Brownies and Tangerines

The petite, freckled youth couldn't help a giggle when Yoonjie, who was not prone to boasting, let alone preening like a peacock, declared himself more handsome than Nairn. He loved these rare glimpses of Yoonjie when he wasn't all tightly wound and on alert. Nobody really knew the other male had much of a playful side, but Haulean had managed to find it in there somewhere.

The giggling softened into a something a bit more bashful when Yoon said to threaten people with his "husband" if they gave him any guff, but he gave a sweet smile and a nod. "Kay. Do you think it'd work on John Marc?" If there was one person in the Coterie that Haulean could genuinely say he disliked, it was that mean old mage man. He was scary, and just... mean. And he was the one that had shorn Haulean's hair off when he'd first arrived. Meanie.

Anyway. Haulean's little attempt at being stubborn didn't seem to go particularly well. One moment he was sitting firm, the next he found himself scooped up and flopped into the water. Oh he'd let out one short, sharp squeal of alarm when he'd realized what was happening, but rather than fighting to get away, he just clung to Yoon and waited to be brought back up.

Once their heads broke the surface, Haulean coughed and spluttered, but he was also giggling his head off. "Cheater!" he stammered through the laughter, and just wrapped his arms and legs around Yoon like a little cub in a tree. "Rawr now I have you! Rawr!"

@Yoonjie

Yoon chuckled, slowly, shaking his head as he let the younger male cling at him, adjusting his hold to make sure that Haulean didn't slip back below the surface of the water of the massive bathhouse, couldn't have the male drowning on his watch, after all. Alright, alright, easy now 'tiger', he murmured in a light, but steady tone. If this is you trying to prove you've got a hold of me, you're gonna need to work on that catch-phrase and follow-through a little more. Right now you've got more a soggy cat, than king of the jungle look about you, It was a gentle tease, before Yoon, making sure Hau was on his feet, eased back against the edge of the tub again, to give the other man some room.

He was glad that they could play, but it just drove home to Yoon how sheltered Haulean had been, or at least, appeared to be. Yoon hadn't had a friend at that age, that he could have played with in such a light-hearted way, and keep an air of innocence about him. It was both cute and frustrating as hell, because it made him feel every bit the old man he was, even if he had been back awake only a decade and a half, Hau would have been a toddler when he came back to awareness. Crashing my bunk tonight, trying to pull me under water, I see how it is.

The smirk that came to Yoon's face was small, but more noticeable as he shifted in the water, the thought about the difference his own life could have taken had things not gone how they had, his mother's abuse, and his father's abandonment of him -- he had stopped playing with other boys at ten, had started to learn to pick pockets and fight a little later that same year. The C would strip that off the younger male, as time went on. I'm not getting stuck in here until my skin shrivels just because you decided you're King of the Tub, so let's go, washing time, Hau, his expression finally slipped back into something more playful once again, as he got done reconciling his own youth. Unless you need me to pull rank to get ya in gear, not too sure how intimidating I'd be able to pull off, though.

@Haulean Oruven