Dice Our Shenanigans

[Katsuya]

- Mysterious Portal -
"Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

Isa didn’t come back until three more hours after Moss did. Looking frazzled and trembling wet as he trudged over to the camp before he started to pack the leftover wood. Lighting a lamp so they can see the path. Before Moss could ask what happened, the redhead explained.

”Wanted to look for a cave. I literally fell into one.” He grumbled, putting anything heavy on his bike and tightly yanked the rope. Glaring at the fluffy snowflakes. “Too many frozen rats. Stupid rotting wood - there’s a thin stream that froze over and I slipped on it. I hate the cold.”

The he huffed. “It’s a good cave. We can hide there from the weather...in case it snows again.” Isa showed Moss the cave. It’s more of a man made mine, held up by frozen pillars, and barrels stuck on the ground. They walked past the small river Isa talked about—- it had a cracked hole by the edge with wild scratched marked on the dirt as if someone was trying to pull themself out of the cold water —- and reached an old work space. Moldy papers scattered the room, abandon desks broken from rotting wood, and beams frozen in ice.

”Seems like someone was looking for something here and left it after something.” Isa guessed grumpily, dumping the logs on the ground and lighting it up. Hoping to be warm again.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

After Moss skinned and carved the meat off the erupe, he started to grow concerned when Isa didn't come back after sunset. He looked down the trail of deep footprints Isa left in the snow when the red head left camp and wondered if he was okay. He had not asked where Isa was going, nor what time he was going to come back.

He put away his washed hunting knife, then patted the blood and white fur off his hands in the snow. Pulling out his blue and silver trimmed spell book, he flipped the pages to the ley message spell moving close to the campfire so that he could see in the fading day light. Moss wondered if he should message him, or if that would annoy a demon hunter who's used to traversing ruins in the badlands by himself. Isa was a cinnamon bun, but he was smart and capable, always calm and chipper the past days as though they weren't traveling through a valley of dangerous frost giants. He closed the book. He will trust Isa is alright.

At nine in the evening, Moss yelled, "Isa, welcome back!" in relief, standing up and walking to greet him when he saw the red head trudge grumpily back to camp. He listened to his complaints, then chuckled. "We can fix that with some hot dinner." he said bracingly, then plopped his fur coat on Isa's wet trembling back, and patted his shoulder.

He followed Isa to the cave, offering to push Smoky for him. He glanced at the hole in the frozen river and the scratch marks, and then the wet back of the trembling Isa and wondered why he didn't change clothes immediately.

Upon reaching the room, he dumped the rest of their stuff next to their new campfire. Moss had already cooked and eaten dinner earlier: ground sausages made from the erupe and seasoned with salt and herbs he picked from the forest at the foot of the mountain, and some boiled arrowroot tubers mixed inside a hot soup from the fatty bone marrow of the erupe buck. He had saved a generous portion for Isa, and left the meal to heat up over the fire for him as the red head warmed up.

"Here, give me your wet clothes." said Moss from the other side of the room. He still had his backpack on and was tying a clothesline with his rope from one corner of a ruined stone railing to the wall of a dip in the room where an old rotting wooden pillar stood next to some old bookshelves. But instead of clothes, he started hanging the white furred skin of the erupe buck, including the black horns, the tail, heart strings, and some parts that looked like it would make good spell components after they were dried and preserved.

Come to think of it. Isa has never seen Moss dry his clothes nor clean them. Yet for some reason, they are always immaculately clean the next day and look like they had been pressed with a clothes iron.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

His grumpy demeanor softened the moment Moss placed his fur coat on him, giving him a grateful smile. He nodded happily at the mention of a nice hot dinner. “Yea, sorry to worry ya...”Isa grinned apologetically. Maybe he should have returned to leave a message instead of scouting the place after falling in the cave. Gah, but he didn’t want Moss to see him angry either.

When Moss offered to pull Smoky, Isa shook his head. Feeling his wet hair whiplash side to side. “Nah, I got it. I don’t want ya to slip and get hurt by Smokey’s weight.” Isa said, avoiding every slippery slope he remembered and pulled the motorcycle in said direction.

The redhead was sitting extremely close to the fire as he got warm, taking a big breath, and sighed in happiness; taking in the delicious waft that’s coming from the pot. His hair is drying up too. That’s good. He hummed questioningly when Moss called him, only to freeze in his spot. His fist curled on his wet sleeve as he mechanically turned his head to stare at Moss with an awkward smile.

” . . . U-uh. S-sure. Le-let me just- um.” Panicking, he wondered if he should give his trench coat too as he took a quick look-around and spotted the semi-private space under the stairs and balcony. He can change there within the shadows and behind the barrels-! Perfect-!

