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[dadication]

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[gr1m]

Tip of his tail was curled over Jack's hip, stretching arms and twisting his torso just a bit. Another wide yawn as he soon enough sank back in to that sit against his own coils. Nose wrinkling just a bit at the time. "Very warm, guess I tired out a little easily still." Or else he likely wouldn't have dozed off so easily in his mind.

He looked off towards the forest, head tilted slightly. "And likely all the more reason to put off that trip down to the river until at least tomorrow." It likely wouldn't be safe if he ended up dozing off outside of the cave just yet.

[dadication]

He shifted his weight to one hand so that he could lift his other hand to stroke over the tip of that tail curled over his hip. His fingers stroked over the scales as he watched Gabriel try to wake up fully. "You're still fighting exhaustion and whatever they gave you. It's going to take time, so you can sleep however much you want."

He nodded his head in agreement, thinking it was best that they keep a low profile today. "I agree. I just need to get us more firewood and water and otherwise, we will be set for the rest of the day." He felt safe and comfortable like this. He really shouldn't, but he did.

[gr1m]

It still didn't sit right with him, even knowing that everything Jack said was true; he needed the rest, give it time for everything to heal. Figured this was likely how the hunter ad felt, even that brief time he was occupying Gabriel's bed when he needed to be cared for as well. He was just far used to having to work through it all alone and keep moving.

Didn't mean he was going to fight or argue, knew it was for the best and doing so would just... make it all that much harder for them both. Neither of them had time for it, and he didn't much want to either. "I still appreciate you helping me in this way. When you're ready to do that, I'll go back in to the cave to rest."

[dadication]

While Jack wouldn't fight Gabriel to relax, he would do what he could to make the gorgon too comfortable to actually resist. It was a tactic that his ma had used on him and his siblings to get them to settle in for quiet time. Sometimes his pa would double-team with an outrageous story that captivated attention. As an adult, he figured he simply needed to be more creative to keep Gabriel settled and relaxed enough to heal.

"You probably aren't used to receiving unsolicited help," he murmured as his fingers stroked higher and higher on that tail hooked on his hip. "But as painful as sitting still is, it is better in the long run. We have to let the hunting parties scour the area and then move on."

He was still enjoying the warmth of the sun. "I'll wait a little while longer, assuming you're still comfortable here?"

[gr1m]

"I'm not, no." The tip of his tail kept curled where it was, and Gabriel leaned against Jack's other side as he sat, coils pulling up closer around them both while being mindful of the hunter's legs. Easier to be comfortable in the form he was in like this. "Will you be alright, doing all of this?" Keeping him safe on top of Jack doing the same for himself.

Gabriel nodded slowly. "I'm still comfortable here, yes. Are you?"

[dadication]

When Gabriel decided to lean against him, Jack hesitated for a few moments before giving in and slipping an arm around the gorgon's waist. It was easier that way, kept his arm out of the way and he told himself that it prevented Gabriel from pitching forwards or backwards. "This is light duties compared to what I'm used to doing. I perform all the same tasks just for myself, you know. The difference is that I'm not putting on the same milage."

He had no issue keeping them both safe, providing for them. It felt good honestly, a taste of something he would otherwise be denied.

"Yeah, I'm comfortable. You give my limbs plenty of places to rest against."

[gr1m]

He was still for a moment before letting himself relax a little like that, taking the support that arm around his waist offered. "Performing them to have enough for two rather than one." So the least he could do was cook what meat was brought in so that Jack had the fuel and something decent to eat. "You've been far kinder to me than anyone or anything I've encountered," and it was strange. Not bad, just strange.

There was a snort, the sound brief but clearly enough made from amusement. "I know that I can take up a lot of space like this, so it's the least that I can do to make some room for you."

[dadication]

"It's not much work," he said softly. Just a few extra snares to check but otherwise, he had to collect the same firewood, same water. "Besides, I like the company," he added, trying to make it sound nonchalant but it coming a little awkward. It wasn't like he had company often or for many overnights. "I... could say the same thing to you after I passed out weeks ago," he murmured, looking to Gabriel. "Neither of us are used to it, I can tell." Like they didn't know what to do with it, and when the other shoe would drop and they'd be caught in a trap.

