Pleasant Awakenings

It was the early hours of morning before the Grand Opening of Quick-Feather Ranch finally started to wind down. It meant a relatively late night for Rylen, but seemingly an even later one for Xander. The Pooka had gone to sleep alone, but woken up somewhere near sunrise with the warmth of someone else against his back. It's something that is going to take a bit of time to get used to, but certainly not unpleasant.

However, today is the day that they would have to start the trek through Aincrad in order to reach level 3 and the boss that waits there for them. It's close to noon by the time Rylen rouses himself fully, dragging himself up out of bed and wandering over to light the stove and start a kettle of tea. What he wouldn't give for a stronger stimulant in the morning.

He still has that lingering limp each morning, so he takes a moment to stretch himself out, easing the stiffness out of his limbs. Only then does he head back over to the bed, reaching down to touch Xander on the shoulder, "Rise and shine, sleepy-head. We've got a long journey ahead of us."

    At some point last night the Salamander found himself unlocking the door and coming inside. He did his best to move in quietly, to get into bed without waking Rylen, and for the most part after that-- Xander slept like a rock.

That was till a voice was trying to stir him awake. It was a distorted voice, at first sounded one way, then another, as his mind slowly entangled him from his own dream. Though as he tried to roll away, he grumbled something, and just tried to hide himself under the blanket entirely.

    For someone who use to get up at the crack of dawn, if not a little before, this is indeed one sleepy-head alright!

A smile slips across Rylen's face at Xander's reaction of not only rolling over, but all but cocconing himself into the blanket. There is a fondness there, perhaps a bit deeper than one might expect when the two had only just taken any sort of steps towards being more than friends. He reaches a hand up, lightly pulling the blanket back, letting his fingertips move through Xander's bangs.

"I know." He whispers. Though it is hard to tell if the words are for Xander, or himself. The elf leans down, placing a kiss on the Salamander's blanket-covered shoulder, then rests his chin there for a moment. "No matter how much we want it to, the world doesn't wait."

He lifts his nose to bump it against Xander's chin. Small, simple, affectionate gestures, trying to lure the dragon out of his cave of blankets.

    There is a muffled sound, words attempting to form, perhaps simply in protest. Though with a deep inhale of air, those gold, fiery draconic eyes open and peer lazily at Rylen.

No words are said, just a long sleepy stare, before at last the dragon speaks from his blanket cave. "... I want to be angry at you... maybe even punch you... but too much effort." But as everyone knows, or perhaps as Rylen has learned, when Xander talks grumpy it is probably out of love.

The Salamder then reaches up and actually touches Rylen's face, before his hand goes to slide off and he grumbles a bit more, before saying then. "Alright... alright. I'm getting up. You stupid..damn... good looking.. elf."

    Yes. Much grumble. Much grr. All bluff.

    The Salamander then goes to slide over and rest his feet on the ground, before rubbing his face gently. His eyes peer at the window and stares out for the moment. His eyes seem to be searching for something out there or perhaps wrestling with his own thoughts. His jaw shifts ever so slightly, before he then goes to stand up.

"Good." Rylen replies in his characteristically soft voice, "I wouldn't want to have to explain why I showed up to the battle already looking beat up." His tone is light-hearted, obviously not taking the threat too seriously. His own gray eyes close, appreciating that brief moment of contact, however fleeting. Then, once it passes, he leans back, giving the Salamander some space to pull himself out of his blanket fort.

"Yes yes, I'm terrible. A complete monster." Rylen shifts to the edge of the bed then up onto his feet. As usual, he's dressed in loose trousers for sleeping and bare-chested, though he'll likely have to get properly dressed before they leave. "A horrible beast who is going to make a very sad attempt at making you breakfast."

And he moves to the cooking fire to get started on just that. Rylen is not a chef, nor does he have any training in it, so it's more a matter of dumb luck if he manages to make something edible, or makes a complete mess of it. At the very least, between the two of them, they can hunt up enough food to mean that a few ruined meals doesn't mean anyone goes hungry.

There is a glance over towards Xander, perhaps wondering what is going through his mind, and ... of course, that is long enough for the meat Rylen was attempting to cook to start burning. He stares down at it, "You know, I swear it wasn't this hard to cook in the real world." He tips the pan, dumping the ruined food into a trash container and starts going through his inventory to find something else to try.

    "I think that all the time." Xander responds back to Rylen about cooking food. ".. You want me to just... You know?" He snaps his finger and a little flame dances around his finger's claw, before he puts it out. "May not taste the best, but still be food."

Then Xander grins, "But I am also a patient man, just thought I'd offer." He says with a shrug before checking his inventory and staring at the gear that Mikage sent him back. There was a heavy sigh, before he goes into the restroom area of the bedroom.

