Abby gives a big, gusty sigh, "Yeah..." before she catches Clarisse's hand, allowing her to help her up onto the back of Blunder. It's obvious that she hates this part, that no amount of joking around eases the sensation of Blunder edging off the wall of the eyrie and into the air, falling like a stone for two heart-stopping seconds before she catches herself and the weight of her riders, pulling them upward, levelling out. It's that stomach-swoop that always makes Abby want to throw up, but she can't. No throwing up on the girl you like.
She doesn't. She keeps her face pressed into the back of Clarisse's shoulder where she can feel muscle working under skin, and smell her, the shampoo she's still using that makes her hair nice and soft. Whenever she runs her hands through it it slips through her fingers. Abby thinks about that instead of how far away the ground is, and Clarisse was right about the flight on being a few minutes but she still slips off the griffon with a shudder onto legs that are wobblier than she'd like.
Clarisse opens her mouth and what's about to come out is a very casual "proud of you, babe," but she stops herself before actually saying it. It's kind of dumb but dating Abby has made her second guess a lot of the things she would have said to her without a second thought when they were just friends. Probably not the "babe" part unless it was as a joke, but still.
"Yep," she settles on.
They've landed in the mountains, but not so high up that it's much colder than it was in the Gallows. The ground underfoot is soft, a little spongy feeling but not wet enough for mud. She couldn't have asked for better at this time of year.
"We have to hike up a little," she says, figuring Abby won't mind.
Yep. See, Clarisse barely noticed her struggle. What a relief — Abby had been sure she'd gripped her a little too hard around the middle when they started to descend but couldn't make herself loosen up for anything. She grins. Cool.
"Okay." She's starting to get excited about where they're off to, noting the surroundings with relish now that they're back on the ground and her eyes are open again. She announces the start of her question, "This 'cool' place," and her voice seems so loud because it only has the sounds of nature to contend with. Trees blowing in the wind, insects and birds... It's amazing to be able to come out to somewhere she's never been before and not be afraid to raise her voice. Abby doesn't think she'll ever get over it. "Did you just find it, or something?"
"Not just," Clarisse says as she retrieves their packs from Blunder's saddle and she begins to unclip it. "But kind of recently, I guess."
Once the saddle is off, she places it in relative safety against a tree and watches as Blunder stretches first her back legs, then her front, and then launches back into the air. She'll fly around doing griffon shit for the afternoon and come back when Clarisse calls her.
"If I have extra time I like to explore in the mountains here or out by the lodge." It's meditative, okay. "It's mostly just what you'd expect but sometimes I find something cool. And since no one else is around, it gets to be my discovery." Like, forever. Just call her Magellan.
Yeah, it's pretty quick to get out here if you... take a griffon. Abby watches Blunder bound back up into the sky with a sense of foreboding but — well, she doesn't have to think about it right now. So she won't.
"Ready."
Clarisse is excited. She's grinning as Abby takes her pack from her and pulls it on. It's making her smile too — there's a warmth in her chest that looking at Clarisse has been giving her lately, an extra niceness whenever she's around.
"Yeah, I think I'll call it New New York," Clarisse answers without hesitation. She hikes her pack up tighter on her shoulders, grins over at Abby, and sets off up the mountain.
It's more a deer trail than a walking path—sometimes they have to walk single file to avoid getting scratched by bushes, and a couple times there are larger boulders they need to climb up and over to keep going. After about fifteen minutes they reach the bank of a river and Clarisse gets visibly pleased about it, rubbing her hands together in a very self-satisfied way.
"Bad," Abby says immediately, and laughs. And then they're off, following Clarisse's path through the woods, not talking much. They don't need to, the silence — the one between them, the forest is incredibly active — is comfortable and Abby finds herself slowly settling into their pace in time, enjoying the stretch in her legs. Clarisse seems to enjoy going in a straight line no matter what, even if this means pushing between trees or dense foliage, or clambering up rocks. It's funny.
Abby privately thinks she could keep doing this for hours, actually, following Clarisse around wherever she thinks they both should go.
"You're so excited about it," she notes, hauling herself down the other side of a bank. Affection is making her tone playful. "It's pretty cute."
Clarisse rolls her eyes. "Shut up, no it isn't." But she's pleased that Abby thinks she's cute. She isn't above being cute in this situation.
"Mostly I'm excited that I remembered how to get here," she admits, as they begin to make their way upstream. She takes them back into the woods a little, keeping the river close enough to hear it but choosing a pathway that doesn't keep it in direct sight. "Imagine if I'd taken you the wrong fucking way."
