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Cimmerian’s grip tightened a little more as they rounded a sharp curve in the road, his hands gently balling into the fabric of Clef’s jacket. They had been going around these sharp turns for about a half-hour now and yet he still hadn’t quite gotten used to how much the motorcycle leaned when it turned, Clef having insisted that Cimmerian didn’t need to worry about leaning into the turns with him, joking that Cimmerian was too much of a twig to really have an impact either way.
He couldn’t quite tell how long ago it had been when Gerald had timidly fetched him from his shift, insisting that there was a surprise waiting for him outside in the parking lot. When they had arrived, Cimmerian had to admit that it truly had been a pleasant surprise to see Clef, who insisted that they had just gotten in and were helping out at the site for a couple of weeks before heading off, but had quickly brushed off each of the concerns about so little time in exchange for pressuring Cimmerian to come to check out the real surprise.
The only thing that Cimmerian was sure of was that it had been a few hours since Clef had tossed him the bright yellow and black striped helmet and they’d started this little adventure.
So far, there’d only been a single stop maybe an hour or so back where they’d pulled into a small dodgy looking roadside town for gas and for Clef to pick up some food that had been quickly tossed into the small trunk space, Clef insisting that Cimmerian would appreciate it more once they got to the surprise.
They rounded another corner and for a moment, Cimmerian shifted uncomfortably behind Clef, momentarily convinced that the motorcycle was going to tip and they’d be tossed over the edge.
However, they passed the curve and no such fate occurred, Clef already leaning gently into the next turn as they continued up the mountainscape.
Cimmerian had to admit, even despite the somewhat awkward nature of his first ride on this deathtrap, it was admittedly somewhat pleasant.
They’d been driving between a valley area for a little while now, dipping gently between two gorgeous mountains with grand rolling hills and cliffs on either side, the moonlight casting them in a gentle and dim bluish light.
It was nothing like the midwest; barren, dreary, and with only seemingly endless cornstalks on either side. It was almost foreign to him—after spending so long cooped up inside the foundation with no real need to leave for months on end, he’d never truly had time to appreciate the surrounding areas of the site that had been carefully tucked away in the desert hills.
That didn’t mean that this all was entirely alien to him though.
At one point in the night, when Cimmerian had been letting his mind wander while keeping a loose grip around Clef in front of him and the sound of radio music faintly flitted between the loud whir of the motorcycle, he had let his gaze drift up and had been astounded by the view.
The skies were so clear, unpolluted by any light from the barren road. With only them on this long stretch of broken-down highway, it truly was a stunning view to take in all of the glittering stars above them that Cimmerian had nearly entirely forgotten about.
He’d always enjoyed looking at the stars; perhaps the one truly exceptional thing about his life back before the Foundation or university, his life before then.
He could always distinctly remember wandering out late at night, sitting in the fields with all the ticks, mosquitos, gnats, and other such pests with their little annoyances that paled in comparison to just how gorgeous the stars always were.
He’d left that behind.
Moved to a city to study, the glittering lights of the city always snuffing out any potential to see the skies just beyond those clouds.
He hadn’t really missed it that much, only ever remembering it the few times he glanced up on particularly bland nights.
Cimmerian supposed he might as well had forgotten about the existence of those stars by the time he joined the Foundation a few years back. There were other things to focus on. More important things like paperwork, coworkers, hell even staying alive was a concern of his more times than he would like to admit.
But as he had let his gaze drift up and had noticed the skies above both of them, he couldn’t help but softly smile.
That had been at least an hour ago. Ever since they had gotten into the mountains on the bike, Cimmerian had been trying to focus on the particularly hideous bright red and yellow Hawaiian patterned fabric in front of him so as to not let all the twists and turns get to his stomach.
“You doing alright back there?” Clef shouted from in front of him, his head briefly shifting to glance back, his expression unreadable from his own bright pink helmet.
“I’m fine,” Cimmerian lied, trying to not look up.
“Pardon?”
“I said I’m fine!” Cimmerian shouted a little louder, the motorcycle’s noise drowning out his words yet again.
