time is short ( owen / open )

[Payton Reyer]

Really, if there was anything that Payton should be doing, it was probably sleeping. He wasn't exactly prone to sleeping if he had a choice in the matter. Sleep meant dreams and visions, and frankly, Payton wanted some time where his mind was his own.

However, that wasn't really possible anymore. He was traveling with the group through a desert in an alternate version of an alternate world, as far as he could discern, and worse, he was considered their representative; their leader. Payton didn't even know if he was ready for such a thing, but unfortunately for him, he had decided to put it to a vote, and other people had decided he was. Not to mention, there was the impending death hanging over his head...

He let his eyes open and looked over at the sleeping keelin, then quietly moved so as not to disturb her. That was something that was nice-- she had come over and asked about his well-being, and had even offered a shoulder. Though she was no Becky, she seemed like an honest and nice girl, one who didn't exactly have much to hide. He respected that. After he managed to squirm away from her, he took off his cloak, draped it over her, and straightened up to crack his back and stretch his arms.

He glanced to the mouth of the cave, and spotted Owen with a bit of a start. Wasn't he taking third watch? Payton blinked and looked down at the wall he had been leaning against. Had he actually slept? Goodness. He grabbed his staff from the wall, twirling it casually into a walking stick position, and then started making his way towards the mouth of the cave, coming up quietly behind Owen.

"How's it been?" He asked Owen, taking a seat beside him as he did.

[Owen]

When the group had finally spotted a suitable place to bed down for the night, Owen had more-or-less planted himself against the cave wall near the entrance and stayed there throughout the night. Tobias had offered to take third watch, but he figured the displaced bartender could use some rest, as could the rest of their group - They hadn't only just been traveling through difficult terrain, but they'd had to make some big decisions at the temple earlier. Difficult decisi-

... Well, alright, only one decision was really all that hard to make. Aside from maybe Jaxson, he'd apparently been the only candidate for Master of the Guard for their new Clan. And everybody, Owen included, was more than happy  to elect Tobias as their Clan Healer. The guy was, as far as Owen knew, the only Blood-aligned person they had in the group - The Sword didn't quite count, he thought - And he had the most qualifications as a healer. And at the very least, he knew how to mix a good White Russian. That was almost on par with being able to heal people at a touch.

He yawned - Feeling a bit tired was some collateral damage from not getting a lot of sleep lately, but that was something he could worry about later. No. Hardest decision was picking out a Grand Master. It was a necessary position for somebody to hold, but there were only one or two people who seemed to be willing to throw their hats into the ring; At least, capable people who he was willing to consider. Jean had honestly been his first choice for the position, after seeing how uncomfortable  Payton was getting at the thought of-

'... Oh yeah. Payton. Speak of the Devil,' Owen thought to himself, visibly blinking a few times and turning to look at his battle buddy-slash-Grand Master. It took about a second of pondering for him to get all his thoughts together, compose himself, and speak up; Hopefully without saying something stupid. "... Well. It's a bit rough hearin' that your friend is slated to die and become the Gondolier of Death™. But it doesn't have quite the same punch as your new friend kissin' you, then skippin' off to Seattle for God knows how long. So..." He gives a one armed shrug, reaching up to give Payton a light pat on the shoulder, "... Could be worse."

[keelin]

Keeling slept relatively soundly for being a young girl, sucked into a magic world, camping out in a rocky cave, surrounded by potentially dangerous strangers. But hey, who was counting! Lashes fluttered lightly as the girl stirred, dark pools only just glimpsing Payton as he placed the cloak over her and made his way towards the entrance of the cave. The girl tugged it around herself and attempted to drift back to sleep. But her whiskers twitched and she found herself struggling to catch bits of murmured conversation.

So much for sleeping. Besides, she'd had plenty the last two nights anyway. Had it already been that long? Feeling like an eavesdropper, Keelin sat up. The cloak slipped down and pooled in her lap. She was an awkward duck and knew that she might make a fool of herself, again, if she tried to conversate with them. But she couldn't help her curiousity. She may as well try to make some friends. Even if one of them was meant to ferry your soul into oblivion...

She unfolded her lanky body into a stretch and stood. She narrowed her eyes, first right, then left. Confident no one was /exactly/ looking her way, Keelin twirled the cloak out and secured it over her shoulders. She couldn't hold back the childish giggle. She felt like a super hero. Draping one end over her arm, she brought it up to her face, large dark eyes peering over the cloaked arm. After skulking about for a few steps, she thrust both arms out to her sides with the cloth gripped in her fists, the cloak fluttering out like large bat wings. At least in her mind. "Let's get dangerous~" her murmuring voice bounced off the cavern walls, echoing her louder than she intended. Keelin froze, her silhouette silently emblazoned on the stone with the fire burning behind her.

[Payton Reyer]

Payton visibly winced at his words. His lips were all curled, his head was ducked down, and he looked apologetic. "Yeah..." He commented. What did he say to Owen's dig at his predicament? He couldn't really say anything, other than maybe his constant excuse that he couldn't picture anyone actually believing him before this point. No one had believed in his visions when he had been on Earth. Why would anyone believe him about his situation now? It was a subconscious thing.

