J’ash didn’t mind.

The greenrider’s gaze slipped sideways to the lean form stretched out beside him and smirked when he noticed his companion’s eyes were fixed on the sky, J’ash didn’t usually venture outside this late in the day and therefore he usually missed such things as the sunset, which always seemed to be a great deal more colourful on the coast than it was anywhere else. Or maybe it was only that he got to see more of the sky out here.

‘It’s a beautiful thing isn’t it?’ J’on snuggled a bit closer to the conveniently warm body next to him, that breeze was definitely not his friend. ‘I love this time of day, and the sunset always seems fantastic down here. It’s almost worth the sand.’ The greenrider rolled a little more towards J’ash so he could wrap one arm affectionately around the bluerider. ‘It’s a bit like you in that respect.’ He added in a murmur. ‘The beauty is worth the sand.’ To be totally honest the arm over J’ash’s chest was partly intended to be comfort, and partly restraint, he hadn’t forgotten that his mate was scared of the dark, he simply hoped to make J’ash forget for a while, or at least see that some parts of the night cold be beautiful. In any case he was expecting a bit of a struggle once certain things came together for J’ash.

As casually as if he wasn’t being totally devious J’on let out a soft yawn and nuzzled his nose into J’ash’s neck. ‘I suppose I could bear to help you with your sandcastle if you want to finish it before we go,’ he told the side of the bluerider’s neck, ‘you are worth the sand after all.’

Rinagth’s head snaked around and her eyelids slid open to focus on the pair of humans, a position which left the green looking rather comical as she was half buried in the sand and now had her head sticking out at ninety degrees from her body with her neck stretched as far as it could comfortably reach. She feared her rider was trying to be clever again, something which often backfired on him. Briefly the green wondered if she should mention this to Craivaruth but she decided against it. If Craivaruth was so smart he could work it out from himself. Rinagth’s wings twitched in a pale imitation of her usual wing flares.

[Shiny]

"You're already covered in sand, moron. What difference would it make?" he argued, but he couldn't wipe the smirk off his face. Oh well - he really wanted the Greenrider to help him finish his project, but if J'on really didn't want to, then that was fine too, he supposed.

J'ash was only made aware of the goosebumps formed due to the breeze when his warm partner wiggled closer to him. Wait, he remembered it being warmer than this... Maybe it was time for him to put his shirt back on. J'ash's brow lightly furrowed at the word "sunset" but was momentarily distracted by the warm arm slung around him. Gray eyes lit up at the romantic line, a gentle smile following suit. "You really do know how to make me melt into a puddle of goo, you know that?" J'ash lifted his hand and ran it lightly along the arm that captured him in a soothing fashion.

And if J'ash was already a puddle of goo, J'on's yawning and nuzzling into the side of his neck certainly evaporated him. His smile grew broader. "You're so evil," he whined, tilting his head down to try and see J'on better, "but I love you anyway." His expression morphed into a triumphant one as J'on caved. "Finally! I've always wanted to build a sand castle with someone! This is going to be so awesome!" Excitedly, the Bluerider threw his free arm over J'on's bare back. "But isn't it a bit cold to be completely naked? Not that I'm complaining, but I don't want you to get sick..."

But he was so comfortable like this, with his human blanket and the both of them being bathed in the warm glow of the sunset. The light, however, was slowly fading, and the breeze was getting just that much cooler, and J'ash realized that maybe just perhaps he should be paying attention to the alarms sounding in his head. Was that a star twinkling through the steadily desaturated sky? "Oh... Faranth, I need to get home!" he exclaimed, realization draining some colour from his face, just like the colour rapidly draining from the sky. We need to go! The hand that was rubbing J'on's arm turned to grasp it somewhat tightly, and he made an attempt to shove it off as gently as possible.

The blue and green dragon's eyelids slid open again and he raised his head from resting on his talons just slightly to observe His and Rinagth's. If that is your wish, J'ashmine. But you must come here first. Dark amusement underlined his cold voice, glowing yellow tones swirling in his eyes. He had a feeling J'on would keep him pinned. It was about time J'ash at least attempted to face his fears. He was sick of being limited to flying when the sun was up.

