More than Shooting Stars [Eikane]

[Ruby]

Piden was... displeased.

No, that wasn't quite right. He was dissapointed, frusturated, and, more than anything, lonely. Tira really was gone, all the way gone, not just missing. This hadn't really come home to him until today, when Tekivisk ran. Pidesk had wanted her so bad, but in the end when he was unsuccessful there was always Eikask to return to, to apologize to and cuddle, releasing the runlust in a Wher's own way. It brought home Tira's absence to the Handler - and Pidesk's release did nothing to relieve Piden's needs.

As the little Wherlings pawed at eachother and skulked away to consummate their Wher's personal preferences, Piden slid down the hall, doing his best not to draw attention to himself. Eikane's door was still standing open, pushed out by Eikask's departure. If Nautic shared a room with the Goldhandler these days, he was clearly out - probably getting Nautsk away from the Weyr like a good Greenhandler when another Green was running. Eikane, apparently, was slacking. Piden knocked lightly on the door, pretending it was an accident when it swung open.

Sliding into the opening to lean against the doorjamb, the handler's green eyes found Eikane, fixing him with a hooded, distinctly predatory glare. Only the half-annoyed smile on Piden's face softened his expression at all - that and the white socks he was still wearing, at least. Those made him look distinctly less terrifying, like a tiger in a sweater or something. Still, it was probably his face the Goldhandler was looking at. His eyes could command quite a bit of attention when his mind was in it.

He made sure Eikane knew he was there before speaking. "You realize you just severely cockblocked me, yes?"

[Ember]

Eikane was plucking at the strings of his guitar with his eyes closed. He could relax again since Eikask had calmed down. He adamantly refused to do paperwork for the moment and simply have a little bit of fun. It was still early enough that if he went to the main hall he might get some attention for his playing. The dinner hour was over but people lingered there sometimes anyways, or had later meals. Nautic was off doing his own work in his private apartment. Though they shared his place, the greenhandler had kept his own.

The goldhandler didn't notice the knock but with his mandyr in the room he wasn't unaware of Piden's presence. A private word from Nocturne also let him know that the bronzehandler was nearly naked. Ack. Maybe Eikane was being a bit prudish but he had grown up in a Hold and then a Crafthall - such displays weren't...just didn't happen. Especially not around the fussy man. Normally when he saw someone wearing next to nothing it either sparked his worry or his annoyance. In this case, it was worry for himself.

There was an almost naked man at his door just after a run...not the best sign. For all he was half-panicked inside, outwardly he seemed plenty calm. He strummed a few more notes before opening his eyes and taking a look at Piden for himself. Crap. Nocturne's comment about Piden looking like he wanted to eat him didn't seem so far off. He looked at the man incredulously at the accusation.

It was hardly his fault he couldn't bring Eikask away, what with all that had happened recently. He normally brought her away for a few days when a green began to get glowy in case one of Eikask's claimed males decided to chase. The gold was content enough with just Eikane's attention when neither of those two chased but...what did all that matter in the current situation? At least Piden was still capable of words. That meant perhaps he could be reasoned out of molesting him. "Really? When did I become a clumsy gold menace?

[Ruby]

Piden took Eikane's lack of freak out as an invitation to come in. Really, it was a good thing that prissy people were usually overly polite. In the Bronzehandler's mind, there was no doubt that Eikane was both of those things; what other type of person would sneak out of bed the morning after a run and disappear, then pretend it had never happened, but leave a quilt perfectly folded on the foot of the bed before he left? (Sure, Piden might have left it that way before the run began, but he liked to blame it on the Goldhandler).

Moving like a feline, Piden slunk into the room, crossing behind Eikane's chair as the goldhandler replied. With a snort, the Bronzehandler reached out, ruffling Eikane's hair in a profoundly sexual way. "Always were, blondie," he purred, tracing one finger along Eikane's jawline as he rounded the chair's other side, not completely unaware (but completely uncaring) of how uncomfortable this made the Harper. Kid needed to get used to it sometime if his mindmate was intent on interrupting runs, Piden figured. Might as well be now.

He had the decency to pull his red boxers (patterned with some antlered animal he didn't recognize) straight before sliding onto the arm of Eikane's chair. With the hand that had so recently traced Eikane's jaw now on the back of the Harper's neck, Piden murmured, "You kind of owe me," then leaned in, using the hand as leverage to pull Eikane's mouth up to his own. He was fully expecting to be shoved away, ready for the push. If Eikane didn't do it, Piden would have to pull back himself - otherwise he'd have to wonder if the whole world had gone crazy. Still, he made it quite convincing, even trying to slide a hand in between Eikane's legs, moving awkwardly around the guitar between them.

