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[gotup]

action/text/pictures/whatever I'm easy

something less lazy coming in another two years

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[myheartglows]

[ that impassive mask stares back at him. then, tony removes his helmet again, holds it under one arm (a more casual stance than before, but just as personal with the eye contact), and says, short and simple and so sincere, ] I owe you.

[gotup]

No, you don't.

[He softens slightly. Whoever he was before, whatever he was, there are some things that run bone-deep. They'd tried to change that, but they hadn't succeeded entirely; free from their control, he clings to the only thing he can be certain about. His morals might not come into question often out here, but when they do, he stands by them.]

You would have died if I'd left you there. I couldn't let that happen.

[myheartglows]

[ of course the gion's noble. of course. tony almost rolls his eyes. ] Not a real strong case for your argument, gotta say. In your own words, I would've died, right? Ergo, I owe you.

[gotup]

Is there a reason why this is relevant?

[He steps to the side for a moments and rummages through the packs, coming up with some jerky of some kind. He makes a face at the plastic it's wrapped in, but rips it open and starts chewing on a couple strips.]

[myheartglows]

[ tony purses his mouth shut. he could say, "thanks for helping me, see you never!" and jet off into the night like the gion so obviously wants, but something else roots tony in place. some need he has trouble articulating. the gion risked his own security to help him, and human contact must be dangerous for him if he's staying so hidden. tony can guess why–word gets out, and everything from cat enthusiasts to nat-geo would be on him. hell, the world would be. the gion just wants to j.d. salinger his way through life. yet he helped tony anyway, and here they are again meeting by complete chance. it has to mean something. doesn't it?

don't waste your life.

after a period of silence, tony motions to the packs, his tone lower, chastised. ] ... You need food? [ jerky can't be enough for the gion's size. he should be eating, like, a whole antelope. how much big game is out here? ]

[gotup]

It never hurts to have it. I eat a lot, and it helps stretch things out.

[Never having quite enough to eat seems like a natural state of being to him. He has enough to survive, but more than that? He can't remember ever having enough.]

There are sheep and goats, [he offers awkwardly.] Small deer. I've killed bears a few times. I move around a lot, to keep from depleting the resources. If I have to, I take from the herds, but- it doesn't seem right. Folks out here work hard enough for what they have without having something like me steal from them.

[There are those damn morals of his again. To say nothing of the fact that a large predator depleting the herds at the rate he could - much more than the area's few natural predators - would certainly draw notice. He can't remove all traces of his presence.]

I don't exactly talk to many people, [he adds with a certain self-conscious wry tone, well aware of how awkward he sounds right now.]

[myheartglows]

[ for the first time, tony wonders if the lone ranger act for the gion is a choice or a necessity and simple fact of life. either way, an idea is forming. a crazy one, but he's had crazier, and recently, too.) ] Any others like you?

[gotup]

[He shakes his head, and his mane moves slightly with the motion.]

Just me.

[It's not totally impossible that they'd made other hybrids that he'd never found out about, but it's unlikely, or so he thinks.]

I'd hope anyone else would have the sense to live somewhere warmer.

[Because it gets damn cold up here sometimes - not as cold as Siberia, but there are times when he has to huddle under furs to stay warm.

(He's considered just letting the cold take him before, but he's not sure it would kill him, and it's not worth the risk.)]

[myheartglows]

No kidding, [ tony mumbles, mainly to himself, eyes drifting to the cave walls and mind drifting with them: in it he's wrapped up in tattered wool and scratchy blankets in front of a coal fire. he turns away to break himself out of it (doesn't like to dwell); the memory clears like smoke and he's the wind. affecting casual, tony observes the gion's nest. ] So, would you? If you could?

[ direct again, to the gion: ] Live someplace warmer?

[gotup]

Oh, sure, maybe I could have a nice cattle ranch in Texas.

[Not that he's being sarcastic or anything. Not him!]

Hard for me to get anywhere else without being noticed. I don't exactly blend in.

