This stunning artwork was done by another friend, absurdelights.tumblr.com
Did you read yesterday’s drabble? What did you think of it? Would you like another featuring a couple other characters in the story? Well, you’re in luck 🙂
^^^
You keep kicking me. Just lay right. Misera was getting better at projecting their thoughts to Lias, and Lias was getting better at reading their mind. It proved fairly useful when they were trying to hold a quiet conversation they didn’t want anyone else to hear. Not that anyone could hear the pair grunting and groaning as they tried to get comfortable in the small bed anyway.
Their flat above the pub was one room with shambly walls, one window that needed a cleaning, and one bed they needed to get used to sleeping in. As Lias adjusted on his side, lying awkwardly beside his half-elf friend, he sighed heavily in exasperation. He was still hanging off the side of the bed and knew that Misera wasn’t having much luck space-wise either. “I should just sleep on the floor,” Lias declared allowed.
“N-no,” Misera choked out. They cleared their throat, then resumed simply projecting their thoughts, You won’t get any sleep that way.
“I’m not gonna get any sleep this way, I’m afraid.” No sooner had the thought left his mouth than he came up with another solution. “We could always just snuggle.”
What? Lias glanced over Misera’s face, taking in the black flush against the half-elf’s already dark gray skin. Their long, white hair did nothing to conceal their fluster, nor did it hide how their eyes had turned into orange saucers. The half-elf’s lips quivered the way they always had when they struggled against a stuttering voice. Even as they put themself in the habit of projecting thought rather than talking aloud, their lips still trembled.
“I mean, it would be the only real way to make things comfortable here. No need to blush about it,” Lias said. Though Misera was clearly nervous at the idea of such close proximity in an already tight situation, they didn’t refute Lias.
That was the first night they’d spent together in the same bed. A few weeks into their docking job at Arshkan, and they were regular bedmates.
Now Misera crawled into the bed and proceeded to move their taller friend around. Lias lay still as Misera shifted onto their hip, waiting for them to start pulling at Lias’s arm trapped between his body and the mattress. Lay flat, the half-elf projected.
“Alright.” Lias shifted onto his back. Finally fully sprawled across the small, down mattress, Misera dropped down across his chest. Lias continued lying completely still until Misera was fully adjusted across his chest.
In the time it had taken for them to get used to sleeping together, Misera and Lias had both stopped going to bed fully clothed and now remained shirtless. The most they wore to bed were their threadbare, cheap but still soft night trousers. The half-elf tucked his white head under Lias’s stubbly chin, the dark grayness of their arm striking against the olive tone of Lias’s chest. Misera’s fingers flicked at the growing hairs on the wolf man’s chest, the half-elf commenting, The hairier you are in human form, the more ruffled you look in your wolf form.
“That’s a myth, the hair on my body doesn’t affect that,” Lias declared, eyes closed as Misera continued petting his hair curiously. He had no shame in regards to his body, despite years of being told that his ability to shift into an anthropomorphic wolf creature was utterly abominable. Misera, on the other hand, had a lot of shame. Lias couldn’t bring himself to poke fun at how, unlike other elves, Misera’s skin did not change color depending on the environment. It stayed this dark gray that so often reminded Lias of monsoon-soaked mud. He could poke at other things, though. “I know you guys don’t have nipples, so I’ll warn you: don’t touch mine.”
Misera scoffed aloud, their face hot against Lias’s chest as their breath blew across the hairs. Why?
“They’re sensitive.” Lias cracked open one eye and glanced at Misera. “Like your ears.”
Misera stopped rubbing the dark hair on Lias’s to tuck their hair over their pointed ears. A soft, “Rude,” blew over Lias’s chest before the two further relaxed into bed.
Lias smiled to himself, absently stroking Misera’s soft hair. It draped over their shoulders, the severity of the lack of pigment making Lias’s own dark hair look pitch black despite it being just a darker brown. The androgyny of Misera’s race garnered them a lot of attention in the docks. Lias couldn’t help but get defensive whenever someone called his best friend pretty, or some derivative of the word.
Misera was pretty, though.
There was something delicate about their nature, a primordial energy that made them seem to be both part of the natural world as well as supernatural. Though Misera’s looks were comprised of two different races of elves crossed, they retained that energy. Lias was almost sad that he might not live long enough to see Misera’s features sharpen with age. As he pet Misera’s hair, Lias’s pinky nail accidentally flicked Misera’s, as stated, sensitive ear. The elf jerked awake and yelped, their lips so close to Lias’s skin that their startled breath moistened the part of his chest they were resting on. “Sorry,” Lias hastily muttered.
Before he could say it was an accident, Misera crooked their fingers and flicked Lias’s own ‘sensitive’ peak. Lias kicked out as he jolted upward. His feet dropped back down on the too close edge of the bed, and he flattened back down on the mattress huffing. Revenge, Misera projected, their mental voice jesting but their face still twisted in shock.
“Unfair revenge,” Lias retorted, breathing heavily.
“Hmph,” Misera declared. The two said nothing else. While Misera hid their face against Lias’s chest, Lias had to work to catch his breath. After several minutes, he took a long pull before exhaling loudly. Closing his wide eyes again, he attempted to ignore the transference. Then Misera projected, You liked it, nasty.
“And just how do you know that, jerk?” he asked. It wasn’t like Misera could read his mind, but he still asked.
Heart’s beating rapidly. With their ear and cheek pressed to Lias’s chest like this, there was no way they could be lying.
“Go to sleep, doofus,” Lias ignored the statement. He felt Misera smile against his skin.
And hoped the elf didn’t turn their head to see if Lias’s cheeks were flushed.
Rowan Liddell 