She knows Abby would have pretended to like wherever they ended up, even if it was just some field or weirdly shaped rock. Because Abby likes to get out and move, to climb and explore just like she does, so it would be the whole journey rather than the destination thing. And because Abby likes her, too.
But Clarisse still wants something worth it at the end of this. Payoff.
That she's pleased with herself for correctly remembering the way is pretty cute too but Abby decides she's gonna keep her mouth shut about it this time; she's smiling while she follows Clarisse upstream. The sound of the river is nice, the smooth rush of water over stones. This reminds her of travelling with Lev. It's easy and she's able to enjoy all of it, the breeze rustling all the foliage and Clarisse walking a little ahead of her to direct them both, the sun punching through the canopy every so often to shower them in warmth. Before she came here she was only ever aware of her environment to keep herself from getting hurt by it.
"Then we would have gone the wrong way," she says. "I don't care."
The journey is good. She rumples her braid to get it off the back of her sweaty neck and grins, extending her arms up over her head in a good stretch. When she tilts her head to one side she feels the stretch extend up the side of her neck into her jaw. "This is really nice. Doing this with you, I mean."
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She doesn't. She keeps her face pressed into the back of Clarisse's shoulder where she can feel muscle working under skin, and smell her, the shampoo she's still using that makes her hair nice and soft. Whenever she runs her hands through it it slips through her fingers. Abby thinks about that instead of how far away the ground is, and Clarisse was right about the flight on being a few minutes but she still slips off the griffon with a shudder onto legs that are wobblier than she'd like.
"Okay." Still breathing deeply. "See? Fine."
No problem.
no subject
"Yep," she settles on.
They've landed in the mountains, but not so high up that it's much colder than it was in the Gallows. The ground underfoot is soft, a little spongy feeling but not wet enough for mud. She couldn't have asked for better at this time of year.
"We have to hike up a little," she says, figuring Abby won't mind.
no subject
"Okay." She's starting to get excited about where they're off to, noting the surroundings with relish now that they're back on the ground and her eyes are open again. She announces the start of her question, "This 'cool' place," and her voice seems so loud because it only has the sounds of nature to contend with. Trees blowing in the wind, insects and birds... It's amazing to be able to come out to somewhere she's never been before and not be afraid to raise her voice. Abby doesn't think she'll ever get over it. "Did you just find it, or something?"
no subject
Once the saddle is off, she places it in relative safety against a tree and watches as Blunder stretches first her back legs, then her front, and then launches back into the air. She'll fly around doing griffon shit for the afternoon and come back when Clarisse calls her.
"If I have extra time I like to explore in the mountains here or out by the lodge." It's meditative, okay. "It's mostly just what you'd expect but sometimes I find something cool. And since no one else is around, it gets to be my discovery." Like, forever. Just call her Magellan.
"Ready?"
no subject
"Ready."
Clarisse is excited. She's grinning as Abby takes her pack from her and pulls it on. It's making her smile too — there's a warmth in her chest that looking at Clarisse has been giving her lately, an extra niceness whenever she's around.
"So you got a name for this place, then?"
no subject
It's more a deer trail than a walking path—sometimes they have to walk single file to avoid getting scratched by bushes, and a couple times there are larger boulders they need to climb up and over to keep going. After about fifteen minutes they reach the bank of a river and Clarisse gets visibly pleased about it, rubbing her hands together in a very self-satisfied way.
"It's not far now."
no subject
Abby privately thinks she could keep doing this for hours, actually, following Clarisse around wherever she thinks they both should go.
"You're so excited about it," she notes, hauling herself down the other side of a bank. Affection is making her tone playful. "It's pretty cute."
no subject
"Mostly I'm excited that I remembered how to get here," she admits, as they begin to make their way upstream. She takes them back into the woods a little, keeping the river close enough to hear it but choosing a pathway that doesn't keep it in direct sight. "Imagine if I'd taken you the wrong fucking way."
She knows Abby would have pretended to like wherever they ended up, even if it was just some field or weirdly shaped rock. Because Abby likes to get out and move, to climb and explore just like she does, so it would be the whole journey rather than the destination thing. And because Abby likes her, too.
But Clarisse still wants something worth it at the end of this. Payoff.
no subject
"Then we would have gone the wrong way," she says. "I don't care."
The journey is good. She rumples her braid to get it off the back of her sweaty neck and grins, extending her arms up over her head in a good stretch. When she tilts her head to one side she feels the stretch extend up the side of her neck into her jaw. "This is really nice. Doing this with you, I mean."