Cat Gets the Bird [Private w/Ax] [Mature]

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

Fuchsia's eyebrow rose, that same wide grin plastered on her face while Ax looked at her and returned her own smile. There was something novel about this moment, she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but seeing Ax sitting there, smoking, the angle of her vision, even the light conditions... She was definitely stoned now, probably, but it was something that would likely stick in her memory for awhile.

When Ax offered the blunt back to her again, she took it, and sat up while she took another drag of it. She probably shouldn't have, because it had been awhile and this was good stuff, but her thoughts weren't centered on what she had to do tomorrow at this point, and in that very moment, she wanted to be high. She was here to enjoy herself, after all. Once she'd taken her hit, she handed it back to Ax.

"Well if that's what you want, I ain't goin' anywhere," she said with a grin, then planted her hand on the back of the bench and hopped over it to the other side.

"Be right back." It was a little joke, meant to make Ax smile more. She would be back, though, and if more kissing were to come, then so be it!

Jamming her hands in her pockets, Fuchsia started back along the trail toward where the bike was parked near the small bathroom building at the top of the short incline. She was pretty parched, actually, and water sounded good now, something to wet her whistle. Hydration was important, right? She reached the building and located the drinking fountain, then approached it and leaned over it, pressing the button and filling her mouth with delicious, clean water. She closed her eyes momentarily, letting the high wash over her. Her body felt weighty, her head spun lightly, and her heart was beating a little faster than normal, but that was common after smoking. It felt... Well, it felt like it always had. She hadn't really been missing much, she guessed. Her eyes opened slowly while her mind turned toward Ax. She was... not what Fu had expected, in a good way. She was nice, and seemed smart and knew how to keep up with flirting and liked to have fun. She definitely could've done worse. Part of her hoped that she wasn't just following old habits and subconsciously agreed to this date because she stood to gain something from it. But when she looked at it, did she really? Maybe a fun afternoon, sure, and maybe some herb, but it wasn't hard to get that herself. She wasn't in this for money or drugs or any other form of material goods... Why was she here?

What was it about Ax that had her intrigued? Was it her style, her personality? Her smokin' hot bod? Fuchsia realized that she was kind of out of her element when it came to dating. She'd never really actually done this before, not like this at least. She'd gotten this far just by winging it... And Ax had seemed to be enjoying herself, right? Well then, she was doing good, and they were going to have fun tonight!

She finally finished gulping down water, and stood up straight again, when suddenly something flashed out of the corner of her eye. It was like a little bolt of white lightning, it zigzagged momentarily through the edge of her vision, and her ears perked up in curiosity. She turned, her eyes searching.

Just across the dirt of the path, there floated a butterfly on the breeze, its strange dance as it fluttered up and down almost mesmerizing her with its movements. It alighted upon a full, purple flower, curiously alone there amidst the grass, and Fuchsia's intoxicated mind was dragged along with her attention. The colors were vivid in her mind, and a slow, thick feeling of nostalgia began to blossom in her, a heavy feeling of deja vu so strong that it made her brow furrow and her smile disappear. Her golden eyes locked on the butterfly, she took a couple of shaky steps forward. She remembered...

...the day was almost over, and the sun was going down. Laughter filled her ears, light and free. She was running, running along, down a path in a garden. The garden was one of the only few in the city, it was cared after by a kind old lady that had no business living here where the poor were poorer and the rich high above. It was so curious, situated on the roof of a large tenement building, it took up only a quarter of the total space there, but it was enough that its flowers bloomed and its vines hung from the large tree in the middle. A great, high roof of glass hovered above, and in here, there were children. Two of them wore little yellow summer dresses, they matched their eyes; standing next to one another, nobody could ever tell them apart. Their big, black ears were like four little pyramids parading around the tops of the plants while they ran through. Fuchsia and Mauve, two peas in a pod.

Perhaps the most curious part of the garden were the insects. They were here on a field trip from the orphanage, one of the rare times when they were sent out of those barren walls to learn, and this was where it had all started. They were taught how the insects kept the plants healthy, and how they spread pollen, and continued the circle of life. The magic that shown in her sister's eyes on this day was unlike anything Fuchsia had ever seen before, or since.

"Look, Fu!" Mauve cried after rounding a corner among the rows of plants, "It's a butterfly!" She took the corner and standing there was her little sister, crouching down in front of a single purple flower in a brown clay pot. On one of its petals sat a beautiful blue butterfly. It stretched its wings, folding them in and out, taking a break from defying gravity all day, while Mauve signaled with one finger on her lips for Fu not to startle it. They both watched it for a few minutes, before it flew away...

...Blood, red and hot and everywhere. On her hands, her clothes, it would never come out. Anger, and teeth, those eyes turned dark, that little girl from before and then...!

Fuchsia crouched at the side of the dirt path, just staring at it. That single flower and its butterfly, something so simple and unimportant, and her mind went blank. She watched it for seconds, turned to minutes, until long after the butterfly had flown away. She felt nothing, she said nothing, she was spellbound and silent. Her heart was racing and her head swam, but she didn't notice it. Her body swayed gently in the breeze, perched only on her toes as she was, but she didn't fall over. She was lost again, and drifting...

[Ax L Rose]

"Sure."

She'd bring water bottles when she did anything like this again. It was easy to forget about cottonmouth when you had a bit of a tolerance and you didn't get have to deal with it particularly often. Oh well! Ax could probably use a second to think things through and make sure she was good and composed for Fuchsia's return. She could feel the high a little bit, as if it was on the edge of her senses...

So. She'd talked with Nym about seeing other people already, so she didn't really have any worry about that being an issue for the fox at least. That said, she had actually kind of surprised herself with how fast this had gone down. It was fun, it was exciting, and Ax was enjoying herself! What more did she need to know? A lot, actually. Ax's first experience with Fu hadn't been their talk on the rooftop... it'd been the little outburst she had with another student on the ground floor of the dorms. Ax knew that Fuchsia could be ill-tempered and hot-headed, so much so that when they'd met later on, Ax had been a little more guarded than usual at first. With that in mind, there was... a pretty fair chance that Fuchsia would react negatively to the news that Ax wasn't open to anything serious right now. Ax hadn't forgotten what Fuchsia had said about not wanting to just screw around. Ax might not have been a fan of the conventional standards of relationships, but the truth of the matter was that everyone was impacted by society, norms, and cultural expectations. She shifted on the bench, hunching forward and looking out over the cliff, lazily puffing a bit more on the blunt before she extinguished the tip and put the rest of it back into the little cylinder for storage.

Eh, now was probably not a good time to worry about it. She was stoned, she was having fun, and Fu would be back any second. Ax didn't want to be in the middle of a hardcore session of overthinking things when she came back. She wanted to keep the mood fun, light, and simple. With that in mind, she reached for her pocket and pulled out her scroll, intending to kill a little time with social media and idle net browsing. She'd tell Fuchsia about Nym sooner rather than later though, probably. Expectation was the root of all heartache, so they said. As long as Fuchsia had fair expectations, what could go wrong?

After a few minutes had passed, Ax couldn't help but twist her body and look over the edge of the bench to see if the black cat was maybe on her way back. She couldn't see the building out by the road where the water fountain was, and she couldn't see every part of the path through the hanging trees and branches stretching over it. Maybe Fu was distracted? Maybe she got out toward the water fountain and realized she had to take a dump or something. It was probably better for her to do it now than before she got back on the bike, but... eh. It was probably not a big deal. Ax turned to look back at her scroll.