Craivaruth spared a sour glance for Rinagth, who was not very far away. With a snort, he twitched his wings right back, mimicking her superciliously. Still, the two were not exactly on talking terms, but at least they could tolerate each others' presence. They'd have to, considering their riders.

[Kisha-Ra]

‘I’m not evil.’ J’on objected half heartedly at the accusation from his self proclaimed goo puddle of a mate. ‘There’s so many more things I could do to you if I was being evil, and I’m fairly sure all of them would make you forget about playing in the sand.’ J’on gave a smug smirk into the skin of the bluerider’s neck, then flicked his tongue out to drag the very tip over the sensitive skin, and wrinkled his nose when it turned out that was a good way to get sand in his mouth.

It was quite obvious that J’ash hadn’t worked out what was going on yet from the brightness of that triumphant smile, and despite his scheming J’on couldn’t help responding with a smile of his own. ‘Really?’ The greenrider sounded amused that J’ash would have such a simple lifetime desire. ‘Well, if sandcastles are all you’re interested in I can hardly deny you.’ For all his teasing comments J’on wasn’t really into the idea of fooling around on the beach, he just didn’t think being scoured with sand was a fun experience even if it was in a good cause, but he didn’t have to mention that as long as J’ash didn’t decide to take him up on anything. Just as he was about to make some new comment on his nudity the breeze decided to pick up momentarily, it probably wouldn’t have bothered him had he been clothed and not still slightly damp from swimming but right now it made the greenrider shiver and snuggle closer to his nice warm windbreak/blanket/boyfriend. ‘You might be right, he answered ruefully, ‘but I doubt I’m in too much danger of getting sick as long as I have my pretty blue to snuggle with.’

J’on blithely ignored the sudden panic in the bluerider’s voice and leaned his weight onto the slight form beside him and slung one of his sand covered legs over both of the bluerider’s. ‘No, stay with me.’ He spoke in a low soft tone and lifted his head to look J’ash in the eye, intending to say something comforting but the greenrider was distracted totally by what he was looking at. ‘Wow, you look sexier than ever against this background.’ Was what actually emerged in slightly awestruck tones from J’on’s mouth. The last of the fading sunlight was making a glory of that dark blonde hair, and as if that wasn’t enough, from J’on’s point of view an early star had appeared specially to shine above them.

Rinagth snorted and lifted her head and give the two humans what could only be described as a sardonic glance. J’on’s trying to sneak again.[/color] She commented to Craivaruth, simply because there was no one else to talk to around and it didn’t seem likely that either human would pay any attention her right now. It’s a shame he’s so totally lacking in subtlety don’t you think?[/color] The green didn’t detect any trace of irony in what she said, in her own mind her scheming was a great deal more subtle than it really was, and besides, her schemes were not in play here.

[Shiny]

A shiver that was certainly not brought on by the cool breeze ran up the Bluerider’s spine momentarily, and he bit his lip, emitting a low whine. “And you say you’re not evil. Just look at you.” And that he did, tilting his head down to observe the Greenrider’s disgusted expression. He laughed. “Do I really taste that bad?” he pouted playfully. “I always thought you thought otherwise.”

A glimpse of dirty realization flashed on J’ash’s face. “Well, if there’s anything better you have in mind, please share.” The breeze took this moment to make J’on move closer to the Bluerider, which said Blue was grateful for. Goosebumps added texture to the smooth tan chest that the Greenrider was currently pressed up against. Although J’on probably felt cold, the heat that radiated from his damp skin comforted J’ash against the cool ushering of the evening breeze that clearly wanted them gone. Perhaps the oncoming night sky would do a better job of scaring at least one of them away. Wrapping the arm already draped over the naked man tighter, he traced the contours of the Green’s back. “Guess I can’t let my handsome Green get sick, now can I?”

The body beside him pressed against him harder, the weight pressing him into the sand to keep him from getting up. Anxious silver eyes met calm honey-brown, silently begging them to please let him go. J’ash’s mouth opened slightly but he was momentarily speechless. If J’on had said that in any other circumstance, he would have been all over the Green. “That’s nice,” he said hesitantly, eyes breaking contact to glance nervously up at the dying glow of the sky. “Just keep the image in your mind and take me home to ravish me, please?” Feebly J’ash tried to push the bigger man off. “C’mon, let’s go,” he pushed a little harder when the body didn’t move, voice quivering slightly in his rising anxiety. “I’m going to lose it if I get stuck out here. I don’t’ want you to see that. Please, please, let’s go!”

