lance alvarez (powpowpow) wrote in valloic, @ 2021-12-29 09:38:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, god of war: atreus, ~player: andrea, ~player: meghan, ₴ inactive: lance alvarez |
Atreus was glad Lance had been at the Sanctuary when Lore came running up, having found something in the forest. It meant he had a buddy for when the snow picked up, and they were left several feet behind his wolf and a little lost as the forest shifted.
This wasn’t new for him, not really, but it helped to have company for when things got turned around and went a little sideways. Atreus heard Lore howl in the distance, and then another faint sound echoing right after. He’d found something, but Atreus couldn’t quite pick up the trail like this.
He reached out for Lance and touched his arm. “I’m going to go wolf to see if I can pick up the trail a little easier with the snow coming down. If you see anything, yell for me, okay?” It was customary to be thankful for something in the holiday season, right? Atreus was currently thankful for the fact that he’d figured out how to shift without having to go completely naked, sparing them any extra awkwardness as he shifted into a black wolf with a graceful leap.
It wasn't uncommon for Lance to be hanging around the Sanctuary when his schedule was free. Helping out with all the countless things that needed to get done was an easy way to pass some time and there was a calmness in the physical work that he'd come to appreciate, one that helped to settle the million directions his mind tended to go off on. The company wasn't bad either.
And Lance was nothing if not more than willing to take off into the woods on an adventure at a moment's notice.
He was just glad he'd dressed warm as the snow started to pick up around them. Because despite the years in the cold of space, the countless ice planets they'd encountered, he was still very much made for warmer climates thank you very much. His boots crunched against the snow as they walked after Lore, his bayard in gloved hand just in case they ran into trouble - but not in a weapon form for the moment.
He stopped at the hand on his arm and gave Atreus a nod as he gave a little mock salute with two fingers. "Copy that," he said with a grin, his tone light and watched as Atreus slipped into his wolf form with no small pang of envy because really, that would be about the best thing ever to be able to do, and took off.
Lance spotted a little outcrop to his left and jogged over, taking a knee near the edge. His bayard shifted into the sniper rifle and he braced an elbow on his bent knee and peered through the scope on the rifle. It was hard to see through the falling snow but at least through the scope he could see further. He spotted Atreus easy enough, dark against the white and followed him in the scope for a bit before flipping on the thermal display and scanning further north from Atreus.
There were a couple clusters of warm signatures in the cooler air, and he swapped seamlessly back into the regular view to confirm none were Lore before finding another little cluster further north east from them. It was hard to make out through the snow, moreso with Lore's lighter colouring, but he was fairly sure it was Lore hovering close to a few other heat signatures near what looked like a cave opening.
He whistled as he scrambled down the outcrop to get Atreus' attention and shouted "north east, about half a mile - I think." He figured Atreus could pick up pretty quick once they got closer if it was indeed Lore or not. He started off in the direction himself at a brisk jog.
With a direction in mind, Atreus shifted gears and veered more east. The snow was starting to pile up and there was no definitive path, and as a wolf - albeit a large one - he enjoyed a few moments to bound through the snow, black hair leaping out of the stark white, causing a spray of fluffy whiteness to shoot out.
He did it again, and again, because if he was going to run at half-speed, both trying to find his wolf and the prize Lore found and keep Lance instinctively on his radar, he might as well have a little fun with it, right? Leaping in and out of snowbanks was about as fun as it got as a wolf, which was saying a great deal as the experience was one that was still remarkable to him.
When Atreus picked up the trail himself, he sprinted ahead a little further until finally, they came to a clearing. Lance had been right, this was Lore and-- puppies? No, not exactly, but a young creature of some kind, but as a wolf he had a hard time gleaning exactly what kind, with their colorful wings and pointy ears half-hidden in the snow.
Lore had very clearly taken to protecting them, his stance only relaxed slightly when Atreus came into view, and they hid behind his legs. Atreus shifted back into human form, but stayed still and just slightly bent. He glanced back over his shoulder to Lance approaching behind him and held up a finger to his lips. “Pups of some kind I think. Do you see mom around anywhere?”
Lance slowed a few times to grab a handful of the snow, pack it between gloved hands and lob it at Atreus darting through the drifts with a laugh. He made a mental note that if snow kept up to get Keith and Shiro out in it later with them and have a real snowball fight.
