He did not deserve her comfort or her understanding, but he could not stop himself from the way her warmth soaked through to him, or resist the rumbling purr that worked its way into his bones and eased some of the tension from him at having to relive the memories he had never really moved beyond. It was a relief when she released him from the past, though perhaps his guilt did not weight quite so heavily on his heart as once it had. She had not turned away when she heard what he had done, after all. Though if she ever knew the rest...
He turned his head, nuzzling her cheek as she told him more of her Nani, a woman who preferred doing things to reading about others doing them. He had not realized Amalia had come to books so relatively late in her life, but her devotion to them more than made up for the time lost.
And then she said she loved him, and the fox froze.
It was too much. After the pain of his memories he had never felt less worthy of her love, but also never in more need of it. He pressed his face into her fur, eyes squeezed shut against the emotions that crowded through him, too large for his small body. Isuma peeped and rolled over in her sleep, dreams sent askew as her companion tried to find the words to reject his right to the leopardess's heart, her family, her trust and care...
He could not find the words because there were no words. His thoughts were chaotic, jumbled, but he finally found two out of all the hundreds he might have used. My Amalia, he whispered, and with them came not words but emotions, the feelings of protectiveness and affection, belonging and love that she had earned through her words and her actions and the time they had spent together, blurring the lines between friends and family when both of them had been left with neither for far too long.
He turned his head, nuzzling her cheek as she told him more of her Nani, a woman who preferred doing things to reading about others doing them. He had not realized Amalia had come to books so relatively late in her life, but her devotion to them more than made up for the time lost.
And then she said she loved him, and the fox froze.
It was too much. After the pain of his memories he had never felt less worthy of her love, but also never in more need of it. He pressed his face into her fur, eyes squeezed shut against the emotions that crowded through him, too large for his small body. Isuma peeped and rolled over in her sleep, dreams sent askew as her companion tried to find the words to reject his right to the leopardess's heart, her family, her trust and care...
He could not find the words because there were no words. His thoughts were chaotic, jumbled, but he finally found two out of all the hundreds he might have used. My Amalia, he whispered, and with them came not words but emotions, the feelings of protectiveness and affection, belonging and love that she had earned through her words and her actions and the time they had spent together, blurring the lines between friends and family when both of them had been left with neither for far too long.
