Two young creatures walked along under the setting sun, another flying overhead, though the bird was older. Aila had never been an extremely early riser, but it turned out that Jacques was and after waking her up the first few times since they tended to sleep together, she had gotten used to it. Safimoto's falcon had started to join them as a sort of chaperone, though they never left sight of the dens. They never really had a reason for it, just some quiet time to spend together before everyone else got up and they had to train. They walked up a hill and sat down, facing the setting sun. The falcon landed beside them and began to preen her feathers.
"Why do you always get up so early, Jacques?" the orange cheeton finally asked after a few moments, turning to look at her friend.
One cream ear twitched and Jacques shrugged slightly. He wasn't entirely sure himself, he just knew it was something he had done. A lot of things he did or felt, he was not sure why he did or felt them. It had to be from before he could remember. Waking up early, clinging to his scarf, feeling a sort of warmth from the cloth he wore. He turned his head slightly to look at her before he settled back a bit more in a relaxed pose.
He didn't say anything in response to her question, he usually didn't. He was a very quite individual, a male of very few words, usually only talking when he really, really needed to respond to something that a gesture couldn't answer. She was getting accustomed to Jacques not talking, but it was still kind of new to her. She was used to her brothers and sisters and the rest of her family talking on a regular basis and more than just a few sentences at a time, but Jacques... He rarely said anything. He didn't even introduce himself to her (Not that she had heard); she hadn't learned his name until he had told it to Gremio.
She hoped he forgave her if she seemed a little frustrated by it.
His gaze flicked toward Aila when he heard her sigh and he instantly knew what it was for. He was being quiet again. She talked, her family talked, everybody here talked. The fact that he rarely said anything was unusual to her and she had trouble with it sometimes. So he smiled a bit behind his scarf and scooted closer, rubbing his cheek against hers. He'd seen Safi and Gremio do that a couple of times and they really liked each other. And he really liked Aila, she'd saved him, she was his best friend, so he should be able to do that, too. Right?
"I'm sorry. It's just something I do. Donno why," he replied softly, pulling back to give her that little smile, hoping it would count for both the early rising and the shortness of his speech, even though he had said quite a bit in those three sentences.
The falcon, Altai, peeked up from her preening when the young male spoke. This was actually the first time she had ever heard him speak and she was if not a little surprised by it. It had never really occurred to her that it was a choice thing, that the boy could actually speak and just often chose not to. Why someone would do that, she had no idea.
Little did she know, of course, that her adoptive mother was not one to talk when it wasn't necessary for her to do so, that she had barely spoken as a youngling.
She fought the urge to say anything, as she was acting as the look-out and whatnot and they were having a little sort of moment. It was too cute for her to intervene.
Aila's tail waved a bit in the dirt behind her when his cheek touched hers. And then he spoke, just for her, and an apology no less. She couldn't stay annoyed with him, not when he was being so nice and contrite about it.
She smiled and leaned closer, resting her head on his shoulder.
"It's okay. The early rising and the talking issue," she said, letting her eyes close for a moment.
"Do you really not remember anything from before the night we met?"
"I remember some days before... But nothing after I woke up in a den alone and then waited a while for someone to come back." His words were hushed as he tilted his head a bit to touch Aila's. She was a comfort, someone he had to cling to. She was the first kind face he had seen in his world, she had saved him and he owed it to her to repay that debt someday and yet he hoped he never had to. Aila was a fighter, he could see that in her even now. He was a fighter, too. Someday they would find themselves on the battlefield, and he knew she would have his back, as he would have hers.
He remembered the terror on her face when she grabbed him, knew she was just as scared as he had been that night. It seemed like a lifetime ago, the night she'd saved him. Was it strange that he felt like he belonged here, like this in the long run was where he was meant to be?
The first few mornings when he had gone off on his own, he had thought about it. About how he felt living here, among her family and all of the other members of the troupe. But most of all he thought about his dreams. Almost always, he dreamed about figures watching him. Two big ones, two smaller ones, they were always watching him. In the back of his mind he wanted to run to them, but he couldn't. Every time he tried, he was always held back by something he couldn't figure out. But now... Now he had Aila and that frustration didn't really matter anymore.
He wrapped his scarf around her shoulders and tucked her head under his chin.
"Don't leave..." She didn't say anything at first, just leaned against him. And that lack of an answer scared him more than wild dogs did.
"Just as long as you don't," Aila finally said, smiling when the slightly older cheetah let out a slow sigh of relief.
