Welcome to Gaia! ::

It tickled him, he truly did miss her in every way. Her mannerisms, her speech, everything just made him seem... complete. He scooted just a hair closer to her, even after she stepped back. "Indeed... And that is just one of the countless qualities that I missed the most about you, you're my bright star in a dark galaxy..."

Cheesy as most of the things that he spoke to her, the way that he spoke though is that he genuinely felt that way about her. He didn't feel too whole without her, and he knew it was the slight twinge tha the felt a lot without knowing it. "The sentiment is... much so felt mutual. I was not broken without your presence, but you help me feel all too complete."

As she had backed up to allow him room and he immediately closed it. She could feel the warming deep inside. The warming she used to feel when he would come and spend weeks on end sleeping in her little basket bed with her. When they were much much younger. There was a part of her that felt guilty and ashamed for those days. She had taken it all for granted. She never knew then how random and rare it is to happen upon someone who could feel so perfectly adapt no matter what was going on that day. While she had met a lion once who was quite fascinated with her wings and licking and teething on them, that fella had never really became a tried and true friend. In fact his children went to lengths to prevent her from being any kind of good friend to him.

No. Viktor's friendship with her had been a special and singular occurance in her life. Over the years when they took times to catch up and not be total strangers. She always knew that looking in his eyes was something even beyond forgiveness. A kind of redemption that was yours to have before you ever did a thing wrong. A kind of forever welcome you couldn't ruin for yourself ever. She had always wished her parents would have had that for her.

The realization of these memories and feelings as they returned to her also started to polarize just in fact how lonely her life had become. The rolling of his "r's" in that way. Then his sentiments.... they felt... a vague feeling of romantic. For a girl so utterly touchy feely; so at ease with putting paws on others without a second thought. She had such strange aversions to romanticisms and the ideas of being "in love". Why did that scare her so much. It did though. She could feel it humming deep down inside.

"Well, are you passing through? Staying a while?" Then she looked at where she had been sitting and wondered if he would come and sit with her.

She giggled victoriously when his answer was just as she suspected a little. That's the Vik she knew. She felt comforted to know he was still that ulaya. She held her paws level with her shoulders and shook them like itty bitty pom poms.

"Yay! That's so great! I was really hoping you'd say that."

His little nervous movements, she took them in with widening eyes. All of these little gestures feeling so very familiar the more they occured. The feeling you have when you hear your favorite song. The kinds that make you sing along every word.

His enthusiasm to help go exploring! Her pom pom paws then plunged downwards as she pushed up on her toes. Her wings spread out wide. "I know right! I remember the time we fell down that one mountain chute. And, also the time you showed me your secret stash of yummies you hid in it?"

She led the way back to where she had been sitting. Before just plopping down as she would have, she put a paw on his arm. "You sit first?" Yes... totally sitting on him she was. Not that she didn't believe he would stay. Never hurt to make sure.

"Again, silly... Where else would I really go, though?"

He teased her again, lightly chuckling as she did her lil pom pom paws. They were so cute, and he missed that enthusiasm from her. It was so nice.

"Goodness, of course I remember that. We almost got lost the way back, too, but we made it back because we're five star adventurers!" He rose as well, placing a paw to his chest as he raised his nose up in an almost snooty manner. "I was so excited to show you all of my little treasures! I found them all JUST for you... Even the ones that were basura ... erm. Trash -- garbage? Not as good. But it was the thought that counts!"

He followed her back to her sitting place and the paw... ahhh the paw. He could never say no, especially with her touches. He nodded, plopping down comfortably as he anticipated what she would do. He had a smaaall idea, but ulaya change!

His paws lightly fiddled at a random object, trying to figure out what to do with it as he heard her verbal 'aww'ing. He glanced up to her with a sheepish smile, his thick tail flipped lightly and gave a soft 'thunk' on the ground. He felt relieved to get that response, a weight on his chest was honestly removed as he told her all of this. He was her friend first, but those feelings... were good to be put on the table for the first time in a long time, where he could properly articulate himself and not act like a big young fool.

"Well.. yea--" He's cut off abruptly by the hug, paws hanging in the air for a moment before they wrapped around her. His heart was racing right now, but it felt good to be able to admit that to her. "Hey hey..." He cooed, nuzzling into her lightly and giving a light squeeze, "We were different back then, we were younger and honestly feelings are silly to work with when you're young. I never took all the stuff you did to heart because that's what I knew you for and I appreciated it. Y'know you've been there for me when no one ever was, and that's all I ever wanted when I was younger... "

He still did, honestly, but this fondness for her was so amplified into something more than just a puppy love crush, and he even knew that.

The feels, the feels. Emotions just jumped the fence and ran wild like packs of dogs. The tiniest of tears wetted and sprinkled the corners of her eyes threatening to roll onto her face. She could feel a spiraling depth and profound bond here. His feelings only confirmed it. She couldn't even let go for few. His touches feeling soothing; she lingered soaking them in.