Craivaruth’s yellow eyes snapped to the Green as her cool voice slipped into his mind. Perhaps he has ulterior motives, Rinagth. From what Mine has told me, I doubt J’on would want to actually screw on a beach, especially with Mine’s rising panic.
Snorting into the cooling salty air, Craivaruth’s tail sent a small wave rolling out against the incoming tide as he twitched his wings in slight agitation. Make sure Yours knows what he’s getting into. Mine has the potential to get slightly… deranged in the dark.

[Kisha-Ra]

‘You taste fine, but I don’t like sand in my mouth.’ J’on pouted right back, determined not to be outdone, although J’ash was probably better at the whole pouting thing, he managed to look adorable whereas J’on was convinced he just looked silly.

‘Well,’ J’on answered with a challenging gaze, pressing into J’ash a little more for emphasis, ‘as it happens I do have an idea or two, but I don’t think I’ll share them since you’re so interested in playing in the sand.’ With that the greenrider took advantage of the pause to snuggle happily as J’ash’s arm wrapped tighter around him. ‘No indeed, I’m miserable to be around when I’m sick.’ He replied with a shiver that had nothing to do with the breeze. ‘Not only am I grumpy I also fall asleep everywhere, very bad company.’

J’on’s fingers twitched slightly with the desire to brush the hair back from around those soft silver grey eyes, but one arm was draped over J’ash, holding the bluerider in place, and the other was supporting J’on’s weight, normally he would have shifted himself around until he could do it anyway but the whole situation made it rather difficult. He was fairly certain that if he even felt like shifting his weight off of J’ash the bluerider would be bolting for Craivaruth before he could even raise a hand. Rather than attempting to do as he desired the greenrider dimply let his fingers stroke along the skin where they already rested while he attempted to hold the bluerider’s gaze. ‘You just need to calm down a bit J’ash, breathe, and stop struggling.’ Though the greenrider’s gaze was compassionate and his voice gentle his weight pinning the bluerider down was implacable. ‘I’m not going to leave you out here on your own, but I am going to force you to face your fear, even though you’ll probably hate me for it. I guess I can deal with a few more months of being deprived if it helps you.’

Rinagth turned to give Craivaruth a withering look. Of course he has ulterior motives.[/color] the green replied, looking down her muzzle at her companion and uncurled herself, letting sand cascade off her hide. He doesn’t like sand, He’ll probably insist on washing before they go off and play their little rise and chase games.[/color] Rinagth swept her tail around to the side of her body and passed on Craivaruth’s warning to her rider. I don’t think that’s going to change his mind, he’s at worst when he’s like this. I expect he’ll let yours go eventually though.

[Shiny]

J’ash could only keep a straight face for so long when J’on began to pout back, breaking into a smile. He felt so lucky that he was actually able to make such an expression cross such a handsome face. “Shame it’s not the way I taste, because that would have meant I need to take more baths with you.” A devious flare sparked in his eyes. It was about time J’on got a taste of his own medicine.

The Bluerider purred lightly as his lover pressed against him more. “You know I’d give up sand for the lightest brush of your hand.” As J’on snuggled closer to him, J’ash rested his chin on the messy mop of brown hair. “I’d rather not imagine you sick at all.”

As much as he loved contact with J’on, the gray-eyed man couldn’t keep his eyes from straying to the sky, no matter how hard J’on tried to keep his attention. A pathetic, nearly inaudible whimper escaped J’ash’s throat as the Greenrider spoke, the light, comforting strokes of his fingers going unnoticed. It was obvious that the Bluerider’s attention was not on his mate. “Calm down,” he repeated breathlessly, “calm down, I can’t calm down! If we stay out here, we’re going to die. We aren’t even close to the Weyr. We’ll be attacked by felines. They’ll tear us apart. Kisaen...” His own mention of his brother’s name brought forth another pained, quiet whimper, and J’ash locked watering eyes on the Greenrider’s. “If you won’t leave me, we’ll both die. Please, get off!” he cried, writhing under J’on in an attempt to get out. It was obvious that the Bluerider was not yet ready to listen to reason; he was far too lost in his own head for that. It did seem, however, J’on’s valiant cooing and comforting were certainly keeping J’ash from a complete mental breakdown, if just barely so. If anyone was able to attempt this with some hope of success in mind, it would be J’on.