Water could be heard running as it was obvious he was freshening up and getting himself at least ready as Rylen tries to make food. "I use to be excited about raids." He says from in the restroom area. "... But now I am starting to see them like training operations in the military. An actual /job/, that doesn't pay anything and overseen by, well, really a lack of leadership."

He then peers out from behind the door. "... Kinda cold I know." Then leans back in. "Just I /want/ to respect them, but damn I have a hard time doing it."

"I should look into if there is a way to train some of the non-combat skills. That way, at least one of us can cook properly." Rylen replies, wiping out the pan as he shakes his head. The words, themselves, might offer some comfort. If he's thinking that long term, he must be planning on sticking with the Salamander, right?

His lip quirks at Xander bringing fire to his fingertips. He blows at the Salamander's hand, as if trying to extinguish a candle. "If I can't manage by the time you're done washing up, I'll hand the pan over to you."

Unfortunately, the next batch of food turns out worse than before, giving the small room a burnt smell. Enough so that Rylen takes a break from attempting to cook and cracks a window. It's still chilly out, but better a little cold than choking on smoke. "You know, maybe I should leave this to you." He laughs to himself, scraping out more burnt food into the trash.

"Well, if you can't be excited for the raid, maybe be excited that you managed to get my lazy, lay about ass interested enough to show up to one." Rylen chuckles to himself. "It's testiment to your badassery that you can make even a circus clown into a warrior."

Then, folding his arms across his chest, Rylen just scowls at the cooking fire, and decides that tea, at least, is safe. He pours out two mugs, then glances behind him towards the bathroom. "Amalthea seems to have a good head on her shoulders. Got all the intel about the boss out to everyone, regardless of their Alliance."

    "Yeah, but she isn't command." Is the Salamander's response. "But," He steps out seeming at least half way armored up. "I am also probably expecting to much. Most of those who play... They never had to deal with real life combat scenarios, tactics, and the list goes on."

The Salamander takes a few slaps of meat out, places those on the pan and rests his hands on his hips. "Like the more I listen to myself. The more I realize that I really /do/ expect to much." Then he glances over to Rylen, "And as for you. I didn't make you no warrior, you did that on your own."

With out too much thought about it, with a very quick flash of intense flames, he sears the meat quickly, leaving just slightly charred edges. "At least with knowing that it is weak to fire... I'll have plenty of hot air to throw around at it."

"Actually, she is." At this moment, it may strike Xander just how out of the loop he has been as of late. "Well, maybe not a guild leader, but at least someone of some rank. I've been hanging out enough while scouting floor three to pick up on a few things, and apparently there were a couple of promotions." He shrugs, not really knowing all of the specifics.

Luckily, Xander's inate fire abilities seem to be enough to at least make passable food. "Ahh, my hero." Rylen grins as he takes a couple of plates, holding them out so the food can be set onto them. "You're good for a lot more than just hot air, you know." He looks up, raising white eyebrows.

"It's true, you might expect too much from a group of people who aren't soldiers, but..." He raises a finger, "You have a lot of tactical knowledge in that beautiful brain of yours. It's bloody useful. I'd much rather see you standing on my side in a fight, because I know I can depend on that."

    "You know... when I was in the HQ they had no writings of that anywhere?" Xander says with a raised brow, before taking a plate, then getting his piece of cooked meat.

The Salamander then leans against the wall. "Probably going to have to make a well known statement on that. That our people need to do a better job at keeping everyone informed by writing up reports."

    He then picks up the piece of meat and takes a bite out of it. Chewing on it thoughtfully. After he swallows, he then says, "Actually, I am going to write that up after I get done eating and post that sucker once we go past the HQ, cause fucking seriously."

He then goes to take a frustrated bite of the meat, talking a bit as he chews. "... how can anyone expect to get anything done if no one /talks/. Idiots." Grumble grumble. Munch.

"We can stop by on our way up to Aincrad." Rylen suggests, between mouthfuls. The man is remarkably polite about how he eats. "I'm not sure if your people have an official scribe or recordkeeper, but might be worth checking in and seeing what might happened." He doesn't jump to any conclusions, especially not knowing exactly how Scale Emblem works.

"But, it does sound like that might be a good role for you." The elf suggests, raising his eyebrows, "You worked with information before, you could make sure that no one is out of the loop and that intel gets where it needs to go?" It's raised as a suggestion, without any real emphasis there.

"If you want to head there, I can meet you with Moko and our gear. It'll take me a bit to get him loaded up anyways." It seems best to encourage him while he has that fire in his belly. In some ways, it is good to see that again.

    Xander doesn't reply right away. He grows silent with his own thoughts as he eats, before placing the plate down on the counter. "Yeah. Sounds like an idea." That what sounds like an idea is another question entirely.

The Salamander then walks over to Rylen and places his hand on the other man's shoulder. "Ride safe, alright?" Then with a pat on his shoulder he goes to step out of the house.

Off he goes. That is our Salamander.