"Well... thanks.. thank you. All the same though..."

How amazing. Were there gods of time? Becuase just right then felt this odd sort of like... while lots of time went from then till now. It also felt like none had at all. Like almost as if then and now were the same. No. This was better. It had to be better. She had to be better.. to do better.

The next words that found their way off her tongue made her feel a little weird and foreign. Such an awkward thing to say. "Oh, Vik. You... you meant a lot to me back then. Even when we fought, and you made me angry. I still always loved having you around. You were one of my very best of friends. I loved you a lot. I mean... platonically.. but still... "

She had to put that last bit in. Stuff like this was sometimes hard for her. With one last tight bear hug to smother the very air out of his lungs; she then released him and resettled to fiddle with the assortment of items. Ones she wasn't even sure were what she needed.

He still found himself to smile, even when hearing that. Giving her a soft squeeze of reassurance, he didn't dare try to pull back at all until she was the one to intiate it. He missed these touches something fierce and if it lasted for a few moments or years, it would just feel like an eternity since the last time that he had felt them.

"No -- no I understand. And I treasured every moment that we had together, even when we fought because I knew that only grew our friendship and made it more solid, friends fight, but friends also stay together after the fights because they can learn to apologize." He tried to reassure her, still admittingly feeling a very slight slight sting from the platonically shoehorned in. He knew it was what it was in the past, and that there was no way to fix it.

It wasn't until she finally released him after the tight tight hug, he let out a squeaking noise before calming down. Vic seemed to also fiddle with the items, fingers grazing over them lightly as if he was trying to look for something. He swallowed hard, almost nervous to say what he has been wanting to say for so long.

"I... might... still very much so like you though."

While she really struggled with romantic feelings, the awkwardness and troubled anxiety may or may not had been very visible to Vik. He was so close to her; she didn't know if he could tell. It had been a long time, and while they had both grown up, they were both very much the same people.

As she found this hollowed out stick that was like a tube, and she put a semi transparent gem in front of it. Playing with it, she started to remember lots of times they spent together. She wondered there might be something wrong with her. Here she had someone so very very important to her. Someone she could spend day in and day out with. Yet, she once upon a time put all her other friends ahead of him. Here he was with her; and she couldn't even admit feelings beyond friends for him.

Feelings were such frightful things. She had never believed those were things meant for her. Never. Not even a little. Still... didn't mean she didn't enjoy all that went on between them. She enjoyed all of it. Even the biting... hmm.... his 'biting' phase... She licked her teeth, her lips. then, she peeked at him with an embarrassed grin. "I never minded the biting though. After a while, it didn't almost hurt anymore. I daresay I almost actually liked it sometimes. I don't consider those days as you having been bad to me either. I feel that I had a hand in creating those episodes even if inadvertently."

Going quiet again a little. She couldn't deny at all though. The natural comfort that came from even just being around him and doing mundane things. She felt soothed. She smiled earnestly and looked at him pointedly, dead in his eyes. "I do want you to stay though. I definitely want you to be in my life. Then, leaning forward, she slinked down on her belly and laid her feet up across his thighs, her tail draping across her own. She played with the gem tilting it to see how the light reflected out of it.

Vik was so special to her. Did she maybe love him? Was it ok to not know and just enjoy being together?

The anxiousness was mutual. His hollowed out self was so nervous that he would drive her away, but he tried his hardest to keep his cool. He didn't want to mess this up. He didn't want to be alone again, especially for so long...

"You liked the biting?" He was puzzled, his blood lust was more or less... better now a days. His control over the drinking and the biting, it was savage to him now. It was of his nature, but at the same time... it was so much different than when he did it to her. "I bet you'd like if I did it again then, huh?" He smiled weakly, opening his maw to make a fake 'chomp', poking his tongue out playfully. He was trying to play it off as something that was just silly, but at the same time... it was all so complicated.

His attention turned to her fiddling, and the remainder of what she said was still being processed in his mind. He felt her 'drape' onto him, all of these touches and all of the feelings and such that still bubbled so much within him... One paw reached, and he almost delicately rubbed her back. He seemed to only do it for a moment, as if his mind couldn't seem to process multitasking, but his paw remained where it was. "I. I want nothing more than to be in your life. I've been gone far too long out of it, and I-I know the time that we spent apart has made us better for it, but it's time that I wished that we had together..."

An obvious reddening in her pale blue cheeks, sheepish grinning in the corners of her mouth and eyes. She paused to that question. "Mayyyybee...." She rolled her eyes and wiggled her toes at his teasing. With a quick turn of her head to him, she stuck her head out. Ness being drawn into the closeness of meeting his childness with some of her own.

He was staying. She knew it then. That answer meant that maybe he'd wander away or find things to do with his time, but he wasn't going anywhere. She determined there that instead of toiling over old feelings and regrets of yesterday. She would just enjoy the moment, live in the now, cherish everything. A small seedling of determination in her heart to be a better ulaya to him than before. For their friendship and whatever else was between them.