Why did he have to make it convincing? As much as Piden loved having sex, he wasn't into rape. If Eikane wasn't into it, he wasn't going to force himself on the Goldhandler (not that much, anyway). All he really needed right now was a little physical contact, and he didn't exactly expect Eikane to agree to spooning or a massage. Wrestling, he figured, was just about the only way to get what stupid, stupid Pidesk made him need from the other man. He was present enough to know that saying 'Hey, your Wher cockblocked mine, wanna wrestle?' wasn't a particularly good plan either - Eikane was certain to be suspicious of those motives. This way, everything was out on the table from the beginning. Here's hoping Eikane wouldn't just run.

[Ember]

The phsyical contact brought on a slight twitch. Eikane was a little particular about people touching him. Dmitri he didn't mind since he'd known the bluehandler for quite a while. Nautic, too, was allowed to touch him for obvious reasons. Others? He preferred to avoid contact with unless he was comfortable. And they were clean. He wouldn't touch even his friends or lovers if they were covered in dirt unless there were special circumstances surrounding them. The decidedly suggestive contact Piden was using was even more unwelcome.

Patience did not mean he'd let people walk all over him. Nor would Nocturne let anyone do such a thing to His. As the blue 'mandyr struggled to get out of Eikane's hair (the ruffling had tangled it up a bit and gotten Nocturne quite stuck) the goldhandler lifted his hand to Piden's face to block the man's mouth. "Then let me make it up to you by warning you that you've ticked off my mandyr. If you value your fingers you'll keep them out of my hair." It was an odd line, to be sure, but Eikane said it with all seriousness. He wasn't lying for the sake of minimizing the contact, though that was a nice bonus if Piden listened.

"Also, you do remember a certain blonde-haired greenhandler, right?" And finally a note of worry entered his voice. As much as he didn't want to be touched, he was far more concerned about his relationship with Nautic. While some Lord Holders and their relatives got away with having multiple brides, his father had never been like that and Eikane agreed with only having one partner at a time and being faithful to them.

Once he noticed the hand moving towards his crotch his eyes narrowed slightly and he brought the guitar down on the man's wrist. It wasn't all that hard - his intention really wasn't to cause the man pain - just enough force to hopefully get the message across. No touching there, at all. Please. For all the slight violence, Eikane's eyes definitely weren't malicious. More on the side of silently pleading with the man.

[Ruby]

Stopped in his tracks, Piden licked Eikane's palm instead, playful instead of sensual this time. The icky feeling of having your palm licked would make just about anyone move their hand, and fast. He kept his hand on the back of Eikane's neck (nice try, blondie, but he had three mandyrs, he understood a thing or two about mandyr bites, and they didn't hurt THAT bad), but the other one stopped moving forward, mostly trapped by the guitar, and Piden stopped trying to shove his mouth in Eikane's direction. Sure, he was still practically sitting in the Goldhandler's lap, a hand on his leg and another behind his head, but Piden's attitude had changed drastically enough that it no longer seemed totally sexual. Muuuch less threatening... but he still got to touch the harper. Win/win?

Maybe not, and mostly because Piden simply couldn't keep his mouth shut. Eikane asking him about Nautic was just a little too much for the Bronzehandler, who had, of course, played his part appropriately when Pidesk won Nautsk's last run. Maybe it was cruel, but the opening was impossible to resist. "Nautic? Of course I remember. He'll... understand," Piden said, barely suppressing a wink at the end, but unable to stop his suggestive inflection. If nothing else, Eikane should punch him for that, and Piden could take revenge next time Eikask ran. Pidesk would win again, duh. Pidesk might have disagreed, if he weren't so comfortably curled with the Queen in question at that very moment.

In the second between Piden's words and Eikane's response, whatever it was, Piden caught sight of the Goldhandler's eyes. That... wasn't what he expected. Piden had never quite understood Nautic and Eikane's relationship - the pair of them had always been weirdly close for two men, especially when at least one of them seemed generally adverse to the idea of homosexuality in any form - but he'd never really believed that they ACTUALLY cared for each other. There had to be some motive he didn't see or understand, because he'd missed out on them getting together in the first place. But Eikane... well, it looked like he really cared for the Greenhandler. Maybe Nautic wasn't just a smokescreen to cover up some latent fear of women or some nonsense. Interesting. And oops?