[The jungles of southeast Asia aren't a total impossibility, but they don't have the sheer desolation he's found here. It's borderline inhabitable for humans, which makes it perfect for his needs.]

So it's kind of a moot point.

[myheartglows]

[ tony's head tilts. the gion has some decidedly human knowledge and characteristics. was he around humans before? maybe captured, separated from his species? (was he human before?) ] I was thinking more ... private island-y. But you're right. Transport would be tricky. If only you knew someone with a multitude of connections and, let's say, a private jet.

[gotup]

[Of course he connects the dots. It's not exactly hard. But his eyes narrow warily, and the tip of his tail twitches.]

There's nothing to keep you from using me.

[He thinks about being shut up, being forced to kill, and his muscles tense slightly.]

[myheartglows]

Fair. [ eyes aside, they gain a distant quality, until with a blink tony picks himself back up, the levity just a bit too forced. ] I wouldn't trust anyone either in your ... fur.

[gotup]

It'd have to be a damn big island, anyway, to sustain a large enough population of animals for me to eat.

[His tone is almost apologetic. It's a kind offer, if it's real, but - well, that's the problem. Something about accepting charity sits wrong with him, even if he doesn't know why.]

[myheartglows]

Could merge it with your cattle ranch idea, [ tony throws back, seemingly earnest, but knowing full well it was sarcasm. ] Honestly, I'm just spitballin' here, [ he admits as he eases himself down onto a convenient boulder with a grunt. the helmet he rests by his feet. ] I'm not sure what to do.

[gotup]

I told you, you don't owe me anything.

[Especially not when an apparent gift could be so easily turned around on him. Once he's in a plane, he's as good as trapped.]

Nowhere to land a plane around here, anyway.

[Which is pretty obvious, but he feels obligated to point that out.]

Look, I was here a long time before I found you in the desert, and I'll be here after you leave. You don't need to worry about me; I can take care of myself.

[myheartglows]

[ in the dark of the cave, only moon- and starlight spilling inside, tony tries to read answers from him. but whatever the gion's story is and whatever happens from here, the one thing tony knows for sure is this: ] You took a risk on helping me, [ he states head-on, solemn and resolute. then his eyes drop; what follows makes him too vulnerable. ] Maybe it didn't mean anything to you, but it does to me. I can't just let it lie. [ even if he maybe should. ]

[gotup]

[He tilts his head slightly, and the light catches his golden eyes.]

I've never helped a human in the entire time I've been out here. It's not that it doesn't mean anything, it's that I'm worried about what you might do to me. I don't live out here because I like it, I live out here because it's safe.

[Safe for him, safe for the people he might be forced to kill otherwise. It's win-win.]

[myheartglows]

And how's that been treating you?

[ lots of cold, empty nights, tony imagines and better than people might think. sure you can sleep at night secure in your place in the world but you'll still wake up with nothing. ]

[gotup]

Better than I was before I came here.

[His tone is quiet, but firm. He doesn't say just what his life was like before, but it's easy enough to read between the lines. Sure, he sleeps in a cold cave, but he's free. That's what matters to him.]

[myheartglows]

Still lotta room for improvement, way I see it, [ tony points out glibly then stands with his helmet in hand. ] I won't force you into anything. But I'd like to keep a line open. That way, if you ever need or want my help, you can reach me.

[gotup]

Sure, I'll go out and send you a telegram if I need anything.

[What? They still have telegrams, right?]

[myheartglows]

Ooo, make it a strippergram, [ tony throws back, unfazed. ] But nah, you let me handle it. I got an idea. I'll slap it together and be back to deliver it around, I'm guessing, mid-morning?

[gotup]

[A slow blink.]

A what?

[He waves it off. That's unimportant.]

If you insist, [he allows begrudgingly. Coming back by day doesn't seem safe to him; he's largely nocturnal because it's easier to escape notice at night.]

[myheartglows]

I do. Insist, that is. [ tony fits the helmet over his head; on come the eyes and voice. ] I didn't catch your name. I'm Tony, by the way, or–[ he spreads out his arms– ] Iron Man, as you see me now.