But he resigned himself to knowing he'd never be able to keep pace with Atreus in this form as the other sprinted ahead. Lance wasn't too far behind though, slowing his footsteps as to keep the noise down as he took in Atreus' stance. He peered over Atreus' shoulder at the pups just visible behind Lore. "Of the adorable kind," he said quietly. At least from what he could make out of them.
At the question Lance kneeled behind Atreus, out of line sight for Lore and the pups as his bayard shifted back into the rifle. He took a quick glance around with the thermal reader. "Not picking any heat signatures up nearby," he let Atreus know as the rifle shifted back to bayard and he stood. "Poor little guys," he added as he looked on at the pups behind Lore, resisting the urge to barrel forward and scoop them up.
Atreus glanced up at Lance hovering over his shoulder and faltered for just a second. He smoothed over the double-take with an easy grin. “Adorable is right.” He didn’t clear his throat when he went back looking, but Lance’s reassurance that there wasn’t anything nearby was all he needed to move forward.
Lore let him, backing off just a bit so Atreus could reach down and give the two pups a once-over. “They’re cold.” He looked up again and towards the cave, nodding quickly to give Lore the signal to check it out. The wolf disappeared into the darkness ahead of them and Atreus picked one of the pups up to hand it to Lance, before scooping the other into his arms. “If the cave is clear, we might need to start a fire and get them some warmth before we head back.”
Especially with this snow keeping up as it did, Atreus could glance behind them and already see his wolf tracks covered by snow. And he knew Lance was cold too. “You okay with that? Should only take an hour or two.”
Lance tucked his bayard away and took the pup held out to him. "Hey, buddy," he said softly as he did. He could feel the cold radiating off the poor little guy even through his gloves and he unzipped his jacket to be able to tuck the pup against the hoodie underneath and zipped back up to keep him in place. There was a soft laugh as he looked down to see the head of the pup sticking out. It was a pretty tight fit but thankfully he'd bought the jacket big enough to fit a hoodie (or more) underneath so it worked.
He nodded at the suggestion. He'd picked up following a track alright enough with his time with Voltron, but knew Atreus was way beyond him in that regard and if he was suggesting to stay put Lance would follow.
"Yeah, a fire would be good," he agreed. And while he'd jokingly complain about the cold he was okay, he'd definitely been worse off, but he could easily feel that the pup probably wasn't. And he wasn't entirely sure how long his own body heat would keep the little guy sustained. "Let's go," he said and started off in the direction of the cave.
Atreus couldn’t help but grin at the image of Lance tucking a pup into his coat. His own winter clothes didn’t allow for that, but he held the other in his arms and ran a hand over the fur anyway. When Lore returned from his brief scouting mission, Atreus pushed forward. The cave was dark, especially with the sun not quite peeking through the trees and the snow forcing cover, but as they moved down the rocky tunnel, Atreus touched the wall with a finger and drew a few charms to light the path in a dim, blue glow.
When they got a little further in, where the snow hadn’t traveled, he pulled off his warm vest and put it down on the ground for the pup to curl up on. He gave Lance a look and titled his head. “Sit, I’ll be right back.”
He was, it only took a minute for Atreus to run out - sans vest - and gather some wood and dried twigs from fallen branches, things that hadn’t been completely covered in snow yet. When he returned, he had an arm full of them and snow completely dusting his hair and shoulders. “I say this as a frost giant and someone who’s lived through several years’ worth of winter, but whew it’s coming down out there. We should’ve packed a blanket and some snacks.”
Atreus paused before he started assembling the firewood on nearby flat rock. “Or do you have some snacks hidden in those eight layers?”
The blue Altean marks under Lance's eyes started to give off their own little soft light as they walked into the cave, reacting to the dark. He was just about to try to reach for his phone for the flashlight when the path lit up. Carefully, and a bit awkwardly given the pup in his jacket, Lance sat next to the other pup, grateful for the length in his parka keeping him from sitting directly on the ground.
Settled, he reached a hand out to the other pup to scratch behind its ears as they waited. His gaze glanced up at the sound of Atreus coming back into the cave and okay it was entirely unfair how well Atreus pulled off the dusted in snow and here to provide warmth look. But it'd become something like second nature to just - shove the errant thoughts along those lines to some box in the back of his mind and he did just that.
There was a laugh at the question. "Okay first - it's only four layers, thank you very much," though his tone was light and definitely not put out by the call out at all. "And second… I've been unexpectedly stranded way too many times at this point to not have snacks on me at all times," he continued and unzipped a pocket on the chest of his jacket. He pulled out a couple granola bars and tossed one at Atreus.