There was a pause of silence as Clef focussed on leaning into a turn, Cimmerian forcing his eyes shut for a couple of moments and wrinkling his nose a little as he staved off his growing nausea. As much as he appreciated this friendly little outing, he sincerely wished that Clef would drive a little slower.
He opened his eyes again after a few moments, noticing Clef’s helmet turned back to the mirror, obviously looking at him.
“I’m fine,” Cimmerian repeated in a shout.
They both fell silent for a little bit longer before Clef spoke. “How about we pull over here and hike the rest of the way?” Clef asked.
Cimmerian considered it. He knew that Clef was only asking for his sake and while Cimmerian appreciated it, he still hadn’t quite come to understand how Clef could pick up on his discomfort that quickly and with the helmet hiding his nearly sickly expressions nonetheless. “Sure,” Cimmerian shouted. “I would like that.”
He heard Clef say something, perhaps a quick ‘sure’ or ‘sounds good’ before he started to carefully slow down as they reached a small dip in the road, finally coming to a stop and catching the motorcycle with his leg as they pulled to a full stop.
Cimmerian shifted on the motorcycle as Clef swiftly hopped off and tugged his helmet off, taking a moment to smooth his hair as he held the helmet in one arm and watched Cimmerian swing a leg to the other side of the bike, sitting on it as he took a few moments to collect himself before Cimmerian started working on tugging his own helmet off with a small exhale.
“Sorry, I guess I’m just used to going pretty quick on these things,” Clef said with a small laugh, giving Cimmerian a faintly sympathetic look as Cimmerian peered up at him, still in the process of trying to settle his stomach.
Cimmerian gave a small exhale of a laugh, “Yeah, I can tell. How did you even get so fast on mountains?”
Clef chuckled. “Just a lot of practice.”
Cimmerian gave a small smile, sighing a final time as he started to stand up, Clef offering a hand and helping pull him off the bike before taking his helmet and going to the small trunk space at the back of the bike, fishing out the paper bag from the diner and a couple of bottles, pushing one into Cimmerian’s hands as he worked on tucking the helmets into the trunk. Cimmerian raised an eyebrow, inspecting the bottle.
His expression brightened.
It was one of his favorite drinks, if not, his absolute favorite. A nice red wine, prepared by fermenting in a specific type of scotch barrel. He’d tried it a few years back when he had first joined the Foundation and had been hooked ever since, rarely being able to find a bottle of it.
It was nice but it seemed a little fancy for whatever Clef was planning, not that Cimmerian minded, he was just a little surprised that Clef could get their hands on this of all things.
“Where did you get this?”
Clef glanced back. “Oh,” He hummed, pushing Cimmerian’s helmet into the trunk and closing it. “I saw it in Gears’ office.”
Cimmerian’s expression fell a little. “You didn’t steal it, did you?”
Clef laughed. “No, I didn’t steal it,” He assured him, grinning as he turned back around, his own miscellaneous bottle tucked under one arm with the paper bag tucked under the other. “Gears owed me a favor, I just decided to cash in.”
Cimmerian glanced back at the bottle before quirking an eyebrow, smiling a little doubtedly. “Did you save his life or something?”
Clef laughed again, turning around and starting up the next small hill, Cimmerian following behind and already beginning to pick at the cover on the top. “Something like that.”
Cimmerian gave a sharp exhale of amusement, finally tugging the cover off.
He paused. “Do we have a-”
Clef held out a corkscrew with a knowing smile, Cimmerian pausing in surprise before returning a softer smile and taking it, working on freeing the cork. “Thanks,” He hummed.
It took a little bit to get the corkscrew wedged in and a bit longer to work it off as they kept walking, taking care to not accidentally drop the bottle when the cork finally popped out with a gentle but satisfying pop .
Cimmerian raised the bottle to his nose, taking a small whiff of the peaty wine and finding himself unable to help but give a small smile before he raised it to his lips and took a sip.
As corny and cliche as it sounds, that sip felt like heaven .
