[PRP] Another Name (Sylph x Nightmare)

[Appeal]

Nightmare was definitely not a slow eater. The fish was a great treat since he generally avoided going into the water very deep, just far enough in so he could drink. Somewhere along the way, between starting the fish and finishing it, the small bears had taken notice of the activities again and raced back with all their might. They had arrived too late to snag the third fish since Nightmare grabbed it before their little paws could but Nightmare had left the scraps on the ground.

Whether the scraps were left intentionally for them or not, the small bears raced over and began sticking their paws all over it. Nightmare largely ignored them as he ate the other fish. He didn't seem concerned about them eating it but he didn't eat it any slower than the first one. As he finished, the small bears took notice and began picking at the pieces of that one as well.

It was some sort of symbiotic relationship happening here, much to Nightmare's obvious dismay. He'd largely accepted his fate, though.

"HOPE GOOD," he said, licking his lips and looking back to Sylph. "CLOSE GAP HARD."

He always felt compelled to keep a distance, and had largely accepted that watching would be good enough.

[anemosagkelos]

Sylph was quiet for a moment, "We shall continue to try and, until then, at least we have found a friendship in each other." It was perhaps a bit presumptuous to consider them friends already but there was a foundation there to build one upon and he'd be lying if he said he didn't want more, didn't desperately need more friends as it was. Fluke did not understand the physical barrier in the same well, though her lack of sight presented her with a bridge. And Born Again did not quite understand what it was to live in a world of a paranoia after feeling that your own soul did not sit yet in the right body. But Nightmare, he was the closest yet to understanding Sylph's issues and dilemma. And he needed that sorely in a way that he did not need from his sun or his moon. Perhaps then that made Nightmare and himself stars in the same sky.

He flushed a bit at the thought, "Perhaps we are in need of more fish?" he asked and waited for a response. At least he hadn't said his thoughts out loud.

[Appeal]

"FRIEND," he said, the word was known to Nightmare but it felt obviously foreign on his tongue. He typically kept to himself, watching the kin interact with each other more than interacting with them himself. Sylph was pleasant enough company, definitely more so than the small bears were. The other kin was similar in a way. He didn't dislike the idea, his head bobbing along with the idea.

"FRIEND," he repeated, solidifying the words, his red eyes focusing on Sylph intensely.

The word fish had triggered the small bears and soon their bodies scrambled to action. They leaped into the water but they seemed to forget what they had planned to do, beginning to play in the shallows again.

"HUNGRY?" Nightmare asked, looking at the lake and then looking at Sylph.

[anemosagkelos]

Relief flooded him and he nodded, "Yes, friend, I think our furry friends and ourselves deserve more fish to satiate any remaining hunger!" It was perhaps a touch too excited but he hadn't really had a friend before and that was all he really needed to submerge himself back into the water.

The weight of his hair and tail was irrelevant underwater as he bobbed and sunk to the bottom. All around, the wildlife scurried away from the buck until he remained still. He'd, in private, of course, had long practiced holding his breath. He'd never considered himself much of a hunter (not unless it came to tricks and traps) but fishing, he could do.

Sylph managed three more fish trapped within his jaws as he rose to the surface. He emerged victorious and fought the smile that threatened to release his freshly caught meal. But it had occurred to him that here, he had no need for vanity and it perhaps suited the pair that one of them looked like a drowned rat with his long hair and tail dripping all over while the other looked a bit of a beast. They really were a strange yet perfect pair of friends.

[Appeal]

Nightmare watched his new friend as he walked back into the lake and submerged into the water again. The bears watched curiously and it was not entirely lost on them what the kin was attempting to do. They were visibly excited when Sylph came out of the water with three fish in his mouth, and they began to splash around like small menaces. They hopped and ran until they were running around Nightmare in anticipation of what was coming.

Nightmare ignored them.

"CATCH GOOD," he complimented Sylph as the kin came out of the water. He rarely seen anyone so competent at fishing before, and he'd certainly did his best to avoid getting his masses of wool soaked so he wasn't any good at it. Nightmare after a sudden and heavy rainstorm was a hilarious sight to behold.

[anemosagkelos]

A little less expertly and more clumsily, Sylph dropped the small fish for the bears to tear into and play with, while holding out the other for Nightmare and reserving one for himself. The little fluffballs were certainly voracious and into everything. Nightmare didn't seem too fond of them but that could happen when pets were around constantly and energetic as these four seemed to be. Not that he knew, for sure, since he had no pets at all. Perhaps one day he would remedy that.

Once he had devoured his own fish, or most of it, allowing the bears to have any bits that had fallen into the dirt, he turned his attention back to Nightmare.

"Do you enjoy the company of your pets?" he asked after a moment of thought. He could have suggested an adventure but he was beginning to feel that afternoon want of a nap creep into his bones. (The fish had helped that, of course.) And it was too soon to try to introduce his friend to many others and perhaps it would never be the right time because that was Nightmare's decision and not his own but he had no need or desire to push the buck to do more than he was comfortable with. Not after the years he'd spent paranoid from his naming dream. But with the little foursome running about, it was impossible that they wouldn't come up in conversation.

[Appeal]

Nightmare was happy to have more fish to eat since it was a real treat. He realized that it was something he'd so rarely be able to get himself so to have someone as skilled as Sylph at catching them was a blessing. He had finished his fish as the small bears quickly took notice and swarmed the scraps happily, and then when Sylph had abandoned his scraps, they swarmed that as well. They seemed happy with them, perhaps because of their small size.

It was around then that Sylph had asked a question that Nightmare didn't understand. Pets? What were pets? He watched the buck follow the bears with his gaze, and a terrible thought occurred to him. The topic here was the small bears, the haunting paws hitting the ground around Nightmare like a sound creeping up on him. He wasn't sure what to say about that.

"AA," he said in acknowledgement. "SMALL BEARS," he said as he attempted to correct his friend's confusion.

[anemosagkelos]

Sylph blinked, surprised, as the confusion in his head twirled and twisted before understanding dawned. Nightmare did not consider the little ones his pets . . . It had not occurred to him that that could be a thing but now that he considered it. He couldn't help chuckling, "You're their pet, then. They have claimed you!" He grinned, amused and a little warmed at the idea of four creatures liking a kin so much that they would chose them. What a grand idea for four little bears to have in mind!

"I have no pets and am no one's pet," he admitted, smiling, "though perhaps we shall find myself a small bear that might like me?"

[Appeal]

Nightmare stood there silently at the accusation that he was a pet. He was confused but not really offended. There was definitely merit in the idea, given he had tried to rid himself of them over the time since they'd started following him with no such luck.

"WANT SMALL BEAR?" The buck asked. Well, the sun definitely lit up in his mind.

"OKAY." He affirmed. A plan had begun spinning. He never knew if any kin appreciated the bear gifts but Sylph wanted one? How could he say no?