ORIGIN

He couldn't really remember falling asleep, he couldn't remember most of Clover's story, actually. He remembered the city. He remembered imagining its massive expanse, buildings upon buildings of intriguing, alien architecture possible only in his mind - and the images of the deer and cat running around each other, gentle lights floating on the air - then nothing. In some strange way, her voice continued to permeate his mind as he slept. It was a gentle harmony of different feelings all following the same intangible path, weaving a story ingrained in his brain, influencing his dreams - he saw lights and colours and he heard her narrating the dream as it went on, and yet sometimes, things would deviate from the norm. Something would happen that couldn't happen in real life, or she'd speak of something that hadn't yet transpired, but his brain would make it so. Dreams were strange things.

Eventually, there was blackness and he couldn't recall if he'd been dreaming or not. Everything came too confusing and he'd stopped keeping track. Everything faded away, drifting into the aether of sleeping void. Then, it was over. He suddenly felt the gentle breeze that often climbed through the cliffside, ruffling his fur. He felt the warmth of the deer by his side, remembering her presence. He could feel her sides shifting with each gentle breath. Her smell. Her story. Bartos slowly opened one eye to peer about, but other than that, he didn't move for fear of attracting her attention.

He wanted to stay curled up next to her forever.

The cat's single open eye shifted around the ledge, peering about his familiar home. What strange light she'd casted before - dimming the brightness of the lights to a gentle late evening glow - had dissipated, leaving the ledge similar to how it always was. He found himself missing the ethereal illumination of the deer, but her pearly self was still curled around him and for that, he was thankful. He could accept the bright lights in favor of her still being there. Eye closed again, and Bartos snuggled against closer to her. He was awake by now, but the cat could forgive himself for wanting to sleep more.

Before long, her dreamy voice slipped into the air. His ears twitched at the sound, and there was a small surge of disappointment that she'd woken. Then again... She was awake, so he could talk to her more. Yeah, that was a fair trade off. He blinked and few times, sniffed and raised his head to gaze at her as blearily as he could manage. "I loved it!" He said through a yawn, then blinked again. "I kind of fell asleep... But I really loved it." The cat admitted sheepishly. "Did you sleep okay?"

When she coughed, he twisted his ears around and tuned into the sound of her voice. It did sound hoarse, as if she'd been talking the whole time he was asleep. The cat had been in a rather deep sleep and hadn't noticed her quiet mumbling as she slept, but he felt a surge of sympathy knowing that the story must have gone on long after he'd fallen asleep. He couldn't keep himself from smiling when she wished for sweet dreams, of which he certainly had. They were filled with images of him and the deer playing, and her sweet voice wove in an out of reality. He could hear it sometimes in his dream, and then it would fade away; it would influence the adventure in his subconscious and other times it was completely absent, but he knew she was still there. "Yes!" He answered. "I dreamed - I had a dream about... about the cat, and the deer, and we were playing - we saw many things, we traveled through the city, and-"

Bartos' voice fell away when she snuggled closer, the words cut off as heat rose to his cheeks and nearly consumed his face. There was a lightness in his heart that he really couldn't explain. It made him feel dizzy and happy, and a part of him didn't like it for the anxiety it gave him. The other part really loved it, because he felt like the only person who could do that was Clover, and he liked anything about her, even if it made him feel weird. He was silent for another moment still, happily tucked in against her. His mind had begun to wander, but mostly it was focused on enjoying the sensation, almost losing himself in it when she spoke again.

Oh... his collection! That's right, his rocks! Thats why he had brought her up here in the first place! Her reminder had spawned a new excitement in him, one that prompted the cat to almost immediately unfurl his limbs and bounce up, whirling around to face her. "That's right! I can still show you!" He exclaimed, waving his tail back and forth, only to realize what he'd done. He'd severed their comfortable connection, and the part of him that was pressed into her side suddenly felt cold and empty. Bartos blinked, stealing a glance at the empty divet against her in which he had once slept, and inwardly scolding himself for being so excitable. He shoved the thought aside - maybe she didn't want to sit around and cuddle all day. Instead he looked back at her lovely face, and his grin faltered nervously. "I mean... if you want."

She responded in the blink of an eye, suggesting that he go grab a rock and bring it back to her. Oh, why didn't he think of that! He hadn't even noticed the subtle command of her tone, for his own brain was still a little frazzled by accidentally jumping up and away from her, and now it was tumbling over the idea of getting a rock and bringing it back to her. He grinned widely and nodded, half a second from turning away and doing what he was told before spoke again. Her gentle voice lit up the air with a notably different pitch behind it, and Bartos found himself planting his big blue eyes on her again with a rather dumbfounded look. She prattled on, bashful about her demands and stumbling over herself as she tried to go back on what she had just said.

Bartos only laughed, waving his tail high above his rump with amusement. "Of course I want to! You look too comfy anyways, so I'll just bring one over to show you!" He declared boldly, nodded with finality and bounced away to the little alcove that housed his treasure trove. He didn't want to make her wait too long and he thought he had a pretty good idea of what to pick out to show her, but once he actually arrived at the little crack in the wall where he could see all his stones piled together, he suddenly found himself indecisive. Which one to bring? Should he bring the prettiest? The coolest? The one he's has the longest? Or maybe his newest addition? Oh, it was so hard to choose!

He raised his paw to his chin for a moment, gaze roving over them, then flickering back to Clover, then back to the treasures. For a moment he entertained the idea of picking one at random, but that just wouldn't do - what if he picked the wrong one? Alright, alright. Make up your mind! The cat held his breath and pawed one of the rocks out of the alcove, grabbing it between his teeth and jogging back to Clover. He sidled up next to the doe, greedily absorbing her body heat as he reclined against her side and presented the rock - a jagged cluster pink tourmaline, glimmering gently in the artificial lighting. "I found this one not too long ago. It's one of my favorites because its a colour I don't see a lot." He explained, purring. "It's really unique, and pretty I think, and I found it in the big ring with all those seats, I think there might be a story behind it but I - I don't really know, I'm not that good with making up stories. Not as good as you." He glanced back up at her, then felt the heat in his cheeks as well and dropped his gaze back to the rock.

Bartos acted as if she wasn't inconsiderate and tactless, and just took it in stride, which she appreciated. She nestled back down to her spot, internally cooing at the warm stone underneath her, the lazy feeling in her bones. She just...wanted to stay here, but...she knew she couldn't.

While Bartos was busy searching for just the right stone, her mind wandered. What if she could just bring Pounce to meet Bartos and just stay here? Pounce would love the playful energy of her clever cat (her clever cat? she thought to herself), and she could tell stories to the both of them and be wonderfully content in this little cove of stars. Already she felt an idea coming along...adventurers caught in a storm, and take refuge in a cozy cave, and when they come out, all the world is a sea made of the stars in the sky, because all the stars fell down in the horrible storm, and the adventurers had to-

Before she knew it, Bartos was back and snuggling against her, and her heart grew as warm as their wonderful body heat and fluffy fur, and before she thought about it at all, out of reflex to being around Pounce, she kissed Bartos' forehead - hesitated- embarrassed- she did it again, just acted without thinking, how foolish of her!- and smoothly pulled it off, as if she meant to do it, as if she didn't mind, and looked at the stone with lowered eyelashes.

How stupid, how stupid, how stupid - "How beautiful," She sighed, looking at it closely. "Look how it blushes underneath the ice, a vivid life to it, hidden away for so long. It's shy, can't you tell? But it's so brave." Hiding her embarrassment under a smile, she looked at Bartos, studying them. "Like a certain cat I know."


"This is how I speak."