for we but live,

he sighed and undid himself as far as he could to give elyjah as much space to explore him as he needed. if he was trying to get him with having the forearms of a soldier down in there, too, things were going to get cramped very fast.

sindri's honesty was about as refreshing as it gets, enough to have elyjah throwing his head back for a bit of a laugh. "reasonable expectations, have you? fantastic! I would've been stuck thinking of actual pikes to keep from seeding you, somewhere." he just shook his head as he joyfully worked with all that extra space, testing just how much of the blond there was, from bush to slit.

and there was... quite a bit.

he did allow himself to relax under elyjah's unspoken prodding for him to do so. there was no one around who would be bothered by it. granted, his “relaxing” was merely a release of tension in his shoulders and a lessening of his frown- though he almost deepened it again at the lord's mentioning of his expression. “at events outside of bergia's borders I'm a display of our power at rest. and a reminder that our cold and fury can be felt at this distance, if our king wills it.”  both he and rimeheart hoped he wouldn't wish it any time soon.

"see?" he pointed at levi, snapped his fingers. "now that's bravery. the true heart of a warrior, one that eclipses my own." no matter how many times he was enthused at to 'just bite and pull', the knight-lord often made a polite enough expression, and grabbed yet another bowl full of less intimidating plants.

elyjah could almost sense steam coming off of levi, out of his joints as they went lax and lessened. "--as aimless as I'm feeling without the constant pressure of war, I can sort of understand the appeal of all this peacetime." he assumed a hardyng, if anyone, would have the right to make those kinds of jibes. "luckily for me, war or peace, I'm safe as a hare in the snow until I end up married. one way or another, that is." he grinned, shook his head. "I wonder. if I took one of your oaths, would that render me immortal? or does the hex leave with the hardyng name?"

Following the Lord's lead, he heads out to survey exactly where he was being shown. "Pleasure you say?" Nico asks. He drags a gloved hand along the surface, noting it's smoothness. "Never get to see craftsmanship like this. Lyonheart has some inner elements such as this, but all of the Bergian defenses are so old they could never be this smooth. Truly a marvel, the engineering that goes into building a structure as great as this." Turning to listen, Nico agrees. This will become a new hub, particularly with the next announcement he came to make. "And I'm sure this next bit will be sure to excite you. The crown, through my efforts with the council, is pleased to offer you a supplement to your gate charges. For the next 6 months, we want you discounting by 25% on all that pass through. The gold to cover the loss in revenue is on it's way from Falreig now. We need to encourage those that travel through our lands to take this new path. And that should incentivize them plenty."

Turning again, he looks out over the land before them. Valtolia was close, too close for his liking. "Tell me, how fares the road? Is it in good repair? Will the path to your gates be easy? Or will a man have to work to get inside?" He gestures for the Lord to come and join him at the edge. "Show me where the road travels, I fear I'm losing it amongst the brush."

as the lord marchant continued on, elyjjah was left blinking, almost stunned or dazed, trying to keep up. he's lucky he hadn't caused offense in the first bout, at least not yet, but he was white-knuckling to keep astride the conversation as it sped on, much beyond his pace.

"--the crown is gracious," he offers, in response to the gift. "whether it's to show off new bergian architecture, or to push traffic east as much as south, and ease the traffic from the other gateways. as well as increase commerce to our more eastern holdings." he's been studying. and by studying, he's been listening to his advisors. or trying to, at least.

hearing, as much as feeling, his companion's assent was half of what made the quick bout of kisses so enjoyable. the buzz of a pleased hum. a break, in order to remove the last of his upper layers, without even having to ask for it. and then touch, reciprocated. elyjah had half a mind to start sliding his hands down under the back of the blond's pants, but said blond had other ideas, and elyjah went along, until...

"caelum's great greasy ballsack--" not his best expletive, truly.

he hated this. he hated all of this. even if argonia weren't the culprits of what happened at the dove concord, walking into foreign territory that hadn't been properly scouted and surveiled for threats felt foolish. levi moved through life like he moved his sword: with purpose and only when he knew where to strike. right now he felt like he was swinging blind.

but he was loyal to the crown above all else. so he was here, and he was keeping his sword arm sharp. though right now he was standing guard, though he wasn't actually stationed to do so. he just... didn't know what else to do with himself or his time. when he saw the soldier-turned-lord, he gave a bow of difference before crossing his armor-clad arms over his chest again. "I hope this place is to your liking." he said.

because it isn't to mine. he didn't say.

the last event blew by the lord hardying almost easily, until uneasy news found his walls, followed by uneasy visitors. this next one, elyjah would be ready. whatever would come, he'd be open to it; the chance to defend himself on foreign soil, the chance for pleasure at a foreign hand, the chance for love in a foreign heart.

