[PRP Tale] A Little High-Strung [Jakkoa | Barihn]

[OpticPeach]

"Don't wooooooorry. I've got ways of getting you up there," Barihn explained, well sort of. He left it more up in the air than anything else. Not explaining things was generally his way of going about, especially when he assumed the answer was an obvious one. Then again he could be wrong. Maybe it wasn't obvious at all. Oh well, he'd let him think on it for a moment. Generally how he got up varied on if he was being lazy that day or not. Most of the time he preferred to just climb up, but that wasn't an option for his new friend.

"Jakkoa, you should be able to climb up huh?" Barihn joked, sticking his head out the small cut out window once he had ascended to the top of his home. It was really the only access point into the home other than another small hole on the other side. He continued chuckling to himself before dropping a rope down and sliding back down it.

"You think you can climb this? Or want me to tie you up again?"  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Don't wooooooorry.

Jakkoa shot his company a look, some combination of miffed, incredulous, and reluctantly hopeful. The man — Barihn’s — assurances were shockingly uncomforting at first blush, but Jak had few options at that point other than to do exactly as he was, wait, and hope that there was some merit to them. After Barihn scampered up the tree like a forest rodent, Jak braced his weight against the trunk to keep it off of his twisted ankle and looked up, and up, squinting at the other as he popped his head out again—and then dropped a rope.

Jakkoa frowned, eyeing the line with pensive uncertainty. Could he climb it? With only one leg and two arms, no braces? If it had been a rope ladder, surely. But as it was, he doubted it.

Or want me to tie you up again?

His gaze snapped upward, sharp for an instant before the corner of his mouth lifted in spite of himself. “Ha. Ha,” he answered. But then, because it seemed true in his particular state of misfortune: “I think you may have to, lord of the forest. Else wise you’d need to bring whatever it is you have down here. I doubt I’m fit to climb and not especially prepared to fall again if I fail besides.”  

[OpticPeach]

Lord of the forest? Barihn would have been lying if he said he didn't like the sound of that. Being alone had made him more in tune with the forest, that was true, but being called the lord of it tickled him. He could appreciate, and maybe even enjoy being called that. Especially by handsome older men. Injured handsome men in need of his help just made things even better for the younger one.

"I cooooouuuullllld....tie you up in several ways. That would be easiest for quick climbing. Be easier on your leg." Barihn chewed on a piece of his hair as he thought his plans over, glancing between the rope and the man and back to the rope again. As if his brain had finally decided enough was enough it settled on a plan of sorts.

"Sooooo.....I'll tie this around your waist. Then if you can get at least a liiiiittle bit of a foothold on the tree I can help pull you up. Does that sound okay?"  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Jakkoa’s lip quirked, one eyebrow raising just enough to be notable at the words. I could tie you up in several ways. Perhaps he ought not have made anything of it. It was probably meant innocuously, but between the other’s expression and drawn out tone, Jak couldn’t help the alternate potential insinuations that came to mind at the words. Because they were not appropriate for the moment, however, he tucked them away, smiling instead.

“Tie me however you need to, I suppose,” he said, and then nodded at the suggestion. “The waist is fine. My other leg is also unhurt, so I ought to be able to brace without issue. Do you make a habit of inviting strangers to your home and then binding them up to carry into this…” His gaze flicked upward to the small structure—he hesitated to consider it a ‘house’—tucked into the tree, “…forest lair of yours? For the sake of your appetite if nothing else I hope you at least catch more beasts than men with your traps.”  

[OpticPeach]

Barihn listened to Jak, grinning as he commented on his living conditions. While they were strange, he thought he was doing fairly well for himself. He managed to feed himself most days, and was fairly well protected on top of all the other things. He figured it was better than most people could manage. Shrugging at the thought for the moment, he began wrapping the rope around Jak's waist and securing him in place.

"Ready?" he grinned, not giving him a chance to reply as he began tugging him towards the tree.

The Only Black Uke

 

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Jakkoa held himself still, watching as Barihn secured him and then bracing himself and catching to the rope when the other pulled. In retrospect, it could have gone fantastically wrong in any number of ways, and had any of those potential slip ups transpired, he might have found himself in a far worse off state than he was—physically and otherwise, potentially.

But nothing went afoul.

Either by way of practice on Barihn’s part and effective cooperation on Jakkoa’s or sheer dumb luck for both of them, he made it up, and when close enough to do so, he caught at the bottom edge of the ‘house’ — or it’s floor — and hoisted himself in, adjusting his weight once over the lip to keep it off of his twisted ankle. His eyes flit about the place. Not large, not elaborate, and clearly lived in—but wild much in the way Barihn himself came off: civil, but not quite in touch with civilization any longer. If he had ever been.

“Have you lived here…long?” Jak asked. It seemed a relevant question among many.  

[OpticPeach]

Barihn thought for a moment, counting the time on his fingers. He'd....well he had been there a long time he supposed. At least it was long in the grand scheme of things. While most guys his age were off learning their craft or trying to find themselves he had been banished to this place. He already knew what he was about and was fine with being there after it all.

"I uhhhhh....it has been a feeeew years. I was forced out when I waaaassss fifteen. Now I'm," he paused, furrowing his brow as he tried to think of his age. "I think I'm nineteen now. Maybe. Perhaps."  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Forced out.

Jakkoa stared, his miffed expression only seeming to exaggerate itself as Barihn drew his words out, and in the aftermath, for several moments that felt like all he could do. Stare. And wait. As though, if perhaps he just gave a little longer for the words to sink in, they would seem less obscure somehow, or Barihn would provide more explanation. They did not. He did not.