He made a point of shifting his legs and letting them drape over Gabriel's coiled body, keeping himself upright but definitely making a show of being comfortable surrounded by such a large body. "You do just fine as you are. And besides, you'll probably regain your legs soon enough once you feel better." He would miss the tail though.

[gr1m]

Both of them had been alone for so long, or at least that is what he had gathered from the bits and pieces Jack had told him when they spoke. Maybe not alone for the same exact reasons, but it had been something steady for years. "I've been enjoying your company, too," just a little softly, head tilted so he could watch Jack from the corner of an eye. "We've a little time to get used to it- at least with each other." For however long this was going to last.

His coils shifted just enough to ensure Jack was comfortable, still leaning against his side. "Having legs will make it a lot easier for us to travel, and I'll be able to conserve heat better than I do like this." It was why he had a heating rock in most places for when he could get that easier than a bed.

His tail tip flick a little against Jack's hip. "I'm just as comfortable like this, at least."

[dadication]

He nodded his head, feeling a flare of heat in his chest at the idea that Gabriel had enjoyed his company. It sounded honest, which was more than he would receive elsewhere. His current fear was that they shouldn't get used to it, that if they did parting would be more difficult and they would go back to their respective isolation and be worse for the sudden parting. "What if... by the end of this, by the time we get you healed and back where you belong, we're too used to being comfortable and enjoying each other's company?"

He'd never had such a decision to make after all. He wasn't certain he would know what to do with it. Hell, he wasn't certain that Gabriel would either, what with how roughly the gorgon had been treated in the past.

"And you're going to need to conserve heat when we travel. We'll be well into Fall by then and we will have plenty of times of traveling passed dark," he said. At least that's the pace that he tended to travel at. He imagined the pair of them would keep a good pace.

[gr1m]

Coils tightened around Jack briefly, even as Gabriel's gaze dropped elsewhere, no worry of that being seen. "We can deal with that when we get there- and you were already making attempts to keep in touch. The snakes found me whenever you spoke to them of me." Even if at first the hunter wasn't sure if it was actually working or not. "We could... continue? If by the end of this you still want anything to do with me."

Even now he was unsure of what to do with any of it, unsure if this was anything more than getting him from A to B as if the hunter felt he owed him something. No matter how often snakes came to find him he was still unsure enough.

Nodding. "I've never really liked the cold, as nice as snow looks in the places I've seen it fall." Nice to look at, but never could be in it for long.

[dadication]

It definitely wasn't seen on his head, but he was keenly aware of the way that the coils seemed to tighten against, around and near him. For a moment, he thought he had spoken too boldly, perhaps putting Gabriel in an awkward position. "Oh... I didn't," he murmured, falling quiet a moment. Talking to the snakes had been something he had done guessing they would never actually make it. "Did they... tell you everything I said?" Because on one night, he had definitely admitted to missing the gorgon. "Would you consider the risk of staying in touch with me?" He being a hunter and all.

Jack wasn't entirely certain what he was doing here either. It was the first time he had acted without a job or real plan when he had suited up and headed out. Yeah, he had taken a job, but that was simply to put him in the area, gave him a way to cover his tracks. He could admit that there had been a strange stirring warmth when he had finally come across the caravan.

"No, I don't suppose that you would. Snow is... well, apparently it's a good time to get to know someone." Courtship blossoming and all that nonsense he had never had. Being inside meant more visits, more opportunities to meet and get to know neighbours, friends, potential lovers. "Do you have dens to the south where it is warmer?"

[gr1m]

"Weren't sure they would actually get to me?" He imagined that telling anyone they could talk to the snakes and they would get to him sounded crazy, or at best as if it was one way to say never talk to him again or anything along those lines. His coils kept close, but nothing uncomfortable. "They told me everything to the best of their ability, some things do get lost in translation," but he'd still gotten the just of things. "I would, but I'm not sure which of us would be in greater danger if found out." Humans could be strange when it came to even their fellow man doing something seen as out of the ordinary.

Still, he had doubts that the hunter would be going through all of this trouble to keep him safe if he was just going to turn on him. Right?

