Woodwork and Sawdust

"I'm not short, you just have the height of a transformer."

Berwald’s lips quirked as he looked at the shorter blond and tilted his head. “What’s a transformer? Some kind of… machine or something?”

udholdenhed‌:

“Oh yes,” He agreed. “There’s far too much water out there. I don’t trust it.” On land it was relatively easy to see potential dangers. In the ocean, though… creatures had adapted to see in low light and move quickly through water. Someone like Kris (or Berwald) wouldn’t stand a chance against those monsters. He shuddered. “I like to stick to land and shallow water. No need for boats if I can still touch bottom.”

Berwald shrugged and nodded. “I definitely have no problem with lakes and shallow waters... or if I am with other people who can distract me from the tales of what lurks in the deep dark water if I do have to be on a boat... but it definitely has been a process to get to this point that is for sure. I won’t deliberately seek out a boat but I also won’t say no to going on one... if that makes sense?”

perennialardency‌:

“I think you should know better by now to have considered the risk that I would elevate it,” Andrei countered, walking as he held his shorts up with both hands–they were still awfully heavy with water. “You acted and didn’t calculate the risk, which was one-hundred percent. You should have thought about it a little longer before so carelessly inciting a war.”

Once he’d reached the right spot, he bent over and rooted through his discarded clothes, and found his wand. As he returned to the riverbank, his eyes narrowed as though he was on the prowl, preparing to strike. He stopped just a few feet away from where Ber was and raised his wand, mumbling an incantation: specifically, a telekinetic sort that would create a splash in the water. Giggling to himself, he repeated the motion and incantation, splashing his friend once again. “You came unprepared because you were cocky! You thought you had a chance but you lose!” Andrei laughed as he ran back to set his wand back down safely.

“If you think it’s unfair, you should think a little harder,” he mused as he returned to the side of the stream. “I’m sure there’s some way you could one-up me, you just need to think about it a little longer. I mean, humans like yourself have made it this long without magic somehow! Maybe you can tap into that, whatever it is that helps you all survive.” As he approached where Ber was in the water, he saw something on the younger man’s back: in the area between the blond’s shoulders, there was something….sort of gray, and in a sporadic pattern. Maybe it was just dirt from jumping in the water. “You’ve got something on you,” the brunet advised before hopping back into the cold water. “On your back. I’ll help you get it off later. It might just be debris.”

The carpenter honestly did not expect for Andrei to escalate the small water war into something this large but at the same time, the older man seemed to be really enjoying himself so he wasn’t going to say too much and potentially ruin the fun. There was something to be said for just cutting loose sometimes and letting their younger, more impulsive sides take over.

He watched curiously as the wix retrieved his wand and began casting spells. Magic still fascinated him, especially since he didn’t have the ability to cast any himself. Even if he was the target of these spells and they just served the purpose to get him even wetter. He lamented that Andrei was further on land and probably out of range for being splashed from his spot in the river and he wished that he had some kind of water gun or balloons to even things out once more.

Berwald was glad when the wand was tucked away though, he would have felt terrible if it had fallen into the river if he splashed at Andrei while the older man was unaware. “Oh, I could think of a number of ways to even it out but nothing that I have on hand to accomplish such a feat,” he retorted, splashing the other man as he slipped back into the river. The comment about something on his back though caught his attention and he tried to reach his back before he gave it up as a lost cause. “There is something there? Yeah, I would appreciate the help once we are done in the river, thanks.”

incazzatto

⌚

@snickeriarbete | send ⌚ to ask my muse what time it is.

Lorenzo doesn’t usually have people come up to him and ask him for anything, considering the bitchy expression he leaves resting on his face, most people don’t tend to go for him when it comes to such things in public.

So every time it happens, he’s very surprised, and very annoyed — that look is usually there for a reason, he likes being left alone.