"So - if you're a frost giant does that mean you'll just get like - super tall one day? Or are you actually supposed to be super tall but you're choosing to just be regular tall?" Serious questions.
“Nice,” Atreus grinned appreciatively and caught the granola bar in one hand. He tucked it away and pulled out his knife so he could use it to start the fire. It only took him a second and once the fire took, he looked over at Lance. “How long have you been dying to ask me that?”
Without waiting for an answer, he moved over, scooped up the pup and sat down in it’s spot, letting it snuggle his lap. “I don’t think I’m going to get taller. Despite the name translation, Jötnar aren’t all giant-sized. Some of them were, though - Jormie’s a lot bigger at home, for instance. But, my mom was human-sized, and… well, you’ve seen dad. But we’re all pretty ambiguous. The fire giants I know are all big, Surtr-- Huge.” Atreus reached down to pull up the edge of his shirt, where the tattoo to commemorate Muspelheim rested near his ribs.
“Angrboda’s human-sized too, but makes pretty cute wolf-giants that someday are gonna get pretty big.” At that mention, Lore made a huff of annoyance and turned his back to Atreus, facing the front of the cave.
"Since the words frost giant were first uttered," he answered with an easy grin. He unzipped his jacket as the fire took and the first bit of warmth started to waft over. The pup wiggled around a little and plopped down against Lance's chest again. Lance tugged off one of his gloves with his teeth and then pulled off the other one to be able to pet the pup.
But of course Atreus was suddenly lifting up his shirt as he talked and Lance glanced over at the ink across the skin.
Lore's little huff pulled his attention and Lance shot Atreus an amused smile. "He's like your moody teenager," he said lightly.
"There were some stupidly tall aliens we ran into from time to time," he said with a shrug. "There was this one planet that wanted to join the Coalition and I think the shortest person there was still like three feet taller than us." His fingers weaved through the fur on the pup laying against him, idle movements as he talked. "Most of the Galra too were huge," a short pause as he smirked a little, "seventeen year old me almost had a heart attack the first time I saw all like eight feet of Sendak."
“He’s a brat.” Atreus sounded fond even still, knowing full well that Lore was exactly as Lance said - a moody teenager. He almost missed the puppy days, but apparently, that void could easily be filled by a winged one that was snuggling against him.
He caught himself watching Lance’s hands, but didn’t make a point of it, just cleared his throat a little and pulled out the granola bar he’d stashed in his pocket. The baby on his lap barely stirred as he ripped it open with his teeth. “My dad’s large enough that I used to think he was average size. Average strength too.” He knew now, after having been around real people for a few years at this point, that it was comical to think of his dad as being average anything.
Atreus took a bite of the granola bar and raised both eyebrows. “Who’s Sendak? Was this a I-want-them-to-step-on-me situation?”
"Your dad is ridiculous," Lance said in reply, though there was nothing harsh about the words. Though it would probably be endlessly amusing to him how different Atreus and his dad were in their personalities.
There was a huff of a laugh at the question though and Lance shook his head. "No, god no," he refuted quickly. "More like a having been in space all of a week and suddenly there was this eight foot tall purple guy who wanted to straight up murder us all situation." His nose wrinkled a little at the thought that Sendak's plan had almost succeeded in his own case at least. The explosion he'd shoved Coran out of the way of and the very real fact he'd probably be dead without the advanced healing technology on the Castle.
"He uh - took over Earth too, while we were in space, we didn't know until we managed to make our own way back home." He paused for a moment, his demeanor falling a little. "Not exactly the homecoming we'd had in mind." Hell he hadn't even gone home during those months on earth, stuck to the only surviving Garrison base.
It was still hard to think about sometimes, the people lost and hurt, displaced, all because they happened to live where the Paladins had come from. Caught up in a war they had all so desperately hoped would never make it to their home. Lance hadn't realized his hand had stilled until there was a noise of protest from the pup and suddenly a head butting into his hand. It pulled him from the thoughts and he grinned, though not quite as easy as before. "Alright, alright, sorry…" he said teasingly.
"I still have no clue what these dudes are, do you?" he asked Atreus and glanced over at him.