After grabbing his clean clothes from Smokey’s compartment seat, Isa ran under the staircase balcony to change. Moss can hear him muttering complaints about the cold again, clothes rustling with zippers, and yelps with light tapping like he was trying to avoid touching the ground with his bare feet. Once he came out, wearing all tight black with a hint of grey from his socks and Moss’ fur coat still over his shoulders, Isa walked over to the merman. Handing him his wet clothes rather shyly —- the merman would notice that Isa is covering his hands with his shirt’s sleeves, held closed and tucked inside. His gloves were sitting on top of the pile. He looked at the drying rack curiously, blinking as he poked the deer’s pelt with a covered finger.

Weirdly enough, Moss has never seen Isa without his gloves and socks off. Even in his sleep, he wears them.

“Hey, Moss. This is your only clothing, right? How do you clean them and have it dry everyday?” Isa asked, standing close to the merman, obviously wanting to feel any sort of heat but not walking to the fire. His curiosity overriding his urges to stay warm.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

"Naww, I wasn't that worried." Moss reassured him. It was half a lie, but he didn't want his cold shivering friend to feel bad. When Isa declined his offer to push Smoky, he look confused. "I'm not going to slip and get hurt by Smoky's weight." He said as though that was ridiculous. He looked at Isa's arms and compared it with his own, flexing his biceps. Well, more or less they looked the same, but Moss still believed he could handle Smoky.

Later, in the room, Moss shook his head, accepting the biker's clothes. "I have two extra sets of clothes actually, a horrible brown tunic really old, baggy trousers, to name two, but they're not for travel or battle. These that I'm wearing now are my only travelling clothes." He opened his arms to show Isa better his long dark green silk shirt and dark patched up pants. He then smiled at Isa and placed his backpack on the floor in front of him. "I have a trick to show you."

He shoved Isa's clothes inside. Then, looking at him, he dramatically pulled them out. "Ta-daa~" The biker's clothes came out clean, dry, and folded instantly.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

He nodded as he listened, raising a brow when Moss just stuffed his bag with the redhead’s wet clothes and-

“Wooooooah~” Isa looked at the bag in a new light before staring back at Moss in awe. His grin grew wide in amused joy like he’s never seen this type of bag before. “So that’s how. That’s really convenient and practical!”

The redhead reached out to hold his now dried and folded clothes, awkwardly wrapping his arms around the bundle to bring it close to his chest. Never letting go of his sleeves. “Where did find this bag? Or did you put an enchantment on it?” He asked and in his excitement, a glove slipped out of his grasp. Isa grunted when he heard the light ‘plat’ sound the leather hit the ground, pouting a bit as he crouched down. Feet steadily planted flat as he placed the bundle of clothing on his folded legs and reached out with his covered hands. Pinching the glove between his covered hands and dropping it over the pile of clothes.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

"Yes, very practical. I don't have to spend money on soap. I bought this from Gilmore's Glorious Goods in Cascata dell’ Oceano." said Moss, holding up his very ordinary looking backpack for Isa to see. "He called it a Bag of Folding." he snorted in laughter. "Playing on Bag of Holding." He shook his head. "I was so excited, Isa, that I misread the label and thought this bag was a cheap honest to goodness bag of holding."

He looked curiously at the way Isa was picking up his gloves.

"Are you germophobic?"

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

Isa chuckled as he listened to Moss’ tale, shaking his head in mild disbelief. Then he raised a brow, slightly tilting his head to the right.

“No, I’m not. Why do you ask?” He awkwardly wrapped his arms around the bundle again and stood up.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

"You don't make direct contact with anything with your skin, except for your face."

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

Dang, he should have lied-!

Isa grinned impishly, tightly squeezing his clothes. “Ah well . . . That is- “ He looked away, grimacing. “You won’t like the direct contact, so I wear gloves.”

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

"I don't mind direct contact." said Moss as though that was ridiculously obvious. "I mean, I hugged you while we were sleeping."

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

Isa sighed, looking back at Moss once more. Slightly frowning. ”T-that is true, but — my skin is gross. You won’t like it.”

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

"Oh, you have a skin disease!" Moss clapped a hand to his own forehead in realization. "I understand." he nodded. "It's not contagious, is it?"

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

Isa flinched. Looking down at the floor as his brows furrowed in slight fear. Why can’t he lie to Moss? Lying is so easy to do, he has lied so many times before without a second thought. Moss is even making his own assumption-! Yet he felt horrible from just thinking of misleading the merman.

“It’s a scar. I have a huge scar and it’s disturbing to look and touch.” He muttered, unsure of how Moss would react. Does he trust the merman that much over their travels? No, he didn’t want to lie to him. Not to the merman who kept him warm during their travels, be it by his coat or by his food.