“Time?” he tries not to stutter, looking around for a clock, wondering why the hell this man thinks he has one in his brain or some shit. “Around noon, probably? I don’t fucking know.”

incazzatto‌:

Lorenzo sighed “I don’t bring my phone when I’m on break. No use for it if I’m napping,” he grumbled. “There’s probably a clock inside. But I’m on break, so it’s around noon. Maybe one. I don’t know.”

He shrugged. “Fair enough. Sorry for disturbing you. I just need to be somewhere at two and I wanted to not be late so I was curious how much time I had to work with.”

#incazzatto

perennialardency‌:

Hazel eyes narrowed, and Andrei bit the inside of his lip. Pensive would have been the nice way of describing the expression, but plotting was a lot more realistic. He stepped sideways in a semi-circle around Ber, making small but fierce splashes at the younger man the whole time. “Me, challenge you?” he called over the sound of the water. “That’s not entirely fair or accurate; you’re the one who interrupted me, you’re the instigator here! And you’d better own up to it or things will get really ugly really fast!”

A passing thought flitted through his brain–Andrei hadn’t been playful like this for a very long time. He was twelve when his sister was born, and twenty when their brother was born, so he didn’t grow up with siblings to play with, and was always considered the weird kid by the others his age (some of them still thought this to the very day but weren’t so forthcoming about it). His relationship with both of them had been more caring in a paternal way. Casandra would have thought this was silly; and Ilie had never been the type to play like this, preferring to be peaceful. As the wixen man rushed through the water towards the bank, a tiny smile pulled at the edge of his mouth. “You want war, let me get my wand, since you wanna challenge me!” He began to pull himself up onto the bank, though the water dragged his shorts down a little from where they had been around his hips. “Fuckin’–” He struggled to get up, the water continuing to weigh him down, edging down his only clothing to the dangerous point just below the deep divots in his lower back just above the curve of his ass. “You’d think by now I’d understand the physics of this,” he mumbled as he finally climbed out, belatedly blushing as he adjusted his shorts; then went to find his wand, ignoring the sudden chilly shock from getting out of the water.

It was difficult to see the exact expression on Andrei’s face as he moved around in a semi circle and began to aim at him more deliberately. He could tell that the older man was up to something and it was tricky to duck out of the way of some of those splashes and he sent a few towards Andrei once more. “Hey! I was just idly flicking water, which is starting something but you escalated it into what it is now!” he squawked indignantly.

He paused as the other moved quickly towards the bank and began to climb out, curious about what Andrei was planning on doing. “Hey now! Wouldn’t a wand be overkill? I don’t think it’s fair to pull magic into this--” he began to protest before trailing off when the water seemed to be giving Andrei’s clothing some issues. Well, that was certainly a memorable sight. He fought the part of his brain lamenting that he didn’t have his spectacles to get a clearer view. He had certainly seen enough and it was definitely an enticing sight. No. Focus on this water war since magic was being pulled into it. Stare at handsome friend later.

incazzatto

⌚

@snickeriarbete | send ⌚ to ask my muse what time it is.

So every time it happens, he’s very surprised, and very annoyed — that look is usually there for a reason, he likes being left alone.

“Time?” he tries not to stutter, looking around for a clock, wondering why the hell this man thinks he has one in his brain or some shit. “Around noon, probably? I don’t fucking know.”

Berwald fought the urge to frown. It was just a simple question and he wondered if perhaps the other had a more precise way to figure it out like a watch or a phone. “I see,” he murmured, disappointment coloring his tone. “I mean, I guessed that much but I didn’t wear a watch today and stupidly left my phone at home.”

#incazzatto

perennialardency‌:

The quietness and stillness of the setting this deep in the forest easily put Andrei into a contemplative mood; he always slipped completely into his own head, which was very good at making him eat up time. And even with company this time, it was going to be difficult to prevent that from happening. Already, the feeling of the cold water enveloping most of his body, and the sight of the sky through the opening in the canopy of the trees, were hypnotizing him, drawing him into the comfortable embrace of oft-maladaptive daydreaming. He wanted to ask Berwald something a little personal, about what it was like trying to find love without anything so much as a tattoo to help. Andrei had asked many other non-wix this question before–having been married to and in love with a non-wix for several years–but he still liked hearing different people’s thoughts.