It had been so long since he’d been able to enjoy this particular drink, the last time that he had tasted it being at least a year or two prior considering how hard these bottles were to come by.
Clef gave a small smile as Cimmerian wiped his mouth with his thumb, causing Cimmerian to raise an eyebrow. “What?”
“Nothing,” Clef said quickly, adjusting the bag in his arms as he started working on opening his own bottle.
Cimmerian gave a small laugh. “Come on, what is it?” He asked, speeding up his pace a little to catch up with the other person, taking one glance at him struggling to open the bottle with his arms full before swiftly plucking it from his hands and ripping the label off, figuring that it was the least he could do after Clef had driven them all the way out there. “I’ve got it,” He hummed softly as he tucked his own bottle into his other arm and fiddled with the other.
Cimmerian couldn’t help but find it a little odd how Clef didn’t respond to the previous topic of conversation but chose to not dwell on it too long. He’d learned that one of the keys to having a pleasant exchange with Clef was to not press anything too hard; even if the topic was something as simple as a strange look.
“Do you need a bottle opener? I thought I put one in my pocket before I left,” Clef mused.
“Unnecessary,” Cimmerian softly responded, twisting off the cork from his wine bottle that was still solidly fixed on the end of the corkscrew. Once it was off, he pushed the cork into his pocket and pressed the sharp end of the corkscrew under the lip of the cap and pressed.
With quick precision from years of practice, the cap popped off easily, Cimmerian catching the cap before it could fall and holding the bottle out to Clef. “What did you even bring for yourself?” He asked, glancing at the label as he handed it back, Clef quickly trying to snatch it back before he could.
Unfortunately, Cimmerian was faster.
It was some cheap label that could be gotten at almost any grocery store. Frankly, he’d never met anyone who actually drank that brand. He’d heard his family joke about a cousin who liked it years ago, but that cousin had always insisted that they like a different and only vaguely more respectable brand.
“Oh my lord, you really drink that stuff?” He couldn’t help but laugh, failing to stifle it with his hand as he pushed the corkscrew closed against his hip and tucked it in his pocket.
“Damn it, Bright warned me that you were pretentious with your drinks but frankly I wasn’t expecting you to be like this ,” Clef laughed. “You’re almost as bad as Gears.”
“Oh Clef, there’s a key difference between Gears and I,” He began. “If I say that your choice of drink tastes like piss-water, you can easily assume that it’s just an exaggeration. If Gears says that your choice of drink tastes like piss-water—well, then I have bad news for you.” Cimmerian hummed as he walked a few paces ahead of Clef, raising his own drink and taking a quick sip. “That said, your choice of drink tastes like piss-water and I am inclined to believe that if Dr. Gears were here, he would agree.”
Clef gave a small exhale of amusement. “Well, it’s sure a lot cheaper and I can find it just about anywhere, so I’m inclined to believe that your pretentious ass should give it a rest with negging on my drink choice, huh?”
Cimmerian gave another small laugh again. He paused though as he noticed something tucked between his grip on the bottle. Looking at it, it took him a moment to recall what it was.
“Oh!” He said sharply, spinning around to face Clef and stopping, Clef dramatically stopping in his tracks and raising his hands like a criminal caught red-handed. Cimmerian did his best to ignore the visual gag, holding the bottle cap out. “I nearly forgot, here you go!”
Clef’s expression scrunched a little in confusion. “You want me to hold your trash or something?”
Cimmerian gave an exhale of amusement, his smile softening. “No, it’s for you.”
“Why would I want that?”
Cimmerian opened his mouth to speak before hesitating, glancing off to the side for a moment. “I mean-”
“Is it something like a superstition of yours? Didn’t really take you for the type,” Clef chuckled as he continued walking, giving him a playful nudge as he continued up the mountain. “You hold onto it, we can put it in the trunk when we get back to the bike.”
Dr. Cimmerian remained in place, blinking at Clef for a few moments as the other man continued walking. Cimmerian opened his mouth, unsure of precisely what he’d say about the cap before hesitating again, his eyebrows furrowing together as he looked down at the cap, his expression falling slightly.