For Loki’s sake, the man held him as a fluffy orca! In a blizzard! When he didn’t have to-!

”I just know you wouldn’t like the direct contact. It’s gross.” Isa deadpanned at the end, resigned.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

Moss placed his hands on his own hips and furrowed his silver brows as though he seriously doubted that. "Can I see? That is, if you don't mind, Isa?"

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

Isa shuffled in place, nervously squeezing his clothes. Then he slowly put his arm out, letting go of his sleeve, and revealing a part of his hand. Darkened, almost rotting, skin is stretched tight in certain places around his hand; like three bands with the fourth underneath the sleeve. Branching veins pulsated and Moss can see that Isa is biting his long black nails by the way it’s cut jagged.

It seems this scar didn’t stop at the hand either.

”. . . Gross, right?” Isa muttered quietly, staring at the floor as he grinned ruefully.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

Moss gaped. Staring. He didn't say it was gross, but his face betrayed the sentiment.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

Isa quickly hid his hand, tucking it inside of his sleeve as if he got burn, and tucked both of his hands within the elbows. Squeezing his clothes close to his chest, shoulders trembling. He grinned nervously.

”Thanks for showing me something cool. I’ll just go.” Moss’ silence was too much for the redhead. He just wanted to hide in the shadows and never come out. “Food’s probably done reheating.”

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

Moss watched Isa return to the fire in that awkward deflated look, hand half outstretched in the air as though he hesitated to touch him, half-guilty, half-not knowing what to say, layered with pity for this nice man. He withdrew his hand to his chest and looked at the floor, thinking.

After a few minutes, he slowly made his way over to their fire and sat across Isa. "I'm sorry."

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

Isa grinned at him, putting his fork in the small bowl. Wearing his gloves.

“It’s okay. Not the first time someone reacted like that.“ The redhead shrugged his shaky shoulders. “Actually you reacted a lot better than others who saw. You didn’t run, at least.”

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

"Well, you don't look scary." said Moss. He glanced at his shaky shoulders, then back to Isa's grinning face. He just watched him eat for a couple of moments. "Can I hug you, Isa?"

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

He froze, fork close to his open mouth as he looked at Moss. Then he put the utensil down again. His brows furrowed in confused worry.

”. . . ” Isa nodded silently, curiosity shining bright in his indigo eyes, and hiding the subtle fear of what Moss might do.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

Moss chuckled, then reassuringly smiled at his confused worried face. "I'm not going to hurt you." he got up, sat next to him, and then flung an arm around Isa's shoulders like the way he did back in the ruined watchtower of Elunore, not looking at him, just gazing into the crackling fire.

"You don't have to hide the scars around me. It's okay." He drummed his fingers on his knee, hesitating. "I admit it's gross. Okay, I admit it. But I don't mind. You know how you see someone with an injury and eventually you get used to it? It's like that. You don't have to worry about what I think, I still want to be your friend. And it's not because of Smoky. I think you're a good guy --- I know, you don't agree. Whatever. But to me, you are a good guy, and . . . you can just show your scars. I don't care." He looked at Isa.

"You accepted me, so I accept you too."

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

He couldn’t stop the flinch when Moss wrapped his arm around him, tensing up as he peeked at the merman. Guarded. Then Moss talked. The more he was honest, the more relaxed Isa became within the hug.

When he looked at Isa, Moss would see watery indigo eyes before the redhead looked away. Blinking rapidly and silently taking deep breaths to calm down his happy sobs. Oh, he can feel it! That fluffy feeling in the pit of his stomach— is that joy or relief? It’s weird in a good way. Clearing his tightening throat, the redhead nodded.

”O-Okay.” He whimpered. After a quiet moment, as Isa let what Moss said sink in, he put down the now empty bowl. Then wrapped his arms around the merman’s waist, tucking his head under Moss’ chin.

”Thank you.” He whispered shyly, lightly squeezing him in his hug. “I- ... Thank you.”

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

"Er." he began worriedly when Isa looked teary. Then relaxed when he hugged him, surprised at how touched his friend was. He wrapped his arms around him too. "Hey, it's alright, filos mou, it's alright." he said softly, and patted his back.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

- Frozen Mine -
"Night Time, Mysterious Portal, Heart of Windshear Mountains"​

Moss can feel Isa nodding under his chin, hair tickling his neck. Then he leaned back a bit, keeping one arm around the merman’s waist loosely. His face flushed red as he looked at the fire timidly. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but a light squeak came out instead. He quickly cleared his throat.

”Um . . . Sorry for getting emotional. I’m just not used to being this open to others.” Isa admitted, reaching out and grabbing the fork to twirl around between his fingers. “This is a first for me, so it’s strange- in a good way.”

Zer0