[plot] Hey Ladies. ;D [Vanya + Takis] (finished)

[Menelie]

Takis nods, running a hand through his hair. "I'm fine...it just takes some of my own personal energy to heal them."

Gods, she was pretty, looking at him concerned like that.

Cripes, man, get ahold of yourself!

"I used to pass out when I tried to do too much," he says, explaining to distract himself. "I got better with practice. Maybe you'll have more control over your chaos with some practice too," he suggests. "Anyway, I'm hoping one day I'll be able to heal the trees without draining myself."

He sits down and leans against the tree, rubbing his face vigorously to try and make the color come back.  

[Teigra]

Despite his assurance that he was fine, Vanya frowned at Takis and said, "Even so, maybe you should sit down, or...oh, right..." She trailed off, realizing that he'd already taken a seat under the tree. Unsure what else to do, she sat down as well, thinking over what he'd said about her powers.

"I don't know," she muttered, looking down at her hands, the faint outlines of strange runes barely visible now on her palms. "I'm not sure if it works that way, or if I can do it." She sighed, replaying their entire conversation in her head. How Takis hadn't hesitated to have a conversation with her at all. How he'd been fascinated by her power, not afraid. How even now, he was still here with her, not trying to find some excuse to slip away from the scary girl...

"I can always give it a try though..." she said, still staring down with a hint of a smile.  

[Menelie]

"That's right, you can always give it a try." He smiles and pats the ground next to him. "Until then, hang here with me until I catch my breath? We can go for a walk or something after, if you want."

He senses some hesitation in her voice, like she still isn't sure of him, almost like she's suspicious of him. Why would she be suspicious of him? He'd done nothing to make her feel uneasy, that he could recall. Perhaps she was suspicious of everyone. Like, she had to analyze the motives of everyone she met, and couldn't trust anyone.

Cripes, wouldn't that get exhausting?

At any rate, Takis likes Vanya, strange as she might be. She intrigues him. She's much different than anyone he'd met; although to be fair he hadn't met many people outside of his parents and brother.  

[Teigra]

After a moment's hesitation, Vanya crossed to sit beneath the tree with Takis. She wasn't sure what else to say now that her 'secret' was out in the open and he hadn't run away from her. What else did people talk about? She fiddled with her hands in her lap awkwardly, wondering what to do next.

He'd said something about going for a walk later. Where were they planning to go? She wasn't used to just walking about for no reason; she usually had a destination in mind. The concept seemed odd for her, unfamiliar, but she knew it wasn't all that strange for some.

"So, um....you live around here somewhere?"  

[Menelie]

Takis nods. "At the edge of the forest," he says, jerking his thumb in that direction. "I can take you there if you want. Or we can go walking on the beach, that's pretty fun too. My Papa used to take me there, taught me how to build sandcastles and stuff." He shrugs.

"What about you? Where d'you live?" he asks.  

[Teigra]

The thought of meeting more people, even if they were Takis' family, made Vanya feel uneasy. Of course, they were probably nice fauns, if their son was so accepting. Not like the ones taught to treat her like an outcast... Still, if they came from the Tree, there was always a chance.

A side concern being that if they were from the tree, she might already know them. And that was a risk she wasn't prepared to face just yet.

"The beach might be nice," she answered finally with a gentle nod, then addressed Takis' question. She gestured around her at the forest in general, and half-shrugged. "Here. The forest. I move around a bit." To avoid running into anyone, she added silently in her mind, then pushed the thought away.

Turning the conversation back to Takis' home, she asked curiously, "You live at the edge of the forest? What is on the other edge? Do you live in a tree?" Like the others back home? Afterall, what other type of place could one call a home? At least, what type of home for a faun. She'd come across the homes of other creatures on the isle without letting herself be seen, so she'd not had the chance to ask them directly about their odd choices in living spaces.  

[Menelie]

"You mean you don't have a home, or a family?" asks Takis, before clapping a hand over his mouth. "Sorry," he says, running a hand through his hair. "Sometimes my mouth gets away from me. You don't have to answer that, if you don't want to."

He shakes his head, as if to clear his thoughts, and smiles again. "I live in a house. With walls and stuff, not like a tree-house. It's on the ground. I'd think climbing trees would be hard with hooves like we have, but somehow I wouldn't put it past you to know how." Takis grins boyishly.

