Nec was in a strange mood. It had been going on for days, it made him moody, short tempered and in general a grump to be around. Even the Kirawa failed to completely lighten the mood, and eventually Nec had asked them to stay at the weyr when he left.
What was this?! He'd just Impressed Apo, he finally found a home in the weyr, he had friends, it was mostly peaceful (though the orcs had made a scene after someone had ruined their hunt a week ago), and the IF wasn't being any worse than usual. So what the hell was going on?!
It was early evening when he'd left, by now it was midnight. Nec had mostly walked, wandered around an eery feeling of being watched in the back of his mind that Apo wanted to investigate, but Nec had told him no. Most likely it was his old paranoia being triggered by something. He might be getting wound up for nothing! Bad weather maybe? Or something else equally stupid, sometime he hated his own messed up mind...
Grumbling, and in his own mind, Nec had taken the long way around to the beach and walked along the cliffs at the far end, where the sand had been replaced by round, scoured rocks and pebbles, waves lapping gently and utterly failing to drown out his own thoughts.
It had been one of those nights. Long. Busy. Hard. Too many people and not enough help. She was sore and tired and trekking up to the weyr. But she didn't want to be alone and was going to hold Nec to his open invite to stop by whenever. But when she got there, all she found was his dragon and companions. Confused and a bit worried as it wasn't exactly early evening, she asked his bonded where he could be. Not that she was able to get much of an answer out of any of them. She got enough though and groaning, went to go find him by the cliff side.
The stones hurt her feet and she could be heard cursing long before she could be seen. Grey eyes ringed with blue as she tried to pick out the less pointy rocks that wouldn't trip her up. "Damn it Nec. All I want is to go to bed. What the f*ck are you doing out here bastard? Like seriously. Couldn't be with the soft sand. Nooo. Freaking hard head Rocky. I'm totally gonna kick you in the damn shins when I find your stony ass. Owwww!"
Nec already knew she was looking for him, Apo of course had let him know even though Nec had told him he needed some space (mostly to spare his companions any more aggression).
Didn't mean he'd make it easy for her.
He wanted to be alone, why hadn't Apo just told her that? Pff, because he was protective and if he couldn't be with his Rider then he wanted someone else to be... Stubborn dragon.
Jasper would find him eventually, up top on a huge boulder, easily ten feet tall, and Nec sat perched on top of it like some hissy gargoyle, staring out at the annoyingly calm sea.
"What d'you want?" There was no hint of their usual teasing tone, the normal friendly insults. Nec would actually sound annoyed she was there.
She stood down below, hands on her hips as she tilted her head up at him. "To make sure you weren't dead. I guess I can call that f*cking done." She was annoyed. He was annoyed. Oh, this was gonna be a powdered keg and she knew it too. That didn't mean she was gonna restrain herself any. "You just had to be some sort of priss and climb up there didnt you? Well guess what. I can climb too!"
And with that she stripped, not caring about his feelings on that matter at all. Liquid and then a puma was standing in her place, muscles bunching up as she got ready to leap. Her first attempt had her about halfway up and she readied herself for the second jump that would take her to the top. Springing, she flew through the air to land basically right on top of him if he hadn't moved.
"Pinned ya." Cause rather she landed on him or not, she had him in her sights now. It would only be a matter of time.
"Figured it would make my point of wanting to be alone. Apparently not." He gave her a flat glance before looking back at nothing, empty space somewhere over the water. Go away! He wasn't good for anyone to be around in this mood!
But of course she didn't listen, this was Jasper, she was even more stubborn than Nec was sometimes. He registered her stripping and changing but didn't react at all, not until she jumped! "Damnit Jasper!" Nec moved but too late, and she landed right on top of him, her momentum pushing him down on his back. "What part of being alone don't you understand?" Annoyed, angry, Nec glared at her but it would be a weird one. He tried to convince himself it was her he was mad at, for disturbing, but honestly that wasn't true and it showed.
She laid down on him, haunches slightly off to the side of his hips and head resting on her front paws on his chest. "All of it apparently. Now what's gotten into you Nec?" Concerned rings Jasper's icy blue eyes as she looked up at Nec's face. She didn't care about that glare one bit. She had seen him well and truly angry and this...This wasn't it. Well. Maybe not at her at any rate. Who knows what he could end up being mad at in the end. "I won't judge no matter what...I wish you could remember that."
A loud-ish, frustrated groan escaped him when she laid on him. Gods, why couldn't she just get mad at him and leave... Though that idea certainly didn't make him feel any better. And she looked concerned!
"I know..."
Uuuurh, he didn't have an answer! "I don't know! It's like-- gods damnit, I'm probably just being paranoid again for no bloody reason." Growling at himself, he still felt watched, even now (not counting Jasper because she was staring him right in the face). "Been feeling weird since last week...".