Then a few more minutes passed, and still... nothing. Ax turned to look over her shoulder again, this time with narrow eyes. Okay, what was going on? Ax briefly considered texting the girl, but... ah, fuck it! Ax pushed up off the bench, sticking her scroll in her pocket and striding out towards the path back to the road. Her mind started to mull this over more as she walked. What if Grimm had shown up? No, she'd have heard something like that. This overlook was peaceful and quiet, and sound could really carry out here. Besides, Grimm? This close to the road? The security grid in the forest would've clued someone in already. Still, Ax stepped with purpose and a bit of haste. She couldn't help but worry.

Ax rounded a bit of the corner around the trees along the dirt path. She saw the building over the greenery first, and then she caught sight of Fuchsia, perched down by the edge of the path. Ax's first feeling was relief - she stopped in place and let out a little sigh. Then her brow furrowed and she narrowed her eyes at Fuchsia. Still a few meters away, Ax cleared her throat and raised her metal hand, knocking it against a nearby tree in an effort to break the cat's laser focus on what looked like... a flower?

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

The look that had cemented over Fuchsia's face was one of apathy, a total lack of any emotion. Her eyes were a bit dead, her mouth a light frown. She'd crossed her arms over her knees, and stayed there, knelt among the breeze for quite some time without really realizing how long it had been. From her perspective, she'd shut down again, her heart and her mind blocking out any and all stimulus while her memories ran away from her. It was unpleasant, though she didn't really know it was unpleasant... At least not until something nearby sounded loudly in her ear, a thump of metal on wood that startled her enough to make her jump a little and the hair on her tail to raise.

All at once she came back to herself, and immediately she realized what had happened. Her emotions came flooding back and tears sprang to the corner of her eyes, though she looked away from Ax in confusion, and they weren't overpowering. She didn't cry, at least. But her emotions ran briefly wild, first anxiety, and then some despair, and a somewhat overwhelming rush of embarrassment that flooded her cheeks with a dark color and she cleared her throat.

"Wha...?" she started, and looked around, then up at Ax, a look of strange hurt and confusion on her face while she sorted herself out. She stood, and with both hands flattened down her long tanktop where it had started to ride up along the hem of her pants, then one hand ran over her ears, pushing them back for a moment before they sprang back upward, alert.

"Oh no... I'm sorry, I uh... Hrnm..." she said in a hushed voice, then coughed again, her tail whipping against the air once to rid itself of the tension and reset its fuzzy appearance.

"I uh... I spaced out for a second there, didn't mean to." She rubbed the back of her head, while her eyes traveled more or less anywhere but the bird. She looked back at the water fountain, then back at the flower at the side of the road, wondering momentarily what had set this whole thing off. It took her a moment, but then she remembered the butterfly and grimaced. Of course.

Butterflies.

When her memory threatened to return, she violently suppressed it, her face setting into a steely-cold frown as she did so, then she rubbed at her eyes, and finally turned herself back to Ax, her ears dropping a little bit, a sheepish look of embarrassment settling over her face, brows furrowed outward, she looked worried and a little upset, and certainly, she was.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax stood there staring at Fu quietly, her knuckles still raised near the tree. Her eyes were questioning and skeptical at first. Her head tilted slightly in confusion at Fu's reaction, before her brow softened into something resembling a look of concern. The rush of emotions that Ax picked up from the cat in that instant were this... tangled knot of uncertainty, anxiety... shame? Ax didn't give herself long to feel it out, unwilling to pick it all apart while she was stoned. Ax took a few slow steps over as if to gauge Fu's comfort with her approach, quickly picking up on the signs that Fuchsia didn't seem to be altogether present at the moment.

Ax raised a single inquisitive brow at the black cat's word choice. She'd spaced out for 'a second', huh? She wasn't sure what exactly that meant, as she didn't really know what Fu had been up to most of the last few minutes. As intensely focused on the flower as she'd been there at the tail end of this, Fu could've been doing anything up to that point. The possibility that Fu had spent almost that entire time distracted by the flower seemed too crazy to really consider, but Fu was reacting like she'd just gotten caught having an affair or something. Ax's gaze shifted curiously down to the flower.

Was it... some kind of unusual plant? Maybe it was really rare or something? She'd heard of certain herbs and plants making cats act funny. Silver vine or something? Never a flower though, right? Well, Ax didn't really know enough about the situation to judge it. She opted to just play this out for now. Why make a big deal about it?

"Pretty flower. Has that what you've been up to this last..." Ax reached down to her pocket, pulling it out just enough to see the time before letting it slip back into her pocket.

"...ten minutes or so? Stoppin' to smell the flowers?" Ax asked.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

She wasn't really sure what kind of reaction Ax was going to have to this. She'd said she'd be right back, and here she was, not having even returned to the bench yet. She didn't know how long she'd been staring at that stupid flower. How long she'd been out, reliving a memory, then another, a scene sweet and a scene gruesome, but for a moment she shut her eyes tight, and took a deep breath, trying to steady her beating heart. She had to remind herself where she was a couple times, what she was doing. She felt a bit lightheaded. Her anxiety had spiked, and coupling that with weed wasn't always very comfortable.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, then blinked a couple times, then shook out her hands, while Ax checked the time. Fuchsia pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Anything to keep her hands busy right now. Her eyes turned back down at the flower.

"Somethin' like that," she breathed, then took a long drag on her cigarette, the same way she'd done when they had been on that rooftop together. Half of it was gone in one go. She breathed it out slowly, still looking at that stupid purple flower.

She didn't want to talk about it, or explain it, but she also didn't want to leave Ax with nothing. What should she do?

"You ever see somethin', smell somethin', that reminds you of somethin' else, which reminds you of somethin' else, and then you're so far away you might as well be anywhere?" she asked, figuring this was about the closest thing to an explanation she could muster, to pose a question. She crossed her arms, still unable to bring herself to meet Ax's eyes. She felt a little bit put under the spotlight right now. It was making her nervous as hell.

She finally chanced it. Her eyes flashed toward Ax for a moment, then away. What she saw made her feel a little relieved. Ax didn't look angry.

"Sorry I left you hangin'," she said, "You wanna go back now?" Her face tilted downward, she looked back up at Ax, only moving her eyes, it gave her shame a platform on her countenance. She looked a little like a kicked puppy, and she could feel it. She didn't know if she'd messed up, or what. But she'd meant what she'd said... She was sorry, she'd kind of ruined the mood, she hadn't meant to... But now she remembered why she was out here in the first place, what she was avoiding. What Ax was helping her ignore.

[Ax L Rose]

Fuchsia was clearly a bundle of nerves at the moment. Ax could feel it messing with her a little bit, making her lock her jaw and grind her teeth. Maybe Fuchsia was having a bad reaction to the herb. Ax's gaze briefly shifted down to her pack before turning back toward Fu. Ax supposed she should've anticipated something like this. Maybe smoking had made things worse for the cat. It was easy to forget the way different people could react when it so reliably seemed to take the edge off for Ax. That was the only theory that made sense to her, at least presently. Maybe she was just... a lot more sensitive to this stuff. There were also countless other reasons why Ax could figure Fu might have been a ball of messy anxiety and fear, but Ax couldn't really begin to start picking it apart in its entirety. The smart call was to just... let Fuchsia work it out. Let her feel it out. Let her make sense of it, because she knew her own feelings better than Ax did. Ax was quiet and patient as Fu lit a cigarette and tried to get her head on straight.