[Ember]

Eikane whipped his hand away from Piden's mouth hastily when his hand was licked. His face showed open disgust as he wiped his hand on the other man's shoulder. Yes, take that with you when you leave please. "I gave you fair warning," he said when Piden didn't remove his hand from his neck. Nocturne had untangled himself and he was furious. Not only had he been touched but His was...disturbed. The blue made his way to Piden's hand and bit at the skin between fingers hard.

Sadly, gullibility was a defining trait of Eikane's. Without the benefit of a bond to tell that Piden was lying, or at least joking, the man really couldn't tell otherwise. Would Nautic really not mind? He had thought Nautic would mind, especially since neither he nor Piden were under the influence of mindmates, but Nautic had been weyrborn. Maybe it didn't matter as much to his partner? Great, he'd just mentally talked himself into not completely dismissing Piden's claim.

All the same, he wasn't that loose. "Even if he doesn't mind, I don't care to..." he waved his free hand vaguely. Piden would get his meaning. "So, anything else I can do for you? I have free time now, considering you stole my audience's attention." No fun playing if there was no one who would listen. Nocturne was more interested in leaving a mark on Piden than he was in listening to pretty, pretty music.

[Ruby]

Piden raised one eyebrow when the blue bit him - it hurt, but really salamandyr bites just felt like pinpricks once you got used to them. Lots of pinpricks, but still. He did move his hand, but only so he could examine the now dangling blue, sighing slightly. Angry pets were so annoying. Tilting the hand with Nocturne attached to he could wrap his fingers around the Blue to hold him in place, he used his other hand to find the creature's jaw, squeezing gently until his teeth released. Even the most stubborn creatures would let go under enough pressure - Red could bite like a steel trap, and Piden had the scars to prove it. Once he'd freed his flesh, he held on to the blue a second longer, offering a sanctimonious "Really, that isn't very polite," before letting him go. If he bit again, Piden would unlatch him and ignore him.

This whole transaction had hardly taken a shred of Piden's attention away from the Goldhandler, but he faked distraction for a moment, pulling his eyebrows together as if he missed something before deciding an "Oh" would suffice. The cold ones were always the most difficult - had to melt them first, before turning whatever spark remained into a flame - but a little shunning never hurt, no matter how reluctant the partner might be. As if Eikane were actually a partner. As if Piden actually wanted him, and this wasn't just some elaborate form of teasing. He was thinking way too hard about this, apparently. Stupid bronze thing.

Well, might as well carry on, now. Piden really had no morals when it came to stealing other people's boyfriends, whether they wanted to be stolen or no (and whether or not he actually cared). Eikane would be an entertaining prize, and then Nautic could have him back, and they could have a dramatically sappy reconciliation of some sort. So instead of putting the hand back on Eikane's neck, he laid it along the chair's back, twisting and leaning away in a far more casual manner. "I, uh..." looking away from Eikane, Piden did his best to appear down. "I don't know. I'm really just lonely, that's all. And you know, Pidesk makes me want to spend time around you, whenever he's around Eikask. I... I could be your audience?"

[Ember]

Nocturne was very much against letting go but he was certain he'd left his mark so he wasn't entirely unsatisfied. He might even have left the man alone afterwards if not for the comment. Impolite? The blue hissed dangerously. Impolite runnerscrewer go touchytouch not wanted. Disappear, get brain or go back to runner. The blue was about to bite him again when Eikane picked him up gently. "That's enough, Noc. Go sleep, you've been up for a while haven't you?" The blue was about to refuse when Eikane continued, "Thanks." With that Nocturne huffed and scampered off when Eikane released him.

Now his audience really was gone and not just distracted. Boooring. Maybe he could go to the main hall later and...huh? Lonely? Eikane felt himself sympathizing with the bronzehandler. Been there, done that. "You could have just said so from the beginning you know. I'm not heartless," he told the other man, a tinge of hurt in his voice. Did people really think he'd turn them away if they were having problems? He didn't think he gave that kind of impression...He strummed a little idly before mentally shrugging it off.

