4.6 KiB
Debarre --- 2350
Debarre and Do I Know God After The End Waking stood, naked and frowning, on the granite hung, cantilevered, above the calm pond that had dug itself into the forest floor beneath the falls. It wasn't a high drop, not enough to turn the stomach, but enough to keep them from simply jumping in.
"And you're sure it's deep enough?"
"I am not, no," End Waking said and then let out a shout and leapt off the overhang out over the water
The weasel's frowned deepened. No sounds of screaming below, at least.
"Fuck it," he muttered, and stepped off the edge of the rock, arms folded over his chest, and plunged, feet first, into the water.
The cold was shocking, enough to drive his breath from him. Even though there wasn't any snow this low down on the hillside, it was still cold out. He realized, too late, that another possibility that there wasn't any screaming from his boyfriend below was due to that same frigid water.
All the same, there was nothing beneath his feet for at least another meter as he sank beneath the water.
Thankful for small victories, he swam shakily for the surface, breaching the water with a shallow gasp and teeth already chattering.
End Waking floated closer, treading water. The skunk's grin was wide, but his teeth were clenched shut in a clear attempt to slow the shivering. "Pleasant day out, is it not?"
"F-fuck you," Debarre said, laughing breathlessly. "I'm getting up to the fire ASAP."
The skunk nodded, shoved at him weakly, and then swam for the shore, weasel in tow.
They slicked the water off themselves as best they could while walking. Fluffy as he was, End Waking had the larger job of it, having to spend most of the rest of the short trek back up the hill to the fire he'd built squeezing water out of his tail fur.
Once there, they parked a few feet before the fire and huddled beneath his woolen cloak, held open toward the flames, and soaked up as much warmth as they could.
"That was fucking cold," Debarre said once he was able to speak without stammering. "You're such an asshole, I can't believe I ever listen to you."
"Yes, well, I love you to," End Waking said, grinning. "Thank you for joining me, and for your help today."
They'd spent the afternoon building up a rammed earth wall for the skunk's new house, pulling earth mixed with deer's blood from the pile they'd brought up from the pond's shore the previous day, stacking it in a frame, and pounding it with logs sanded smooth and cut down to a width they could fit comfortably in their paws.
Part of the ramming process had involved carefully setting the chimney pipe for the wood stove between the layers of earth as they built up, something which had seemed an unnecessarily fiddly process, despite the admonitions that, if the pipe crumpled beneath the sand, clay, and blood while they pounded it, the wall wouldn't be sturdy and there might be gaps. As it was, after they built up the rest of the tent, they'd have to seal it with more bloody earth and a layer of pitch.
It had left them both feeling worn out and dirty, and when Debarre said he was going to wash the bloody mud from his paws and fur, End Waking had suggested turning that into the icy plunge.
The skunk then built up the fire higher than usual, told Debarre that they'd need to do so nude as he shed his clothes by the fire, and them pulled him along to the rock overhang.
Once their fronts were mostly dry, they turned out to face the waterfall and ravine, draping the cloak over their fronts with their backs exposed to the fire, sitting in silence and leaning against each other, sharing warmth as well as gaining it.
"Why don't you build your camp here?"
"The river may overflow, and come spring, the fall will be quite loud."
Debarre grinned, "Don't need the white noise?"
"Not particularly, though I am more concerned about flooding. I have already had a tree fall on me while I slept, I do not need to be carried away on dirty waters."
"Thanks for letting me back after that happened," he said, more quietly. "And thanks for forking to fix your leg."
"Of course, my dear. I do not know who else I would have called. And thank you for your patience during my solitude."
Debarre nodded and slid an arm around the skunk's waist. "I'm used to it by now. Besides, #Tracker had a larger merge than usual to deal with."
"That is what happens when I steal a version of you away and then aliens visit one of the LVs. I will accept half of the blame." He smiled, adding, "Well, perhaps less than half. You had your own stuff going on."
"Well, #Tracker did." He snorted, shook his head. "It's what I get for only part of me hanging around interesting people."
"A