Spots do well in shadows

He appreciates her attentive focus, her attempt to grasp what he describes, to imagine it, to comprehend it, even if full understanding eludes her. A true understanding of the technology, on the detailed level, a level that would allow him to replicate it, was something he didn't even possess - perhaps if he had studies computer science instead of biological and medicinal sciences, he would be able to explain in simpler terms, in a way that would allow her to understand it. But he persisted anyway, enthused by her attention, her questions, her attempt.

'Yes, even in a place like Halo, such technology exists.' He confirmed warmly, hoping beyond hope that such a thing could exist in Caido, that could help with the distance that would inevitably separate them. The hope is swallowed by a hint of despair, as she confirms that she knows not their location - but it is resurrected when she says Deimos may know where they hide. 'I think it definitely worth asking,' he wholeheartedly agreed, purring as his words travelled down the bond.

'Tell me about the Grounds? What's your favourite place there?' He had been there, briefly, before Deepfrost snowed over the portal, locking him into one place. But he wanted to know what Kia knew of the Grounds, he wanted to hear what made her love the place - did she have her own home, or did she stay with Deimos and Amalia? Did she spend most of her time at the Monster Hunter's Guild, or anywhere else in particular? He wanted to know about it, about all of it, with the view that it might allow him to know her even more.

CHULANE

KIADA you think that i'll be the dark sky so you can be the star? It’s shocking to her, surprising that he could have such a thing back in a previous world. A thing that would let him talk to anyone in the world in the blink of an eye. She can’t grasp it, too used to either showing up or letters by ravens that she’s been born accustomed to. Perhaps some of her bewilderment drifts down the bond, perhaps her surprise is laced within the frames of a bit of misunderstanding but an attempt regardless. And then she’s nodding her feathery head in agreement to him, to finding out where those shells reside just on the off chance to see them and compare. But then he’s asking about the Grounds and she withdraws with a small air of mischief. Amalia’s bakery. She says easily, feathers ruffling a small amount as she readjusts her wings. She taught me how to bake after her and Deimos kind of took me in. A hum of a laugh slips from her down the bond toward him before she’s leaning in curiously again. What’s your favorite baked good?” She questions, for the possibility that she might make him some when the Grounds is available again. i will swallow you whole.

He'd happily keep trying to explain it, but it was honestly one of those things that he just accepted worked, rather than understood it on a detailed level. The topic interested him, but not nearly as much as the other sciences available to him in the world - he had an innate ability to understand and comprehend agricultural and biological sciences, to look at the world around him and be able to disseminate it with ease. He had been raised in a world where the internet already existed, where it was a commonly used tool - there was nothing more for him to discover there, for him to be interested in.

He is satisfied that they both would endeavour to locate the shells, to replicate them or perhaps borrow them if they were permitted. He was confident that their relationship could endure the upcoming distances that might separate them for intermittent periods, but that didn't mean he was about to deny a way to make it easier to endure. And then she is speaking of the Grounds, of her home, the bakery, her family. It wasn't the first time he had heard talk of the bakery, or even been referred there - Deimos had shared a similar sentiment when speaking of it. This Amalia was something of an icon to her people, though perhaps the reports of her he had received so far were biased - still, he found himself looking forward to meeting her, if also rather nervous due to the weight of expectation his and Kia's relationship placed upon the situation.

"Ooo, that's a tricky question," he purred, with amusement and laughter evident through the bond, as he rose to stand on his precarious perch, and turn on the spot, arching his spotted back into a feline stretch all the while. "My local bakery back home used to make exceptional cinnamon scrolls, dripping in sugary goodness that was impossible to eat without licking your fingers afterwards." Wistfulness filled him, as memories of the flavour, the texture, the warmth and home in general. "What about yours? What's your favourite?" He posed the question in earnest, resettling his leopard form in a slightly different sitting position before her, tilting his crown in open curiosity and inquisition.

CHULANE

KIADA

the harpy

Amalia is well known, she’s Safrin’s Shield after all. But her Bakery was where the family of hers kept their livelihood, and when Amalia wasn’t being a guardian of Safrin or a protector, she was still a baker at heart. It’s where she’d taught Kiada a lot of what she knows – having never had the time in her previous worlds to sit down and figure it out. And she’d been the best teacher that a girl could really ask for when it came to something that looked simple, but when in fact it wasn’t at all.

