nonscriptum | hadriel { ic inbox }

[Birds can't really snort in a traditional sense, without the kind of human noses one would need to create a snort, but instead he just opens his beak and lets out a weird caw caw cough to create one. He even moves his wing like he's holding a hand to his chest and throws his head back.]

Oh, now you see me.

[In the span of the next few seconds, the bird simply morphs, moving in a way like play-doh until Taako is crouched on the branch instead, legs spread in a squat as he looks down at Nate.]

Thought you'd be up somewhere high. You like that bird? Tell me if you see another one like it here, like, I don't think I'm gonna but it'd be great.

[He doesn't bother asking if Nate needs a hand, because he probably doesn't. Not that he couldn't reach up and grab Taako's leg or something.]

[ Having never actually seen a bird turn into a human - or vice versa - save for the one time Taako fucking dive-bombed him on the beach, Nate thinks that maybe he should have known better. Taako loves messing with him, water is wet, et cetera.

He lifts himself back up onto his original branch, tense but relaxing by the second. He considers tanking Taako off the tree, but it seems a little cruel. ]

...yeah, up high was a good guess. It's nicer in the canopy than down there.

[ Yards and yards away, the rainforest floor swelters, but the humidity is denser. At least in this level they can catch the occasional breeze.

He also assumes that if he sticks with this subject he can distract Taako from his reason for being here. ]

Did you see that bird on one of your planet surveys?

[Excuse you Nate, he's the fucking king of conflict avoidance, the fact he's here means a significant amount of somethings he will refuse to acknowledge. It's caring, sure, but it's also a non-insignificant amount of spite- the liches won't force him to lose someone he actually likes being around. That's dumb shit and he won't have it. So here he is, doing... something. God, he hates this.

He shifts to lean against the trunk, letting one leg dangle off the side of the branch and the other bent with his foot flat on top.]

Yeah. 'Ss cool, right? Looks camouflaged in the trees but ugly as shit on the ground. Planet it was on was all jungles like this, trees so tall we barely saw the floor ever. Like, fall and you're dead before you hit the ground distance.

[He doesn't remember exactly what number; it was something after the big beach cycle and before they knew things about the Hunger, he thinks. When Merle started dying. When the trip started becoming something and not just running.]

But uh, somehow, I don't think you give a shit about the bird. You out here hiding from me, Natey Drake, toss-your-phone-in-a-lake? Man, that was bad even for me.

I'm not hiding.

[ Nate says, with the distinct tone of defensiveness that suggests he was doing something extremely similar to the accusation in question. He can't even unpack the shitty rhyme Taako quipped at him, already feeling attacked and wishing he had a better excuse than "I really just wanted to hang out by myself for a little while," but even that isn't going to be respected by someone as tenacious as Taako fucking Taaco.

Legs stretched and crossed out in front of him, braced on the thick branch he's decided is his new seat, Nate takes his indignation and lets it wander with his gaze to another tree. A lizard with three eyes skitters over the bark and disappears in a dense tangle of vines.

Sucking his lower lip between his teeth Nate gnaws pensively for a moment, chewing on the scenery. ]

I was giving you space.

[yeah ok sure uh huh you fucking walnut. Don't make Taako spell out that this is some emotional endeavor. He'd rather jump off this branch and die before he hits the ground. But the desire to get rid of the tension has won out, a need to just escape from feeling shitty about this.

Besides, after the talk they had in the bunker, this feels necessary. Somehow. Don't fuckin' come at him like this.]

Pretty sure I made it clear it was fine with the whole text message, my man.

[He isn't perfectly looking at him, mostly in a weak attempt to stop this from being A Confrontation, In Formality. Mostly he's just fiddling with the end of his hair.]

'Ss not the first time I died and you weren't the first person to maul me, so.

hadriel { ic inbox }

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