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 Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 6:55 pm
To be truthful, the times she'd thought of building a nest, this hadn't been quite how she'd envisioned it...a little less matter-of-fact, perhaps, a little less quiet. Nest-building wasn't exactly a task she associated brooding with (not the mental sort of brooding, anyway), and yet here she was, most definitely brooding.
Fiercefire was, in a word, grumpy - frustrated by their stupid, meddlesome neighbors. Nosy would have been one thing, but they'd crossed the line from being impolitely curious to thinking they had some kind of right to dictate what she should do; even a duty to prevent her from doing as she wished in her own personal life. She had resolved to ignore what They wanted, however, and though she was sticking to that one-hundred percent, it didn't mean they held no influence over her whatsoever.
That was what made her most angry. They had put a taint on her blossoming love - not corrupting it, but lessening her ability to enjoy it. Thoughts of her mate, her Basil, now turned to others' disapproval, which inevitably shoved warm and fuzzy feelings to the back of her mind in favor of bitterness.
Even now, even this was not free from it; building a nest was not only an act of love, but an act of defiance.
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Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:14 pm
As his mate silently fumes over the state of the neighborhood, Basil is likewise absorbed in thought with concerns of his own. The craft of nest-building is an experience that, for all its intents and purposes, he holds little joy in actually doing; the process undoubtedly brings up several unpleasant memories, ones he'd just as well forget, if allowed.
Unfortunately, that hadn't really been possible thus far, what with the odd murmurings he's been picking up on around the forest these last few nights. Nothing comforting, to be sure... but now even Fi is beginning to act differently. She hasn't said much of anything to him so far tonight. She's distant. Had someone been troubling her again?
“Mmm... is there... something on your mind? You're awfully quiet tonight, Fi?” he finally offers anxiously, breaking their lengthy silence as he absently fiddles with the nest's fringe. Had she caught wind of the same rumors he had. Worse yet, had she taken them to heart?
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Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 3:07 am
Basil's familiar voice, tinged with anxiety, pulled her out of her funk for a moment, and she sighed. She didn't have any reason to be irritable with him - like her, he'd done nothing wrong. "Sorry." Her eartufts fell back a touch. "The neighbors are just getting on my nerves."
"There...is something I should talk to you about, though," Fi added guiltily.
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Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 6:05 pm
“Oh...?” Basil stops his meaningless fiddling. He had to have known this was coming. It's something she must have been beating around about for quite a while now... and yet, he can't bring himself to look her in the eye. It's true, their relationship had garnered them both an excess of grief... granted, from separate sources... but that wasn't what was really worrying him, now was it? His family had made their choice, and he would live with that decision; all the better that he lived so much farther away now, right?
What really worries him is the source of all these recent rumors. Someone back home wouldn't have...? Surely not... her?
“... did something happen?” he asks, hoping that just maybe, his worries are misplaced.
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Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 6:23 pm
"Happen?" Fi tilted her head, blinking...and then broke the tension with a chuckle, realizing that her phrasing had been poor. She sidled a touch closer, to give him a quick, affectionate preen. Grumpy mood or no, she still couldn't help but notice that he was cute when he worried. "No, nothing's happened."
"My Great Uncle wants us to go visit him," she clarified. "I'm not sure why, and I know it's an awkward time, but...well, I didn't know how to say no."
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Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 6:59 pm
“Ah... ah'haha, what?” he chuckles awkwardly, though inwardly quite relieved. “You had me worried there for a moment, you know.” he says as he leans over to return her affections. So that was what this was all about. He'd been fretting over all this for no reason, thank Noctus. “Mm true, the timing could be better... where does he live? I don't recall you ever mentioning him.”
Truth be told, Basil couldn't really remember much of her family. It had been a touchy subject from his own standpoint, so he hadn't really inquired about hers that much.
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Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 7:21 pm
"Sorry, love," she said, joining him in a chuckle and and submitting comfortably to his attentions. Who would have known talking about her Great Uncle could clear the air a little? "Not too far from here, actually."
