genessia | [action | closed] and I don’t want the world to see me, 'cause I don’t think that they’d understand

Who: Sanzo and Amberdrake
What: Drake has a nightmare
Where: Hotel room
When: Early-mid August
Warnings: ANGST, character (dreamed) corpse

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They -- faceless, forgettable -- led him to the site where it had happened. The area was torn apart, and in the middle of it was a still figure in blood-drenched white robes. Amberdrake tore away from the forgettable 'they', rushing to the body, falling to his knees in the mud beside it and scooping up Sanzo's muddied head and shoulders into a desperate embrace. A heart-wrenching sob ripped free of him, feeling like it tore through his throat on the way out with sharp barbs and hooks.

One pale hand was still around the gun, in the mud. The sutra, a flash of green, was still on the body's shoulders. Drake didn't care; he ignored the weapons completely, even the dreaded sutra now being pressed between the living and the dead in that embrace.

"I'm... I'm so sorry enar ves'tacha," Amberdrake cried, rocking the body, "I'm so sorry. I couldn't be there, I couldn't comfort you. I'm so sorry."

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Ugh! There had been a reason he hadn't asked and there came the mental images he didn't want. He pushed to the side quickly, frustrated. He should have known better than to even think about asking anything about the damn restraints.

"What were you after?" He was going to pretend that Drake hadn't done that thing he did, always answering questions Sanzo didn't ask.

"Information on gryphon breeding," Amberdrake shrugged, "at the time, they couldn't procreate without Urtho's direct intervention. It made the race's future questionable, should anything happen to him in the course of the War. So... we stole the secrets. No prisoner-taking required; we walked right in past the guards, and then right back out again."

Well, Skan had lingered behind and had ultimately uncovered Kechara's existence, but that was a whole other matter.

"He wasn't expecting you to try anything right under his nose, I assume," Sanzo replied, keeping his derision to a minimum for Drake's sake. It wasn't his place to give two shits either way as it was.

"Well, I was his personal kestra'chern," Amberdrake ticked a few of the others off on his fingers, "there was his favorite son, Skandranon, and Lady Cinnabar of course, who he'd known all her life. And her lifebonded, Tamsin... so no, he didn't expect us to be up to anything."

And then he grinned, "But I'm still the dolt who brought restraints 'just in case'."

"I'm more disturbed than amused." Again Sanzo left out the comments that first sprang to mind. There was no need for that rudeness now.

"Your next story needs to be better than that." Still, he was grateful to hear it, it was something to know about Drake, if minor. He didn't want to know the details of a lot of it, especially the business with the restraints, but he could avoid some of that by not asking.

"To be fair, the only story I've told you that got a laugh was about those three damned dyheli waking me up in the middle of the night to look at their antlers," Amberdrake smiled, "but as far as my story about the restraints go, that's the first time I've admitted to bringing them. When the others tried to tease me about it, I just pretended I didn't know what they were talking about."

So Sanzo had gotten an exclusive, there!

So had he told that part to Sanzo to be goddamn pleasant or to embarrass him? Knowing Drake, to be pleasant. Or at least, mostly so. It was hard for him to tell.

"So I'm fortunate to know what kind of things you might lug around?" He didn't linger on that topic long. "Something tells me you have a lot more stupid stories to go through than I do."

A lot of them as messy as most of Sanzo's, he was sure. It was odd not knowing how many Drake may or may not already know.

"Lug around? Like I just... randomly carry ropes around with me now and then?" Amberdrake asked, amused despite himself. "You know, just in case?"

"I'm going back to bed." Sanzo would do his damndest to flee this conversation... without actually leaving of course. He did lay back down and pointedly keep his back to Drake. He wasn't hostile but he was not eager to be teased! He was more embarrassed than hostile.

"I'm making fun of myself, not you," Amberdrake pointed out.

Sanzo took a while to answer, furious he was doing his best to make a fool out of himself. Again.

"Fine," he grunted finally, looking back over at Drake.

Amberdrake offered Sanzo a smile when the priest looked back at him.

"I don't actually have that many stupid stories," he sounded apologetic, "I simply didn't get dragged into such things that often."

He was a little envious, actually. Getting to be dumb with your friends sounded like fun, cloaks and all.

"You don't spend enough time around ballsy idiots." Sanzo doubted that was true, considering Drake's profession and rank, he would face more than his fair share of entitled morons. He might be less compelled to listen to them, however.

Drake chuckled at that, and laid down again as well. "More like no one expects me to join in, so I just hear about things others have done after the fact."

"How well do they know you?" There was little Sanzo would be surprised to hear Drake had done at this point.

"Most people... not very well," Amberdrake stated, "it's my job to know others, not to be known."

"That's miserable," Sanzo replied bluntly. He couldn't say anything against Drake's profession and he wasn't inclined to. But it really was miserable as far as Sanzo could tell.

"Yeah," Amberdrake put his back against Sanzo's after a bit of hesitation. The contact was a comfort, especially after that dream. "But it's what I'm good at."

"You wouldn't stop even if you thought you had the option to." Sanzo wasn't sure Drake had the option or not, he cared far too much.

"That's very true," Amberdrake chuckled softly, "it's too wrapped up in my identity at this point, anyway. I am kestra'chern Amberdrake. Just being... just Drake, would be too weird."

"At what point do you consider anything to be 'too weird'?" Sanzo considered him pretty odd all over, not necessarily a bad thing in his opinion. "Do what you want, just keep it toned down with me."

Drake's only reply to that was a quiet chuckle.

[action | closed] and I don’t want the world to see me, 'cause I don’t think that they’d understand

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