"Well then, as my audience, do you have any requests? Just stay away from the sappy love songs...they're not very fun to play and I don't think they'd do you any good anyways." He had his own reasons for disliking them but he wasn't about to share that with Piden. Come to think of it...had he ever really played for any of the wherhandlers besides Nautic? They were all pretty independant, get togethers weren't too frequent among them. A pity, really, that they pretty much only worked together. Or was that just him? Bah, he was thinking too much again.

[Ruby]

"He's worse than Shells," Piden commented, one eyebrow raised as Nocturne made his exit. "Well, no, that's not true. Maybe they share a parent. Runnerscrewer's a good one, though; I'll let Shells know. That should be entertaining for five minutes or so, while he tries to get the whole word out." Shifting sideways, he leaned away from Eikane, deep green eyes taking in the other Handler's face. "Good thing our mindmates don't say much about our personalities, hmm?" he asked, trailing his fingers down Eikane's cheek once before withdrawing his hands entirely, sliding off Eikane's lap and standing with a pointed look at the guitar. If he was going to listen, Eikane would need both arms free.

Eikane's next words made Piden's eyebrows rise, though. It was a shame the other man wasn't standing, too - Piden would have twined himself around the Harper just to add to his point. He did lower his voice a little, adding a hint of a purr. "Oh, that wasn't what I came her for, in the beginning. Now I guess I'll just have to take what I can get, Heartless," Piden said, dropping down to sit on the floor at Eikane's feet. "I like that. Careful, or it'll be your new nickname. Heartless." He snickered at himself, twisting sideways so he could lean his head against the Goldhandler's knee, gazing up with over-exaggerated puppydog eyes.

"Mm, don't like the sappy songs, anyway," Piden said, his voice dripping sap in clear satire. "I'm sure I'll like whatever you - actually no." His voice changed halfway through, the saccharine sweetness giving way to his real (semi-seductive) tone as he lifted his head off Eikane's knee. "I probably won't. I kind of picky. Do you know any of the old songs? The really old ones, the kind that we don't know where they came from? I always liked those as a kid, when harpers came through the Hold. Not that they did often, but... still. I always liked it when they did." Not to mention that a young Journeyman had been Piden's first lover from outside the cothold... but Eikane probably didn't want to hear about that.

[Ember]

Eikane chuckled softly. "He can get pretty bad when he's pissed off. Most of the time, though, he's pretty good. I'd love to know where he learned runnerscrewer though..." People watching could also be a rather dangerous passtime for salamandyrs, apparently - they could pick up all sorts of nasty words. The goldhandler was relieved when Piden removed himself from his lap. Really not fun having someone there when you didn't want them to be. It could be fun under - whoa. Stop. No need to go there.

He snorted at Piden's words. Well, he'd certainly made that clear when he came in with those dangerous looking eyes. He tilted his head at the use of the almost new nickname. "Best be careful about assigning me nicknames, because I'll respond in kind, Tramp," he said mostly teasingly. He didn't bother to say anything about Piden's head on his knee as he readjusted his guitar. As far as Piden went, it was a relatively innocent action anyways. Besides, he couldn't entirely fight off Eikask's pleasure at being all cuddly with one of her males.

Eikane was mildly surprised when Piden actually seriously requested something. "'Do I know any of the old ones?' Who do you think I am?" He asked with a grin and a wink. "Of course I know the old ones. Let's see...how about..." He started the intro of one of the old ones before singing in his rich voice. He couldn't really call it a happy song but it wasn't depressing either. Hopefully Piden would be appeased by it. Eikane thought rather highly of his playing, after all.

[Ruby]

"Tramp." Piden came down just on the manly side of a giggle, snuggling into Eikane's leg a little more as a sign of appreciation. "I like it. Piden the Tramp and Heartless Eikane, rulers of the Wher, Keepers of the Night." He didn't think Eikane would object to being called a ruler, no matter how little it really applied. Stating it that way, however, was just plain silly. "We sound like hobos," he added, then considered briefly. "Elaborate hobos."

Eikane's performance took Piden by surprise. He'd always known the tall Goldhandler was a Harper, but he hadn't know how good Eikane was. As it was, Piden found himself humming along under his breath, even tapping fingers on his knee in time with the music. When the final chords died out, Piden actually sat up and clapped, grinning. "I haven't heard that one in years, literally," he said, pushing himself out and around so he could see Eikane's hands. "Anything you've written yourself?"

((We can drop it if you want, Piden'll just request a few more songs and then go home. He's not feeling quite as evil as usual today ^^))