The anxiety pouring in from the bond that connected him to J’ash caused orange to pour into the yellow of Craivaruth’s eyes. Lip twitching to show just a flash of teeth and with a slight flare of his dark teal wings for emphasis, Craivaruth replied coldly to Rinagth. Clearly, he hadn’t liked her tone. Don’t patronize me. He snorted. If he intends on going to wash off before they leave, he should know that J’ash will refuse to go with him. He’ll be traumatized enough as it is - I don’t think he’ll appreciate being forced to go for a swim, too. He swung his head to observe the couple. It’s going to take a lot of determination to put up with that.

[Kisha-Ra]

‘Well you do need to take more baths with me,’ J’on agreed with a seriously wicked gleam in his eye, ‘but to get the sand off rather than because you taste bad.’ He added thoughtfully, dropping his head to rest lightly on the bluerider’s chest, all the better to hear the purr that emanated from J’ash when J’on snuggled up to him. ‘I’m so glad to hear that because I’d rather avoid being sick if it’s possible.’ The greenrider commented absently, taking the chance to nuzzle against J’ash’s skin.

As the sky took on the mantle of true night it was becoming obvious that J’on wasn’t going to be able to hold J’ash’s attention with innuendo, even when it was accompanied by the greenrider’s nude form pressing so close that he might as well climb inside J’ash’s skin, normally J’on would be fending off very firm hints that he should ravish J’ash by this point, but right now, the bluerider had eyes only for the darkening sky.

‘Yes, you can. You need to, panic never helps.’ J’on kept his voice calm and level, although he was close enough to J’ash that he could feel the older male’s heart rate speeding up in response to his fear. Interestingly enough, although J’on knew each of his mate’s scars very intimately and knew they were nearly all claw marks, but he’d never realised that J’ash’s fear of the dark was so closely related to his fear of felines. ‘There’s no felines out here J’ash, they like sand even less than I do.’ Whether that was true or not was debatable but J’on was happy with it, he also decided not to mention the feline population of the jungles around the Weyr, although last he heard the whers had that waaay down.

J’on shifted around enough that he could get one of his hands free to stroke the bluerider’s hair comfortingly. ‘I’m not going to leave you, and we’re both going to be fine. We’re out in the middle of the kind of open area predators hate, and we have a pair of dragons around to protect us.’ Apparently moving his hand hadn’t been the wisest move J’on had ever made, because it allowed J’ash to get a hand free, which promptly smacked the greenrider in the temple while J’ash was making a valiant bid for freedom. ‘Ow...’ J’on mumbled vaguely, rubbing at his wounded head with his own free hand. ‘If you’re going to struggle can you be more careful please?’

Rinagth snorted softly. Not here fool. The sand would just stick again if they did that. That’s how so much got stuck on J’on in the first place.[/color] She pointed out just a little condescendingly, Craivaruth deserved to be patronised if he was going to be stupid. Abruptly the green’s wings flared and her attention focused back on the humans, Craivaruth’s rider was not supposed to hit hers. Indeed. However J’on is more determined than he first appears, he would have to be.

[Shiny]

J'ash grinned up at the sky, unable to see the Greenrider now that he was so close. The long-haired man allowed a sighing exhale as J'on snuggled up against his chest, physically responding to the comments by snaking his arms down to wrap comfortingly around the small of the younger's back, pulling him flush against his own form. Falling asleep here like this didn't seem like a bad idea to the momentarily unaware svelte man.

"I can't, I can't," the Bluerider's panic was rising; he didn't understand why his mate would do this to him. He knew of J'ash's extreme phobia of the dark... Even though J'on's talk of felines was encouraging, the gray-eyed man's brain refused to process any of it positively.

