Being Drykas (Sam)

[Avenge]

ooci'm in yo internets stealin' yo tubes. sup sarah you need to em es en me moar. also sam hi.

OH GAHD HOW DID THIS GET HERE I'M NOT GOOD WITH COMPUTERS

-Signed me, this guy. yup. I hope this was conspicuous inuff

[Denen Sunsinger]

Denen laughed in spite of himself, eyes dancing. He couldn't help but be amused. Sam, like most good leaders, took care to see to the needs of his people, even their amusement. "Good point," he replied. "In the future, I will be sure to be completely somber when you are falling all over the place." He grinned widely. "You know we wouldn't laugh if you seriously hurt yourself. It's not our fault you're good at being silly." He blushed then. "I mean...I'm glad you haven't hurt yourself. That might have come off as harsh. But...you know what I mean."

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"I know," he said aloud, one hand mirroring the words in grassland sign, the other touching Denen's arm briefly. Then, fully with his hands, he added: 'I think you will flourish with us if you choose to stay... as a healer and as a man.' The young healer had to know that he had Sam's vote of confidence. Winking and grinning before things could get too heavy, he trotted a few steps off and did a cartwheel. He did them often now, and with the glee of a child. While they were certainly fun to perform, he was also attempting to get more and more used to inverting his body. Indeed, when he stopped, he did another handstand, letting Denen watch again how it was done. As a healer, he should have a good grasp on anatomy and the way the body moved. It was all about maneuvering the centers of weight. Eventually, he hoped to be an adept acrobat, and then his skills on horseback and with weapons would increase exponentially.

[Denen Sunsinger]

Denen's heart jumped into his throat as Sam touched his arm. He wondered, fleetingly, if Sam had any idea of the effect he had on the young healer. He trembled a bit, and managed a rather dreamy smile. Choose to stay? How could he want anything different? Sam was his friend! The first, true friend he had ever had. "S-Sam..." He barely managed to whisper his name. But in the next moment, Sam had cartwheeled off, and Denen was left to smile as he watched. His blue eyes studied the way his strong abdomen supported his body, and his cheeks flushed slightly. Why did he have to be so...attractive? He wondered if Sam could ever look at him in such a light, with his scrawny arms and thin shoulders. Sam was handsome, and had the sort of ambition that every Drykas boy dreamed of possessing. And Denen? Well, he made girls look buff. He rubbed his side absently. "S-Sama'el, could...c-could we ride together?" He had to stop looking at Sam like that, or he was going to have a hugely embarrassing problem at any given moment.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Denen might have been giving Sama'el too much credit for complex thought, but he had judged him aright when he deemed his heart to be made of fine stuff. He smiled and nodded, curling his thumb and forefinger into his mouth to whistle shrilly, which brought Dohaina trotting over from where she had wandered for lusher grazing. They had come on the scene without yvas or shirt, but he was a good enough rider that he swung up lightly onto her golden back without much effort at all, his recent mania for acrobatics making it a bit flashier than before. His legs tightened around her barrel, leaving his hands free. He signed, 'Where to?'

[Denen Sunsinger]

Denen watched as Dohaina made her way back to them. Reth, who had been closer, looked up and slowly lumbered over. Poor beast. As much as it hurt to admit, Denen knew that his days were drawing to their twilight. His Strider's step was heavy, but when he at last reached Denen, he nuzzled the boy affectionately, and Denen embraced him, placing a kiss on his cheek. He mounted his horse carefully, rubbing his neck, and then grinned over to Sam. "I have a place I want to show you. It's...special to me. It's not too far away." Saying this, he gently tapped Reth's sides, and, after snorting and tossing his head tiredly, the old gelding began walking.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

With the gentlest nudge of his knees, he sent Dohaina off alongside Reth, ambling along in the easiest of gaits. After watching Denen with Reth, he wished the old gelding hadn't been gelded. Perhaps they could have bred him once before he passed back into the Web, allowing for a foal for Denen to dote upon even if he didn't end up bonding with the young thing. Ah, well. He was going to have to build a herd at some point, but if he bred Dohaina, there would come a point in the eleven months gestation where he wouldn't be able to ride her hard, and then where he wouldn't be able to ride her hardly at all, and then she would be out of service while caring for her foal. But it had to be done eventually. Perhaps if he didn't stray from Endrykas for a while, he could manage with Horse in the meantime. 'You're so mysterious,' he signed with gentle amusement.

[Denen Sunsinger]

Denen was dreading the morning he'd come out to find dear, old Reth in forever sleep. The horse was the one thing he had of his mother's, the link he felt he still had to her. When he left, what would he have? He leaned down and whispered into his ear. They communicated so well, Denen and Reth, but he supposed that was what happened when one grew up alongside their Strider. He gave his silent, blushed laugh, and shook his head. "I'm not being mysterious. I just...want it to be a surprise is all." He led him a small distance, to an isolated hill, upon which stood a single tree. A yew. He stopped there, and slid down from Reth's back, motioning for Sam to do the same. He sat down near the base of the old tree, and drew his knees close to his chest. "I used to come here when I was a little boy. This tree's a yew. That...was my mother's name." He paused and smiled, shaking his head. "I'd come here and talk to the tree, and to the sky...pretending like she was here, or that she cared about what I did that day in lessons..." He sighed and smiled softly. "Sam, do you think that the dead watch us?"

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

'I suppose a surprise is all right,' he agreed amiably. When they came to a halt, he tucked his feet under him and vaulted off of Dohaina's back, kicking his legs out as wide as they would spread and touching his toes in midair before landing on his feet. The landing was rather wobbly, but that would add a comic effect that might lighten Denen's mood, so Sama'el wasn't yet worried about perfecting his little tricks. His grin was generous, and when Denen sat down, he followed suit, smile lingering. Next to his friend, he sat on his rump, knees hiked up and arms resting upon them. 'Sure they watch. They're part of the Web, aren't they?'

[Denen Sunsinger]

Denen smiled, watching Sam launch himself off of Dohaina's back. Poor thing. Sam was lucky she was so patient with him, though it would have been comical to see her bite him on the arse for using her as a gymnastics tool. Reth lowered his head, lipping some of the faded grass near the base of the tree. Denen's eyes followed him a moment, before turning back to Sam. "Do you remember your mother?" He asked, half consciously resting his head against Sam's shoulder. He had loved the woman who raised him, but Jada wasn't his mother, and what-ifs had always haunted the young Drykas. It was nice to think that perhaps they were both watching him now, that there were people--even dead--who loved him unconditionally. "Father said mine was his prettiest wife. I wish I had known her."