Welcome to Gaia! ::

After he had finally returned home and slept off the tequila that Guelmy and he had so easily consumed, Nao continued to buzz with excitement. He'd be going back to his homeland, and of his own accord. Not to mention he had a friend going with him to help him and enjoy the fruits of being once upon a time gods.

Friend...

That word lingered in his mind, and the more he thought about it, the louder that part of him nagged unrelentingly in the deep reaches of his mind. The deep reaches of Nao that could occasionally, when he had no other choice, be a Nice Guy.

Kind of. Sort of. Maybe?

Either way, that voice from the bowels of his head told him that he needed to go visit his other friend(s?) before he headed off to another country for gods knew how long. In other words, he found himself deciding to go and visit Aylana. After all, she -had- housed his mooching butt for a good while free of charge, so he figured that he owed her at least that much.

Plus the voice just wouldn't shut up.

He hoped that the older female lived in the same place because that's where he went. Showing up bright and early just after sunrise might have been rude, but Nao knew well enough that with all the different people (women) living in that house, someone was bound to be there and awake.

So, wearing his usual ensemble of worn out shorts (with no shirt), flip flops, and a big, tacky belt, Nao knocked on the door.

He smiled at her joking tone, but offered her a meaningful look to express that he had been up to Serious Business after moving out. Seriously.

Eying the cat suspiciously, as most birds often did, Nao managed to swallow a dirty look to the kid. The little voice had something to do with it. Instead, he simply cocked his head to the side and bluntly said, "You're new."

Nao just never was one for baby talk or kids (except when he was one), unless it involved teaching bad words and creating tears. The main fun of children were that they were rather impressionable.

"You look well," he grinned, letting his eyes roam her body in an equally joking manner. After an odd pause, he dropped the smarmy drawl for a more hopeful tone. "Can I come in? I need to talk to you, if you'll allow it."

He -had- peaced out rather abruptly with not much contact, after all. There was a chance that she didn't want to see him at all.

"I tried to stay out of the way of the felines," he pointed out, as if she didn't remember his natural aversion to animals who would have loved to eat him as a hummingbird. Not that he turned into a hummingbird much anymore, but he had a long memory of the occasions that he had almost become dinner.

Sliding in through the crack, he shut the door behind him and locked it, out of habit. At her other comment, the teen chuckled low in his throat and made a tutting noise with his tongue. "You could just take those dreadful things off. I won't complain." A cheeky grin followed shortly after the comment.

Careful of his tailfeathers, Naolin sat down on his 'usual' part of the couch and glanced up at her. "Redbull, if you have it." Yum, sugary goodness.

After his request, his mind fell to thinking of how he should begin updating her on his recent events. There would be a lot to digest. Nao suddenly felt nervous, and he chewed on his lip absently.

"They are pretty addicting." He admitted conversationally, despite the fact that she probably knew that herself.

"Most excellent," he said, very pleased at the sight of the familiar can. He gave her a smile of thanks while taking the can from her and cracking it open. The liquid tipped back down his throat as he listened to her and was followed by a happy sigh before he finally turned his full attention towards her.

"It doesn't sound too stupid," he joked, but quickly let his face relax into something a little more serious. His feathers ruffled proudly behind him, giving away his actual feelings of her comment. "I'm sure it's not to hard to find a freeloading a*****e that makes creepy passes at you at an alarming rate," he said thoughtfully while trying to mask his amusement. "In fact, I think Fa'e has quite a few if you really needed the slot filled."

He made sure to emphasis the word 'slot' with a wink.

"Then again, I know how hard it has been to try and find a hot, older woman to cook me dinner while apparently enjoying my company." It was Nao's way of saying he had missed her too.

An eyebrow cocked upwards at the direct poke, but he said nothing while appearing amused. Or touched, it was hard to tell.

Her question brought his mind back to the original reason for this visit. "Well," Nao began. "I'm leaving for Mexico to attend to some business." By the way he emphasized it, he hoped that she understood that he meant past life business of the important and dangerous kind.

He continued slowly, and cautiously. "Since I left here I've been 'training' so to speak, but I'm not sure what to expect." In other words, Naolin expected that he could very well die. This had been something that he had not acknowledged to Guelmy, but unlike the serpentine Fa'e, Aylana was experienced in such dangers that occurred when a Fa'e went soul searching.

Or to a Fa'e party or prom, but that was another story altogether.

His eyes lingered on her hand resting against his leg. Even through the shorts, Aylana could easily feel the additional heat that radiated from his body. He never used to be this well, hot.

When she spoke, Nao pulled his eyes to rest on hers while listening to her advice sincerely. He nodded quietly, but he frowned sheepishly when she offered sparring help.

"My flight leaves tomorrow," he muttered, voice barely over a whisper. "I haven't booked a flight back, yet." Sparring anytime soon would just make him sore and tired.

This affectionate tussle seemed to surprise and confuse him, his lips pushing together as he dropped his stare to the floor. He didn't really see it though.

He looked older, less a teen and but not quite a man as the weight of undisclosed horrors and deaths that he had caused. That he had meant to cause. Nao glanced at the red skin of his arms and hands. How appropriate they were now.

Guilt was not what he felt, but instead, a deep concern for what Aylana would eventually think of him when she found out. Would she understand it as he did? Probably not. Whether or not she could accept it as part of his culture, his past, and his present, Nao remained unsure. He hoped she would, even if it took time.

Her voice shook him from his thoughts, and suddenly, at her question, his mind filled with all sorts of wants and 'needs'. Some of them even surprised him.

The thought of Aylana's steak brought the twitch of a smile to his lips. "I wouldn't say no to a meal..." He trailed off, holding her eyes in a challenging stare, "Followed by dessert, of course."

Curiously, he traced a heated finger lightly along the inside of her knee. Time to play chicken.

With a keen interest, his scarlet eyes followed her movements as she stood and returned to the kitchen. Once Aylana was out of sight, Naolin frowned and appeared to be deep in thought.

Resolution fortified, he stood and followed his query. Tonight, he'd finally win this game.

Using his wings, the hummingbird brought himself hovering to the height that allowed his lips to linger just next to her ear. "Ribs will do nicely," he murmured, lazily blowing heated air along her earlobe.