After a final moment of hesitation, he tried to push back the slight sense of disappointment as he pushed the cap into his pants pocket, his fingers grazing the small cork sitting neatly in the same pocket. Letting his thumb rest gently on the wooden material for a few moments, his pointer finger gently touching the cool metallic cap, he gave a small noiseless sigh and pulled his hand back out of his pocket, taking another sip from his drink as he sprinted to catch up with Clef. “Wait up!”
It was just a silly tradition. It didn’t actually matter if Clef followed it or not.
Cimmerian steadily worked on his bottle as he walked, all of the feelings of disappointment slowly drifting to the back of his mind in a pleasantly fuzzy muddled heap the further he got in the bottle.
He’d already rambled on about five different tangents by this point.
He’d kicked it off with a rather large rant about Dr. Bright, going on and on about how pesky he’s been ever since they got turned into an SCP and how he’s been so careless with his body now that he’s functionally immortal, Cimmerian being delighted when Clef mentioned the fact that he’d heard rumors from the higher-ups that Bright’s next body would probably be an ape of some sort since they now knew that he could bind to animals.
After that rant, it had shifted wildly between various other coworkers, hopping from Dr. Bright to Dr. Rights to Dr. Gears, and eventually to Dr. Iceberg; of which Dr. Cimmerian had plenty of words to say about the man considering how unpleasant and outright rude the other man had been countless times before. Frankly, he agreed with the O5 decision that the man should never be promoted, but it was hardly because of his ‘usefulness’ . That conversation had only come to an end when Clef had pointed out that the poor man had to work for Dr. Gears and deserved a little slack, of which Cimmerian had disagreed with but quickly shifted onto another topic.
Next, if he remembered correctly, it had moved to rambling about paperwork, then to a few incidents around the site, and finally touched on his frustration with the modern movie industry after he had reached a little over halfway-finished with his bottle, Clef being even further through his own.
“Oh come on, you have to admit that almost every single horror movie from the last decade is better than even the best of the ones from this decade!” Cimmerian said a little too loudly between sips.
Clef snorted. “You just like it because it’s camp.”
“No, they’re really just that good!”
“Oh yeah, what’s your favorite horror movie?”
“Mm, anything from the Reanimator series,” Dr. Cimmerian said after a small pause of consideration. He just liked the characters from it.
Clef gave another sharp laugh. “That’s camp!”
Cimmerian gave a small laugh, shaking his head. “No!” He tried to say while laughing. “No, it isn’t! Not all of it at least.”
Clef gave a huff of amusement, shaking his head, clearly disagreeing with every word coming from his lips. “Just admit it, Jerry, you like camp.”
Cimmerian hesitated, briefly caught off guard by the name.
He had… Been called Jerry by a few people in the past. He knew that Gerald had called him that a couple of times back in college, but that had been different and Gerald had quickly deferred back to Jeremiah when they’d both remet at the Foundation or even simply ‘Cimm’ a few times.
He wasn’t sure what made it so nice when it came from Clef’s mouth but… It was just that. Nice.
“I don’t like camp,” He said swiftly, brushing off the odd pause quickly.
He then gave a small sigh after a pause of silence. They’d been walking for a while now. As much as he preferred this over speeding recklessly up the hill, it was getting a little tiring. “How much longer till we get to this surprise ?”
Clef smiled. “Just five more minutes, I promise it’s not too far.”
Cimmerian made a small hum of acknowledgment as he tipped the bottle back up to his lips.
After a few more minutes, the two closed in on the top of the small mountain, the road finally ending at a small abandoned parking lot that was clearly intended to be some sort of touristy hotspot judging by the signs littering the area. Cimmerian glanced around the area, noting that while the view was nice, it was somewhat… Disappointing.
“Over here,” Clef interrupted before he could have long to dwell on that fact.
Cimmerian turned, his eyebrows furrowing as he watched Clef start to walk towards the treeline area, noticing that if he looked hard enough in the dim darkness, he could almost make out a small trail in the area.