Ax was not entirely satisfied with Fu's initially dismissive-sounding answer, but Ax's patience was soon rewarded. As Fuchsia started to elaborate further, Ax took the chance to step closer so they were at a more comfortable distance for a strictly A-and-B conversation. Obviously no one else was around, but Ax wanted Fuchsia to feel like she was paying attention.

"Yeah," Ax said with a little nod, a somber expression on her lips. She then shook her head at Fuchsia's apology.

"You've got nothin' to be sorry for," Ax said. With that, she looked down at the flower that had apparently so thoroughly captived Fuchsia. Hah... as if there was any fucking way some flower was going to steal her thunder. They had been having a great time so far, and Ax wasn't about to let this be anything more than a modest speedbump. Ax quickly knelt down and reached out with her cybernetic hand, fingers pinching the stem. She then rose back to her feet, offering the flower to Fuchsia.

"You can take it with you," Ax managed a little half-smile.

"Let's sit down a bit, letcha get your bearings, finish your cig, chill a little," Ax suggested. She didn't want to get ahead of herself, but... if Fu was having a bad reaction, Ax might need to adjust her plan for their excursion, or maybe even consider taking Fu back to her dorm. She'd feel safer and more at-ease in that case, probably.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

There had been several different courses of thought that had popped in and out of Fuchsia's mind while she tried to ignore them, but she stood there, smoking, her fingers fumbling with the end of the cigarette while she replaced it in her mouth a few times throughout the next minute or so. Ax was being a sort of calming anchor for her, at the moment, so she let the bird's reassurances sink in and soothe her as best as they could, finding that between that and the nicotine, she was calming down rapidly. Little things like this weren't going to stay under her skin for long, and much like flesh does to a splinter, she slowly pushed it out.

By the time Ax knelt down and plucked the flower for her, she was grinning sheepishly, and in that moment she found a strange sort of relief that she'd done something about it. Fuchsia's initial thoughts were to step on the damn thing, crush it, destroy it, but somehow pulling it out of the ground and relieving it of its source of nutrients was a bit more metal... And a little romantic.

She had a light blush on her cheeks when she accepted it. She wasn't really a girl who cared to receive flowers as gifts, but this one... Well, it was a little different. Fuchsia was receiving closure and comfort, not a simple show of affection. It definitely made her feel a little better.

"Yeah... Alright," she responded, then turned and headed back down the hill. When she reached the bench, she stepped around it and sat down. Holding the flower in front of her, she lifted it up a little bit and peered at it, then let her eyes focus into the background and the sprawling skyline of Vale. What a time to be alive...

Puffing on her cigarette a few more times, she finished it, then flicked the butt in a practiced motion so that it got considerable distance; it flew over the edge of the escarpment and down into the unknown, and Fuchsia placed the flower on her head, nestled in her hair just above one of her ears. Then, she looked back toward Ax.

"It'll fly off when we ride again, but that's just fine by me," she mentioned, the petals of the flower shivering lightly in the gentle breeze coming up over the cliffside.

"And Ax... Thanks," she said once Ax had sat back down beside her, then leaned over, and gave her one more kiss for the road, this one entirely different from the other two. It was light, and felt important, and lasted no longer than it needed to before she pulled away again, biting her lip lightly, then she sighed softly to herself.

Yeah... She repeated the thought from earlier. Maybe Vale wouldn't be so bad after all?

[Ax L Rose]

It seemed like they were in the clear, judging from Fuchsia's rosy cheeks. She grinned. She'd have taken Fuchsia feeling flattered and shy over being stuck in her own head any day. While she was no closer to understanding what exactly had happened or why, things were at least okay. Maybe she'd ask about it later, if she could think of a way to do it tactfully.

Fuchsia started to lead the way. Ax let her walk closer before falling into step right alongside her back toward the bench. It was probably better not to smoke down again, but she could definitely give Fuchsia a moment to mellow out a little. She opened her mouth to speak part way, but seemed to think better of it as she reached the bench, hopping over it and parking her rump on the backrest, her boots on the bench. This way she didn't have to sit on her tail. She tilted her head up toward the sky, her hands lowering to grip the backrest of the bench and keep her steady. Her eyes fell shut and she let the sounds of the breeze blowing through the trees and the distant white noise of the river rapids below wash over her senses. She let Fuchsia finish her cigarette and break the silence when she was ready.

She turned to look over at the cat as she began to speak, only to freeze as soon as she looked over at her dazzling golden eyes. Stars, Fuchsia was pretty. Ax loved girls. She loved girls so much. She could stare at pretty girls all day, every day, forever! But life was even better when they were leaning in to softly kiss her. Ax's eyes fell shut, her heart fluttering in her chest. As brief as it was, Ax got the distinct feeling that this kiss was different from the other two. The first had been impulsive and thrilling. The second had been a fun, coquettish kind of surprise. This one had been soft... almost vulnerable.

Ax's surprise was mostly subtle, though her eyebrows raised slightly as Fuchsia pulled away. Ax's eyes then flicked briefly away as she unconsciously mimicked Fuchsia's expression - chewing on her own lip. That was three times now. Three different kisses, and each one had been a little sweeter than the last. She exhaled a quick little breath. She couldn't bring herself to play ignorant. She was an empath. If she wanted to sincerely connect with Fu, she'd need to make sure they were on the same page. Fuchsia... seemed like a lonely person. She wanted someone to be vulnerable with. A few more kisses like that last one, and this pretty kitty was going to end up following her home. As much as Ax wouldn't have minded that, they'd need to talk first. Fuchsia was a person, not a pet.

Ax didn't need to overthink this. She didn't need to make a big thing out of it. She spoke before she could feel herself start to feel too nervous about it.

"Hey. I..." she paused, her eyes briefly distant, as if looking in Fuchsia's direction but not seeing her for a moment. Then she focused again, her lively, sharp blue eyes coming to life. A confident and playful little smirk formed on Ax's lips as she attempted to project her star power... AKA, her false confidence. She'd need to summon it up like the old days. She knew what to do, she just... hadn't ever done it before. She had the posture of a queen, even perched on the back of the bench. The smile on her lips was earnest, charming and pretty. She tilted her head and raised a hand to run it through her long, lustrous locks.

"I... really like kissing you, kit-cat," Ax admitted, giving Fuchsia a coy look, her eyes visibly lingering on her lips. When she looked back, her playful expression had softened into something a little more serious.

"I feel... comfortable with you. Like we have something real in common with each other. Maybe it's..." Ax caught herself, momentarily looking away. Maybe it was Mantle. Maybe it was similar past experiences. Maybe it was because she wanted to be vulnerable with Fuchsia as much as Fuchsia seemed to want to be vulnerable with her. She let out a brief laugh, shook her head, and continued speaking as if she never stopped.

"...maybe it's the fact that I'm... hah, extremely gay! Oh man, it's probably that, honestly," Ax's voice broke into a bubbly laugh before she could even finish talking. As soon as she got it out of her system, she made sure that Fuchsia was paying attention before continuing. This part was important - Ax needed to pay attention to Fu's reaction.