Get to know someone, huh. "I do have dens to the south, temporary and mostly for shelter. If you see me all the way to where I'm going we could use them for safety when a town isn't available." Or if there was no where safe to bed down otherwise.

[dadication]

"It just seemed like a long way to go just for a message," he said honestly, so no, he hadn't been certain. Snakes traveled well, but they also had to live and if Gabriel was as far away from where he was, he didn't imagine a snake in the wild would just abandon everything to go and find the gorgon. Who knew though. "That makes sense. It's not like they speak the language we are now." Must have been a great game of charades. "Oh, well that's easy. If we were found out, we'd both suffer the same agonizing fate, I'm sure. Both put to death anyway." He didn't sound perturbed by that reality.

He had no intention of turning Gabriel over. He wanted the gorgon to be returned to wherever he had lived and left to continue on. It wasn't just that gorgon's were rare either. There was something he hadn't sorted out within himself about it, and now definitely wasn't the time to explore it.

"I was just thinking it would be warmer in the southern lands, since where we are the snow can fall deep and long," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. He was certain they could travel enough to find proper shelter for the night. He had Hunter's Rights after all.

[gr1m]

"It's passed along through various snakes- if it's a great distance at least." Sometimes the same snakes, depending on how and where certain species moved. Gabriel tipped his head, a hand moving down as a familiar garter slithered up and coiled around his wrist and fingers, lifting it up. He'd certainly seen this one a few times, and like Jack was familiar as well since it was the same that had gone in to the cage. "Death isn't what I'm worried about." Would be kinder than what could be done.

Fingers brushed along the garter snake's head slowly, letting out a breath as Gabriel finally sank the rest of the way against Jack's side. "I was caught in a winter once," so he knew what Jack meant. "Do try to get to warmer places before then."

[dadication]

"So whatever message they may have been carrying was probably lost in part," he remarked. He wasn't so certain on the memory span of snakes after all, though that their companion garter snake had decided to show up and looking well fed and happy was good. He hadn't wanted to leave it out here, and it seemed a good companion for Gabriel too. "You're of value in certain circles; I would just get in the way." Jack had no doubt that they would be tortured first, but in the end, they would likely be killed.

He tightened his arm around Gabriel's waist, holding the gorgon close. He nodded his head, used to traveling through harsh winters. "Likely a wholly unpleasant experience for you," he murmured. "Do you want to go south rather than where you were taken from? I know you have items you want back, but they may last until next Spring?"

[gr1m]

He shook his head. "Only in translation, their memories are better than some would give them credit for- even if usually used for other things like migration routes or where to go during mating seasons." He allowed the snake to curl over his shoulders, noting the plait hi hair as braided in to, corner of his mouth twitching just faintly. There was a low noise in his throat, "If they decide I'm worth more dead than alive."

Would be putting it lightly, "I get cold fairly easily." There was something warm with how that arm tightened around him, however. "I need to get that I left there, or else I'd be far more willing to move south quicker."

[dadication]

So... the fact that he had missed Gabriel had made it to the gorgon or not? He couldn't quite decide if he had spoken too much on those nights between or even on jobs. "I did notice that snakes more readily came to check on me when I was by the fire. Some even dared to come into the inn where I was staying." He tipped his head towards Gabriel curiously. "Were you checking in on me?"

He did still at the idea of the gorgon suffering a fate like the one that Jack had come to take Gabriel from in the first place. He checked his lower lip. "They could send you to the king, I suppose. They couldn't use me against you to force you to stand down, could they?" He thought that was just mates that defended each other to the death.

Well, those blankets were very good purchases then, now weren't they? Plenty of area to keep Gabriel warm next to the fire. "Then we'll retrieve what you need and I can see about helping you move south before winter takes a tight hold on the land."

[gr1m]

If the hunter wanted to know, he would have to ask the gorgon himself. "In a way? I couldn't think of any other way for you to know that I was getting any of what you were telling to the snakes," other than to make their presence safely known to Jack. "I guess they got a little creative with it, or a few bold ones took that upon themselves like this one." Brave little garter snake.

