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"I think you're getting the hang of this” Evenkia’s voice rang out from afar, falling on slightly muffled ears. Pleased with himself, Sakha thanked the Gods that the hot red rush to his cheeks was out of his line of sight.
He fastened the rope around the muzzle of the reindeer - a newly adult male, its coarse material sanding against the flesh of his fingertips as he gave a final tug. A sense of satisfaction settled pleasantly at the centre of his chest, and he wondered if one day he'd be better at handling reindeer than Evenkia himself, an idea that the latter scoffed at. Extending an arm around its head, he rewarded the animal with a vigorous petting, and it released a happy little huff in return.
It was strange - he'd never handled a reindeer like this before. His people were far more familiar with their usual cattle and horses. Albeit they weren't as docile and not as nearly as interesting to look at, however reindeer herding was not his people's first call to action after all.
“Hey,” a voice came from right behind him. Being rather entrenched in his own thoughts, the sheer volume of the greeting (which wasn't abnormally loud in the slightest) suddenly snapped him back into reality, causing him to jolt. He was blushing again - this time out of pure embarrassment. He couldn't even remember if he replied to what Evenkia initially said or not.
Amused by the younger man's surprise, Evenkia only chuckled. He patted the top of his head like he'd do with any scared animal, the fur of his hood matted in patches of snow which gave out a low crunch whenever his hand came down. "Sorry, I got a little distracted,” Sakha admitted, wishing he could bury himself inside the swathes of warm fur that covered him and onty emerge when the embarrassment wore off.
"You know," Evenkia started, a jest to his tone, "I thought you'd have a better survival instinct considering you came all the way up here to escape the - what did you call them again?"
"Buryats.” Sakha quipped.
"Ah, yes. Though, I haven't heard you complain about them in a while" Evenkia mused, a curious eyebrow quirking at his own observation. The disorganised prattle of Sakha's seemingly never ending stream of woes against the Buryats have somewhat dried up lately. His complaints were entirely understandable though. He could see why someone wouldn't take too lightly to being displaced by an annoying neighbour.
“Hmm well", started Sakha, trailing off for a moment before landing on an acceptable answer, “As you said, it's best not to dwell on things."
“You learn so fast," Evenkia replied, smiling warmly. Despite his polished words, there was something that lingered about them that tempted Evenkia to press him to let on more...
"I think it's time we get back to camp," he drawled, deciding against engaging in a word-game rendition of cat and mouse, no matter how entertaining he might have found it. Perhaps another time.
A cold tingle nipped at the tip of Evenkia's nose - the snow had started again, though, judging from its sluggish descent and from the lack of a substantial amount of snow itself he predicted that it was only a short spotting . Anyhow, he turned and instructed Sakha to mount his reindeer, walking a short distance to mount his own before joining Sakha's side in their trek back to the campsite.
It was as if they were the only living things around for a few miles. The sun was dipping ever lower, its amber hue pouring against the thick white blankets of snow. Its warmth breathed life across their cold-numbed faces, the new found heat and leisurely lull of the reindeer's trot arousing a sense of drowsiness in Sakha...
"Why don't you think Giakan likes you?" Evenkia asked, fully aware of how random the question was.
Slightly taken aback, Sakha absentmindedly rubbed at his eyes. Ah, Giakan, or Evenia. It's less so that he thought he hated him, and more that the initial suspicion and annoyance was pretty steadfast - perhaps even more so now that Evenkia had mainly taken him under his wing. His reluctance to open up to Sakha was palpable despite their interactions becoming more frequent, and he wondered if he should just accept the fact that his relationship with Evenia would remain an awkward one.
"He just doesn't want to seem to talk to me, that’s all."
"Well you did rock up here and do some displacing yourself, Erchim," joshed Evenkia, remembering how he also held that same attitude not too long ago, "I'm sure he'll warm up to you at some point."
Evenkia was ahead of him now, and keeping his eyes on the older man became a difficult affair as the oncoming sun resulted in his eyes experiencing the usual dull ache that all eyes go through when trying to adjust to its light. He released a slight groan.
Hearing the discomforted noise, Evenkia whipped his head around, praying he didn't fall off the reindeer or something despite not hearing a thud. Instead he found himself pleasantly surprised; Sakha's face was crowned with gold, dark eyes smelted into a glowing bronze which was visible even through his sheepish squinting. The harsh red welt of his cheeks was now a more modest rosy tinge, and whatever hair was visible flashed a coppery finish.
“Did I say something ?", Sakha asked, wondering why the hell Evenkia was ogling him for so long.
Deciding to slow down so he could be parallel to Sakha again, Evenkia only shook his head, but reached out his hand-
"-There!," Evenkia said, an impish grin spread on his face as he put the cloth away. Sakha unceremoniously raised a hand to his nose now, grimacing both at his lack of awareness (again) and the fact that he just had snot wiped off of his face. He snivelled, almost as if to finish the job, mumbling a meek thank you and bowing his head slightly. Possibly out of respect for Evenkia, but probably because he's managed to embarrass himself a second time today.
“Let's get a move on,” declared the older man, tightening the grip on his reins.
And so they travelled onwards, two specks of life cautiously trodding across the vast plains of white.