"To tell the truth, I haven't seen him since I was a fledgling, so I have no idea why he wants us to come visit; it's not as though we're close." That was probably what had Fi unsure about all this - why the sudden interest? Not that being interested in your family was a bad thing, it just seemed a little...odd. "Anyway, he's a Builder, back from around the end of the War or something."
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Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2008 1:45 am
“Hmm, just out of nowhere?” he muses. Meeting her extended family is fine, there's no real reservations there... but a moment ago they'd both been so tense. Basil is still a little surprised at the ease with which their uneasiness has lifted. Was that really all she'd been so upset about? Fi had felt increasingly distant over the last few nights, so much so that... well, that had led into his whole state of paranoia a moment ago.
“... strange.” he says after the moment's thought. “He didn't mention any reason at all?”
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Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2008 4:37 am
"Yes, just all of a sudden," she confirmed, "And no, no reason." Their current situation in regards to their neighbors still bothered her - incredibly so - but her Great Uncle provided something else to talk about, to think about...something entirely less distressing to worry about. And distant or no, he was still family, and it had been awhile since she'd seen any of hers.
"It should be uneventful, anyway," Fi added hopefully. "You know how my family is." Which was to say, full of cross-type pairings and aberrants.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 12:12 am
“Huh... fair enough, I suppose.” he concedes. He has no intention of raining on her enthusiasm, it would do them both good to enjoy some friendly company for once... away from the less-then-subtle chastisements of the local busy-bodies. Besides, there's the slight chance it might even be edifying. Fi said he was a Builder from the old days, common interest has to count for something, right?
“When is he expecting us?” he asks, giving her ear-tuft an affectionate preen. "Do you think we should bring him something?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 10:15 am
"Tonight," she revealed. "I know it's short notice, but...he is our elder." Fi's eartuft flicked under his attentions, and she cuddled up close. Though initially her Great Uncle's invitation had been cause for some anxiety, she was beginning to see it for what it could be - a peaceful escape.
"I hadn't thought of that." What would she do without him? A present for their host was practically a must, in terms of politeness, and she would have forgotten it! "I can check my traps," she mused, "See if there's anything good." Not someone else's skurri. Satisfying for her, perhaps, but not the best of guest presents.
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 1:50 am
“Tonight?! Oh, Fi!...” he starts, clearly frustrated at her revelation. “Couldn't you have told me about this a little earlier?” Scooting away from her side a bit, Basil resumes his absent fidgeting with the nest's fringe, sulking quietly. “I thought we were planning on it being just the two of us tonight?” he says, promptly followed with a resigned sigh.
... bother, nothing for it then... it wasn't like they could just not show up anyhow. He was family after all. “I don't suppose he'd care for a whittled figurine?” he teases, holding up the half-finished fledgling's toy.
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 7:45 am
"I'm sorry," Fi replied guiltily, eartufts falling back and flattening just slightly as he moved away and sulked, frustrated. "I've had a lot on my mind lately, alright?" Defensiveness came naturally with her to begin with, but add in the recent stress and snappishness wasn't far off.
His teasing resulted in a halfhearted lift of her eartufts, in part because now that her words were out, she thoguht about them - and he did have a right to be frustrated. They were both going through the same things, but it seemed to be affecting her mood more.
Hoping to make up for the snap, she said apologetically, "I wish it was just the two of us, too. I'm sorry."
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 3:23 pm
Moodily staring down at the child's toy, Basil slowly turns the figurine over a couple times before saying anything. “When do you want to go?” he asks, somewhat coolly. He felt like being selfish. He wanted to say that the two of them should just stay home and finish their nest, together... but the more he thought about it, the less he could convince himself that he even felt like it anymore...
That, and he didn't want to be the cause of their first argument as a couple.
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 4:46 pm
"I'll go check my traps," Fi said after a few moments of hesitating silence, "See what I can find. Then I'll be ready, if you are." It wasn't as though their nest-building had been going as it should have, anyway, what with all the tension and brooding. Maybe it was better that they leave it for now and come back to it later.
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