"As for the other edge of the forest....I don't really know what's over there. Papa's the exploring type, but not me. I can amuse myself just fine with what's around me. Although I do like the beach..."  

[Teigra]

Hadn't she made that clear? Vanya frowned, realizing that perhaps she hadn't. In that case, she didn't mind explaining, as she only had to state clearly what she'd meant to imply earlier. "No, it's fine. No family, no home. I just live wherever I wander," she shrugged. "It's a quiet enough life," she murmured.

A house? She'd only ever had a physical home in the Great Tree, so the concept of a 'house' was still a bit strange to the young faun. Didn't they feel disconnected, living in those funny square boxes? Then again, she supposed most of the trees here weren't big enough to live in, not the way they did back in Laisidhiel, back ho--

No, that wasn't home. Not for Vanya at least. Not anymore, if it ever had been.

Still, the thought of her climbing trees, planted in her head by Takis, made Vanya smile a bit. "No, silly, you don't climb the outside of the tree. You climb the inside, at least, you do in Laisidhiel. The Great Tree provides steps for climbing, so our hooves aren't a problem. I don't think the trees here do that though," she explained, trailing off sadly. The trees here were alive, yes, but not in the same way as the Great Tree. She couldn't explain it exactly, but any faun who had ever been to both their ancestral home, as well as this new forest, could tell the difference.

In any case, Vanya had done her share of exploring since she left the Great Tree for this strange new land, but there was still much she hadn't seen. And she'd never explored any of it with another individual. "Well, I suppose we could go to the beach then, if you'd like?" she asked, still not sure how to go about this 'socializing' thing, but giving it her darnedest effort.

In the sake of the pursuit of knowledge, of course.  

[Menelie]

Takis' lips curl into a soft pout. "You must be so lonely!" he says earnestly, taking Vanya's hand to try and comfort her. "You are always welcome in my house, with my family, Vanya," he says, smiling.

It vaguely occurs to him that she may prefer the life of a wanderer, but he swore he could feel a sadness in her eyes that made him think she really did want someplace she could call home. Fortunately, Takis' ignorance about the big L-tree had made Vanya smile again. She had a nice smile, he thought.

"Sure," he responds to her question about the beach. "I'll lead the way!" He starts off toward the ocean, only then realizing he was still holding her hand. "Er..." He blushes awkwardly. But he doesn't let go just yet; holding hands was nice. He'd wait for her to break the contact if she wanted to.

[Welp, looks like someone has a crush. xp ]  

[Teigra]

"I-I..." Vanya blinked, stuttering slightly. Her? Lonely? ...well, maybe. If she had a point of reference, she might be sure, but she was alone and always had been, so how would she know the difference? Solitude was the norm for her. Well, except for the tiny bugs she'd kept as pets...or friends...in Laisidhiel...

All the more reason why she was so taken aback by Takis' generous offer. She was...welcome? In someone else's home? With a family? But, what if they didn't like her? What if they weren't as open and welcoming as their son? Of course, if they were, he probably wouldn't have grown up that way, but still, there was always the chance. Sometimes a child had tried to play with her back then, but the parents had come and shooed them away.

She realized she'd been quiet for some time, and manged to murmur, "...thank you, Takis." Her voice was quiet, but the gratitude was genuine. It was a strange feeling, to be accepted, even if it was only by one other. And the touch of his hand on hers...

For her, the gesture was both disconcerting and comforting at the same time. And a bit awkward, but not for the same reasons that Takis might be considering. She had noticed his blush and strange 'er' sound, and had interpreted these actions as ones of embarrassment or confusion. Of course, she wasn't familiar with the common social meaning behind holding hands.

For her, the experience was strange for a different reason. When most people found out about her power, they wanted nothing to do with her. Not only that, but they didn't want her to touch them, for any reason. Not only was Takis accepting of her strange abilities, but...he was willingly taking her hands, the same hands that unleashed such unpredictable, and possibly dangerous, forces. Not even repelled by the strange symbols burned into her palms, he didn't even seem to consider this when he'd taken her hand, almost automatically. It was a very foreign feeling for the young female faun, and she wasn't sure how to process it.

So, she didn't pull away, waiting to see if she could figure out exactly how she felt about the contact, while nodding lightly. "Okay," she said simply, seeming content to follow after her new friend.

...friend.

...what a strange, yet comforting, idea.

[FIN]