Hunger: 7/10 - Good || Thirst: 8/10 - Very Good || Energy: 8/10 - Very Good || Hygiene: 5/10 - Meh || Social: 2/10 - Very Bad || Fun: 8/10 - Very Good || Mood: 38/60 - C+ - Could Be Better

Fira had just retuned from a very long hunt, a chance to get away from everything and do some thinking by herself. But she’d been gone for a day or two, as the deer hadn’t wanted to be eaten, and she’d been forced to chase them all over Polaris. Now that she was back, and just entering the den, she definitely needed some time with Destiny. She’d grown attached to the little platypus over the last few months, and not just because they had created children together. She’d known Destiny almost her whole life — which was, granted, quite short yet — and spending too long away from her was difficult.

It was an odd feeling, knowing that her life was bound up with another, and would be for the foreseeable future. She didn’t know how she felt about such a thing. Fira was, for all intents and purposes, mostly a loner. But… She couldn’t imagine a life without Destiny now. And knowing that her best friend was going to die didn’t help matters much. “Destiny,” she whispered when her head poked into the now quite spacious den. “You in here? I’m back from my hunt. I thought we could talk or something.” She made her way deeper inside, sniffing out her partner.

Words: 211 @Destiny

Destiny had been curled up against their two growing chrysali, her bill resting on her webbed paws, her eyes... less than appealing to look at. Although it was hard to tell, she was dozing lightly, perhaps even asleep. Her breaths echoed quietly, leaving clouds on the smooth, glimmering surface of the opals that cooled her sides.

As a quiet voice gently roused her, she stretched out her forelegs and twitched, slowly raising her head and swinging it around briefly as though trying to open her eyes and see. "O-oh... Fira?!" Destiny's bleary voice slowly pieced itself into wakefulness. Suddenly, she was excited. "H-hello! it's so nice to hear from you!" Raising her head further, she tipped her head and seemed to concentrate, falling silent.

It took a few moments, but soon she found the earth beneath her giving soft vibrations, and heard a thumping sound, somewhere close. Still a little unfocused, she pushed her bill softly into the earth and followed the vibrations, all the way to the entrance of the den, where she bumped into something soft. "I'd love to talk! It's so nice to see you!" she chirped, as proud as ever for finding her way.

@Fira

Fira nuzzled against Destiny with a chuckle when the platypus bumped into her leg. “Were you sleeping? Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you.” It was only then that the leopard realized she was still a bit bloody from her hunt. “Mm…” She made a small noise of discomfort. “Sorry again. You can probably smell the blood. I don’t want that smell in the den. Do you wanna take a bath in the river with… me… Um…” She laughed awkwardly, realizing the way that sounded. “Not like that. Just, you know, to get clean and stuff.” Fira looked down at Destiny even though she knew the platypus couldn’t see her. She saw the way her eyes bulged from her head, and dreaded the day the opal shards pierced through them.

“I mean…” she said slowly… “Well, it could be that way if… you wanted. I said we could work our way up to that, right? But, i mean, either way.” By the Stone! She was acting like an idiot right now! “O-kay! I’m just gonna stop talking. I’ll stay close to you so I can guide you to the water if you want, okay?” Fira cleared her throat loudly, trying to put her scrambling thoughts back in order. Why were words so hard sometimes?

Words: 214 @Destiny

Happily, Destiny pawed at the ground with each of her large, webbed feet in turn. "Don't be silly!" she chimed with a laugh. "I'm wide awake already, look at me!" still excited and stunned by her own magic, Destiny was telling the truth and it seemed that she was in fact, much more than just 'okay'. Listening further, she giggled at Fira's words, even though she didn't quite understand. Swimming was fun! Whether there was others in there with her or not... right? She grinned, opening her bill wide. "S-sure! You don't need to... um, y'know, worry about me an' blood, though!" the platypus looked a little awkward as she spoke. She didn't want to offend Fira with her words. The truth was though that Destiny, as awkward and flimsy-looking as she was, was still a tiny carnivore. Even if it was just of shrimps and little worms.

She laughed again. "J-just... um... so long as they don't talk..."

Although her laughter soon trailed off, she was still left smiling cluelessly. "Work our way up to it? W-well, maybe you could ah, teach me! ...hmmm..." the platypus thought deeply, trying to figure out what the leopard was talking about. Something clicked, but maybe not quite clicked, because all she did was give a cheeky little giggle in response. "O-oh! I think I... might... have an idea of uh, what you think..." she continued.

A lighthearted giggle still lingering on her bill, she gently and slowly shook her head.

"I can hear the water! I know where to go!" she declared excitedly, waddling forward, in a direction she assumed was through Fira's legs and out of the den. Either way, it was towards the lapping water.

@Fira

Fira became more and more relaxed as she listened to Destiny babble on, and she got the feeling that the platypus had no idea what she was talking about, so she decided to just drop it for the moment. If they ever became more than friends, that would be great, but remaining just friends was great, too. It was just… They were gonna have kids together, right? So maybe they should think about… going to the next level. At the same time, Fira was aware that you didn’t need to love someone romantically to have kids with them. Even enemies could potentially make little chrysalises if they ever wanted to for some reason. So really, this was unnecessary. Still, there was some part of her that was beginning to love the little platypus as more than a friend.