"But my point is... I'm having fun with you, and I'm comfortable with... physicality, touch, kisses... whatever," Ax rose her eyebrows and raised her hands with the 'whatever', as though to briefly emphasize it before she continued.

"As long as whatever we're doing is... just as friends."

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

Fuchsia had started to second-guess the kiss she gave almost as soon as she'd done it. She'd felt the difference in that one, almost like writing a letter with her lips. It was definitely colored by her venerability, a little bit of payment for Ax's generosity, but mostly it was... A thank you. A heartfelt one, at that. But she knew it was also a bit of a dangerous one, because Ax was having such an impression on her that she was already questioning what this was all about. Fuchsia knew, she was fully aware, that her venerable state made her more susceptible to impression and she had felt the attachments formed in the wake of her trauma before, the ones where her feelings were misplaced, entrusted to others she hadn't given proper time to beforehand, taken and broken and left on the floor in the dust without a care just a few short months later.

She also saw the reaction that Ax had had when she'd pulled away. The biting of the lip, the bit of surprise... If she had to guess, Ax wasn't sure about it either. Where her eyes were on the city, the briefly closed, and Ax spoke to her, though she was a bit lost in her thoughts. But the bird did her a favor and hesitated a moment, so when she spoke again, Fuchsia sighed, and her eyes turned back up toward the bird, a bit less sullied by her negative emotions. She was already recovering from that. Maybe she'd acted too hastily.

Ax's admission to enjoying the kissing, though, made her grin sheepishly. Yeah, she had too. Who wouldn't? But now it was Ax's turn to be a little more open, wasn't it? The feeling she got when Ax spoke of comfort made her feel happy, and she even laughed a little with the other girl for her joke... If she had to say it, Ax was indeed extremely gay. But it was endearing.

But what came next, she wasn't really so sure about. Just as friends. She sat there for a moment while this processed in her head, her eyes squinting a bit against the wind while she held Ax's gaze with her own, the breeze spreading thin strands of hair about her neck and in front of her cheeks, across her lips. For a few seconds, she was frozen there while she thought about it.

They had agreed to this date to find out more about one another. That bike ride was awesome. The weed was fun, but that flower thing... That'd really knocked her out of it. The fact that Ax could be so gentle with her, she... Wasn't used to it, not at all. So of course her brain had suddenly started to shift, to want to accept that affection, even interpret it as something a little more than it was. They'd known each other for what, like, a few weeks? So how come it stung a little to hear that? Oh, right... It was the kiss. The one she'd given her a minute ago. That had been offered from a place of feeling, not one of thinking, and it had kind of been from her heart. She realized that it was a mistake. An honest one, but she'd overstepped a little bit. It wasn't bad, or her fault, but it wasn't really something she'd meant to convey. This reiteration of their previous agreement was needed. It was important, and honestly, she appreciated the reminder. Ax was right. She made a mental note to watch herself in the future, for her own sake, there would be absolutely nothing to expect out of creating feelings where none should be except hurt and anger. So, after these few seconds of thought, she nodded.

"All right," she said, and gave Ax a smile, this time less sheepish, more sure. She'd basically been invited to kiss Ax all she wanted, how could she say no to that?

"Friends with benes, huh?" she joked, and her gaze turned sly, her eyebrow rose.

"Didn't expect to get this far so fast. You sure you're cool with it? I mean... I know you had an issue when I touched you at least once. I don't wanna set that off again. But I mean... I do like a little physicality once in awhile... especially in such a romantic setting like this." She turned more toward Ax, doing like she did before and sitting sideways on the bench, this time her elbows out behind her, resting on the armrest.

"But, you know... Now that you mention it... I guess I'm pretty comfortable with you, too. And I won't say no to getting to cling to a sexy chick on the back of her bike. But I'll warn you now, my tail has a mind of her own and if she gropes you I take no responsibility, but if she does, I'll hold her down for you while you shave her as punishment." Her grin widened and humor flashed in her eyes. The breeze rolled through again, and as if in protest, perhaps trying to get away, her tail moved with the wind and came to rest hanging over the back of the bench. Fu kept her eyes on Ax, but briefly they did wander a little downward, unashamed to check her out a little. Yeah... Still quite easy on the eyes.

Fu was feeling better already. She always bounced back quickly. Of course, Ax was helping... A lot. She just hoped she hadn't stepped on her toes with that last kiss, done something she shouldn't have. Or maybe Ax was saying this for the same reasons she was agreeing with it? To protect herself from getting in to a position that wasn't suitable, that left her between a rock and a hard place somewhere in the future. The agreement to limit commitment. After all, she'd barely been around the Beacon circuit, what if she wanted to date someone else, like... That sexy tiger girl? The cute little fox Faunus from the mall? There were lots of babes around, and any one of them might be good girlfriend material, but then again... She wasn't here to hook up! She almost had to tear her mind off the babes for a moment, and she mentally slapped herself, but also chuckled a little bit to herself as well. Damn, maybe this would be harder than she thought?

"I thought you might wanna, like, you know... Talk about stuff like this at the end or something. Should we save it for later? Have some more fun, then come back to it again? Figure stuff out? I dunno if you're the kinda girl who gets hung up on puttin' stuff in the place it belongs, but I think it'd do some good to really go into it... at least, once we know each other a little more, hm? ...After a few more kisses, maybe?" Now the flirtatious side of her was coming back, and she wiggled her shoulders up and down as she mentioned the kisses, her eyebrows matching the gesture. It was an invitation, definitely an invitation.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax had delivered the line coolly and casually. People's impressions of things were always colored by emotions, and acting dramatic about it was a surefire way to blow the situation wide open. Ax was silent, but attentive after that, watching Fuchsia's eyes, taking in her body language, watching for tells of discomfort or unease. The narrowing of the cat's golden eyes was probably just the wind, but it could also have been a hint of irritation. But Fuchsia didn't seem angry or suspicious. What was this emotion Ax was picking up? She clung to her makeshift composure, waiting patiently for some sort of acknowledgement.

Pain. Ax's heart was... sinking. The only tell that Ax was feeling it too was the almost imperceptible motion of her jaw locking, her teeth pressing together behind closed lips. Ax drummed her fingers on her knee. She should have said something sooner, probably as soon as the word "date" had been used. Hindsight was always 20/20. The kisses Ax had received felt stolen now...

...no. No, that was just the pain talking. And that wasn't all there was. Fuchsia was processing. Ax wished so desperately that she could see the thoughts and not just the emotions, but the inner workings of Fuchsia's mind were beyond her. All Ax could feel were notes of blended, complex emotions.

Regret. Fuchsia... felt like she made a mistake. Somehow, some way. Maybe with the kisses. Maybe it was the weed. Maybe it had something to do with the spell the flower had cast upon her. Ax's eyes narrowed slightly, and despite her efforts to maintain her poker face, her scrutiny in the last second before Fuchsia nodded was obvious.

That answer hadn't been what Ax expected. Ax's eyebrows raised, and she blinked a few times. The cat was giving her a sweet smile and just... giving it a shot. Even though it didn't feel great, even though it had hurt her. Ax wasn't about to question it, but she had a feeling that there was more she could learn. She tactfully kept her lips sealed for the time being.