"Normally you don't get paranoid for no reason." That head would roll over on her paws, nestling the top of it just under his chin. Old habits. "So since you said it started last week...Hmm. Well, it isn't me. We met more than a week ago. So that is one thing off your list. Do you think it is an old flame or maybe someone's tracked you down here? Could also be you've mouthed off to the wrong person and they are very patient." She also wasn't throwing out illogical field, but that was a more last case sort of thing. "And I take it, for whatever reason, it is giving you bad vibes. Whatever you saw or are feeling. It isn't the pleasant kind of feeling. So that might help narrow it down more."
"Clearly not pleasant" he grumbled, but she had a point. He'd always been paranoid but when he always had had a reason could it really be called paranoid? Whatever it should be called it wasn't nice!
"Don't have any old flames." But the mention of being tracked here, the idea literally made him shudder! "Don't think I've pissed off anyone lately... But I might have." Someone from High Mountain maybe? No, too long ago. "Don't know how anyone might track me here. But I doubt it's impossible..." Nec frowned before glancing at Jasper who was still staring and lying on him. "I don't tend to make good company in this mood."
"Nope. You generally don't, but eh. What are you gonna do about it? Push me off onto the rocks below? Even you aren't that cruel Nec. Not when I can make adorable kitten eyes at you in this form." And she did so. Just to prove a point. At the shudder though, she lifted up and paw and patted him on the shoulder. It was the best she could do in this form at the moment. "So that leaves really someone tracking you down. Rather from some sort of passed incident here or from...Wherever you want too when you disappeared from my life."
That paw came up and down again, digits flexing to gently knead at him without the claws. "Whatever it is, just know I've got your back. And I'm sure others do too. You aren't alone Nec. Not by a long shot."
Those kitten eyes actually made him smile a bit. How did she do this? He was still in a bad mood but he couldn't make himself take it out on her, not like he'd done on occasion before. Not here, but on earth. Most people knew to stay away from him there.
"Can't imagine who-- well no, I can, but how?" Then again, he came here, and those gumm-gumms he and Raf had ended. Nothing to say someone else could've come too. "Shit, I really don't need someone from there to be here. Not those who make my mind itch like this at least." Sighing, he looked at her again with a tiny smile. "Thanks, Kitty." His smile grew a bit and suddenly she was trapped in a tight hug, both still prone on top of the large boulder. "Sometimes I forget that."
A small yip of surprise at the hug, but it quickly turned into a purr as she nuzzled just under his chin. "I'm more than happy to remind you of it. Though I would like to know what made you have the memory of a goldfish now. And if I need to stick those sticky notes all over you. Or better let..." She gave a chuckling purr. "Maybe paint it on your hand in permanent paint." That would be kinda like a tattoo right? Lifting her head, she gave his chin a small lick. "What do you think of that Rocky?"
"Try twohundred and fifty years of conditioning?" It took more than a few months to change that. Sure he gad fifty years out of the JO before he came here but those years hadn't been very full of friends either. He chuckled a bit at her suggestions though. "Let's stick with the post-it's for now." Was that a cat-kiss? "And let's get down from here, my head is starting to hurt." On his back he'd been resting on his horns, and there was only so much he could take of that before getting a headache. "Why were you looking for me anyway?"
"You said I could stop by your place once you got one and I was taking you up on that offer." Getting off of him, she sat off to the side. Her head was tilted up at him, a look of worry on her face now. "And then I didn't find you there and yeah...You can guess the rest. If you don't feel like company for the rest of the night, I can go and sleep at the restaurant. It isn't a big deal." That was her lying through her teeth, but it was one thing to make Nec talk and keep him company while they were awake. Something else to try and force her company on him for the rest of the night. Especially since he had companions that could keep him company if he really needed it.
Standing up, she waddled to the edge and peered down. "Okay. I will admit. I got up here, but I'm not sure I can get down as gracefully." Turning around, she slowly started to inch over the edge backwards. "Nec...I'm regretting this mildly now." True cat fashion. Get up on something high and then have trouble getting down. Just her luck.
Oh! He hadn't really expected her to take him up on that. Not that it had been an empty offer, but he knew she had issues with him not remembering, he'd seen it at the cafe. But she did, and he was happy she did. "You got worried?" His expression was a touch surprised, it was still weird to him to have people worrying about him but he was getting used to it. Was kind of warming too.
"Just wanted to be alone, didn't want to snap at anyone." He shook his head. "But company sounds... better now. Still might be a grump though, just a warning." He'd try to behave!
Sorry Jasper, he couldn't help laughing a bit at you predicament! "Who cares about grace?" Getting over to the edge he sat down with his legs over the edge and twisted around to slide down and hang by his hands before releasing. That left him with only three feet to drop, and that side of the boulder had mostly rounded rocks so he wouldn't hurt his feet. Once down he looked up at Jasper with a smirk. "You could jump and I'll catch you?"