Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Ah..?" Hijil blinked, surprised at the sudden sodden Jahuar wind that now came between them. Bhima had something for her? Hijil watched her retrieve it, intrigued and not a little nervous, though she didn't know what she could possibly fear from a gift.

Bhima's gestures befuddled her, the discrepancy between her kneeling and the fact that they were very high up in the air confusing the Shifter. She didn't understand the gesture. She didn't know what was happening, but at the same time, she did have an inkling. A vague inkling.

Stunned, her mouth opened and stayed there for a moment. Her breath caught in her throat, not making its way to her lungs. Her heart raced, her vision narrowed. The bridge, the platform, the trees - they all faded into the background. There was only Bhima and the ring, burning their images into Hijil's mind, and she knew she would never forget this moment.

Unsure of what she was supposed to do, and feeling like she was moving outside of her own accord, she accepted the ring. "Yes..." she said breathlessly. New tears joined the trails and smudges of the tears that had gone before. She fell to her own knees, overwhelmed, "I don't have anything to give you..." Besides herself, besides the house, besides... anything she could find to give her. "But will you be mine?" she blurted out - it was a silly question, of course. If Bhima was offering, that was already a 'yes'.

But there were no 'of courses' in Hijil's world. Everything was open to modificaiton, everything was ready to become renewed. Anything was possible. Anything could happen. "I love you..." she said.

Hijil had never worn a ring before. It's weight was negligable physically, but she knew it was mainly one of responsibility. Love made her feel light as a feather, but she knew that it also gave her a responsibility, one that she had had before but was now made official, sealed in words. She could not run or hide anymore. She would have to face the world - together, at Bhima's side - but facing it still.

She looked into the faceted depths of Bhima's eyes, knitting her fingers into Bhima's. "I love you..." she said. And then she realized that she was neglecting something - well, perhaps not neglecting. She would never have expected a ring, and so she would not be expected to have one herself. However...

"I'm sorry," she said, blushing coyly, if such a word could be used to describe Hijil, "I don't have a ring for you yet..."

In a sense, Hijil had known that her words were enough. They certainly were precious enough, almost as rare as crystals. It was the same for Hijil, but the ring... it was tangible, an anchor, something physical that made their love as real as the wood they were kneeling on.

The next question did frazzle Hijil a little though. "Um... um..." When? When... oh stars, she had just managed to agree to do it. Now she had to tell Bhima when. "Um...

After some mental stammering, though, she knew what she had to answer. "Soon." she said. It was like an admission. If she waited too long, she knew she would find excuses to not creep out into the world, to stay hidden and safe in her hideaway. She knew she couldn't do that, not to Bhima. "Um..." Which meant she had to give Bhima a specific time, a deadline.

Hijil's sense of time was both bound to the seasons and amorphous. Bhima had been gone for an eternity and never, her absense stretching forever but their love as strong as if distance had never been an issue. She wanted to give Bhima an answer now.

"The next full moon?" she blurted out, the first thing that came to her scrambling mind. She'd used moon phases to time her building and give herself deadlines. That was how their new home had come together, and how she gardened. It was the only time that happened constantly, without fail.

"Does that... um..." her voice failed her for a moment as she snuggled into Bhima's arms again. "Can that... be when?"