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Salem cursed under his breath as he tripped on a rock on his way to see Hexxus. The man just having been slapped with the failure of his newest attempt at flirting. It'd been a long day already, and he was having a hard time hiding the anxiety that was trying to peek through, leaving him tense and not completely paying attention to where he was going. Thankfully for him no one was around to see that little bit of embarrassment. It was hard to have a swagger when you were tripping over things you couldn't see. Damn depth perception. The walk felt too long, even though it probably wasn’t very long at all. The tenseness that had been bunched in his shoulders slowly seemed to ease away as Hexxus came into view. The Stryx’s feathers fluffing up for a moment as he caught sight of Salem in return and ruffled them so they’d sit more smoothly against him, giving a half flap half hop so that he could he could get to his rider faster.
It was enough to make Salem give a small hint of a smile and giving his own greeting. Reaching out and rubbing a spot just under the Harpia’s chin only for him to give a sound of disgust as he pulled his hand away to look at the blood on his hand. Hexxus’ feathers having been dark enough to keep all the gore from being immediately noticed. “Seriously? You couldn’t clean up first?” he questioned. Hexxus’ only response seemed to puff up a little in offence, his meal abandoned and unrecognizable of what it might have been before becoming a meal, clacking his beak in mild annoyance. “Alright, gimme a minute would ya?” he demanded, rubbing his beak. No point in avoiding the touch when he now looked like he had just killed someone anyways.
After a few moments, he left the Harpia where he was, much to the Danger birbs dislike. Salem coming back not long after with a pail of water and a cloth. “Alright you Fluff Puff Anger Buff, get your feathered butt over here.” He ordered. A slight frown coming over him when Hexxus seemed to all but ignore him, giving a roll of his eyes and walking over, elbowing the giant bird lightly. “Stop your pouting. I’m just gunna clean you up a bit.” He told him, dipping the cloth into the water and setting to work cleaning the bit of feathers that had gotten messy during his feeding, and would be more difficult for him to clean himself. Try as Hexxus had tried to remain sulky and offended, he eventually leaned into and basked in his rider’s attentions. “Quit that.” He complained once Hexxus had begun to preen at his own hair, though he made no move to actually pull away. He was long used to the Stryx’s antics and didn’t really mind it. He complained more for the sake of complaining about it now more than anything else.
The deft movements and the familiar actions of the Harpia in return seemed to calm Salem and helped remove the stress and anxiety that had been building. Talking and muttering to the bird about whatever he wanted. Eventually, the cleaning long over and just sitting there with the Strix practically curled around him and looking at him. As if he was really listening to him.
Finally, he stood up and wiped at his pants before bringing Hexxus along, deciding that a good fly would help get rid of whatever stress was left. Sometimes, you just had one of those days where you needed the peace and quiet… except when Hexxus went to snap at another Stryx on the way that he had been being argumentative with the past couple days. All it took was a calm hand to get his attention back, however.
It wasn’t long until the Harpia was ready, and Salem jumped onto the Stryx, looking quite calm, sparing a stroke or two for Hexxus before holding on. Feeling as the body beneath him tensed and jumped, a few strokes of his large, powerful wings carrying them up from the ground and into the sky, the wind rustling dark feathers and wings stretching out to catch the pockets of air, gliding gracefully despite his fierce and enormous size. The little white specs on the otherwise dark coat like flecks of powdered sugar… or if he felt like being mean, a really bad case of dandruff.
Salem let out a breath that felt like it had been waiting all day to be let out. The calm of the sky, and the assurance of the solid, warm body beneath him a bigger comfort and assurance to him than any kind of spoken words. Sometimes, it was the calm, quiet days. Days like today that spoke the loudest and brought the most comfort.

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

Salem cursed under his breath as he tripped on a rock on his way to see Hexxus. The man just having been slapped with the failure of his newest attempt at flirting. It'd been a long day already, and he was having a hard time hiding the anxiety that was trying to peek through, leaving him tense and not completely paying attention to where he was going. Thankfully for him no one was around to see that little bit of embarrassment. It was hard to have a swagger when you were tripping over things you couldn't see. Damn depth perception. The walk felt too long, even though it probably wasn’t very long at all. The tenseness that had been bunched in his shoulders slowly seemed to ease away as Hexxus came into view. The Stryx’s feathers fluffing up for a moment as he caught sight of Salem in return and ruffled them so they’d sit more smoothly against him, giving a half flap half hop so that he could he could get to his rider faster.
It was enough to make Salem give a small hint of a smile and giving his own greeting. Reaching out and rubbing a spot just under the Harpia’s chin only for him to give a sound of disgust as he pulled his hand away to look at the blood on his hand. Hexxus’ feathers having been dark enough to keep all the gore from being immediately noticed. “Seriously? You couldn’t clean up first?” he questioned. Hexxus’ only response seemed to puff up a little in offence, his meal abandoned and unrecognizable of what it might have been before becoming a meal, clacking his beak in mild annoyance. “Alright, gimme a minute would ya?” he demanded, rubbing his beak. No point in avoiding the touch when he now looked like he had just killed someone anyways.
After a few moments, he left the Harpia where he was, much to the Danger birbs dislike. Salem coming back not long after with a pail of water and a cloth. “Alright you Fluff Puff Anger Buff, get your feathered butt over here.” He ordered. A slight frown coming over him when Hexxus seemed to all but ignore him, giving a roll of his eyes and walking over, elbowing the giant bird lightly. “Stop your pouting. I’m just gunna clean you up a bit.” He told him, dipping the cloth into the water and setting to work cleaning the bit of feathers that had gotten messy during his feeding, and would be more difficult for him to clean himself. Try as Hexxus had tried to remain sulky and offended, he eventually leaned into and basked in his rider’s attentions. “Quit that.” He complained once Hexxus had begun to preen at his own hair, though he made no move to actually pull away. He was long used to the Stryx’s antics and didn’t really mind it. He complained more for the sake of complaining about it now more than anything else.
The deft movements and the familiar actions of the Harpia in return seemed to calm Salem and helped remove the stress and anxiety that had been building. Talking and muttering to the bird about whatever he wanted. Eventually, the cleaning long over and just sitting there with the Strix practically curled around him and looking at him. As if he was really listening to him.
Finally, he stood up and wiped at his pants before bringing Hexxus along, deciding that a good fly would help get rid of whatever stress was left. Sometimes, you just had one of those days where you needed the peace and quiet… except when Hexxus went to snap at another Stryx on the way that he had been being argumentative with the past couple days. All it took was a calm hand to get his attention back, however.
It wasn’t long until the Harpia was ready, and Salem jumped onto the Stryx, looking quite calm, sparing a stroke or two for Hexxus before holding on. Feeling as the body beneath him tensed and jumped, a few strokes of his large, powerful wings carrying them up from the ground and into the sky, the wind rustling dark feathers and wings stretching out to catch the pockets of air, gliding gracefully despite his fierce and enormous size. The little white specs on the otherwise dark coat like flecks of powdered sugar… or if he felt like being mean, a really bad case of dandruff.
Salem let out a breath that felt like it had been waiting all day to be let out. The calm of the sky, and the assurance of the solid, warm body beneath him a bigger comfort and assurance to him than any kind of spoken words. Sometimes, it was the calm, quiet days. Days like today that spoke the loudest and brought the most comfort.