She met Fuchsia's sly smile with a little one of her own, even as she rolled her eyes. She deigned not to comment on the 'friends with benes' bit... yet. She tilted her head slightly to the side, her eyes questioning as the cat recalled their earlier incident with touch. She parted her lips to reassure her, but Fu wasn't done yet, so she quickly closed her mouth again. Her lips curved into a grin at Fuchsia's compliment - sexy - and Ax let out an easy laugh at Fuchsia's warning about her tail.

Fuchsia seemed... willing to try and laugh it off. What if she'd closed a part of herself off, now? Ax found herself hoping that this was just a brief little speedbump... that if she gave Fuchsia a bit to feel and talk it out, they might yet see eye-to-eye. Ax didn't look away this time as Fuchsia looked her up-and-down - she met Fuchsia's gaze the whole time.

"Hang on," Ax raised a hand gently, but spoke assertively. "I actually do kinda wanna talk about it now. Honestly, maybe I should've sooner, but at the same time... I'm a little glad I didn't," she admitted, hanging her head. She looked back over at Fuchsia a second later, a brief little frown forming on her lips. She was trying to keep this cool, but controlling her expressions was hard at times...

"Today has been... totally awesome, so far," Ax closed her eyes, took in a breath, and opened them again.

"You've opened up to me. You got almost halfway to breaking the sound barrier with me. We didn't even get to the actual date yet, but we still made out - well not really but sorta - like 15 minutes into our date... at makeout point. That's totally what I'm calling this place forever now," Ax grinned. There was a hint of an amused note in her words that made it sound like she was about to laugh.

"The touch thing... it's not like a trauma thing you 'set off', I promise... I'm just particular about who I let touch me. With friends, I prefer to communicate rather than assume anything if someone gets handsy. As long as you respect my boundaries when I make 'em... you're fine. I gave you a little trust when you got on the bike with me, n' you didn't fuck it up," Ax spoke in a smooth, gentle, reassuring tone of voice, nodding her head.

"And - last thing, after I say this I'll let you talk, I just gotta get it out of my brain now while I'm thinking about it - I don't want you to feel like you can't have feelings around me, with me or... even for me. I'm... open to the possibility that we could catch feelings. I want to explore and acknowledge what I feel, not sequester or bottle my feelings up. I can respect any boundaries you wanna put up, but me, personally? My only thing is that I can't do is exclusivity. I like to be emotionally connected with my friends... but as a personal rule, I never fuck anyone I can't have a sincere, open conversation with. So..."

Ax rose her hand cautiously, letting Fu see it as she slowly reached up and gently touched the side of Fu's face. She put the half-smile back on, because she wanted to be confident.

"Please don't be hard on yourself for feeling things. You don't have to be afraid of what you feel. You don't have to restrain yourself from feeling things with me. As long as you're willing to talk with me, nothing necessarily has to be off limits. It's early, obvs, so caution definitely seems warranted, and I want you to open up at your pace, not necessarily mine. I wanna be cool with you, I want you to feel comfortable with me. And... I also really do like kissing you. I'm just, you know, planning on getting to know you and sharing myself with you emotionally, whether you wanna make out along the way or not. That's typically what I look for in friends these days - people who I can be honest with, who are honest and sincere with me. Real friends, not just... people I see in class, you know?" She hoped she was making sense.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

The longer Fuchsia had looked at Ax, the more obvious it had become that the girl was studying her. But not just studying her, she was studying her emotions. Actually, she wasn't really sure how she felt about that. It was her Semblance, and from what she'd said, it didn't just... Turn off. But did she have to stare like that? It made her feel a little weird. She was all for being open, but being read, without giving permission, well, it was kind of like being put under a microscope, but then again, she couldn't have possibly known what Ax got out of it. It was pretty obvious to her once Ax stopped her and began to explain that maybe there wasn't as much to it as she'd been thinking. She was an empath, sure, but it wasn't like she was a mind reader, and Fu was free to think her thoughts in the comfort and peace of her own mind. That was... kinda cool, actually. It was minimally invasive. She knew her emotions were pretty good at showing themselves in her body language, on her face, so was it really that different from a girl with the ability to actively read her expression instead? Not really. In a sense, Ax had a leg up in this department.

Didn't make it feel any less weird, though. She'd have to get used to the idea.

Fu found herself listening again, perhaps more intently this time with the tone Ax had suddenly taken with her. She got the impression this was really important to the bird if she didn't want to wait. So she followed along with those very emotions, letting them move lightly up and down in reaction to what she was saying. First a smile, this definitely was Makeout Point, no two ways around it now, and then a more neutral expression when she started to talk about feelings, followed by yet another complicated pattern of thoughts which twisted her face up a little bit while she attempted to sort through them again. So that was all fine and dandy, she was never the type to stifle her own feelings or pretend to be something she wasn't, except maybe as a rambunctious child back in the day. These days, though, honesty was the best policy, she'd found. So what Ax was asking of her didn't seem too extraordinary. But what did she think of the rest of it?

Before she'd had a chance to speak her mind again, Ax reached out to her. She touched her face, a gentle kind of gesture that made her tilt her head sideways into the hand a little, letting the feeling of the bird's fingers against her cheek comfort her a little bit. Well... That was sweet of her to say. It was easy to agree with her. So maybe that's what this would become? Not just friends, but good friends, first and foremost? Good friends with a bit of smooching to be done. That sounded like a pretty sweet deal to her, and in fact, it fit pretty neatly in to what she'd been thinking. Exclusivity, huh? Yet not afraid to have feelings... She liked the kissing, she wanted the honesty, and Fu's brain digressed to the thing she'd said earlier. Nearly half way to the sound barrier, huh? She wasn't really sure what that meant. Did that mean she was only doing this half-right, just under half-right? Or was that a good thing? The sureness in her waned a little at this thought, but maybe it was just a weird word choice. It had sounded like a good thing at the time. Finally, though, it was her turn to talk again.

Before she did, though, she lifted her gloved hand and placed it over Ax's on her cheek. Then, in what could only be described as a feline gesture, she rubbed her cheek against her palm a few times, nuzzling up against her fingers and keeping her hand there for a second while she did her best to get her scent all over it. Take that, hah! She was grinning again.

"Ya know, you're sweeter than you look. And you already looked tasty to me. But ya know, while we're on the subject... I guess maybe I should explain some things that might make it a bit easier to understand me," she said, rolling her eyes for a moment with a grin, "Stars knows my psych wants me to. But I'm... I dunno, not really used to the whole... 'Fuchsia has feelings' thing. I guess you grow up in a rough part of town, no job, no parents, no home, no fuckin'... sense of self-decency, and you kinda start ignorin' them in the first place. What I mean is... Shit was a mess before I came here. I don't want to make a mess of it again. So if you think all it takes is talkin' about it with you, then okay, sure. I like you, a lot, so far you're impressive in pretty much every way I can credit you for after what, two meetin's? Shit, even you crackin' down on me with that straight up 'fuck you' had my head going all over the place. Haha... That was something, I'll admit it, made me laugh when you stomped out, made me wonder who it was I'd just pissed off. It was pretty awesome that we got to meet for real and I got to apologize. And now all this?" She looked around. She was still feeling the drug inside her, but the peak had waned a bit, now it was relaxing her. It was kind of nice. It was easy to consult her brain.