After a moment of hesitation, he started to follow Clef.
“Hold on,” Clef said sharply, putting a hand quickly in front of him, Cimmerian stumbling as he walked straight into Clef’s arm. “Close your eyes, it’ll build anticipation.”
Cimmerian narrowed his eyes at Clef for a moment before glancing back at the trail. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Clef and their theatrics but… The trail was littered with all sorts of obstacles from rocks to branches. Surely that was unnecessarily dangerous?
“You can hold my arm if it helps? I promise I won’t let you fall on your ass,” Clef said with a small chuckle.
Cimmerian hesitated before slowly closing his eyes and taking Clef’s outstretched arm, loosely wrapping his arms around the limb, unsure of precisely what Clef was intending with this gesture. He could swear that he felt the exact moment his face started to flush.
However, when Clef started carefully guiding him through the forest, slow enough for Cimmerian to not stumble over anything, he figured that maybe it wasn’t as awkward as he felt it was and even felt a little nice about the gesture. “How gentlemanly,” Cimmerian joked softly.
Clef snorted with amusement. “What am I supposed to do? Blindfold you and play Marco-Polo? I feel like that’d be a little mean even for me.”
Cimmerian chuckled softly. “I suppose.”
The two walked quietly for a few minutes, Clef carefully leading him around large stones and branches that Cimmerian could occasionally feel his feet brushing. He somewhat wished that Clef had warned him to wear better shoes for this, but he had to admit… The surprise of this all was definitely welcome.
As they walked, Cimmerian felt a small breeze drift by and furrowed his brow, noting that they must be a bit higher up than he initially thought.
“Alright, right here, we’re stopping,” Clef hummed, starting to pull his arm free, Cimmerian feeling another odd tinge of disappointment when it left him. “You can look now.”
Cimmerian hesitated before opening his eye, finding himself immediately shocked by the sight.
It was a small clearing on the side of the mountain with a fallen over tree stretching across nearly the entire span of the section, the trees stretching on almost all sides of them; left, right, behind them, and even just over the cliff a few tens of feet in front of them—everywhere except for directly in front of them.
In front of them was even more lovely.
Cimmerian had believed that the valley they had just spent the last few hours traveling through was gorgeous, but he couldn’t believe just how stunning it was to see it from above.
It stretched out as far as they could see into the horizon, little veined paths leading off from the various sections of the valley in an almost webbed sort of way. He could make out the occasional house off in the distant, evening lights glinting from people who knew the beauty of this area inside and out. It almost made Cimmerian a little jealous.
But as Cimmerian’s eye traced up to the skies, that was the most gorgeous part of it all.
There were hundreds of thousands of the little glittering specks above them in the dark blue-tinted night sky, soft misty curves of light spread across it in a way that one could never quite see in the cities. So faint, but with how they curled so gently throughout the sky, Cimmerian couldn’t help but find himself right back in his childhood, staring at the skies with awe and wonder.
“Do you—uh—like it?” Clef asked softly, Cimmerian hearing a faint rustle behind him as Clef moved towards the fallen tree, setting the small paper bag down on it.
“It’s amazing,” Cimmerian mused, letting his gaze flit across the stunning sky above them.
Clef gave a small exhale that almost sounded relieved . “That’s good, I thought so too,” He hummed softly.
Cimmerian blinked, furrowing his brows a little and glancing back at Clef as the other man began to sit down and fish out a fry from the greasy-looking paper bag from the diner. He couldn’t help but find it curious.
He hadn’t shared this fascination with the stars with… Well… Anyone.
That fact had died with the old him.
Clef glanced up at him while fishing out another fry, his eyebrows raising a little as if he’d been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. “Uh, fry?” He asked, holding the bag out for Cimmerian.
It sunk in. Clef hadn’t known about that little detail about him.
It was just a coincidence.
Clef just liked stars too.
Cimmerian started to walk towards the tree and Clef, stumbling a little and causing a couple of drops to spill out from the lip of the bottle, Clef humming a soft noise of amusement while setting the bag between them. Cimmerian awkwardly sat beside him and fished out a fry, the food being cold from so long in the trunk but nonetheless pleasant.