Eventually, Jak gave a quick, puzzled shake of the head, frowning at his company. “You just—fifteen, four years you’ve been…” He glanced around the small abode. “Maybe, ‘perhaps’ you have been here four years. That is no small amount of time, you know. Are you well?”

It felt a little odd to ask, he supposed, but after what had been said, he couldn’t help but feel at least some pinch of concern. Barihn didn’t look or sound especially distressed. But Jakkoa certainly would have been, under his circumstances.  

[OpticPeach]

"Am I well? I uh, suppoooose I am yeah. I can hunt and and gather. Lots of useful talents I guess. There's nothing too dangerous out here, at least I haven't encountered anything too bad." Barihn was a bit confused by his concern, but willing to answer the question nonetheless. He thought he'd been doing fairly well all things considered.

"If I wasn't doing well I don't think I would be here."

The Only Black Uke

 

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

“Nothing too dangerous…” Jakkoa repeated, almost more to himself than the other young man. After a moment, though, he shook his head, gaze moving instead to survey his surroundings again as he adjusted his position on the floor to better keep pain off his foot. “I am not certain being alive and present is the same as being well, but if you’re comfortable with your circumstances far be it from me to complain. They merely seem quite…remote. I’d be lonely.”

It didn’t look, either, as though Barihn shared the space with anyone else. It wasn’t big for starters—a tiny shake holed up in a tree in the deep woods. But beyond that, it also simply gave off the air of a one-man show. Still, out of curiosity.

“Do you share this place with others? Does anyone else…know you’re here? Even if you’ve not encountered anything dangerous yet, surely you can’t be entirely on your own.”  

[OpticPeach]

"Weeeeell, if anyone else knows they haven't said anything. If there was someone else around I would like a friend, but all I've got are the animals around here. They didn't want me having anyone else. It was my punishment," he shrugged, puttering around his small abode.

"Hungry? Wanna try some medicine and see if it helps your leg?" He wasn't the best host of course, though anyone who spoke to animals more than people probably wouldn't be.

"I uh...well I can do something for you to help. I don't know whaaat, but something."

The Only Black Uke

 

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

“It sounds awful.”

To be alone was one thing, but to be purposefully and distinctly kept that way as ‘punishment’—Jak shook his head. He wasn’t certain how he’d handle such exclusion and forced solitude. But certainly not so well as Barihn seemed to be managing. Since it didn’t seem to be of special concern to the other young man, however, he let it go.

Easy enough to do when his stomach immediately chipped in that yes, he was hungry the moment Barihn mentioned it. The rest of it Jak was a touch less sure about. “I am,” he said. “Hungry, that is, though…I think if you do not know what you’re doing perhaps it just ought to be braced. I am a healer myself, but I don’t want to try encouraging anything to mend too quickly if I’ve managed to twist a bone out of place. If I’m fortunate it’s just pulled and sensitized the muscle. What do you have with you?”  

[OpticPeach]

"Well I have a few fruit on hand, as well as a beast I had slain yesterday. I can cook it over a fire for you if you would like. Perhaps while you rest your leg?" Barihn spoke airily, waving his hand around as he wandered over to his makeshift drawer set up. "I prooooomiiiise I know how to cook. I doooon't think I would have lasted this long if I didn't know how to," the leaf chuckled, patting the bed for Jak.

"Go ahead and take a rest. I can feed you." The sight of the air-headed boy fumbling around the small hut was a bit of a theatrical event as he pulled strange rocks and other odd cooking tools out and began to attempt to cook a meal for the other man.

The Only Black Uke

 

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

There was something about certain assurances that had the unfortunate result of making whatever it is they assured seem less likely to be true. ‘I am not mad.’ ‘I don’t care.’ ‘I’m not stupid.’ ‘I’m mature.’ ‘I can handle this, trust me.’ The long, drawn, “I prooooomiiiise I know how to cook…” felt firmly within that category.

Jakkoa’s conviction on this point only further cemented itself when Barihn began to move about, fiddling and fumbling. His gaze trailed, wandering down the length of straight, mahogany brown hair and the line of his back as he worked, to his backside, and then gradually away again to other parts of the room. Because he had little better to do for the moment, Jak did make his way over to sit atop the other man’s bedding, and from there worked to carefully remove his boot, attempting to assess his own damage without worsening the situation before leaving it be.

Nothing looked or felt broken, he decided. Sprained at worst, red, and swollen. But otherwise nothing to be especially concerned about. He let his hands drop away, removed his other boot, and adjusted his legs to stretch and rest comfortably.

Though initially he had no intentions of actually laying down — to ‘rest’ or sleep or otherwise — the space was small with only so many places for his eyes to go, late afternoon was waning into early evening outside, and there was only so much Jakkoa would do while he waited. He only really arranged himself to a lower sit, and then a lean, and finally a lay for comfort, and had no awareness of drifting short of anything but full consciousness. A lifetime of migration and constant travel, however, had trained his body not only to conserve energy and take advantage of any opportunity for recuperation, but also to do so quickly, and regardless of how familiar or unfamiliar the given locale was.

It was a blessing and a curse to be fully capable of (and sometimes prone to) sleeping anywhere.  

[OpticPeach]

Barihn had gotten to work quickly after conversation had all but seemed to cease, and while he wasn't the most skilled of cooks he could at least make something edible in the forest. That had to count of something, right? Working over the hot fire pit, he hadn't even realized his new friend had fallen into a slumber until he had finished up their meal. Waking him almost felt wrong in a way, especially after everything with his injury, but if he didn't wake him then he would have cold food. That wasn't very good either. Deciding to just go ahead and see if he could wake him, Barihn leaned forward over his bed, tapping the other man on the forehead.

"Heeeey. Heeeeeeeeey. Food is done. You need to eat, okay? Food is good for your injuries."

The Only Black Uke