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Having invited her old mentor out to the Wissahickon Creek Trail to join her in some old fashioned Thyrsus exploration of both shapeshifting forms, spells and just running loose in the natural places, Harmony was dressed in practical hiking gear, a currently empty rucksack on her back. and was currently sat on the ground with little care for such gear, working hard on sketching the view in front of her. She was also working with highly increased senses, just in case. It wouldn't be the first time LF had tried an ambush.
No ambush today -- the fox makes herself visible rather quickly. Bounding through the brush, slipping past a blackberry bush and avoiding getting her fur hung up, she darts across the path and circles in toward Harmony. It's a fox, but is it Fox?
Well, it stops at the path's edge, twisting its head back and forth, and sniffs the air, then -- once it can be sure that no one else is here, it pads slowly toward Harmony, ears up.
Harmony doesn't say anything at first. She just changes position to kneel, tucking her sketchpad into the backpack and holds her arms out towards the fox in invite with a soft smile. She ducks her head in a glint of respect, letting the other Thyrsus make the next move.
Sneak, sneak, sneak! Well, not really sneaking, anyway. Harmony is looking right at her. But Fox skitters up closer to Harmony, brushes the length of her body against the other Thyrsus' side, and then circles around to sit in front of her, slowly blinking her wide, green-and-gold eyes.
She beams, reaching out to gently brush a hand over Fox's head, sharpened senses picking up the feeling of soft fur. "Congratulations." She offers simply. "I heard. And yes. Rad." A wide grin. "I'm hoping to talk to you if that's okay, could use your insights, but.. I want to be a slightly less good Arrow for a little while, and leave business to after. Can I join you for a run and a romp?"
The little fox opens its mouth and gekkers quietly -- not loud enough to really carry, but loud enough to answer, a joyful little sound. Her head cants to the side, and -- if Harmony has had the foresight to give herself the ability to speak with beasts -- her voice comes clear. Business first is my preference. I'll be distracted otherwise.
There's silence, then a flare of colour in Harmony's cheeks. She's really not being clear headed today. Drawing a breath and avoiding looking directly at Fox she weaves the needed spell with a quiet chant in High Speech. After which she speaks again, still embarrassed. "Sorry. Can you say that again?"
Another soft spell of gekkering: a little bit of laughter, and then the combination of low growls and whines which is a repetition of what the Fox said.
"Ah. Yes. That's fair. And I should be doing the same. It's, well." She makes herself meet Fox's gaze, no hiding. "I enjoy time with you a great deal, and I don't know many other Thyrsus, plus, you taught me most of what I know. And, I know I'm not as, ah, able to run free like you. But I envy that of you, really. And, kinda wanted to explore, well, time with it." Her cheeks are really red by now. "And I kept putting off talking to you about it. See, you're a Master of Life now, which means I should really approach you about mentorship again, but.." A duck of her head. "I'm doing this really badly.."
The small vulpine creature sloooooowly tilts her head further and further to the side as Harmony keeps talking until it looks like she might fall over. But she doesn't. She just makes a small, high noise in the back of her throat, and blinks those gold-green eyes slowly. ... what?
A closing of Harmony's eyes, an effort to focus. "I love spending time with you." She explains quietly, but far more clearly now. "Not just as mentor and students, as friends. And I waned to know if being more, well, intimate, is something that you might want to explore too." Pause. "I'm not normally this bad at this sort of thing." She adds on.
It takes a moment, but only a moment, and then Fox's eyes widen. Oh! She shifts her weight, turning her head left and right again to triple-check that there's no one watching, and then -- with motion somewhat like a full-body yawn -- there's a small woman in jeans and a t-shirt sitting on the path. "I think this is probably a better conversation had with human mouths," Naika offers, tipping her head to the side.
"Are you saying you want to ... date me?"
She nods along in quiet agreement there. That makes a lot of sense. "Oh. Is that something new you've learned?" She smiles, gesturing at his clothing. "And, yes. In a really badly worded way. Technically I should be asking instead if you're happy to teach me again. Because I'm an Arrow and I should take a chance to improve myself and my ability. But this, asking it, even if you prefer not, it feels right." She runs a hand through her hair. "Maybe because it would mean understanding you better, which means understanding Life better."
"Mmmhm. I've always been good with Matter, but ... this last step is new. It came all entangled with Life, so, there you have it." Fox tips her head to the side again, that gesture still somehow vulpine, and therefore strange, when she's human. "That... " The Orphan of Proteus stops. "I don't -- actually know what to say to that, Harmony. Not because I don't find you attractive or wonderful. Of course I do. You ... wouldn't have been my apprentice in the first place if you weren't wonderful. But -- my body isn't a portal to Supernal understanding except for me, you know."
"Oh, that, yes." A rueful smile. "I didn't quite mean it that way." She explains. "I'm just bad at putting this into words. It's how you move through the world, interact with it. Just spending time with you and seeing how you do is eye opening." A quiet chuckle. "Admittedly, we hardly need to be dating for me to learn from observation."
She smiles a little ruefully at that. Fox has never been good at hiding her feelings -- she never really tries. It's evident that in this case, Harmony's admitted inability to put things into words has worked against her: she took exactly the wrong tack in approaching Fox about this. "So, the thing is? Just learning more Life from me doesn't put you into a sort of forbidden category. You were my apprentice at one point, and -- that's a whole separate thing, you know? The Master/Apprentice dynamic is inviolate to me. That's just entirely off-limits."
"But while learning from me as a Recognized individual isn't the same thing at all, reminding me that you were my apprentice and approaching it from that point of view is... " Fox scratches her cheek. "For lack of a better way to phrase it, a super boner-killer."
"Ah." Harmony stills, flushing again and nodding with a sad smile, lacing her hands in front of her and staring down at them. She nods quietly after a moment, chewing her bottom lip. "I understand that, and what you mean. And I'm sorry. I made a real.. well as you put it, super boner-killer of that. I did want to run and romp with you out here, whatever happened, but, that might not appeal right now?"
The tiny Thyrsus pushes herself to her feet, and crosses to crouch and loop her arms around Harmony, kissing the top of her head with warmth and affection, if not the sort of affection Harmony might have been hoping for. "I hope you know that I love you," Naika replies quietly. "And yes, you chewed on your foot a bit there, Harm." She squeezes tightly before releasing her. "It doesn't change anything meaningful between us, not now. Okay? I think that -- perhaps -- I don't know. It felt a little bit to me like some part of you was trying to fail at that. And maybe you ought to think about why?"
"It's not that it doesn't appeal, or that you don't appeal. It's that -- I think I need to have a good run by myself. And then we can try this over again on another day."
"Thank you." She smiles, closing her eyes at the affection. "I know. And, I love you too. And.. I think I know why, I think talking here shook that out." She wipes at her eyes lightly. "I would like to learn Life from you, as a friend." She offers softly. "And, enjoy your run. Thanks for meeting me."
Little Fox smiles lopsidedly at Harmony, then: she presses the tips of her fingers against her lips and blows the other Thyrsus a kiss. Her body melts and warps, sliding down into the familiar slender fox for which she's named, and then she disappears again into the brush, just another animal among all the other animals in the world.
Harmony takes a slow, deep breath, wiping at her eyes again and then stands to start making her way back to the city. Ice cream. Ice cream is in the immediate future.
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