He was, however, startled out of the reverie he had begun to slip under, as well as out of the comfortable float he’d been maintaining; and splashed a bit as he attempted to regain his footing on the riverbed, a fairly indignant expression working onto his face. “You think you’re funny, big man?” Andrei mumbled once he was stable again, not necessarily upset, only jarred. After knocking some of the water out of his hair, he used both hands to push water at Ber, creating a much larger, chaotic splash than the little flick that had been dealt him. “You want cold water all over ya? Yeah?” He splashed again, this time using only one hand but in a slapping motion.

Idly, the carpenter wondered what Andrei was thinking about so intently as he floated on his back and basked in the sun. The older man always came up with the most thought provoking topics of conversation and he honestly loved giving them the attention that the deep thoughts deserved. He was a little sorry to pull the wix from those thoughts but he would not apologize for acting on the need to cause a little mischief. He knew that others thought he was uptight sometimes and it was only around really close people that he let the hold on his playful side slip.

His eyes carefully watched as his idle water flicks caused a bigger reaction than he really expected and he bit back a laugh, a shameless grin pulling at his lips instead. When Andrei refound his footing on the riverbed Berwald breathed out an internal sigh of relief. Then he was being splashed back and he was caught in the path of the big wave, not able to move in time thanks to him sitting. The water washed over him with a gasp and he brushed the water from his face with a delighted laugh. “Oh, I think I’m hilarious sometimes,” he retorted as he sent a one armed wave of water back in Andrei’s direction. “And I don’t know... are you prepared to challenge me in a water war like this?”

perennialardency‌:

What would have been continued teasing was cut off as all words were stolen from Andrei’s tongue and his mind. Gods, why was he so easily flattered? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he rarely heard that it was nice to spend time with him? Usually he never got any sort of compliments unless he was doing something for somebody….but all he was doing currently was being a friend and being attentive.

“Alright, alright, come here.” A beguiled smile turned the edges of Andrei’s mouth upward, and something shone in his eyes as his hand reached to clasp around the other man’s, crossing their arms and keeping Ber safe and secure. Carefully he led the younger man towards the area in question, his own feet more attuned to the unevenness and unpredictability of the riverbed. “Where would you be around here without me?” he teased quietly, still focused on transporting Ber without any mishaps.

Approaching the bank in the somewhat shallower water, he released the other man’s hand, letting his own fall away gradually. “Okay, if you reach out, you should be able to feel the side, and then you should be fine. I think the water will go up to your chest.” Andrei backed away and leaned backward, kicking off the sediment in the bottom of the stream and floated on his back, arms spread outward on either side of him.

Berwald still wished that he could clearly see the expression on Andrei’s face in a time like this. The older man was always expressive and he thought that he was getting rather decent at interpreting what they all meant. Or at least that he could get a decent guess, but while he could still pick up on things like the tone of voice used or some body language, it was easier when the two were close and he didn’t have to lean in or squint awkwardly.

He choose to ignore the way his heart beat a bit faster when the wix took his hand to start guiding him, trusting that Andrei would not let him fall. This was all just purely platonic and innocent and he didn’t want to read too much into things and potentially ruin what they had already. The teasing made him laugh though and he flashed a grin in the other man’s direction. “Without you? Probably would have been intimidated out of town by now. Just would either be a hermit in the woods or wandering around in a circle somewhere.”

