The youma’s ears twitched as he listened to the sounds of the rift around him. Smaller youma skittered out of his way and over clusters of twisted crystal and rock. Others simply paid him no mind and did their own thing. It had become so weird. To bounce between the above world, namely Fangite’s residence, and the Rift, as often as he had been lately. The collar, that had been a so called gift, really was, in a way, just that. Airi had spent more time up there, only drifting back to the Rift, when he was running low on energy. Their worlds were so different.

It was strange, to say the least.

A low rumbling caught his attention, and Airitech looked to the skies to find clouds gathering. They sparked and clashed, with a surplus of chaotic energy. Not particularly keen, to be caught up in the gale, Airi decided it would probably be best to find a nearby cave and hunker down till it passed.

As he rounded a large, jagged rock, a movement at the base caught his attention. There, in the shadow, casted by the formation around him, was a youma. One he knew. He stared for a moment, watching as fuzzy black ball trembled and curled in on itself tighter. “...Evan?” He called softly. “Evan, what are you doing here.” Probably a stupid question all things considered, in the few times he had seen the other youma, Evan had always been with Sanidine. “Are you alright Evan?”

--

Immediately, Evan's head popped up. He had been laying on the ground, curled up; his face had been buried in his crossed arms. There weren't many people who knew his name, so he had assumed it was Sanidine coming to see him.

When he saw a youma instead, his ears folded low and he tried to scoot to the back of the cave. His fur was on end but his eyes were wide.

But then, he paused, squinted, and seemed almost curious.

Evan was far from grasping the ability to speak again, but he understood words well enough. He just didn't know how to reply. He was a bit wary around Fangite's youma—if only because it was in his nature—but he had not had bad experiences with him.

Yet.

He stopped backing up but remained rigid, ready to sprint out of the cave's entrance if he needed. One ear twitched again, but he watched Airi as expectantly as he did warily.

--

Airi watched as Evan backed away from him, his ears swiveling forward at the sounds from it. “...Evan.” He said again. “You’re okay. I’m not going to hurt you.” Not that he wanted to anyway. “Fangite won’t either you know.” The creature added soon after. “Remembers what it’s like. He doesn’t want to see you hurt anymore then you have.” Neither did he. “You can trust him.” Airi said. You can trust me.

Another rumbling caught the large wolf’s attention and he cast his gaze up. The tempest was getting closer, and growing stronger, if the darkening clouds and ever increasing cackling were any indication.

“...You might want to find another cave, if you’re hoping to wait out the clouds.” The wolf said. “This one is fairly old. It doesn’t give you much protection against the wind. I don’t know how much longer it will last.” He eyed Evan for a long moment before he spoke. “...You can come with me if you want. We can find a bigger cave.” One he might actually fit into without taking up all the space. “...I can keep away the smaller youma.” He said suddenly, watching as a small, lizard like creature crept into sight and tried to climb on the rock face. “It would be safer for you…” Especially if anything larger crossed paths with Evan. “No tricks, I promise.”

--

Though Evan had lost much of his human self, there was the part of him that had a fierce drive for self-preservation. Youma or not, he didn't want to get hurt—didn't want to get killed. Though Evan only spoke in chirps and hums, he seemed to have an understanding of the words spoken to him—perhaps more than he let on.

He seemed thoughtful, eyes wide and slightly mistrustful as he stared Airi down. He was in a hunched position, ready to spring, but after a few seconds he began to trace a single finger in a slow circle on the ground. He was thinking, weighing all his options.

The echo from outside made his fur stand on edge, and even if his hackles weren't already raised, the electricity in the air was enough to have done the same job.

Evan missed the nice weather of Earth. He didn't like the strange electrical storms that sometimes passed through the Rift. He didn't like the Rift. And he didn't like youma.

But Airi, despite his size, seemed the lesser of two evils, and Evan finally shrugged and moved a little closer. He remained on his toes in case this was some sort of trap, but he'd experienced a storm once already and it had left him shaking for hours.

If someone had a better way to get through them, he was all ears, because he seriously doubted Zack would appreciate a youma banging on his window, trying to get in.

Again.

--

He was patient, letting Evan take all the time he needed to think and decide what he wanted. Airi blinked curiously as Evan drew in the sand as he mulled things over. Well that was interesting. When Evan made up his mind, and crept closer, Airi moved as well. The large youma lowered himself to the ground, as if he were going to lay down. “I’ll give you a ride.” He said. “Like before, with the cats?” It would be faster this way. And should anything try to mess with them, Evan would be safer on his back, instead of under foot.

