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"I'm glad you're happy now," he said, mustering up all the cheer he could as he nuzzled his head into the crook of Pekelo's neck. "I think I'll be fine as long as you're happy."

As much as this whole situation stank, most of his outrage, he felt on Pekelo's behalf. But hearing his friend admit that this Vaiarii wasn't horrible had calmed some of the anger. There was still an ache somewhere inside him - he couldn't pinpoint where - but Ahio could live with that.

"Well. I wish we could go to the surface together. That would make me happy," he said, eyes zoning out to focus on a point somewhere on the other side of the little cave. "But I mean, barring that, I'd like to sit and eat snacks and make jokes for a little bit. Things haven't completely changed yet."

He heard Pekelo say his name, and he felt himself kind of melt against him. Nobody else said his name the same way, or made him feel so comfortable and so at home. Indeed, few other people had what it took to convince him to sit down as long as he had during this conversation in their hideout.

"Well, we'll come up with a plan for it. Before we run out of time! You deserve to see it at least one time, you know," he said, turning to look up at Pekelo with a smile. It was happier this time, much closer to his usual state.

"Oh, jeez, I don't have a joke off the top of my head, but I do have kind of a funny story about Stari," he said, leaning back into Pekelo once again, his eyes drifting half-shut. "The other day, when I was late? I'd gone out with my dad to collect them. And I realized halfway through that I needed to be here, and I left so quickly, I took the pack we'd been using to collect them. So he ended up with a whole bundle of them that he had to carry home in his arms. I think he dropped a bunch on the way." Ahio chuckled. "I found a bunch of them outside our cave."

Ahio let out a happy hum as Pekelo fussed with his hair, eyelids drooping as he enjoyed the closeness. And then he snapped them open again so he could pretend to be offended.

"What do you, you wonder! It's kisses!" he declared, unable to keep the smile from sneaking onto his face. He leaned up to give Pekelo a few quick pecks on the chin. "Oh, you know him. Mad, but not mad. He's... surprisingly adaptable."

Had to be, he supposed, to be someone who would risk long journeys away from the caves in favor of importing goods to trade.

He let himself sink back down and nestled his head back into the crook of Pekelo's neck with a contented sigh. If they were determined to just enjoy these possibly last, fleeting moments in their secret hideout, Ahio couldn't complain. It was better than nothing, and these moments would stay with them for life.

Ahio grinned, then he nodded as he snuggled into place. He had plenty of stories to tell about his dad, whom Ahio admired above probably all else. "Well, the other day, he went off on a journey farther into the caves..." he began, and let the story take over as they sat and enjoyed each other's company.