Oh, the bristling that would have had any self-respecting porcupine turning green with envy if Tal had known Michael's thoughts! Luckily for everyone involved he couldn't, and the other man's simple - if weirdly uncertain? - answer was enough for the courier to give a jerky nod. His scowl deepened and he filled his lungs to call for his mischievous companion again--
But instead of going on his merry way to his next heart attack, the stranger spoke up and Tal exhaled sharply, dark brows beetling together in annoyance. "Saw what?" he asked crossly, following the other man's stare to... a rose branch? In a whole ass maze full of rose hedges? Oooookay...
"S'a nice flower," he assured the old weirdo, starting to edge past him. "But, uh. Maybe don't try t'pick it." That was practically being neighborly, giving out free advice like that. Basically he'd done his good deed for the day and he felt no shame at all in leaving the other man to fend for himself.
Well. Almost no shame. Not enough to do more than make him pause at least, weighing whether or not the geezer would survive on his own if Tal abandoned him for an ungrateful dragon...
But in the end his companion won out over a stranger. Tal bobbed an awkward nod to him and gave a half-hearted wave as he forged deeper into the maze, where he'd eventually find Boreal napping in a patch of sunshine amidst a scatter of rose petals.
~Fin~
But instead of going on his merry way to his next heart attack, the stranger spoke up and Tal exhaled sharply, dark brows beetling together in annoyance. "Saw what?" he asked crossly, following the other man's stare to... a rose branch? In a whole ass maze full of rose hedges? Oooookay...
"S'a nice flower," he assured the old weirdo, starting to edge past him. "But, uh. Maybe don't try t'pick it." That was practically being neighborly, giving out free advice like that. Basically he'd done his good deed for the day and he felt no shame at all in leaving the other man to fend for himself.
Well. Almost no shame. Not enough to do more than make him pause at least, weighing whether or not the geezer would survive on his own if Tal abandoned him for an ungrateful dragon...
But in the end his companion won out over a stranger. Tal bobbed an awkward nod to him and gave a half-hearted wave as he forged deeper into the maze, where he'd eventually find Boreal napping in a patch of sunshine amidst a scatter of rose petals.
~Fin~
