OOM: Returning Eunuch

[bigarmy_strangepants]

It is late in the day, and Ragnar is lounging in his room, talking to Athelstan.

He could spend eternity just talking to Athelstan, and then an eternity again with all the other Athelstan-related things.

But they never run out of things to talk about, it seems.

"... will turn seawater into potable water, like making salt, just the other way around," he is saying.

Comments

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric grins and snuggles in next to Athelstan, keeping his damp hair bound up so it doesn't make Athelstan cold. "I don't thing I can express just how happy it makes me to come home to you, to this."

[athelstanthescribe]

"Long may we all have this together, then", he says.

[thewidewideworld]

"Amen to that." Sinric laughs softly, reaching for Athelstan's hand and beginning to massage out the stiffness he knows will be there. "I was thinking of you when the door opened. The Khan's tribesmen train eagles to hunt with them. Huge things with wings wider than I am tall. They shed the most beautiful feather from their wings from time to time. The Mongols do not write much and when they do, it is with a brush like the Sinese. They use the feathers for decorating but all I find see what how fine they would be as quills."

[athelstanthescribe]

"Perhaps you could bring me one", he suggests, opening his hand as much as he can. "When you next find one dropped."

[thewidewideworld]

"I hope to bring you several." He smiles, carefully working out the knots around Athelstan's palm. "They're too prefer to be wasted tied to horse harnesses and I'm told they're too wide to make good fletchings for arrows."

[athelstanthescribe]

"I'd like that. The birds they come from must be a sight to see."

[thewidewideworld]

"Honestly, they frighten me. When they look at you, know know they're wondering what you taste like. Like Eric the Serpent but without any pretence of manners. I'm told they have been know to carry off goats and small children."

[athelstanthescribe]

He raises his eyebrows.

"That's quite some strength. And they have talons like other eagles?"

[thewidewideworld]

"Oh yes. The men who handle them wear arm guards made of raw hide to protect their skin. Some, I'm told, are nearly as heavy as I am." Not that Sinric weighs much but still.

[athelstanthescribe]

"I suppose the men must reward the birds with a share of the kill, to keep them compliant?"

[thewidewideworld]

"Just so. I understand when first caught, the hunters pluck the flight feathers from the eagles' wings so they must rely on the hunters for food. So once dependant, they learn to trust the hunters. I'm told it doesn't alwdy work and met one man who lost his eye to an eagle he failed to tame."

[athelstanthescribe]

He winces.

"They take them as fledglings? And that in itself would be dangerous."

Where there are baby birds, there are protective parents.

[thewidewideworld]

"Something. But it seems to be a point of honour to tame the biggest bird they can catch." He grins slyly at Athelstan. "The Mongols do much for the sake of seeming bold. Much like the Vikings in some ways."

[athelstanthescribe]

He chuckles. "Some things seem the same the world over."

[thewidewideworld]

"True enough." Sinric laughs and shifts to take his other hand. "I wonder if I will find such people the world over or if such men spring from hard lands and desolate places."

[athelstanthescribe]

"It may be", he agrees. "Your eagle tamers being desert dwellers, and there are few green and fertile places in the North."

[thewidewideworld]

"Hard places make for hard men." He shift, stretching against Athelstan's side. "That would explain why I'm so soft." He smiles self-deprecatingly.

[athelstanthescribe]

"Perhaps." He brushes fingers over wherever he happens to touch. "But I think you're more resilient than you give yourself credit."

[thewidewideworld]

The skin of Sinric's shoulder is still smooth and soft as most of him but the touch and Athelstan's works make him aware of his scars.

"Perhaps, now that I'm no longer a papered pet and visiting these wild places."

[athelstanthescribe]

"It's a process", he agrees. "But look how well you are, after everything."

[thewidewideworld]

"All things in their times." He nods, leaning in to kiss Athelstan's cheek. "And thanks to the care and comfort of you and Ragnar."

[athelstanthescribe]

He cant help comparing them, and unfavourably to himself.

"In part thanks to that."

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric cups his cheek and brushes a kiss over his lips softly. "More than I can ever thank you for."

[athelstanthescribe]

"There's no need", Athelstan assures him.

[thewidewideworld]

"Still." He smiles and keeps massaging Athelstan's hands. "What is news with you?"