They reached a place that must have been what Andrei was talking about and he reluctantly let their hands drop. He missed the contact already. Sure enough though, he could feel the bank of the river and sat down in the water. The sun making the water here still cold but not overwhelming. “You pretty much called it. I can sit here and it comes up to my chest which is about as deep as I would feel comfortable sitting in.” He watched as the Andrei shape laid back and began floating in the water close to him with a quiet chuckle. “I think it would be easy to let time slip away from you here.” The carpenter slowly watched the water move through his fingers before he idly flicked a few drops of water towards the older man with an innocent expression, fighting the urge to grin.

perennialardency‌:

Maybe Andrei’s eyes lingered a little too long on his friend disrobing, not offering the same privacy he had been granted. He had no excuse, and looked up to the sky when he caught himself. When hit by a small splash, he laughed and watched Ber wade blindly through the water, wondering just how bad the other man’s sight really was. Nobody in Andrei’s family had needed glasses yet, so he had no idea what it was like, and felt so sorry for everyone who needed something extra in their lives–something that cost money–to just be able to use their eyes and live as best as they could.

A rumble of amusement sounded in the plane of Andrei’s chest as he watched the younger man helplessly wander in his direction. “Warmer, warmer….” he teased, then reached out once Ber was close enough and grabbed the younger man’s arm with a confident grip, though not painful or insistent. “Here I am, you found me. Now don’t go too far, alright?” He held the blonde’s arm for several long moments, telling himself it was to help the man steady himself; after all, he wanted to prevent any injuries that could have been caused by tripping over rocks or sticks that were well-settled into the river bed. “It’s awful once you first jump in, but gets really pleasant once you’ve been in for a few minutes.”

Andrei felt his chest warm substantially before he got the chills; and he bit his lip, feeling something emotional well up in his tear ducts. It had been a long time since he’d brought someone else here; and that last person, he’d ended up married to. Ugh–stop making those connections, creep. “There’s a spot a couple yards down where you could sit down in the water and be comfortable. I can lead you there. I just feel pretty bad about doing something that leaves you so helpless, and I don’t want to be responsible for making you get hurt.” He didn’t much mind being Ber’s keeper though, making sure he was safe and happy.

The world had dissolved into the green blur of the canopy of leaves above them and if Berwald concentrated he could pick out some fuzzy outlines of specific trees. He preferred to focus instead on the cold water he was wading through to make it to the Andrei shaped blur that was growing to be more defined. He had to be careful though because while he was a decent swimmer, there was still a good current here and the rocks on the bottom of the river had been worn smooth to the point where they were a bit slippery.

He grinned at the older man when he finally reached him and he felt his hand on his arm. Oh. He did enjoy the excuse to stay close to the other so he had no intention of going far at all. “I am not planning on it, don’t worry. And, yeah... the water is getting to be more bearable. Especially since I’m with someone who is looking out for me. I know for sure I am in good hands,” he idly commented as he moved a hand to rest over where Andrei’s was on his arm.

The suggestion for a nice place to sit was a welcome one because while he felt reasonably sure footed, accidents could still happen. He thought he got a vague impression of an upset face for a moment but seeing the details was trickier without his spectacles. “If you could lead me that would be welcome,” he began, secretly delighting in the chance to stay close to the wix. “And don’t feel bad. I’ve lived with bad eyesight for pretty much my whole life and swimming or playing in the water like this does not really need me to have sharp vision. Especially since I have such amazing company with me. I wouldn’t want to do this alone but with you here with me, it’s another story.”

"I'm not short, you just have the height of a transformer."

Berwald’s lips quirked as he looked at the shorter blond and tilted his head. “What’s a transformer? Some kind of… machine or something?”

udholdenhed‌:

Having grown up with somewhat similar stories, Kristen could understand that. However… “It’s so hard to walk though? Or even just standing still on a boat takes so much effort, you know?” And he had the advantage of being a few inches lower to the ground! Berwald, on the other hand, had a much higher center of gravity. How on earth did he manage on the water? “Speaking of those dangers though, what was the most scary to you out of the ones you heard about?” For Kristen, it was always the deep blackness of the areas deep beneath the surface of the water. Things people didn’t even know existed could be there, and humans would be none the wiser…

A laugh escaped Berwald’s lips as he pictured moving around on a boat. “I’m not the most graceful on boats, that is for sure. I definitely have to make sure I can easily grab things if need be.” He quieted once Kristen asked about the scary things that he was warned of in those stories. “The creatures that live in the deep water, so deep that us land dwellers would never see them. Also how large things can get out in the water. If that makes sense? I have a difficult time wrapping my mind around it.”