"I'm not sure that they would even think to try." Yet he still implied that he would do something to stop Jack's fate if he could- "For all I know, they could try and believe I've got you under some spell and want to break you free of it with how loyal of a hunter you've likely been." Which could result in the gorgon being put to death after torture to ask what he'd done. Really, he doubted they'd so easily think Jack helped him of his own free will.

"Thank you, again, for doing this."

[dadication]

He looked at the garter snake that had coiled itself up in that braid which Gabriel was still sporting, and he couldn't help but smile. "That one came most often and eventually decided to stay. I think it realized being inside my shirt for journeys was warmer and safer than it trying to follow me otherwise." And Jack hadn't minded either. The snake was calm enough to not musk him often, and now it seemed rather content with its lot in life. "If we ever part ways, I imagine I'll be sleeping under a pile of snakes."

It was true, what with Jack's reputation. Gorgons were creatures to fear, to tell one's children about in the night so they wouldn't misbehave. "I would do everything in my power so they couldn't hurt you," he murmured softly. It seemed a noble sacrifice as well if it came down to that, which he hoped it wouldn't. "I still... will take the risk if you will."

He stroked his palm over Gabe's side where it was secured around the gorgon's waist. "You're welcome. Now stop thanking me all the time. You're going to make me blush, and I'm so pale, it shows up immediately."

[gr1m]

"I'm glad- and a good thing they stuck with you." He remembered this was the one who was sent in to the cage. "Reasons I kept quiet and still in that cage was because this one told me what was going on, what you asked it to." A fingertips brushing over the little snake's head. "At least no one would bother you in the night or else they'd risk snake bites." A touch amused.

What a strange, strange hunter. "So long as you are willing, so am I." He was also willing to risk his own neck for the hunter if something came to that, but felt it was wiser to not mention that at least. Not yet/

Gabriel relaxed against him, careful as his head set against the hunter's shoulder testingly. Letting himself simply be... comfortable. "Especially around the ears."

[dadication]

He nodded his head, glad that he had decided to listen to them and not shoo them away either. It seemed to have worked out well for them. "I didn't want you to panic, and I couldn't tell what state you were in since they had your head covered." He knew the little garter snake would due its duty, and that had been the best part of it all. They had managed all of this because of that group effort. "I suppose that's true. They will suck all my body heat out though." Just a touch amused himself.

He hadn't figured out his own motivations yet. It was better not to think about it honestly. "Then we'll make it work." It seemed they would take equal risk here. That was good. He would do what he had to in order to keep Gabriel safe.

He turned his head to both view what he could and be certain what was happening actually was happening. He slowly relaxed his shoulders into that contact. "What? I haven't flushed up yet..." Not denying the observation though.

[gr1m]

Had been the entire reason he hadn't thrashed and fought the moment he'd come to and someone was in the cage with him. The little snake had done it's task well. "Never alone, at least." Even if the only company was snakes, they were far more than what most thought of them.

They would make it work, hell or high water if it possibly came to that.

His head rested fully on Jack's shoulder when he didn't move away, keeping that tip of his tail curled around the man's hip. Letting himself basically be held in a way. "Briefly."

[dadication]

"No, that's true." Neither of them were alone, especially if the snakes kept showing up on scene to be with them. Now he especially knew that they came because of Gabriel. "And we managed to get you out of there without much fuss either. I had planned for having to fight and kill some of those creatures, but it seems they were more content with easier meals." And that would serve them well when it came to their escape as well.

He finally lifted a hand to gently cup Gabriel's cheek where it rested against his shoulder, patting it lightly. He grunted at the idea that he had flushed up, but he also knew he couldn't deny it. His pale complexion never served him well when it came to blood rising in his face and ears.

"I should grab us wood and water. You okay with that or want me to stay a bit longer?"

[gr1m]

All the better there was no fight and the creatures were starved enough to go for any bodies. "Better it was easier for the both of s than not." Could have gone worse in a few horrible ways or so he could imagine.

Eyes closed as he allowed for that touch, taking what he could get in what was given, some soft sound just under his breath, "Stay. Just for a little bit longer." To linger for just a few minutes more at the very least. He'd go back inside once Jack did finally have to move at least and make no fuss of it. Gabriel just wanted a little bit more.