Fira listened, and listened hard and Destiny repeated her confession, and then stuttered and stumbled all over herself in an attempt to make everything normal again. That was Destiny, always worried about others and down on herself. The leopard shook her head. Now that the initial shock had worn off, she had no qualms about this. She didn’t exactly love easily, but Destiny had been her friend since the beginning, and… and being in difficult situations like this often forced two people to realize their true feelings for each other sooner than they perhaps would have normally. “Doesn’t matter,” Fira repeated, scoffing softly. “That’s bullshit, Destiny.”

She pushed her cheek gently against the platypus’ face. It was a cat thing. She didn’t know why she did it, it was just instinct. “No, it’s not okay that you always think everything is your fault,” she continued. “You gotta stand up for yourself. And don’t let your blindness be your weakness. Don’t let anyone get you down. If you’ve only got a couple of Cycles to live, then you need to grab life by the b—… Well, you gotta take life by the paw and squeeze hard! You gotta… believe in yourself, for once.”

“And… And I love you too, Destiny.” Saying it made her feel weird and kind of gross, and she didn’t want to give the wrong impression, so she quickly amended: “Okay, and when I say that, I mean as a friend. A best friend. As my only friend, I really do love you. I just… don’t know if I feel anything romantic. But we can always work up to that, right?” She really hoped that was enough, because she wouldn’t pretend she was in love when she wasn’t.

Words: 290 @Destiny

Destiny seemed nervous as Fira first scoffed at her words, and then told her that her words were... wrong? The little one was confused. She didn't know what to think about this. Nerves swam in her belly. "It... is...?" she asked, praying for an answer, though Fira seemed about to elaborate anyway. Destiny's lovesick little heart pounded as Fira rubbed her head against her cheek, and Destiny tried to do the same, though her bill was hard and her gem sharp, so it was difficult.

She listened quietly, her eyes unblinking as they had been since the start. Destiny wished she could have gazed up at her friend but she couldn't, so instead they stared out unfocused and lifeless. "I... I just..." she seemed to struggle for an excuse for a moment. "If I can t-t-take the burden off of someone, I will. 'S just, me. Y'know?" it felt a little silly, but so long as she could make someone else happy, she would be too, she reasoned to herself. She continued listening, intently, to Fira's words and felt her nervous heart swelling up. She gave several shaky nods, not wanting to interrupt. As soon as there was a break, Destiny grinned shakily. "I've started already! Everything's been getting better for a while. first the caves started coming back to life, and then I met Ares, and now you're b-back too! I even found a healer, and I feel b-b-better! Way better!" Destiny seemed proud of her antics, even if nothing was particularly impressive.

Destiny thought deeply about that for a few moments longer. It was the first time she'd really considered if there was anything she wanted to do before the clock ticked its last. It was exciting! ...Sorta. That was good enough.

What does one do to squeeze life's paw hard enough?

After a moment's consideration, Fira's voice broke through her thoughts again. "H-hu... What...?" Destiny asked, wondering if she'd misheard. Fira continued, and Destiny understood. A smile broke onto her bright face, and although her gaze remained empty, everything else seemed overcome by joy. Fira's words sang to her; the platypus knew that love was still love, no matter what form it took.

Destiny felt that this ran deep, and maybe time would bring new flowers.

She let excited warbles and purrs do the talking for her.

@Fira

Fira had always worried about Destiny, even when the platypus had still had her sight. Now she was more worried than ever. Worried that her friend would never see how important she was — that it wasn’t always about making others happy. You had to make yourself happy too, sometimes. You had to focus on yourself before you could really focus on others. And Fira had no idea what it would take to get Destiny to see this. To see… Bad choice of words there, Fira. And… And this thought having kids. Well, she didn’t quite know how she felt about this. She assumed this part of her life would happen much later. But… it seemed fate had other plans.

She looked down at Destiny, smiling despite herself. “Our kids are gonna look so weird,” she said. “A leopard and a platypus. Eugh.” She laughed. “I’ll have to teach ‘em not to let other Gembounds pick on ‘em… I wonder what they’ll eat. What do you eat? You don’t have any teeth… Do you eat plants?” Here came the excited to-be-parents rambling. It was so unlike her that some part of her was screaming at her to shut up and just go with the flow like always. But when it came to becoming parents, you couldn’t just… go with the flow. This was too big of a deal. This was too much for even chilled-out Fira to take in stride.

She kind of bounced, and nudged Destiny excitedly with her nose. She was gonna have kids!

Words: 258 @Destiny

Destiny was smiling to herself absently, thinking over Fira's words, and mulling over her own logic. Wasn't trying to make others happy, even in as dire times as this, a strength worth having? Destiny thought it was, and that kept her spirits up for the most part... but still, she couldn't help but wonder. Tilting her head to one side, Destiny swung her head as Fira's voice cut through the silence.

"Y-you think so?" the little lady fussed. She'd never been overly fond of the way she'd looked. perhaps Fira would give her beauty to her little ones. Destiny certainly wouldn't care either way, but she didn't want them to be picked on at all... poor little things. But as she realized Fira was laughing, Destiny bit back her nerves and giggled in spite of herself. "I'll let you h-handle all that..." she chuckled. "Anything involving teeth and claws is outta my comfort zone..." She flexed a webbed paw, and opened and closed her toothless bill to prove a point.