His gaze drifted back out to the clearing, staring across the wide valley before them. “I-” He said after a moment of hesitation. “How did you find this place?” He finally asked.
Clef gave a small laugh. “Went camping. It was a while ago. The tree is new though,” He hummed, patting the log they were sitting on.
Cimmerian’s eyebrows knitted together a little more but he let his gaze drift back down before slowly raising the bottle to his lips. That hadn’t really told him anything.
Cimmerian supposed that that was fine though. He was satisfied with just knowing that Clef had remembered this one lovely gorgeous spot and thought of him seemingly randomly.
Sometimes, just knowing that someone had made that little connection between something so shockingly stunning and a single plain person was enough.
As they sat in gently quiet, Cimmerian’s eye eventually flicked back up to the stars glittering above them, letting them trace the gentle outlines as he tried to pick apart the little constellations that he could remember from his childhood. He could recognize only one or two, but those one or two were some of the most refreshing nonsensical dots that he’d ever connected.
Eventually, a gentle breeze passed between them, howling softly as it drifted by and causing a small chill to creep over Cimmerian, the man curling in a little on himself in a small shiver on the log while cradling the bottle in his lap.
Maybe it was just the drink but… This was nice.
He seldom used that word these days. Nice .
Nothing at the Foundation ever struck him as being nice .
But here with Clef beside him, gorgeous scenery stretching out seemingly endlessly before them, and the gentle breeze chilling them both, he meant it sincerely. It was nice .
“Are you cold?” Clef asked, Cimmerian finally snapping out of the brief daze and looking at Clef.
“I-Uh, no, I’m fine.”
“You can borrow my jacket if you need to, Cimm?” Clef offered, already starting to work on tugging his jacket off. Cimmerian couldn’t help but feel bad. Clef’s jacket was much thinner than his own and Clef seldom wore much more than a t-shirt beneath those overshirts. Surely Clef was colder than he was?
Cimmerian hesitated before starting to tug his own jacket off, Clef giving him a curious look.
“We don’t have to trade, you know?” Clef said with a small confused chuckle.
Cimmerian gave a small smile and shifted a little closer to Clef as he took Clef’s jacket, draping it over both of their shoulders before pulling his own over that one, covering them both in each of the jackets to give them both a little more warmth equally.
“How’s this?” Cimmerian asked politely, trying to keep his distance despite the lack of wiggle room between keeping the jacket over both of them and falling from one of them.
Clef gave a small hum of acknowledgment, shifting closer unconsciously after seeming to notice the awkward positioning, Cimmerian’s shoulders briefly tensing at the close contact as his cheeks flushed a little.
Clef stopped, keeping a small distance between them. “You sure you don’t want to just take my jacket and double up?” He asked slowly.
Cimmerian hesitated—then gently pushed himself a little closer so that their sides were up neatly against each other, allowing the jackets to sit loosely on top of them. “I’m fine,” He said after a moment, trying to stave off the faint blush.
Cimmerian’s gaze drifted back over the cliffside, staring across the wide expanse before them, watching a couple of distant cars slowly made their way down the highway.
It all felt so… Distant. He liked it.
They sat quietly like that for a while, Cimmerian occasionally piping up to muse about random topics flitting across his mind, but none of them really felt important in comparison to everything before them. Eventually, they both simply sat in comfortable silence.
Perhaps, even the first truly gentle and unapologetic silence that they had ever shared between each other. The lack of words didn’t feel so awkward like it usually did with other people, it was simply just a little pause to admire everything once more.
Eventually, however, one particular topic drifted to the forefront of Cimmerian’s mind long after the bottle had been finally finished and he couldn’t help but furrow his brow a little. It had been a question that he had considered for a while now, but not one that he had really brought up to Clef yet.
He figured that now was as good a time as ever. Clef would be here for a couple of weeks, long enough for him to sleep on it for a few nights. Of course, Cimmerian supposed that Clef could just shrug it off just as easily as if it were a joke, something that Cimmerian was still trying to identify the sincerity of as well.