"So if I 'catch feelings', I'm stealing that term by the way, then you've got nobody but yourself to blame, but take it as a compliment. You're already further than anybody else has been in the last six years or so. If you gotta quit while you're ahead, I think I'd get it. If you're not far enough in, and you're the one pickin' up that torch to step in deeper, well... Warning, I'm not exactly easy to understand. But honesty? Heh... I'm done with the lyin' and the cheatin' and the stealin', the... The drugs, the sex, the gang, the turf wars, the stabbings, the gunfights, the... ugh, the fuckin' jail cells..." She rolled her wrist for emphasis on this long list she'd wrapped up her past with, entombed it there where it was meant to stay.

"But there's one fuckin' thing I'm not done with, and that's girls. My list is short right now," she admitted, then tilted her head forward, looking upward at Ax, those feline irises just below the line of her deep, dark lashes, yet another of her predatory stares, "You're the only name on it. Will it stay that way? Mmm, probly not..." She smirked, she wasn't going to sell herself short, Fu knew how to attract hot chicks if she so chose.

"But while you're on that list, all's I need is occasional attention. But," she paused, lifting up her finger, her other hand, the one holding Ax's, pulling on her for a moment so she could lift herself to join Ax sitting on the back of the bench. Then, she let go, and her hand instead moved to Ax's knee. Then, she leaned over, and put her head on her shoulder.

"But feelings aren't my strong suit. I dunno what it could do. What havin' someone else under my wing or your wing would look like. I ain't about to settle down, but I dunno. I still got this whole Huntsman shit to figure out. Blugh... Still can't believe I'm supposed to be the good guy somehow, what kind of ass backward world is this? Anyway, my point is," she turned her head a little where it rested on her shoulder, which made her furry ear flutter past Ax's for a moment, but now her eyes were back on the bird's.

"Try not to like... Assume shit about my emotions. If you can say you won't, then I can say I won't beat myself up over 'em. If you wanna assume something, assume I don't know what the hell I'm doing, because that's probably right anyway. I dunno what that pretty little head is gunna make of your Semblance and such, but I guarantee one thing: it's more complicated than you'll probably know. Guess you can ask? Don't assume I'll get mad if you ask. I might, though, and maybe you remember, I bite when I'm mad. Haha... Fuck, that poor girl. Still never seen her since, still got an apology somewhere for her, but hey, least I met you." Once she said this, she paused for a second, then cleared her throat, ridding it of the dry feeling she'd gotten from smoking recently.

"Aw, hell. I don't even know what I'm doin' right now. I don't exactly... Do this with people. Am I doing it right?" She sighed a little, and true to what she'd said before, her tail moved subconsciously. It snaked behind them and brushed along Ax's back, settling against her gently, the tip of it flipping back and forth from one side to another just behind the bird's neck. Fuchsia didn't seem wholly aware of it.

"But yeah... Boundaries are new too. Maybe if I'd have known they even existed, back then, I'd... I dunno, my head would be a bit more clear now-adays. If you got a line that you don't want crossed, then fine. I'd much rather know where that line was than cross it by accident. If I think of anything you shouldn't do, I'll let you know. But kissin'... You do that whenever you feel right about it, hm?" She flashed a grin for Ax, a toothy smile, then finally, she fell silent once more.

[Ax L Rose]

She felt herself start to melt a little bit as the pretty kitty leaned into her touch, but she didn't let it interrupt her train of thought. Well, it was better to be feeling a little enchanted than to be feeling uncomfortable or anxious, because that most likely meant that Fuchsia was paying attention and not minding the way Ax was presenting all this.

As Fuchsia raised her hand to touch Ax's, the rocker's expression softened, her eyebrows slightly raising and her lips pressing tightly together while the cat nuzzled into her hand much like a happy housecat. She was soooo cute! How was Ax supposed to not find this adorable? She laughed as a fierce grin appeared on Fuchsia's lips, clearly delighted by the girl's catlike mannerisms.

She raised her eyebrows a little and a smirk formed on her lips at Fuchsia's salacious phrasing. Her expression became attentive and focused once more again, the same half-smile resting on her face as Fu elaborated a little further on herself. Her eyes seemed to light up a little at the mention of a psych. As Fu continued on further, Ax nodded sympathetically. As the alley cat reflected on the mess of the past and her desire to not repeat her mistakes, Ax felt a little shiver run down her spine. Sometimes, she really could just tell that some people had some similar experiences and outlooks as her own. It was one thing to feel like she were a pretty good judge of character, and it was another to get confirmation.

She grinned as Fu continued. She seemed... agreeable about taking the communicative approach. The compliments and fond recollection of their meeting only warmed her heart further. It was interesting how some of her best friendships seemed to consistently have awkward, confrontational starts. It was surprising to hear that Fuchsia had gone six whole years without anyone getting this far with her - Ax imagined that plenty of people must have tried, because Fuchsia was clearly very beautiful, and she had a vibrant personality that would surely attract attention. She couldn't help but laugh at the way Fuchsia talked about girls. The intense look Fuchsia had struck her as playful and cute...

"You're the only name on it. Will it stay that way? Mmm, probly not..."

...but those words prompted Ax to gently shake her head, even with a smile still on her lips. Well, maybe Fuchsia was a little rusty at the flirting game. Ax could definitely think of more charming ways to get at what Fuchsia was basically suggesting. If Ax didn't know any better, she might've assumed Fuchsia wanted to make her a little jealous.

She stayed quiet as Fuchsia paused to move, hopping up to sit the way Ax was. The bird bit her lip lightly, trying not to seem too surprised as Fuchsia settled in and rested her cheek against the smooth cool metal of her shoulder pauldron. Her eyes flicked down to the hand resting on her knee and... she decided she was okay with it. Her eyes turned to look down and over at Fuchsia, unperturbed by her brief tangent about being the good guy, though she was starting to wonder where exactly this was going. She didn't want to interrupt, and it sounded like she was trying to get at something more important.

"Try not to like... assume shit about my emotions..."

Ax took in a little breath, a retort quickly forming on the tip of her silvery tongue that she had to bite down in order to stop. Nah, nah, it was fair... Ax didn't necessarily need the reminder, but it was a valid concern. All too many times Ax had dealt with some issue or another that might've been totally avoided if she hadn't leaned too much on her own understandings about people's emotions and how they related to more broad context. Feeling others' emotions gave her a piece of the bigger picture, but not the whole thing. She slowly let out the heated breath she'd taken in, trying to focus on what Fuchsia was saying.

"...but hey, least I met you."

Ax's lips curved back into a smile. She started to nod, eager to offer reassurance that yes, Fuchsia was doing just fine. Then she felt something brush against the back of her leather jacket. While it surprised her, it didn't make her jump at least. Not until the tip of the tail tickled lightly against the back of Ax's neck, making her involuntarily raise her shoulders and tilt her neck back.

"Th-that...!" Ax raised her voice, only to realize she was a little loud. She lowered her voice.

"...tickles," Ax paused to clear her throat. "...sorry. Go on."

Ax let Fuchsia finish what she was saying. By the time Fuchsia wrapped everything up with a little invitation, Ax realized... Fuchsia had just thrown waaaay too much at her at once. She would need to process all that, and Fuchsia would probably need to repeat some of this or elaborate further later on. There was no way Ax was going to be able to address that whole monologue, but she didn't really need to. She just needed to file away some of what she'd learned for later.