Another whimper escaped the Bluerider at J'on's cooing, barely realizing the soft stroking of his hair. The Bluerider was pretty much hyperventilating, and in his attempts to escape from underneath the nude Greenrider, a now flailing hand smacked the younger man's temple. A cold wave of sobering realization splashed over him, and he immediately froze, mouth slightly agape as he stared at his mate, chest rising and falling with fast tides of breath.

The hand that was frozen in mid-air shakily came down to grasp J'on mid-arm. "Faranth, I'm sorry," he said with a shaky voice, straining his abs to bring himself up closer to the man above him while raising a hand to fearfully touch the Greenrider's temple. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean t... I don't know what came over me." The fear in his eyes now mixed with sadness; why was he like this? He'd hit his mate, and that was unacceptable.

"I'll make it up to you, I promise," he leaned up further, briefly pressing his forehead against J'on's before collapsing back onto the sand again with a shaky huff. Despite having been woken from his nearly-delusional paranoia, J'ash was still occasionally looking around wide-eyed, form slightly shaking, but his eyes now stayed focused on J'on's more. "I... I guess what you were saying makes sense... They would have no reason to be on a beach, of all things... And Craivaruth and Rinagth are here, too..." Anxiously, he fiddled with his fingers, while trying to calm the mad heartbeat in his ribcage.

J'ash let his head fall back against the sand, eyes closing shut with a slightly pained expression. It was so hard being out here. His hand gently found one of J'on's, and he twined their fingers together shakily, trying to stay calm. ""I'll try to stay for a little bit... For you."

Craivaruth's eyes flashed red momentarily at Rinagth before he got up from his spot and moved a little closer to the pair, losing any sort of interest there still was in talking to the Green. Irately, he flared his dark wings, watching His and Hers with yellow eyes. The fear in His' mind was intense, but the Blue pressured against it, reminding J'ash of his constant presence. J'ash needs a determined mate, was all he offered, tail flicking silently against the sand.

[Kisha-Ra]

J’on refused to be caught up in hysterical fear that emanated from his mate, though it seemed to be developing its own invasive presence, raising the hairs on the back of the greenrider’s neck and prompting him to look behind him for predatory eyes in the darkness. However fear always fought a losing battle against logic, and he was sure Rinagth wouldn’t be too busy sniping at Craivaruth to pounce on anything dangerous.

Ah, there was nothing like a good thump upside the head to muddle the thought processes a little, J’on reflected on this as he blinked dazedly at the hand that froze mid air, then lowered to coil around his arm. J’ash’s words seemed to come from a long way off, causing J’on to frown and shake his head to try and clear it.

‘You don’t need to make it up to me, although you can if you want.’ The greenrider gave his mate a twisted little smile and reached up to probe at his latest wound for himself. ‘It’s my own fault for getting my head in the way of your flailing hand really.’ J’on decided the damage to his head was strictly minor, probably wouldn’t even show a bruise, and dropped the hand to run it through J’ash’s hair again, reflecting as he did so that he liked the bluerider’s hair this long. Though he listened intently and offered J’ash a smile as the silver eyed man fought down his fear, J’on support remained strictly silent for the moment.

J’on curled his fingers gently around J’ash’s shaking ones and dropped his head back down to rest on the bluerider’s chest despite the discomfort of the fearfully fast heartbeat and the unsteady breathing. ‘Just for a few minutes. Then we can go home and wash all this sand off, and maybe get something to eat.’ J’on spoke in that perfectly calm tone he’d been using so much this evening and chuckled softly. ‘By then you might even have forgiven me this.’ He added, despite J’ash’s promise of making things up to him J’on fully expected to find himself with empty furs after this.

Rinagth yawned, choosing to ignore Craivaruth’s behaviour. He was so touchy sometimes and for no reason at all. Wriggling out of her sand wallow Rinagth took herself out of everyone’s way to shake off as much sand as she could, taking J’on at his word when he said only a few more minutes, he was cold and wanted to be free of the sand so he had no reason to lie to his chosen mate. So it seems.[/color] The green replied, just for the sake of conversation.

