10/31/2024, 10:15 PM
Spooky cave, they explained. Zora furrowed her brows in response, a pensive twist to her maw as she formulated her response...
But Dia took a step forward, and Zora could see how wrecked they were. The worried scolding could come later, or not at all - for the moment, she only sought to provide a reassuring press of her muzzle to their shoulder. A welcome home and glad you're in one piece in one movement. Zora drew back, just slightly, only for Dia to speak yet again.
Nothing could have prepared her for -
I love you.
Oh.
It might not have been the pinnacle of romantic moments: Dia had shown up looking run over by a buffalo after experiencing a cave of horrors after abandoning Zora to go into the horror cave of horrors.
And she blurted the words out like they were surprised by them, and scared of them, maybe a little.
It was perfect. It made Zora's heart flutter back to life, once she took a moment and processed it. Because that sentiment was sincere, it was real; the words themselves, they were seemingly so insignificant in the scope of the entanglement of their lives.
What was 'I love you' to coming back to life for the other, for dying with another's name in your mouth? Except for the fact that even amidst all of that, 'I love you' was everything. They were still speaking - words and a look on their face Zora was trying her best to sear into her very soul. All of Dia's disheveled fur, the scar across their snout, the haunted look in their eyes - Zora wanted it all.
You don't have to say anything, and Zora finally moved, closing the space between them and shaking her head.
No, no, I want - Just, wait.
She paused, taking a steadying breath.
I love you, too.And it came so easily, she wondered with awe and a giddy shame how she'd never said it before - it spilled over her tongue so much more easily than any curse or lie or even her own name.
I...I've wanted to say that for a long time, I think.She murmured, quiet.
They changed the subject, curse them, and Zora arched a brow.
They're not called the 'fucking creepy nightmare caves' for nothing. Are you...?