"Noted," Ax met Fu's grin with a little smirk. As tempting as it was to take the opening and steal a kiss, she was still processing everything Fuchsia had said. She was also trying to think if there was anything else really important she needed to note.

"Thanks for opening up to me. You know... I take that pretty seriously. You trusting me, I mean. Opening up to me, giving me a shot you haven't given anyone else for a while... I don't plan to let that go to waste."

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

The cat had taken note of the various emotions and reactionary faces that Ax was making throughout her little speech. It was like trying to swat at a piece of yarn dangling in front of her face, the minute she went to get it, it was somewhere else. She didn't really try to dissect all of the various things that came across Ax's visage, however she took note of some of it. The smiles, especially. It seemed Ax was digesting it just as much as she had kind of... spewed it out, and honestly, it felt good to be listened to for once. That was kind of a strange thought to her, because she had always felt a sense of people hearing her but not listening, not really, at least this time was apparently different.

She especially enjoyed Ax's reaction to her tail, though. In fact, her tail enjoyed it too, and it had stayed where it was, floating about behind Ax's head, but soon enough Ax closed off her little monologue with a few words of her own, and Fuchsia was smirking at her again. She reached up behind the bird and gripped the end of her tail, then wiggled it back and forth like a feather-duster against her cheek and the side of her neck, trying to tickle her a little more just for fun. She only did it for a second or two, obviously not wanting to annoy her.

"Good," she said while she did this, though, "I didn't prepare for that contingency so you better not! But you know, hey... We're only Faunus. I'm not going to eat you alive if you accidentally step on my toes. I might make you grovel and beg for forgiveness, but only if I need the ego boost." She was definitely joking, her tone said as much, but the thought of Ax on her knees with a cute look of regret on her face was a little bit too tasty of an image for it not to pop into her mind.

Her tail left Ax alone and instead wrapped about the bird's waist partially, hanging over the opposite side of the bench from where Fuchsia sat and returning to its idle flicking at the tip, back and forth every couple of seconds or so, like a completely out-of-sync metronome.

"So," Fu said, "Where do we go from here? We can talk more if you want... But I feel like you meant for us to chill here for just a few minutes, and... honestly, I like it here. We'll have to come back sometime, hm? But when do you wanna go do whatever the heck it is we're going to do down in Vale? The suspense is killing me, I wanna see what you have planned." When she said this, she leaned her head back down to the pauldron next to her head and looked once more to the city's skyline. Evidently, she wasn't too much in a hurry, despite what she said. What an interesting day this had been so far, and it wasn't even over yet. They'd been up here looking at Vale for awhile, but she had to wonder at what kind of adventure awaited them next in the city. At this point, she could at least be sure that if she was with Ax, it was going to be fun.

[Ax L Rose]

She watched Fu's fingers as they reached up to curl around the end of the tail in the corner of her eye. She recognized Fu's intent right away, but simply scooting an inch or two away wasn't going to be enough to dissuade the cat's efforts and she knew it. Ax lazily raised an arm to defend herself, but was mostly unsuccessful in preventing further tickle-based warfare. The furry tail against Ax's neck earned Fu a brief chuckle and a playful swat against her arm.

"Careful, kit-cat. Birds can bite too," Ax warned, the smile on her lips and the lingering giggles giving the threat a very playful air. When Fu spoke again, Ax's eyes began to noticeably flick between Fuchsia and her tail. She nevertheless exhaled a brief amused-sounding snort at Fuchsia's talk of making her "grovel and beg". Yeahhhhh, somehow Ax wasn't having the easiest time imagining that happening!

"Dream big, kit-cat," Ax teased. Her eyes flicked back over to the tail, watching cautiously as it lowered down nearer to her waist. It didn't startle or tickle nearly as much when she saw it coming. In fact, as it settled in against her exposed side, it actually kind of felt soft and pleasant to the touch. Her attentions drifted back to Fuchsia as she spoke further. She parted her lips immediately to answer her question, but Fu didn't pause, instead proceeding to more or less answer her own question. Ax could sense the question marks in her words, but by now she was starting to realize that question marks from Fu didn't necessarily invite answers.

"I mean..." Ax shrugged lightly. "We can do whatever we want. It's not a tour, it's not like I have it all figured out and planned down to the minute or anything," she continued. It was kind of funny (and also telling) that Fuchsia seemed to figure that Ax had all the executive power here. It was also nice to see that she was clearly excited, but Ax didn't necessarily want Fuchsia thinking that she was about to take things someplace super impressive. Maybe if the goal had been to just get laid, she'd have focused on taking her somewhere expensive and lovely. Ax had other priorities. An early date was usually about getting a feel for natural chemistry in a low-key environment where it'd be easy to have fun, and where it'd be easy to bail if things ended up being lame. Easy come, easy go. It wouldn't hurt to just go ahead and tell her where they were going if the suspense was really that much.

"I was thinking we'd go to one of my favorite venues in town. Lil' club with a nice stage, called Spades. They use the hell out of their stage - the owner likes to think of his place as a rite of passage for local talent. And I... have a little bit of a following there," Ax explained. She tilted her head back, looking towards the path behind the bench.

"I wanted to give you a minute 'cause of the thing, though," Ax raised a hand, gesturing vaguely at the flower in Fu's hair. "Figured maybe you were having a reaction to the herb and needed a few. How're you feeling now?"

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

What had perhaps been a spot of worry in Fuchsia's perceptions was quickly replaced by nothing more than a light amusement. She was glad that Ax didn't mind her being so playful, stars knew she was a playful creature, but when they'd first met she hadn't been so sure about it. Ax had seemed a lot more serious then, and actually, she'd seen that serious side a couple times already on this date, but evidently it came from a place of concern that was entirely welcome to the cat. She had known precious few people that would've given her this much attention and in this kind of form. So it was that Ax reassured her bristling anxieties, she mentioned that their plans were more open-ended than Fuchsia had at first realized. After all, she'd been the one to randomly drop the spur of the moment date on Ax, right? She should've understood that there wasn't a ton of preparation in this. Still, the fact that Ax could think on her toes enough to throw something together that was turning out to be quite enjoyable, well, that was commendable in the greatest measure possible.

By the time Ax had mentioned where they were going next, her worries had washed away, her insatiable curiosity replaced by another spout of excitement. A venue? Ax had a following? Well now wasn't that interesting. Was she going to impress her with her fame and glory? Fuchsia could say that this wouldn't be lost on her... Ax was already making quite the impression, but to add to that with some skill, showmanship, and of course a good helping of popularity? Now that was something else.

But soon enough, things eased back in to that same concern she'd seen before. Fu smiled, this time a bit sheepishly again. It seemed her shame wasn't completely gone about this... She'd felt bad, suddenly stricken by her afflictions while they were only trying to have a little fun. But that's how it went, wasn't it? These things didn't give her a choice, and the fact that Ax seemed to recognize that only further increased her opinion of the bird.

Hell, by now, her good vibes were overflowing. She had high hopes for this newly formed friendship.

