Welcome to Gaia! ::

The gesture drew a wordless grumble from Chert. He lowered himself back onto the pillow and turned head to the side for a better view of Antony, although he didn't seem inclined to say anything else right away. A small frown creased his forehead, but it was more thoughtful than defensive.

Chert allowed his eyes to flutter shut as he enjoyed the attention of her fingers. So far he'd managed to prevent his anxiety from waking up along with the rest of him. Maybe the key was, he reflected, to just keep quiet. If he didn't open his mouth, it'd be harder to wreck the peaceful atmosphere of the morning like he'd done the other time. The problem, then and now, was that waking up next to Antony presented the ultimate rebuttal to his private debates. He could argue until he was blue in the face that she was insufferable, that he just wasn't made for that type of human interaction, that the whole situation was ridiculous in light of what was happening on the island- but his actions demonstrated clearly that he didn't truly want to stay away.

Chert wasn't quite sure how to fit his mind around a realization like that, though he was loathe to start another argument. Keeping quiet, that was the key. He had a lot of practice in that respect.

Chert automatically moved his arm to accommodate her. His thumb slowly stroked her shoulder in the direction in which the silky fur grew, the feeling still a little unusual but not unpleasant.

At her gentle reminder, the skin around his eyes tightened, and he was silent for a few seconds. After a pause, he admitted, "Maybe I was a jerk." But the lukewarm concession prodded his guilt into wakefulness again, its caustic bite demanding further accuracy. Another pause before correcting himself. "I was an a**." And then, as if venturing onto unstable ground, "And I shouldn't have been."

He blinked in surprise when she kissed him, although seeing as how they hadn't gone flying across the room at a thousand miles per hour, he supposed that the world hadn't suddenly ceased to rotate, after all.

"Birthday," Chert repeated blankly after the long silence, which had been occupied by worries about what to say next. "August 7th."

Although the nickname struck him as odd, Chert was too dense to catch the joke. He gave a grunt of startled protested and reached down to snag her wandering hand. "Haven't even eaten breakfast!"

"I prefer pancakes," Chert said with a lop-sided, insolent grin. He was a little embarassed about not catching the joke, and a little relieved that the nickname had only been used in jest. 'Big boy' reminded him too much of grainy black-and-white films, and women with lips so inky that they could only be a garish fire-engine red in real life.

"Hnn," Chert grunted, moving the hand that hand been wrapped around her shoulder down to playfully tweak one of the offending tails. "Keep your appendages to yourself."

The muscles in his chest twitched involuntarily at the pinch. They obviously take after the woman they're attached to, he thought with a mental grin, although visibly he shot her a look that said he'd hate whatever he pleased, fluffy or not.