Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sometimes it's not all bad -- Hopeless enjoys nights when the humidity is low and the air is cool, because then the fireflies come out. It's especially nice in this section of the swamp, which bordered on most sides by a plain that floods at even the slightest hint of rain. Now it's a wide, flat floodplain that reflects the sky, so that Hopeless seems to stand in a vast dark place that is lit only by the moon, his glowing eyes...

And fireflies, thousands of them, all of which dance and flit in the air in a slow silent waltz. And Hopeless, who loves to dance [and yet never finds a way to impress a doe with his dancing], is doing so -- his own movements are slow and elegant, sinuous. He has real talent -- and that shows through his dancing. It's the one thing he has confidence in, and it shows through.

If anyone sees him... it'd be best if they stayed silent. Hopeless dances for no one, save the does in his dreams.

After another one of the slow, pirouetting turns, Hopeless stops and stands still for a moment, enjoying the utter silence broken only by the intermittant low hum of a lightning bug. The only sound is that of his breathing, the lightning bugs, and the occasional small liquid sound of water around his hooves. It's nice. It's the kind of place that he thinks the afterlife must be like.

After a long moment, he opens his eyes, ready to leave and go about his business securing a place to sleep for the night--

And there's a doe there. A doe. He tries very hard to stop himself from immediately bolting or doing something awkward, which is bad in and of itself. There's a certain too-careless shifting of stature; he goes a little stiff, and then tries to loosen up; he clears his throat, shakes his head, and then asks, "How long were you watching?"

It's not the best thing to start out saying, and he immediately wants to take it back. He ducks his head. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude." His voice is rather deep for a buck, but it only makes him seem more awkward, more self-conscious. As if it were possible. "I'm Hopeless."

His name, not a statement about the situation.

When she nuzzles him, it takes all the strength Hopeless has not to bolt or spin in a circle; he's torn between the two, and it makes his next word come out garbled, breathless. "Normurm I--" He shakes his head quickly, trying to sort out his thoughts, and takes a deep breath before beginning again. "Normally I don't dance for -- for people."

He does, however, take a step back from her, to put a nice little bubble of space between them, and then looks around the flooded plain at the fireflies. "Not where anyone can see. But thanks, I guess?" His smile was lopsided. "Er. Have you seen this part of the swamp before?"

"Oh, no... no! No no, I didn't mean it like that!" A sudden bound and a turn and the orange buck is standing in front of Water's Grace again, looking -- embarassed. It's really sort of charming, and it probably makes him feel all that much worse; Hopeless can't even be taken seriously without most kimeti looking at him in an aww how cute sort of way. "Don't leave!"

He stands in front of the doe, tail lashing against his flanks, and explains (a bit breathless from his sudden leap), "Normally I, I. I don't dance for anyone; nobody's ever caught me." Uncomfortable, yes, but perpetually so. But not at all unfriendly. "Do you dance?"

The fireflies eventually regrouped, though now they just flew above the plain, blinking on and off, here and there. Hopeless watched them for a moment and then turned to Grace, tipping his head from side to side. When he blinked, his own glowing eyes looked just like the fireflies. "Why don't you show me? Trust me, I -- I won't say you're bad." He shrugged, a brief roll of his broad shoulders. "Maybe I can learn something new."