But… He felt that he needed to ask.
“Clef,” He began softly, glancing to the side and noticing how Clef’s gaze quickly drifted to him. He couldn’t help but pause before continuing. “Why don’t you transfer to the Ethics Committee?”
Clef made a small noise, clearly about to say something as his eyes widened a little in surprise but his words quickly fell short as the man faltered, surprising Cimmerian a little. It took a special level of skill to catch the man off guard.
“Well, uh-” Clef began, hesitating. “I mean, someone's gotta keep everyone back at the other sites in check,” Clef said, his words falling a little short as he was clearly making them up on the spot.
Cimmerian’s eyebrows furrowed a little more. “You know that it’s safer in Ethics. Sure there’s still some danger, that’s just expected, but you know that it’s much less .” He wasn’t worried about Clef, not like that. Clef had always been smart enough to miraculously escape most forms of danger. It’s just… There’d always be that doubt as long as both of them were still close friends in the Foundation; the little worry that one day one of them wouldn’t be quick enough, or wouldn’t be strong enough, or simply wouldn’t have someone there to rescue them from a tough situation.
If they worked at the same site, that worry would be much softer.
“I mean, you’re not wrong,” Clef mused thoughtfully. “But like, I can’t just leave the others?”
Cimmerian fell silent for a moment, letting his gaze fall away from Clef. He half-wanted to keep pressing the conversation, even if it was probably best to just leave it since Clef was clearly trying to avoid it, but he was simply too tired after a full day of working followed by a full night of driving and hiking. Not to mention that the wine had finally gotten to the point where it was quickly kicking his ass.
Unfortunately, his better half won and he sighed softly, letting the conversation drift away along with his momentary concerns.
He knew that that response had always been a possibility if he had raised the question. Clef was stubborn. He supposed that it was both a blessing and an annoyance for the man, this just happened to be an instance where it fell more into the latter category.
The two sat quietly for a little bit until Cimmerian couldn’t help but give a small yawn, bringing up a hand and covering it politely, causing the jacket to slip off his shoulder. Clef loosely grabbed the fallen section and fixed it back over him before he could even lower his arm back down, Cimmerian saying a soft ‘thanks’.
“Tired?” Clef asked.
“You have no idea.”
Clef chuckled. “Can start heading back pretty soon, we’ll be back before daylight and you can hopefully get a few hours of sleep in.”
“Mm,” Cimmerian hummed beside him, trying to stave off the exhaustion. He didn’t particularly want to leave, this was nice and he wasn’t sure when he’d get another chance to see a sight as lovely as this.
“Is that alright with you?” Clef asked softly.
Cimmerian tried to keep his eyes open. “Mhm,” He murmured.
As the minutes started to trickle by, it became a losing battle, and Cimmerian’s eye started to close before he even realized it as his head gently lulled to his side, pressing gently against the shoulder beside him.
He faintly heard Clef asking him again if they should start getting out of here. Cimmerian still wasn’t keen on leaving so early, even if he strongly preferred to keep his eyes shut for now, internally insisting that he’d just rest them a little then go back to taking in the scenery. “Can we just stay for a few more minutes,” He softly asked.
Clef hesitated beside him.
Cimmerian immediately started to feel that awful pit in his stomach, as if he’d asked too much of the man that had been so kind to rescue him from the numbing monotony of the job and whisk him away on this nice little trip. He started to bat his eye open but before he could even fully glance at Clef, the man beside him calmly spoke.
“Sure,” Clef hummed softly. “I guess it’d be nice to stay a little longer.”
Cimmerian felt his breath momentarily catch in his throat, unable to help the odd excitement at such a plain thing.
They were just friends enjoying some scenery together…
Nothing more…
Cimmerian could feel the bottle cap and cork lightly pressing into his thigh from his pants pocket, unable to bring himself to move his leg even despite the vaguely uncomfortable pressure.
It was nice.
Clef was nice.
Clef was a nice friend .