"mine?" he blew out his cheeks. "hardly think 'my liking' is the liking all this is made for. I'll be lucky if I find enough meat that isn't looking back at me to not starve before the week's out." despite the bow, elyjah gave the rider a friendly elbow to the side. he wouldn't pretend to stand on ceremony if the rider wouldn't. "what's a dragon rider to do at these things, anyway? glower? grimace? look imposing?" elyjah puffed himself up next to levi, likely not even close to measuring up, but posing all the same. "all things you're excellent at, we know."

His gaze drifted past Elyjah, to the mountains beyond. Like the air up here felt cleaner, sharper - like the world made more sense the farther you got from all the shouting.

“I stayed sane by knowing I wouldn’t be staying.” His eyes cut back to Elyjah. “Same as most Bergian, I'd wager.” The drink was trash but it got the job done.

would elyjah be so bold as to insult another kingdom?

well, up until a few short years ago, he was trying to kill them, so. yes, frankly.

"not the pryors," lord hardyng teased, one hand to his chest. "I'm sure caelum held them close enough." there was pride in bergia, in the people in the mountains and those who conquered them, but none were above a bit of ridicule now and again. "and what of you? any prizes or treasures savored on site, or carted home?"

the door closed, unfamiliar but warm hands on his hips, the lord of the aerie, started to undo the top layer covering his chest. "mm, I think that's still possible." he tipped his own hips forward, letting the mounds press even more insistently against each other. "a little sparring before bed is supposed to be good for you. gets the blood going and helps you get a good night's rest. and... it helps you get to know the person in a way that talking rarely allows."

was elyjah being bold? perhaps. but the blond between his palms seemed worthy of that boldness, a battlefield fit for a conquering hand. as that top layer would fall away, elyjah's thumbs would slide up to bare sides. feeling the first touch of skin for the night.

"I do love a good spar," he admitted. "I hear the best spars are like kisses. quick bursts of conflict, crossing of guards, then pulling back just long enough for a breath -- before going again." all that said, the good lord hardyng went in for one of those spars, the knight going up onto the balls of his feet to reach, as he started tugging and shucking his own layers.

the lord marchant, lord commander of bergia, rattled off a series of questions, compliments, comments, and suggestions far quicker than elyjah was prepared to follow. "--I didn't mean to inquire specifically about the attack, just that it's all that I'm hearing about. truly." wide-eyed, brows-raised, caught on the backfoot but really trying to follow and nod along. having caught at least one request, he did gesture for nicodemus to follow him, striding towards one of the innumerable overlooks jutting out from the largely vertical surface of the keep. "as much for pleasure as they are for surveillance," he offered, attempting to grin his way into feeling confident again. "we're set for our position as a new hub for messengers and merchants both. no longer does the kingdom need to be bottle-necked through one lone gate." he felt himself huff at the challenge to their preparedness, but then was offered free stores, so he frankly shut himself up about it.

"so? what do you say, milord?" gesturing out towards the end of the mountains, leading into the verdant and rolling hills of valtolia, and the great wall standing in place of the horizon. "are we looking as good as we feel?"

"You think?" he said dryly, the corner of his mouth twitching as if he might smirk - but it never quite got there.

"Nothing worth carving into stone has ever come up from down south." Naturally, the Bergian's opinions of Valtolia wasn't high. He shook his head. "Just a lot of people scrambling to stay on their feet. Saying plenty, doing less."

whether or not elyjah was aware that he'd had the good lord alde's brother, the good lord hardying (that still felt new) made no indication. one man's business didn't need to become another's, unless both men wanted it to be.

"--on their feet?" his brows climbed. "was there more than one attempt? did it devolve into a bunch of fighting and we're back in the business?" he didn't mean to sound hopeful about the end of the peace, but. the thought of having a purpose again did set his mind at ease.

"how'd you manage to stay sane down there? didn't run them out of carving logs, did you?"

“it’s only fair that we show each other what we have in your arsenal.” a small grin as he jingled the key and tugged him the other direction- the right direction towards the room. “I’d like to be the judge of how well you work your weapon. There’s no need to rely on outside opinions when I’m… open to seeing how well you can swing it up close.”

as thinly veiled as a proposition from soldier to soldier. the conversation was comfortable, familiar even. amusing as the 'weapon' talk could be. arm in arm, elyjah's easily and happily led onward. "perhaps in your arse-enal," he teased. one last painfully awful bite, served with a very self-amused grin.

upon arrival, elyjah would do the gentlemanly thing and stand to the side. letting the man open the door, letting them get inside, before he'd put his hands anywhere untoward. only, once that door was closed? his hands were pulled like magnets to the blond's sides, his gaze low and warm, as he read for consent across the other's face. "we still get to cross blades, yes?" as he stepped in, front to front, letting any more obvious filling be felt against one another.