Again, he helped nudge the smaller creature on his back, rising up only when Evan seemed comfortable on his back. “If you see a cave before I do, let me know and we’ll look into it.” Literally.

He took off, trying to stay ahead of the growing storm. They passed a few caves, but upon further inspection, they were either just as bad as the one he had found Evan in, or already occupied. When it came to those caves, Airi backed off quickly, lest Evan get scared and bolt. “I won’t let any harm come to you.” Airi reminded Evan, after ditching a cave that had a small cat like youma in it. It had hissed angrily and yowled, the noise reverberating off the wall.

Finally they came across a cave that seemed to do the trick. Large enough for both of them, unoccupied and sheltered by an alcove of large crystal chunks that did wonders to break up the wind. “Thoughts??” He asked, turning his head to Evan. “Think this will work??”

Evan did have just as much say in this as he did after all.

--

Being on Airi's back meant that he didn't have to walk, and he'd have the upper hand if Airi decided to get wise and try to attack—but Evan was already quickly becoming convinced that Airi was doing exactly what he claimed he would do. The only thing Evan had to worry about while riding on his back was being struck by some electrical space storm, but when the energy in the air seemed to crackle, he'd already made up his mind.

Quickly, he had moved, half leaping from where he stood, to land on Airi's back. Like before, he had settled himself into the fur, lay low, and dug his fingers into the fur to ensure he had a good grip.

As it turned out, though, it was a great idea to hitch a ride on Airi; he immediately buried his face in the large youma's fur, nuzzling into it and being absolutely, positively unhelpful. He wasn't even trying to look for a cave, he was just trying to snuggle into Airi's fur. He didn't even look up when they reached a cave, or when they heard a noise. The truth was, if something scary was out there, he didn't want to see it. He wanted to believe Airi really could handle it. He didn't need another strange nightmare keeping him up at night.

So, when Airi found a cave that seemed to please him, Evan still didn't even look up; he was still lying flat, fingers curled in Airi's fur. Once more, he didn't look up to appreciate the other youma's impressive find; instead, he just nodded and nuzzled his face deeper into Airi's furry mane.

He could tell just by how the air didn't seem so supercharged, or how the air wasn't so fast moving or cold, that this place was probably fine for him. And if Airi approved…

Well, if Evan got to lay on him like this, maybe he wouldn't even mind the earlier intrusion into his cave. No, laying on him like this was…

Nice.

--

Evan remained quiet through the whole ordeal and it worried him. So when all he received was the nod, Airi grew just the slightest bit agitated. Evan was quite. Reverting to nodding (And Airi would assume shaking) his head as well as nuzzling his face against something. It was a still human characteristics, for someone who wasn’t even that.

Airi had seen Fangite do this action a few times before, when he mourned the losses of Natron and Kerberos.

“Evan…” He called gently, as he entered the cave. “Are you alright? What is the matter?” Airi knew he wouldn’t get the answer he should have, but he didn’t know what else to do. The youma settled against a wall, stretching out carefully as he laid down, and dropping his head between his massive paws.

Airi was quiet. Evan would climb off him when he wanted. But he began to wonder. “Do.. you want me to stay like this or is it easier on you if I switch?” there were pros and cons to either form he took.

--

Evan didn't seem to want to let go; he had made himself comfortable (even if he wasn't going to admit that a youma could be comfortable. But Airi was talking to him, and Evan felt obligated to answer. Even if he didn't know what to say, or how to properly communicate. He moved to the side, just a bit, so he could see Airi's face. His ears folded low and his head cocked to one side, trying to figure out what he meant by switch.

He tore his gaze away from Airi and pried himself from the youma, not because he wanted to be away but because he seemed interested in the cave. Evan must have had some sort of ritual; he started carefully circling the cave, poking his head around piles of rocks and hesitantly peering into the dark corners to make sure they were alone.

Halfway through the exploration of the cave, he made a noise—a startle little squeak—and jumped back. Something had spooked him, but there were no energy signatures, and nothing seemed to move.

But that didn't stop him from running right back to Airi and diving, headfirst, at him. He tried to scramble under the youma, as if to hide himself under Airi's great form.

