Isaiah ignored Alexander’s warnings and followed him out into the yard, waiting patiently as the man walked into the trees. His ears pricked up at the strange sound drifting from the direction he had disappeared, but he wasn’t worried about the man, or his own safety. He was a little surprised, however, when he was bowled over and slammed into the ground. A soft hiss escaped his lips and his eyes flashed white for a second before he felt vibrations, a low sound that could only be…purring?

After wriggling out from underneath the creature and dusting himself off, Isaiah looked up at the beast and smiled. It was the first real smile that had crossed his features for awhile, and it lit up his face just as much as any warm sunshine. He stifled an uncharacteristic giggle and reached up to the creature, rubbing just behind his ear. Isaiah’s voice was quite and soothing as he spoke.

“You’re not a demon. You’re beautiful, and I think you have a wonderful gift…” Isaiah had always loved animals of all kinds, even the deadly ones, and this one was truly unique, and quite striking in Isaiah’s eyes. Majestic, regal, proud…everything that the angel held is high regard for himself and anyone or anything else he might come across. Regardless of what the man underneath the creature’s skin thought, Isaiah would never be afraid of the beastly form that was currently rubbing itself against him.

The creature snuggled against the angel, purrs rumbling the pair of them. Like a large house cat he started to rub his scent all over the other man, marking the angel as his. Inside the beast Alex was still aware. He couldn’t speak in his creature form but Alex could still hear Isaiah. He smiled slightly to himself at the angel’s words. Only one other person had called him beautiful, the only person he had ever loved.

After a few moments of letting Isaiah scratch behind his ears and pet over his body Alex moved away. He stretched out then let the change overtake him again. It was still as painful as before and when it was all said and done a bloody panting naked Alex was left in its wake. He curled around himself for a moment letting his muscles quit spasming and his heart quit racing.

“Can you please hand me my pants?” Alex whispered from his place on the ground, back still turned to the angel.

Isaiah almost frowned as the beast moved away, but instead he just stayed where he was and looked away as the creature transformed back into Alexander. This did cause a small frown to spread over the angel’s face; he had no doubt that the man would be just as cold and distant as he had been before, and Isaiah had had quite enough of it. He didn’t know what exactly this man or the creature inside him was, but he definitely knew which one he preferred.

A curt nod was all Isaiah did to acknowledge that he had heard the other man. He walked quickly to where Alexander had dropped his pants and threw them in his general direction, slightly pleased with himself as they landed only a few inches from him. Unsure of what to do next, he sat on the ground and once again began picking at the earth at his feet, waiting for the other man to say or do something. The good mood and striking smile were completely gone now, replaced by an icy expression of disinterest. This look of indifference suited his face very well; in the shadow of the house, his pale skin almost looked frosted over. At home, the angel’s friends often debated which suited his face better, smiles or the cold distance that normally lingered there.

“Thank you.” Alex grabbed the pants slightly glaring at the angel for chucking them at him. He quickly slipped into them before heading over to Isaiah. He was covered in a small amount of slime, a side affect of the change. It was disgusting, but Alex shook most of it into the dirt before taking it a moment to ring his dark auburn hair out. The change wasn’t as bad as he thought it was going to be and his beast was curled up happily in chest still purring.

He smiled lightly at Isaiah before sitting on the ground next to him. Alex looked off into the jungle for a moment. “Thank you…for being so accepting.” He scratched softly in the dirt drawing old patterns and words in ancient languages. 400 years had given him plenty of time to learn the languages and history of the area.

“The last person that was so excepting died…along time ago.” Alex smirked images of his young lover appearing in front of him. “He was killed, sacrificed to the bastards that cursed me. Because he had fallen in love with me. They killed him.” He wiped away the sing tear that trailed down his face. “My turn hm? What temple are you looking for?”

Isaiah’s mood lightened very slightly as the newly formed man sat down beside him. He showed no emotion throughout his story; he wouldn’t know how to react if he wanted to try to make Alexander feel better, so being impassive seemed to be the best decision. Isaiah had never been very good at comforting people, unless they were small, cute and easily consoled, and the angel was fairly sure the man beside him was none of these.