So she’s all ears when her question is aired, finding it hard to express herself the way she wants to. So she shifts in her avian shift, moving to better settle herself along the other beam, wondering if it could support her human weight and deciding to try it anyway. She shifts to her true form, legs dangling on either side with her hands keeping her glued to the rafter. It holds up, and she looks back at him to watch him stretch out again as she flashes him an easy grin.

Cinnamon rolls are good. She comments with a small bit of a chuckle, down the Attuned bond, before she’s considering him curiously, lips pursing a small amount before her lips part in an easy and playful grin. Cupcakes. She offers with a wink, tilting her head a small amount as she lets a chime of laughter leave her.

what a shame we gotta pay for reality

He watched her with an intense focus, feeling her intent to shift and not hiding the concern that rises within him from it. He has the same questions as she - would the rafter bear her weight? Was she balanced enough to perch there in her human form? The second question he knew was probably true, for Kia was strong, and fit, and no doubt coordinated enough to manage that part, but the rafter…

Then she shifts, and he feels his heart leap about in his chest for a moment, bracing for some disaster to strike - a disaster which does not come. He is quick to focus on the new view presented to him, on the beauty that is her, in her true form, all porcelain skin, scars and grace, barely an outline in the dimly lit room, but that lent his feline eyes all the more detail as they thrived on the lack of illumination.

'Cupcakes,' he purred, echoing her choice with a satisfied but also playful pulse, deviously wondering if perhaps he ought to come up with a new nickname for her. He was feeling restless again, an urge to wrap phis arms - his human arms - around her and hold her close nearly overwhelming him, but it was useless in the moment.

He was standing again, ushering movement from his form again, letting the instincts of the leopard balance him as he etched a path along the beam, reaching where it connected to the vaulted ceiling and deftly turning to repeat the action the other direction. 'Do you have a particular type, or are you one to embrace variety?' he posed with mischievousness plainly evident, as his frame wandered past her once again.

CHULANE

KIADA

the harpy

Cupcakes. She reiterates, her grin still plastered on her face despite the purring he offers. She was half tempted to mention her love of bear claws too, though it seemed perhaps a bit too cliche and so she settles with cupcakes as her favorite — the frosting and the cake a perfect anchor for her sweet tooth.

She watched him from her perch, not worried about falling because of her avian shift — planning to treat it like the time she’d dove off the top of the Spire with Deimos and Adam. A bit of a daredevil at heart. Her legs swing on either side of her a small amount as she keeps her gaze on him, stretching out her back a bit and removing her hands from her hold on the beam.

He walks past her, comes back, and all the while her attention remains on his spotted form, leaning back to rest her spine against the vertical beam. As long as it’s sweet, I’m game to try anything, Chuy. She purrs back with a wink and a chime of laughter slipping from her throat.

what a shame we gotta pay for reality

He worries when she moves, but ultimately has confidence in her ability, and her knowledge of her own limits - he suspects she would be able to shift in time to fall without injury, but he worries all the same. And within that worry, that concern, is also a hint of yearning - of the ability to share the skies with her, to be able to have the confidence in his own body to balance so precariously without fear, to be more of her equal when it came to physical fitness in this world where sometimes throwing and dodging punches were the only option if one wanted to survive.

'Hmm,' he pondered, his thoughts taking on the deeper intonations of his true voice as he mulled over the many sweet options her playful words posed to his imagination. His attention barely shifted from her, only for cursory glances to ensure his foot fell where it was supposed every now and then, but he gave into the leopard's desire and found himself otherwise able to merely drink in her elegant form as it stretched out along the beam across from him.

'Sometimes I hate that I was dropped in a snowy tundra that barely supports life. Sometimes I feel quite lost, without a purpose, without a reason, like I can't do anything right…' he lets his emotions shift, lets them tell a tale of the sorrow that sometimes plagues him, the guilt for his treatment of Korbin, for the grief of losing his homeworld, of losing a friend in this world so soon after settling… It is an aspect of him he shows to none but her, for none others on this world hold his trust as much as she does.