--

It took Airi longer than he wanted to admit, before he realized Evan didn't quite understand him. "...Like before, when we first met. You may not have seen it completely..." The smaller youma had been hiding in Sanidine's back after all. "I switched from looking like this to, uhm." He paused, trying to recall the human term. "...I think Fangite said you humans call them... werewolves?" Airi said slowly, not quite understanding himself. "It was more of a humanish shape."

When Evan suddenly tore himself from him, Airi raised his head and sat in a stupor. He blinked, one ear cocked upwards as the other fell. The wolf wondered for a moment if he had somehow scared the smaller creature, which, given their first encounter, wasn't a hard thing to do.

Then Evan spooked, and he was at full alert. Evan dove at him as Airi busied himself trying to pick up any indication on what could have been in the cave. Nothing. Nothing was there. Evan had spooked himself. Airi sighed, relaxing a bit before returning his attention to his companion.

"Evan... It's alright. There's nothing there, I promise." He said, lowering his head and bumping his nose gently against Evan. Then he moved further, curling his body around Evan, acting as another layer of protection from the outside world.

--

Evan snorted indignantly—perhaps the first sign that there was a personality under all that fur and fear. He lay still for a moment and then huffed before twisting underneath Airi. The nose boop was not unpleasant, but the rock Evan was laying on was, and while he had stopped shaking so badly, he seemed like he was still slowly coming to terms with everything.

If Evan had been able to tell Airi, he might have mentioned that the warm body pressed against him was reassuring; it was warm, and brought him a comfort he hadn't had in awhile. Sure, he'd snuggled with Sanidine—and Zack—but it wasn't the same. Sanidine always seemed like he was trying to hold himself together. Like he wasn't breathing. Evan didn't want to make him uncomfortable; he was just desperate to be close to him. To feel some sort of safety.

Like Airi was giving him now.

For a moment, Evan had even forgotten about the storm they were trying to escape, and while he wasn't sure what was going on, he knew that he (probably) didn't have anything to be afraid of.

Airi was big, and scary. Except when he was laying down on the ground next to Evan, because then he was soft and fluffy. And a little squishy, the youma thought, as he nudged his head against Airi, trying to find somewhere to stick his head.

Airi was big enough that he could have easily been mattress, blanket and pillow—and Evan fully intended to make good use of him. He squirmed for a moment longer before he let out a placid, tired little chirp.

--

When Evan snorted, Airi let out a soft chuckle, only to be once again confused by the smaller creature.

Evan was very good at doing that.

“What are you do- oh.” He mumbled, watching as Evan chucked the rock at the opposite wall. “Good throw.” The wolf encouraged. “Do you play those… sports things?”

Airi then lapsed into a silence as he watched Evan, wondering what he was thinking about. Airi decided that for a moment, Evan looked sad, however it disappeared quickly as Evan seemed to finally relax with him.

“I’m sorry.” He said suddenly, as if he knew what Evan was thinking. “I mean, about what happened, to you. You didn’t-, it shouldn’t have-.” It was Airi turn to huff, as he stumbled over his words. “I’m sorry.”. He repeated, his ears twisting back as he dropped his head back onto the ground in defeat.

However, one ear seemed to perk up as Evan momentarily nuzzled his head against him, getting comfortable. Evan let out a tired chirp and it was only then did Airi find himself relaxing. “Found your spot huh?” He asked, his tail thumping on the ground for a moment before resting against Evan. For a second, it appeared that Evan’s fur was like his own.

“You can try and rest if you want. I will keep watch.”

--

Evan snorted once more, quietly, when Airi asked if he played sports. Evan was pretty far from athletic—unless crying counted as a sport.

He was just getting comfortable when Airi spoke again—an apology. One that Evan hadn't been expecting, and one that he didn't know how to receive. Evan didn't know what to say—so he stared blankly at Airi for a minute and said absolutely nothing.

If he could have spoken words that the other youma would understand, he might have.

But he probably wouldn't have, even then. He still didn't know how to talk about it, or what to say.

Instead, he jumped at the first opportunity to change the topic, so when Airi offered to keep watch, he nodded readily and returned to his comfortable position resting against him.

Airi was big, and strong, and the best thing he could ask for down here. He missed Zack, though—or Sanidine, whatever he was going to call himself. He missed Cambria. He missed Iolite. He missed Hyperborea. He missed cooking.

He missed home.