[Shiny]

J'ash frowned when J'on shook his head. Clearly the accidental hit to his temple mixed his brain up but good. "Of course I'm going to make it up to you, I want to." The hand that was curled around J'on's forearm rose as he lifted it to inspect his temple. The fear in J'ash's eyes was almost completely masked with worry for the Greenrider, which then was masked by his eyelids as a hand slipped into his hair. The Bluerider tried intently to focus on anything but the darkness; J'on's voice, his face, the fingers in his hair. And although he couldn't quite bring himself to fully ignore his fear, concentrating on the object of his affections was far less stressful.

Although the smile on his mate's face was reassuring, J'ash needed to hear his voice, and felt relieved when the Greenrider started to talk again. The Bluerider attempted to sedate the tremors that ran along his hands and shoulders, the feat easier done with J'on resting against him again. The voice he loved to hear so much vibrated against his torso as the words were spoken into his chest. Trying to get a grip on his respiration, he let his eyes slide closed momentarily again, attempting to focus on the feeling of having his hair played with. That was something he loved, and J'on sure knew how to do it. "I think I can last a few more minutes, at least in your company. A meal and a bath with you would definitely help me relax. And forgive you? There's nothing to forgive. I should be the one begging your forgiveness."

Before he was scared of the darkness, J'ash used to love stargazing. Recalling this, the Bluerider opened his eyes and stared up at the vast veil of spilled dreams, several lines of white light streaking across the darkness for half-seconds before fading back into nothing. "It really is beautiful..." J'ash uttered as he observed the numerous shooting stars, "I've forgotten why I used to like the night." Softly, he caressed the nook between Jon's thumb and his index finger with his own thumb, admittedly enjoying the rare event despite still being scared.

Craivaruth snorted, not bothering to say anything. The Green rose from her lying position and shook the sand off, so the Blue did the same, shaking his tail free of the water that clung to it. Craivaruth brushed both J'ash's and J'on's minds; J'ash, in relief that he had calmed down, and J'on, in thanks for going through the trouble and succeeding to some extent.

[Kisha-Ra]

Although J’on was still looking mildly dazed he gave J’ash a wicked look, his eyes sweeping up and down the bluerider’s body in a manner that said he had a very clear idea of how he’d like said making up to take place, though he still fully expected to find himself sleeping alone tonight. Hope did spring eternal. ‘Well if you want to I could let you, I suppose. You are adorable by the way.’ J’on’s smile softened into something with more tenderness than lust in it as he caught sight of the concern in J’ash’s eyes. That was so sweet, if not really needed.

‘I love your hair like this.’ J’on commented idly, with no relevance to the topics at hand. He just felt he had to comment on it, since the hand that had drifted up to run through the dark honey strands was now weaving and tugging gently on them, which it had to be said was a habit of J’on’s, especially since he’d had plenty of time to observe just how much J’ash liked it. ‘I’m glad you feel that way. I don’t really want you to stay a nervous wreck forever.’ J’on’s voice took on a note of wry humour now that his mate wasn’t hysterical with fear. ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m over being mildly stunned now. I just feel kind of silly instead. So there’s nothing to forgive on that score either, which is just as well. You can’t expect me not to try and seduce you over dinner when you’re so beautiful.’ The greenrider wasn’t one hundred percent sure of how that plan was going to work, despite what J’ash said, but that was all part of the fun, and if J’ash felt resistant to being seduced, well he’d had a fair warning.

Noting that J’ash’s focus has changed to the sky J’on lifted his head slightly away from its warm resting place and looked up with a slight shiver. For some reason the sight of so many stars above him always sent a kind of atavistic thrill through the young man. It was hard to imagine that long ago the ancestors of mankind had come from some distant star to live here, though J’on was certainly glad they’d made the effort, when he thought about it. ‘It is.’ He agreed, following a bright streak for a moment before it vanished. ‘I’m happy I could share it with you, it was definitely worth the effort.’ Indeed it was, he thought as the half familiar touch of Craivaruth drifted over his mind, he couldn’t say anything in return of course, but he had a feeling that the blue understood exactly what J’on was about, although this one incident would hardly be a cure all, it was a start. One J’on intended to build on; maybe Craivaruth would be up for some night flying in a few days time?