"I'm not short, you just have the height of a transformer."

Berwald’s lips quirked as he looked at the shorter blond and tilted his head. “What’s a transformer? Some kind of… machine or something?”

udholdenhed‌:

He nodded sagely. “I get that; I don’t even like boats. Not that they’re very high up– sometimes they are that too though– but they’re so… They move around underneath you so much.” His face was scrunched up as if he couldn’t believe the existence of boats.

Berwald hummed thoughtfully as he considered the concept of boats. “I don’t dislike boats really if the water is calm and I can see the shore but in open water? I’m not as big of a fan. Stories from when I was younger about potential dangers in the water, yanno?”

"I'm not short, you just have the height of a transformer."

Berwald’s lips quirked as he looked at the shorter blond and tilted his head. “What’s a transformer? Some kind of… machine or something?”

udholdenhed‌:

“Absolutely,” Kristen said with gusto. “I think they may even have you beat, despite your Great Stature.” Sure, he had compared Berwald to a transformer just moments earlier, but it was admittedly a bit of a hyperbole. “If you had some really tall stilts, maybe you would be taller than them? How are you with heights?” Kristen looked the other man up and down thoughtfully (he wouldn’t actually make Berwald wear stilts that put him at a height greater than those of the transformers, but it was fun to speculate).

That got him to roll his eyes. “I’m not that tall. Sure, I’m on the taller side but I know there are others out there who have me beat,” he retorted before he considered the question about stilts. “I mean... I’m not too bothered by heights but I also do like to keep my feet on a solid foundation. So in a tall building I am fine and even on a ladder but stilts... I don’t know if I could do something like that.”

perennialardency‌:

Thankful that his face was not immediately visible, Andrei felt a sideways smile pull at his lips and his face heat up considerably. It wasn’t often he got to hear things like that, heartfelt and sincere towards him. It was sweet–too sweet. He laughed quietly to himself, almost as if he was laughing at a private joke. It was him. Andrei himself was the joke.

Rubbing at his nose as he did his best to dispel the weird feelings, he turned in a circle on the slab, taking in their surroundings a little bit longer. “It’s really like a land that time forgot, no? It’s like a little oasis away from everything, where none of the outside world can bother you. Like time stops, and the world outside stops, and everything else stops mattering, and there’s nothing and nobody else beyond the trees.”

Chewing on the inside of his lip, the small brunet gazed down at the sparkling water. He wanted to jump in, but it would have probably been most wise to remove his shirt. Why, then, did that suddenly make him feel odd? It wasn’t like Ber hadn’t seen his tattoo before. And his swim shorts were underneath the cropped pants he favored wearing in the summer… “Pardon me,” he apologized with an awkward half smile before unbuttoning his shirt the rest of the way and then tugging off his pants. The clothing was tossed away before Andrei quickly jumped into the water not far from the waterfall.

He soon resurfaced, and it was clear that the water level in that spot was around his chest. He used both hands to push his dark, soaking hair out of his face, and shivered slightly. Under the clear daylight, the manmade tattoo on his bicep signifying Ilie was much darker in tone than the one on his chest that had once signified Casandra–it seemed to be fading as the days went by, just like his memories of her. “C’mon in, the water’s great,” he joked through lightly chattering teeth.

For a moment, Berwald felt a bit awkward with how sappy his thoughts were around the other man, that he had said something wrong somehow, but it didn’t seem that Andrei was too bothered by it so he wasn’t going to let it weigh him down the rest of the day. He wasn’t going to ruin everything by being an emotional sap or dwell on it.

He nodded as he looked around the clearing once more. “Mhm. You are absolutely right. It’s like the outside world stops existing outside these trees and the world shrinks down to just the clearing, the stream, the forest, and whoever may be with you. Places like this where you can just take a break from everything are some of my favorite locations.”