But then Owen thought to mention Kismet, and Payton's lips tightened. His eyes glazed over quietly as he looked up at the stars, as if he were caught up in his own thoughts for a moment and resisting the urge to speak. It was that faraway gaze that he normally had when he was trying to keep his mouth shut.

Thankfully, before Payton could speak, Keelin had her Darkwing Duck moment, and Payton blinked and turned his head slowly to look at her. He stared, his mouth opened, and then it suddenly turned into a grin.

"My God, she didn't." He stifled a laugh and looked at Owen with a grin. "I left my cloak on Keelin so that she wouldn't get cold. Apparently she put it to good use."

[Owen]

    'Well. Bollocks. So much for not sayin' somethin' stupid.'

    Owen regretted the quip almost as soon as he'd finished blurting it out. He didn't miss the reaction it got from Payton; The wince, the way he put his head down like that. Goddamn it. As much as Owen thought himself the comedian, he had to stop talking like that - this wasn't a performance for some audience, this was talking with somebody, and snarky self-pitying commentary like that wasn't going to help things. It wasn't the kid's fault, even Owen didn't think he'd be taking it like he was. It was just a lot to think about. The fact that his buddy was going to die at some point, and there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it... It had left him a tiny bit irate in the time since. A fact which was readily apparent in his speech.  

    The kinda-sorta Dragon-y Human let out a sigh and tightened his grip on Payton's shoulder a little, turning his head to look at his friend. He needed to apologize; To clear things up, explain that he was just being a bit acerbic out of reflex, because he cared, and all that emotional ju-

    ... Waitaminute. Did somebody just quote Darkwing Duck?

    Owen momentarily lost any and all bearing on his current line of thinking as he shifted in his makeshift bed/seat to look at Keelin, a vaguely metallic clunking noise almost audibly coming from his skull as the metaphorical gears stopped turning. He blinked, then raised his other hand to give the big dark-eyed girl a little wave, a genuine half-smile coming to his face. "Well good mornin', sleepy duckling! Care to join us for some middle-of-the-night discussions by the campfire?" He pat the section of cave beside himself and Payton, absentmindedly adjusting his other arm so he was comically leaning on the little-er red-haired guy as he did so. Smooth, Owen. Smooth.

[keelin]

Keelin turned sharply, cloak fanning around her dramatically. She'd been spotted!! The girl offered the two of them a sheepish, crooked grin that was commonplace for her. She cleared her throat, shifting the cloth off of her shoulders and slinking over towards the two. "Er.. sorreh." She hung her head a bit, offering Payton back his cloak. "Thankye.."

She took a seat next to Owen where he'd patted, inviting her to late night musings! How exciting. She studied him for several seconds, squinting in the dim light. "So, what're we talkin' 'bout?" The fire glinted a bit off his arm. She leaned closer, clearly invading his space but not really realizing it. Dark blue eyes glittered as she whispered quietly, "Are those.. scales?!" Very slowly, she raised a hand, extending her index finger out as if to investigate her inquiry by touch. Gaze flicked up to glimpse him for just a moment, silently pleading for permission. She may have been quite close to physical contact, but it was rude to just go around touching people. She guessed..

[Payton Reyer]

Payton took back his cloak and fastened it around his neck, jostling his dangling earring as he did so. When Keelin started to go off on Owen's scales, Payton smiled with a melancholic air. As she kept gushing, Payton raised a tentative hand up to his own pointed ears and started fiddling with the points, and stared into the night sky.

Harpeah had brought him more struggle and yet more life than he had experienced since the car accident and his coma. His visions had gotten stronger, as had his narcolepsy, but yet he felt a lot more at home here than he ever had on Earth. At least here, if he had a vision, or talked to a spirit, or fell over unconscious, he wasn't considered crazy. There were crazier things in this messed up world than a little kid who talked to himself. Like...

Payton's smile faded as he stared up at the night sky. He probably should warn him. That girl wasn't what she seemed like she was. Not Keelin, but the other one... the little thief who stole Owen's heart.

[Owen]

    Lifting his arm off of Payton and no longer using him as a sort of ad-hoc armrest, Owen scoots over a little to give Keelin some room to sit down. He canted his head to the side a little, cocking an eyebrow curiously at her studious gaze, wondering why she was looking so squinty at him for a second - Maybe it was just the firelight messing with her night vision? - Before she asked what they were talking about. Hm. That was a bit of a touch subject...

    "... Er. Well, we were just discussin' some things about- What? Scales?" He dully blinked a few times, before the gears in his head started turning again. 'Oh, yeah,' he thought, looking down at his arms. He had taken off his leather gauntlets earlier when they settled down for camp and forgotten about it, leaving his dark, almost-black scales free to shimmer in the dancing firelight. It'd been a while since he had even remembered he had those! Without a second thought, Owen lifted up his arms and held them out for Keelin. "Heh, yeah. Sorta forgot I had these..." He shrugged. "They just kinda popped up one day!"

    Maybe he should've been more inquisitive about the inky, almost armour-like scales that had just appeared on his arms without much warning. He didn't even really remember what had prompted them to appear, just that he had them for a while... Maybe he could ask somebody about it later. Right now, he was actually starting to cheer up a little, seeing the curious glimmer in the girl's eyes, talkin' with Payton. He could've sworn he was thinking about something important earlier... Agh. If it was so important, he would've remembered it - He could think about things later, for now, he could afford to lower his guard a little.