[Shiny]

The sweeping of J'on's gaze was so obvious that even a psychotically paranoid person could have recognized it for what it was. J'ash was so far from being in the mood that he was simply confused at the lusty look - perhaps he'd hit J'on too hard? The Bluerider's fingers subconsciously edged toward touching the Greenrider's temple again, barely brushing the skin and hair there. The look in J'on's eyes grew more tender; J'ash's own held a related look, although it was still blended with concern and a little bit of anxiety. "Ah... Anything you want." He bit his lip (and although he often did that with seductive intent, this time, it was lacking) and blinked owlishly at J'on's face, the corners of his lips quirking upwards slightly. "I am?"

The budding smile blossomed into one of J'ash's gentler expressions, and he let his eyelids flutter closed. The fingers in his hair were so relaxing, the light tugging on the strands providing more sensations to be distracted by. This boy really did know his weaknesses like his own name. J'ash took advantage of J'on's free hand and threaded his fingers with the Greenrider's, lightly smiling at his comment. "Thanks for being here. This would be unbearable without you."

A light blush spread over J'ash's cheeks. "I think I hit you too hard... You're being romantic." Not that he was complaining, oh no. He was definitely liking the random good-ol' fashioned lover boy comments. Perhaps J'ash wasn't in the right frame of mind to be even thinking about their favourite nighttime activities, but he was certainly feeling extremely attached to the Greenrider.

Having his mate cuddling into him under the stars was actually kind of nice. He had a nice view of both worlds, at the very least. "I'm glad you tried." J'ash gently hooked his fingers underneath the side of J'on's jaw to tug his head up for a kiss. The Bluerider gently pressed his lips against J'on's in a chaste fashion, fingers from his other hand stroking the side of his face lightly. "Can we get out of here now? Please?" Goosebumps rose on his skin; whether it was from the darkness or the breeze (or both) was uncertain. Releasing the Greenrider, he lifted his torso up on his elbows in an effort to cajole his lover off of him. "We need to get you into some clothes, or you might get sick."

[Kisha-Ra]

The arch question Anything? floated across J’on’s mind so strongly that for a moment he wondered if he’d said it aloud, certainly he didn’t mean to, and it appeared he hadn’t, thankfully. There was only so flirtatious he wanted to be out here in the company of a nervous bluerider. He’d just remind J’ash of this promise at a later time. ‘Oh yes, you are.’ The greenrider agreed firmly, pulling his hand out of J’ash’s hair for a moment to run his thumb lightly over the bluerider’s cheek in a gesture of affection. ‘Utterly adorable.’ He added as his hand vanished back into the somewhat tousled mane of dark blonde hair.

J’on chuckled softly. ‘I’d hardly run off and leave you after bringing you all the way out here and distracting you into staying out late now would I?’ He commented, idly lifting their joined hands to press a soft kiss to the bluerider’s knuckles. ‘And what’s wrong with a little romance?’ He inquired at the next odd comment from his mate. ‘Although that was really more of a warning of things to come.’ The greenrider added with a hint of mischief in his voice. It was probably time to go home now, not only was he unpleasantly chilly now but it occurred to J’on that there were certain things in life he was never going to get if he stayed here all night, no matter how comfortable the physical and emotional closeness to he mate was.

Just as that half formed idea occurred to the greenrider he was distracted by J’ash tilting his head up for one chaste kiss, which decided J’on pretty much instantly on going home and getting that bath, among other things, and J’ash provided the perfect opening by asking if they could go. ‘Well since we do have our dragons waiting patiently for us.’ J’on replied with a wry smile since his green had begun drawing patterns in the sand with a foreclaw. ‘The only thing is that I’m not entirely sure I can drag myself away from you now, maybe you right about it being too cold to go naked after all.’

Despite his words the greenrider untangled himself from the lean form underneath him and quickly went to work pulling on his clothes with only a slight moue of distaste for the feeling of sand under the garments. ‘Okay, let’s go home. So, J’ash what do you want to do first, eat or wash off the sand?’ J’on kept up a conversational tone as he gathered up the few things he’d brought with him and moved up to Rinagth’s side.