'But then, I reflect on my time here, on a day that began innocent enough. I recall that no matter how shit things seem, I have friends, one in particular who I lean on perhaps a bit too much.' He lets his emotions shift again, lets them fill with what he feels directly for her, lets the awe, the desire, the gratitude for her simply being there for him flood the bond between them. Then the emotions evolve, they turn into something more hopeful, more optimistic, about their future - about what might become of them, together.

'I hope you realise how much you've given to me… How much you mean to me.' He had paused in his striding, letting the weight of his stare fall directly down onto her from his slightly higher vantage point. Then, he is huffing a small breath, a leopard's laugh, and he plops himself down in a lazy sphinx's pose, so that they are more on a level with each other's eyes.

'Sweet enough for yah?' His tail is twitching mischievously behind him, his eyes holding a touch of amusement - but his emotions remained the same, steady stream of that hope, that optimism, that determination that whatever the world threw at him, he could face it, because they could face it.

CHULANE

KIADA

the harpy

She settles comfortably on the rafter, legs swinging below her as she focuses on Chulane and the jesting between them, feeling a hint of the anxiety that stems from him though she harbors none within herself. She’d be fine if she fell, she knows that for sure. And perhaps she’ll hold it on the backburner of her mind if she ever wanted to mess with him. For now? Now he has her attention as he speaks, his voice resonating in her mind easily, feeling the shift of emotions as he sends them down the bond.

And then she’s focusing on the implications of what he says, a nod given to him as her playful smile falters a small amount – feeling him more than listening at this point and understanding. All she can do is reciprocate the feelings she has, to send them back so he understands it too. A chime of a laugh leaves her as he points to her with the words he passes over to her. An easy grin spreads across her face, an easy shrug given to him as if she doesn’t mind.

She really doesn’t.

There’s a crinkle to her gaze as she focuses on him, her smile shifting to something softer as he pauses in his stride, letting him stare down at her. She meets his gaze. She pulses all her appreciation for him back to him, settling a bit as her smile grows a bit wider. Ouch. She says, running her tongue along her teeth briefly. Got a bit of a toothache. She winks to him, another chime of a laugh leaving her.

what a shame we gotta pay for reality

She always accepts him - all of him, even the messy, confused, guilt-ridden and grief-stricken emotions that occasionally break out from the wall holding them back. That is what stirs such trust in him towards her, and he hopes only to reciprocate it whenever she deigns to let him in - and to share with her all of the positive emotions too, those that stir up such passion within him (most of them directly related to her too).

It was also a terrifying thought, to put so much of one's self with another, to trust so completely, to rely on so deeply. But they were on the same page, they had an open communication pathway and even though they seemed to learn something new about each other every other day, it never changed how he felt about her. It was all part of the journey, the adventure that they had decided to walk together, stride by stride, helping and supporting one another as needed.

'Can't have that,' he said with faux-concern, tilting his head as if to examine her from his position. 'Hmm, might be nothing we can do for it. Might just have to lose the tooth altogether - assuming you're still addicted to the sweetness.' Laughter and amusement was clearly evident through the bond as he spoke, as well as a hint, an impression, of just how he'd like to examine her back in the privacy of their room.

CHULANE

KIADA

the harpy

She doesn’t let her gaze falter from him, having nothing to shy away from, nothing to be unsure about. It has helped her with everything she’s dealt with when it came to trying to explain it to Chulane. And likewise, just as much as Chulane trusted her with all of his adjustments and everything else, she finds that she trusts him too. As much as she accepts him for who he is with all the flaws and wonders, he accepts her too.

And really, it means the world.

So all she can do, her own playful defense mechanism, poking fun at the incredibly sweet things he tells her so she doesn’t have the chance of possibly letting herself tear up. Ack, emotions. She’s thankful when he mentions that they can’t have that, the grin on her lips growing a bit brighter as she watches him. And then she feels the feelings, the brief underline and undertone of everything else he’s feeling, and she grows a bit mischievous as she stares him down with all the simmering intensity of before.

Mmm, care to help a girl out? She teases, flashing him a wink before she’s shifting and sitting a bit more on the rafter, lowering herself as if she’s some trapeze artist, moving to swing down and use her legs to hold her up, before she’s shifting into her avian form again and circling idly to the ground. She’s confident he can find his way down from the rafter, and once she lands and shifts back into herself she waits for him to join her, however long it takes and weaves back through the way they’d initially come.

- FIN <3

what a shame we gotta pay for reality