The leopard chuckled as she watched her best friend waddle her way over to the water. She followed behind, slowly, patiently, and then she put her two front paws into the shallows and sighed contentedly. “Time to get clean,” she said as she lowered her body into the water. It was cold, but Fira didn’t pay any attention to that. She didn’t mind the cold. She waded in a little further and then lay down fully, just far enough in to go over her shoulders, but her head was still above water. She sighed again as she let the water flow through her fur.

Words: 242 @Destiny -- sorry for the wait. I've been super busy and it's also been really hot over here the last few days, so my muse is... eh.

Destiny kept waddling, full speed ahead! and seemingly she underestimated just how far it was from the den to the water, because by the time she paused at the waters edge, she was breathing quite heavily. breathing deep, she waddled, placing one paw, then the other- as elegantly as she was able- she slid quietly into the water. By that time, Fira was already entering as well. Destiny ducked herself entirely underwater by that time, feeling the world around her seem to come to life- she could feel all the little vibrations stirring the water around her now- feel where Fira was and the way the water around her moved.

Like a great burden was lifted from her shoulders, her headache eased under the water, and as she turned on her back, her bill poked out of the water and she giggled with glee.

"I forget how great the water feels..." she sighed happily, blowing out a small burst of bubbles as she turned over again. She swam figures of eight around Fira's legs, feeling the way the water changed around them, the way she could feel everything in her flippers, fur, and bill. Especially her bill. She couldn't quite describe it, but somehow she just knew.

"It's like I can see again!"

@Fira

Fira smiled at Destiny, glad that her best friend was happy in the water. She needed all the happiness she could get before she died. The leopard had sort of come to terms with the imminent death hanging down around the both of them. She’d always been one to accept change quickly. And while death was certainly a huge and difficult change, she was no less accepting of it with time. Especially since there was nothing she could do about it. It was time to stop hunting when food wasn’t required. She needed to stop taking her emotions out on nature. It was very unlike her.

“Sorry I’m not around all the time,” Fira said, and then blinked a few times. Those words had sort of come out of nowhere and surprised her. But she quickly realized she had needed to say them. “This whole… situation — your death — it really bothers me. So I’ve been hunting a lot, hoping to… get away from it, but…” She took a deep breath. “I realized that taking out my emotions on deer and rabbits is stupid and I’ve accepted that you’re going to die no matter what I do. I’m not trying to be insensitive to this. But we have to talk about this at some point and stop acting like it’s not gonna happen.”

Words: 222 @Destiny -- again, sorry for the wait. My muse flew out the window for a while and I'm trying to scrape it back together.

"Hm?" the platypus raised her bill above the water as she heard Fira's voice reaching her, just barely, beneath the water. "That's okay! No-one can be there alla time," she answered honestly, opening her bill in a smile as she gently paddled towards Fira from where she'd floated several feet away. "...Oh... well... yeah. I... I, uh... I can imagine," a shadow passed over Destiny's serene face, but you could tell that she was struggling to keep that smile bright and strong. Like always. Raising her head, Destiny continued to listen; though she tried not to show it, a sense of fear crept into her heart.

"I understand. I eat when I'm upset too!" Trying to see the bright side, Destiny gave a high pitched laugh. But you could tell that she was trying to avoid the real subject matter here. She didn't want to die. She wanted to forget. "...How will we tell the kids?"

Suddenly, it seemed to dawn on Destiny. she shook her head, and after a moment, disappeared under the water, only to emerge moments later. "What... What do you wanna say?" she asked quietly, though her voice cracked and it was plain to see that the little lady was struggling to keep her cool.

@Fira -- That's okay! Mine's been having difficulties lately too >.<

Fira became less and less sure of herself as their conversation continued. It was immediately apparent that Destiny was not taking this well, and would probably never take this well, and Fira just… she didn’t have the heart to continue. With a heavy sigh, she gazed at her best friend, going silent for quite a while. Eventually, she mustered up the energy to speak, but when she opened her mouth, no words came out. She closed it again, and settled for reaching out to the platypus and nudging her bill with the tip of her nose. “Never mind, Destiny,” she said quietly. “Forget I said anything…”

She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t put her best friend through so much emotional pain. It was hard enough already, what with the condition of her eyes and the rest of her head. The headaches, the oozing eye-sockets, the blindness… Fira honestly didn’t know how Destiny did it all day. How had she not just… completely broken down yet? In some ways, the platypus was stronger than her. Fira realized she probably had more willpower than the leopard. Some part of her was impressed, but the rest of her was too busy being depressed about all of this…

Words: 205 @Destiny

Destiny felt her heart turning in her chest. as nice as the water was, something had crept over the serene scene that caused her to fall into awkward and nervous silence. She was afraid now, that she'd upset Fira. Guilt brought a lump to her throat; the leopard had only been trying to make things easier, but Destiny's raw emotion had gotten the better of her.

Turning over onto her belly, she treaded water close to Fira, hoping that she hadn't struck a raw nerve. "Uuhhh... I'm sorry... about... that." she told her. "I-if there's... well, uh, y'know, anything you need t-to say. Then it's okay. I'll be strong." She tried to look, and sound, firm, but that was hard when her voice was shaking.

That, and the beaky little creature was the picture of anything but firmness. She was soft, warm and innocent. but Destiny didn't know that; despite everything she tried to look as confident as she could, even if her eyes stung with the threat of tears.

_____________

tagged| @Fira
ooc| NEW TABLE WOO
muse| good!

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

sooner or later...
destiny catches up to you...