The carpenter paused as Andrei seemed to be considering something before he heard the excuse me and realized that the wix was going to strip down into his swim shorts. Oh, right. He looked away for a moment to give the man some privacy and was thankful that the two of them had chosen to wear their swimming gear underneath their clothing so they wouldn’t have to try to change in the middle of the woods.

When he heard the splash of Andrei jumping in he glanced over into the water, giving a smile as the other resurfaced. “You are a liar, it sounds like it’s extremely cold. But I’ll be right there,” he retorted, gathering Andrei’s clothes and setting them in a pile near their towels. He stripped off his own pants and shirt, creating a new pile before he carefully rested his spectacles on the top and made his way over towards the river. After taking a moment to steel himself to the temperature change, he jumped in and made his way over towards the now Andrei-shaped blur that his friend had become.

"I'm not short, you just have the height of a transformer."

Berwald’s lips quirked as he looked at the shorter blond and tilted his head. “What’s a transformer? Some kind of… machine or something?”

udholdenhed‌:

Kristen hadn’t even considered that the carpenter might not get his reference, but now that he thought about it he realized that Berwald probably didn’t care to learn about those sorts of things. “Oh, yeah, they’ve got a whole series of bad movies and good tv shows. They’re giant robots that can turn into cars. Or maybe cars that can turn into giant robots? I’m a little fuzzy on the details myself.”

The smile that had been threatening to break free finally did as he chuckled and shook his head. “It sounds exciting. Something I imagine kids would enjoy watching. I just... cars are not really a thing where I grew up so it’s not too surprising that the cartoon didn’t really become popular. But I’m guessing that the robots tend to be on the taller side?”

perennialardency‌:

“Right? It’s like having a private sanctuary,” Andrei replied, his voice still hardly louder than a whisper, still feeling the obligation to be reverent. “I don’t often see other people out here–maybe occasional singles or couples who are looking for some peace and quiet too. But I consider this to be mine, part of the stream that my house backs up to. I mean, it’s silly to try and claim any bit of earth as your own, because it wasn’t made for us to keep or covet. But it’s almost like it was put back here for me to enjoy.”

Coming up on a large clearing, Andrei tilted his head back and looked skyward, where plenty of summer sun was shining through the trees. “Aha…” He recognized the shapes in the sky cut out by the branches, his recognition further bolstered by the sound of a couple small waterfalls, the sounds of which were easily traced just a few yards away down the stream. “Yeah, this is about it.”

It was a perfect little area, looking almost staged. The stream was bordered by large flat rocks, just big enough to sit on and hang your legs over into the water. The centerpiece was, of course, a waterfall made up of bigger flat rocks, accented by moss and vines and some fallen branches. The dark coloring of all the rocks made the water seem darker, but it was very clear, reflecting the sunshine off of it like glitter. Setting his belongings down on a clear grassy area some feet away from the bank, Andrei pulled his shoes off and stood on a wet slab of stone, overlooking the water not far below. “Still feels special.”

The carpenter nodded as he looked around, still keeping his voice quiet. “This place... this part of the forest really... it feels like you. You know how sometimes homes feel like their owners even when they are not physically there? I’m reminded of that kind of sensation in a way. Of course you don’t own this place or anything like that but... even if I stumbled across this area without you, I would be reminded of you.”

He quieted as they seemed to have arrived at the specific place where they would be spending the day. He wanted to just take in everything for a moment and he felt awkward for rambling earlier. The sunlight shining through the trees made him thankful that they would be spending some time in the water.

He sat his things down next to Andrei’s and took off his shoes as well. He knew that the water was going to be cold but that would be a blessing on a day like today. He watched as the wix man stood on the stone and looked into the water. Andrei belonged in a place like this. Somewhere timeless and seemingly untouched by humans. He was thankful that he got to experience this with the older man because he wanted to remember this sight for a long time.