Still in his own little world, Isaiah once again almost missed the man’s question, but caught the end of it. His brows furrowed once again as he pulled a thick piece of folded paper from his pocket. He knew the paper would still be there; it was a simple incantation, but extremely useful at times. He dropped the paper in Alexander's lap.

“This temple. There’s something in it, an ancient relic that someone wants for something. I don’t have very many details. I find they often…complicate things on jobs like this. All I need to know is what I’m looking for and where to find it.” He looked away from Alexander and pulled his knees up to his chest, wanting nothing more than to appear at his house and get away from this hot, oppressive forest.

Alex noted how emotionless the angel was as he spoke. Was there anything he could say to get through to the angel? The tracker watched the other man cautiously. Why did he show emotion for a creature and nothing for the man? He was drawn from his thoughts by the paper being dropped in the lap.

He picked up the paper and looked at the drawing of the temple, there was a simple set of coordinates on the side. “These aren’t right,” He pointed at the numbers, “and even if they were this temple cannot be found without being guided by someone who has already been there.” Looking back at the drawing for a moment, Alex tried to remember what was in this temple. There was nothing coming to mind, but he couldn’t be sure.

Realizing how foul he smelled Alex immediately stood. “I need a shower. There’s a waterfall not to far from here that I like to use. You’re more than welcome to come along.” Truth be told he enjoyed the angel’s company. He rarely spoke to anyone, and it was nice to have someone to talk to again. He handed Isaiah his piece of paper back and offered him a hand.

Heading back into the house he grabbed his shoes and his bathing gear before heading back out. “Ready?”

((Short, sorry...))

Isaiah tilted his head slightly intrigued by Alexander’s description of the mysterious temple. Anything magical was interesting to the angel; he was actually looking forward to visiting the place now, though it seemed it was going to be even harder to find.

Jerked out of his reverie by the mention of a shower, Isaiah looked up at the other man; he wanted one himself, but was content waiting until he could clean his feathers manually. Water would get the job done, but he was not getting naked in front of this man again. It wasn’t that he had body issues; for some reason, he felt that his nakedness made the other man more uncomfortable than it did Isaiah himself.

“I suppose I’ll go. I don’t have anything better to do.” Isaiah stood and waited for Alexander to return from the house with the things he apparently needed. Human’s bathing habits never appealed to Isaiah; a few minutes under running water and the angel was sparkling clean; literally. He never needed soap.

Alexander smiled at the other man, “Come on.”

Not waiting for the angel to follow he ran shoeless through the jungle, nearly laughing at the sensation of the trees whipping past him. For the first time in forever Alex felt happy, nearly giddy with pleasure. It wouldn’t last, not by a long shot, but he aimed to enjoy it while he could.

He reached a clearing not to far from the house. It opened up to reveal a large lake under a roaring waterfall. Water shimmered under the noonday sun. Alex knelt scooping some of the water and splashing it over his neck and face. Moving like a large cat he circled the water climbing up on a large rock and jumping in. He dove seamlessly into the water bobbing up after a moment. “The water’s great. It helps with the heat.”

Isaiah raised an eyebrow as Alexander began running through the trees. He followed at a much slower pace, chuckling at the other man’s antics. He seemed much more relaxed now, as if showing his inner beast had lifted some weight off his shoulders. Isaiah hoped this was the case; it would be a lot easier to put up with the man if he lightened up a little bit.

As he walked, Isaiah began to think more about his situation. He had no idea why he was still with Alexander; he was healed enough now to continue on his search, and staying with this man wasn’t helping at all. Having friendly company was nice, of course, but Isaiah had gone for much longer than this without seeing anyone before. He did want to spend more time with the beast Alexander was hiding, however, as it fascinated the angel.

Isaiah felt the coolness of the waterfall before he saw it; he heard Alexander jump in a few seconds before he broke into the clearing himself. The angel sighed and smiled once again as he watched the other man swim around.

“I’ll take your word for it. I don’t think it’s that hot anyway.” This was completely true; Isaiah’s body temperature was far greater than that of any normal human, and his body had ways of dealing with heat that no normal body could hope to accomplish. Hot, muggy weather was what his body thrived in, but after awhile the sweat and stickiness did annoy him. “You have fun now.” Isaiah sat down at this point and settled his back against a tree, closing his eyes against the bright, midday sun.