“At this point in the night, most rooms should be taken,” Sindri observed as he used the amount of people in the alehouse to gauge the time. “And any businessman with any sense would be charging extra for any vacancies he might have. Instead of wasting coin, you can share the room I’ve rented.” He was always confident but the lord who wasn’t a lord right now was prepared to be turned down all the same. “Save some money and have some company that you already know to be good. We could even talk more about those weapons of ours- or mine, as it were.” 

"oh, should they, now?"

baiting, being bated. fishing with a new friend, slinging lines with friendly hooks, and little tugs to see if they'd snag one another. elyjah certainly wasn't miding the idea of being snagged.

"though, I'd admit, I'm more a man of war -- less of import, lately, but it is what it is. but that does mean, I should defer to wiser men on mercantile matters. and if a wiser man suggests we share a room, then." he clapped his thigh. "I'll share the room." a bit of legwork to get there, but he got around to it in the end. "now, if we're talking your pike-- I might be a bit more keen to show you my poleaxe. been said I'm a bit of a deft hand with it, and it might not be as impressive as a pike, but..." elyjah then leaned in, more than conspiratorial. "skewers a man all the same."

that all being said, elyjah did the gentlemanly thing and offered his elbow for the blond to take, to lead him to their quarters for the night.

"I've had nothing but praise for my weaponry- other than complaints about how many hands were needed to wield it." a crass enough joke to be had among fellow drunken men. "but by all means, give us another one of your tales."

"a real pike, then?" elyjah teased, in return. "how about that. so you'll enjoy this one, about a pit, and finding out how many men it'd take to fill it..."

in the bantering and bandying of tales back and forth, no lack for eye contact between the two of them, elyjah felt regular again. his newness to the titled ranks didn't come up, so he didn't bring it up. all the more fun to just be a man, again, among men. a bit of a fool, but an entertaining one, at least. all the way until the barkeep was eyeing them with about as much irritation as his own remaining parent, when he was wandering home too late in their own prior home.

"it appears," as he set his then-drained mug down, "that I've exhausted all my audience but one." he raised his hand up towards sindri, signaling his appreciation. "now, since I didn't plan to stay out this late, and it's a long ride home, I just might have to put some coin down for the night."

the entire time he went on, he had his eyes on the blond. waiting to see if he'd pick up what he'd decided to leave dangling. or, he could just-- "still wondering about that pike." with a cheeky grin.

said stranger's brows rose in surprise at being addressed directly. "quite a few, to be sure." he answered without missing a beat. "I hope you're not asking for my help with a demonstration. mine is properly stowed away and if I bring it out here, I'll be kicked out immediately."

elyjah enjoyed not quite appearing or embodying the spirit of a 'lord' just yet. for all any would tell, he might just be a storied 'ser' with some coin to his name now that peace had its reign. and they wouldn't be half wrong, either.

"at once?!" elyjah yelled, joyously. the jig was up, but a what a fun jig it was. "quite the haft, for more than one set of hands." cue a wink, far too close to the blond for it to be proper, before elyjah turned to the rest of the table -- still half-leaning on him. "now, if any man pulls out his haft, it's not on me. I was just recounting the time I pushed a siege on a small southern holding." other hand raised, in almost pious salute. "how about another tale? hand-to-haft or otherwise."

Drinks were needed. Many of them.

The events in Valtolia had gone poorly for the royal family but the master of coin had used the opportunity to squeeze the bleeding hearts for all they could spare in their coffers. While he'd made good on a bad situation, this wasn't a celebration. He was just craving something he had very little of at the Dove Concord: companionship with his fellow Bergians. While they had all rallied around Iskander and the rest of the Pryors, it was a defensive stance, not something friendly.

So Sindri was somewhere far from the Aerie, where he would most likely not be recognized. He'd returned home soon enough. For now, he just wanted to be faceless while getting a taste of home.

to drink.

"--and that's when I took my pike, and used it as a bit of a wedge, and pulled the gate open! once two or three other men lined up behind me, hands on my haft." did he know how that sounded? probably. but he didn't act like it. slinging his arm over some random fellow bergian's shoulders, elbow on his neck, elyjah turned to look at the stranger as if they were years-old friends. the way one did, in some valley tavern somewhere. "now you look like you know the pull of a few hands on your haft."