"O-oh! No, I eat lil' shrimp and worms and... well, things I find in the river. Just little things and... so long as they don't talk." she giggled bashfully, shuffling her paws. "And you eat lil' things too right? Or, uh... lil' creatures at least. So they'll probably not be plant eaters," she mused.

Feeling Destiny bouncing above her, Destiny couldn't help the excitement leaking into her own small form. Letting out small warbles as she felt the leopard's nose bump against her, she wiggled, trying to find Fira so that she could give little affectionate nibbles. But all her flab and spiky gem got in the way. She... she couldn't believe that this was actually going to happen. This was a real thing. It was almost too much to comprehend; Destiny was humbled, and... well, nervous! She felt butterflies in her stomach. Her wiggles gradually slowed to a halt.

Again, there was those nerves. Her gem ached, a constant reminder of her ticking time. Maybe it was too much, too soon, even for her. There was that excitement, but there was fear too. Abruptly, the excitement seemed to fade from her stance.

"Fira?" she asked quietly. "Are you... afraid?"

@Fira

Fira nodded at Destiny’s explanation. Okay, so they were both meat-eaters. Good to know. Maybe their kids would eat both? Shrimps, but also deer? Hmm… At any rate, the leopard filed away the information for later. She’d have to wait to see whether they developed teeth, and that would probably tell her what they ate. “Yeah, I eat meat. But I don’t eat… little things. I eat Cave Deer and stuff. I eat big things. But only the ones that don’t talk. That’ll have to be the first thing we teach ‘em, probably. That they are not allowed to eat Gembounds that talk.”

Fira noticed that Destiny was searching for her in the perpetual darkness of her condition. She felt the urge to rest her chin on the top of the platypus’ head, but her spiky gem made such a movement painful. Instead, she lowered herself and pressed her head up against Destiny’s bill, and then she left it there. She figured the constant contact would be good for her friend now that she was blind. It might help her stay calm. Not that Destiny seemed over-the-top, only… Well, Fira had no idea what being blind was like. Sure, she’d had her eyes closed for some time to try and stimulate such a sensation, but she could always open them again. She had no idea what it was like to open your eyes and not see anything. Ever.

’Fira? Are you… afraid?’

The words hit her like a ton of bricks and she blinked furiously for a moment to keep herself calm. “You know me,” she said eventually, forcing her voice to stay even. “I’m never scared. Well, you know, except for that one time we almost drowned.” She let out a laugh. “You remember that? That was pretty crazy…” She paused for a good long while. “Listen, it’s okay to be scared. Being scared is what keeps you alive. But it’s important not to panic. Panic makes you think irrationally. It gets you hurt. You have to remember that there’s a line between fear and panic, and you shouldn’t cross it.”

Fira didn’t know what else to say… She was sort of still processing all of this. In the end, she just murmured, “I’ll take care of you. Until—… I’ll take care of you always.”

Words: 389 @Destiny

Destiny nodded, seeming to understand. Destiny felt like it was okay to eat things that didn't talk, but otherwise... she was very much disturbed by the thought. Not that she'd usually be able to fit something with a voice box in her mouth. Destiny nodded vigorously in response to the tought of teaching their little ones how to eat, politely. "Y-yeah! That sounds like a plan!" she agreed, smiles tracing her features.

She felt Fira's head against her bill and proceeded to finish the little nibble that she'd sought for a moment ago. An affectionate little nip that was accompanied by a little growling purr.

She couldn't help but feel warm, though at the same time, nervous at the memories. The memories back then were so different from the memories they would make from now on. The fear back then was etched into her mind yet they had been oblivious to the days that awaited them. Now, there was fear of what lay ahead, not of the now. Slowly, the platypus nodded. "...Alright. And... I... I guess there's no use being scared of something you c-can't stop." she admitted, with no small amount of hesitation. Yet even though the truth loomed over her, the fear still remained. "I... I just don't want the pieces of me I leave behind to suffer as well." There it was. Everything she was afraid of in a single sentence.

Everything seemed to come crashing in. Eyes leaked, her sides trembled, the uncertain future simply hurt. And yet Fira was still there. A lump formed in Destiny's throat. "A-a-always..." she echoed, clinging to the word as a tiny shred of hope amidst all the gloom.

@Fira

After everything that had been said between them, everything that had happened in the span of, what, twenty minutes? Maybe more? Fira had no idea what to talk about anymore. So they were gonna be… a couple… kind of. Best friends who lived together. And… they were gonna be parents. Moms. This was a lot to take in, and even BAMF Fira was exhausted from thinking about all this and feeling so many different emotions in such a short timeframe. She listened to Destiny’s next words, and said nothing in return, opting instead to curl around her friend in a show of affection, and falling asleep soon afterwards. Despite her hopes and fears for the future, she breathed softly in her sleep. Perhaps everything would be all right in the end…

[Exit Fira]

Words: 131 @Destiny

Destiny listened out, but it seemed Fira had nothing left to say for the time being. Destiny, clinging to that last word, lay awake, and listened to the world around. She heard the river lapping at its banks close by, the distant crackle of magic in the air... And Fira's breathing. She felt the earth beneath her paws, and the warmth of her breaths. Everything should be fine, but it wasn't. The fears were still there, fluttering in the pit of her stomach.

She kept lying awake as she felt those warm breaths against her fur, thinking, knowing, longing for what simply couldn't be.

Fuck it. I need this.

[exit Destiny]