“Yikes.” So definitely no reason for that quiet pang of jealousy to hit Atreus’ chest. It settled, but he still felt a little bad about asking, bringing up for Lance what was clearly a rough memory. It was one of the benefits of having animals around to cuddle, at least, as they often instinctively knew what their people needed from them.
He was at least tempted to reach out to that hand and touch it himself, but left that to the pup demanding pets, with a little smile. “If I’d brought Mimir, he’d know immediately. I need to stop leaving him at home, I guess.” His body-less friend would have also been a know-it-all about it, but Atreus had learned more about mythology and stories from Mimir than he had anyone else.
Well, except for the animals themselves. He looked down at the one in his lap, eyes blinking as he was warming up and clearly becoming more alert. “Simurgh.” Atreus found himself saying, with a certainty he didn’t have before. That jogged his memory, though, and he continued on with his own knowledge. “Mythological bird-dog hybrid. They’re similar to phoenixes but more-- dog-like? I haven’t seen a full-grown one here in Vallo, I wonder if they keep hidden.”
"We'll bring him on the next adventure," Lance suggested with a smile, never one to linger too long in the bad memories if he could help it. "Put him in a backpack or something," and honestly, he'd done weirder in his years in space than hiking around with a head. Maybe.
Lance watched as Atreus engaged with the pup in his lap, and really there was no hiding the fondness creeping into his expression at it all. Even more so as Atreus went on a ramble about the pups - Simurghs.
"Bird-dog, hey?" Lance repeated as his mouth smushed to the side, trying to picture how this would all end up looking as they got bigger. Especially since, aside from the wings, they looked more dog than anything at the moment. He mulled over the hidden thought for a moment and shrugged. "Maybe? Or maybe like us they just showed up one day from wherever they're from?"
Atreus snorted a laugh at the idea of stuffing Mimir in a backpack. “Oh no, he’d hate that. Have to go full neck out, he likes the breeze.” Atreus made a little throat-cutting gesture and then winced. “Normally he hangs from father’s belt, so I don’t know if that view is any better.” Nor did it probably smell any better, and that thought forced a wheeze of a laugh out of him.
It jostled the pup on his lap, who made a disgruntled noise of disapproval at being moved around. Atreus stilled and smiled down at him. “Yeah, you might be right. They’re too young to really know, I think.” He turned his smile over to the pup on Lance’s lap. “At least they seem comfortable.”
Lance laughed at that and made a bit of a face. "Oh, man - poor Mimir. There's gotta be some kind of middle ground between backpack and that." Idly he wondered if maybe there was something in the mess of Pidge's workshop on the Castle that might work. He'd have to remember to poke around next time he was there.
It was a little sad to think about though, that the pups might be all alone in a new world and far from their home. "Guess we'll just have to keep them that way," he answered without really thinking through the words. His head ducked a little with a bit of a flush as he clued in that he'd basically invited himself into taking care of the pups with Atreus.
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Atreus had to look back down at his pup to avoid staring too long at Lance, but he did it with a smile, pleased that he had help on an equal end. Admittedly he had a few people that would drop anything for the Sanctuary, and that concept still felt new even two years later. But there was something about the company…
He cleared his throat and stuffed more granola bar in his mouth before he said something stupid. Nope, be cool. Chewing the food gave him a second to not blurt out the first thing on his brain, or ramble about something ridiculous again, and Atreus was almost proud of himself when he brought his chin back up to look at Lance, the very epitome of cool. “Yeah, you’re knee-deep in it now. You couldn’t escape if you tried.”
It worked. Almost unfairly well, and there was a quick skip to the beating of his heart at the look. But he recovered quick, and shot a sly grin at Atreus. "Who says I'd want to try," he replied back, easily falling into the light flirtatious tone the words required. And his smile turned a little softer as he thought about just how much truth there was to the words.
He held Atreus' gaze for a moment and then glanced down before out the cave entrance as he cleared his throat a little. "Looks like it's easing up out there," he pointed out - and maybe he was a little disappointed by the fact. "Should we start getting these guys back to the Sanctuary?"
Atreus glanced back at the opening of the cave, with a mirrored expression of disappointment. Then down to Lore, who looked comfortable, even though his ears were perked and he was clearly on high alert. Then down to the fluffball on his lap, wiggling in his sleep. He didn’t look over at Lance, knowing his eyes might betray something. “In a few minutes.” He sounded reluctant to rush out. “They could use a little extra warmth.”
A few more minutes wouldn’t hurt anything.