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine now, no thanks to you," she said with a hint of sarcasm, and gave Ax's arm a light punch that was more like pushing her with a fist. She was smiling at Ax, but from where her head was leaned up against her shoulder and tilted, she was looking upward at her, her face at an angle. The sun was hitting her in such a way that she appeared to be glowing slightly, her golden eyes reflecting the light and sparkling, making her smile perhaps appear warmer than it actually was. One ear flicked, and she lifted her head, looking down at her feet for a second as another butterfly, or perhaps the same one from before, alighted on the toe of one of her boots. It fluttered away a moment later when she twitched.

"It wasn't the herb, though... It was... Ahhh, old wounds," Fu relayed, a hint of apprehension in her voice. Whatever it was, she didn't seem keen to talk about it right now.

"The smoke, though, that was... nice. It's been awhile since I got to unwind like this. I really do appreciate it," she added, placing both hands on the top of the bench, casting a sidelong glance at Ax.

"And the kissing... Hey, when we're in town, is it too much to ask that I could like... Hold your hand? I dunno if you're all about public displays of affection, but... It'd be nice." And now, finally, after having been gone for some time, her blush returned to her cheeks. Holding hands wasn't exactly the most distinctive display of affection, but some people found it weird on a first date. However, Fuchsia was eager to get what she could get from Ax, so long as she didn't ask for too much, and after all the small touches, the kisses, and the warm feelings these things had been giving her, she was craving a little more. It had been forever since she'd felt this way...

[Ax L Rose]

Ax's lips curved into a bit of a grin at Fu's reassurance. She budged just a little with the motion of Fu's fist but otherwise didn't seem to pay it any mind. She was mostly caught with the way the light was reflecting in Fu's golden eyes. This damn girl... Fuchsia was gonna be lookin' like the cat that caught the canary at this rate, coughing up little pink cockatoo feathers on her way back to Beacon.

Ax nodded her head in comprehension as soon as Fuchsia gave her vague answer as to what was up. Well, that was all Ax needed to know. It wasn't the herb, so Fu wasn't having a reaction, which meant that they were on for the original idea. No need to hang around Makeout Point any longer - there were only so many hours in the day, and sooner or later Ax was gonna need to get back on the academy grind. She might as well make what she could out of this precious time she had to get to know the cat.

"What can I say, except y'welcome?" Ax asked in a sort of playfully sing-song voice. She seemed interested as Fu talked about kissing, but as soon as the subject came to hand-holding, Ax blinked. While she was pretty composed and there weren't much for changes in her expression... something in the air had changed the moment Fu asked. Maybe Fu realized the air had changed the moment she asked, because she immediately started to backtrack a little.

Well, it didn't have to be a big deal. This was the part where Ax simply said...

"No. I..." Ax briefly grit her teeth, realizing that she'd answered that in a kind of blunt way. She didn't want to make Fu feel bad for asking, but one of the things that Ax needed to be deliberate about with having healthy adult conversations was giving clear, unambiguous "no" answers to things she wasn't comfortable with.

"It's nothing personal against you. I... might be more comfortable with it later, when we..." Ax trailed off, letting out a sort of dry laugh at herself, lowering her head and shaking it softly before she looked back up at Fu.

"I know, probably sounds fucking dumb. Yeah, you can kiss me, but hand-holding? For real though, it's... I've always been kinda weird about this kind of thing. I can... sometimes get comfortable with PDA over time, but when things are fresh and new, I know better than to force it," Ax answered rather diplomatically. With that, she hopped up from the bench and held her metal hand out to Fu.

"Buuut, you can hold my hand out here though, where it's just you n' me. Maybe it'll help me acclimate," Ax offered with a pleasant smile.

"C'mon. Let's ride, kit-cat."

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

What could she say, except Ax was a huge dork. She'd heard that dumb song enough times on the internet to know the reference, but really? She couldn't help but giggle at the absurdity. She wasn't going to hold it against Ax, though, she was utterly convinced that there were things that Ax would find ridiculous and nerdy about her, too... If she ever found out about them.

But what came next didn't really surprise her. She picked up on the awkwardness that Ax approached the subject with, though, wondering if she'd really tripped the mine on this one for a moment, but it seemed that she figured it out and finally spit out what she had to say. So, no hand-holding? That was fine with her... Bit of a bummer, though.

"Hey no worries, dude, that's why I asked. I figured it coulda been one of those things that you didn't like, I don't think any less of you for it. Your hands though, I will continue to judge them instead. Stupid un-holdable hands." She directed her little quip directly to Ax's nearest hand, giving it a stare that might've made a lesser hand flinch.

But they were ready to go, now, so when Ax hopped up and offered her a hand anyway, she grinned and did the same, then took it. She would've preferred a flesh-and-blood hand, but while she was here, she decided to get a better feel for this metal-handed girl while she could. She found the smooth metal not entirely unpleasant, though it wasn't much different from holding a weapon or some other metal object, only this one could hold her back. Kinda weird... She briefly wondered what it must be like, having a metal appendage like that. Naturally, her mind drifted to what it might be like to have a metal tail. If she ever lost hers in a fight, she'd definitely consider getting it replaced... It would be horrible to lose it. Her tail was a huge part of her life, she couldn't bear the thought of not having one! A cat without a tail... Wouldn't that be something? Yet, there was always the risk...

She let Ax more or less guide her back to where they'd parked the bike, but kept up at her side while they walked, her grip on that metal hand of hers was firm, perhaps a little needy. She didn't know why she'd wanted it, but... Well, maybe she did. Ax had done well to remind her again where they were and what they were doing, because holding her hand in public was a surefire way to say "I'm dating this girl" to the entire town. They weren't that far along yet. So why was she so eager? It was the same thought she'd had a moment ago, when things had felt a little... intense for a second. That's what it was. It was still a danger. Maybe she just really liked Ax, a lot more than she thought she would, more than she should? Enough to want to hold her hand, at least? She hoped that wasn't a bad thing, but she knew what her therapist had said about trauma and its effects on forming attachments with people. Likewise, she didn't really care what other people who saw them would think or say, she didn't want them to assume, though, and surely neither did Ax. She'd dealt with rumors before, though, and the people who spread them were pretty cowardly in general. Whatever...

By the time they'd made it back to the bike, Fuchsia had started to feel a little weird about the whole hand thing, so she'd let go of Ax's hand early and instead jogged on ahead to eagerly put her goggles on before Ax started the bike. Well, handholding aside, she was about to get on this bike again and have another go at giving Ax a hug from behind. She could at least look forward to that. It was kind of hard for Fuchsia to articulate it to herself, since she'd specifically asked because she wanted to make sure Ax was okay with it, and yet, she still felt weird about her saying no. Why? Yet another thing on the list of shit she'd most likely lay around thinking about for hours after this.

She really did have a lot of thinking to do.

Thinking could wait.

"Ready when you are," she said, and gave Ax a big grin and an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax's metal hand was smooth and strangely warm to the touch, particularly around her fingertips. Ax could still feel things... touch was a little bit different through it, but she was definitely aware of the light, easy pressure of Fu's fingers on hers. It was ultimately not very reassuring. As Ax started to lead Fuchsia back to the path, Ax found that she wasn't getting much of a good vibe from Fuchsia. She seemed... off. Ax didn't want to focus on it too hard - the culprit was obvious. Fuchsia didn't like being told no. No one really did, especially when they had to go out on a limb to ask in the first place.

Ax gave it a second. She didn't want to rush the poor cat to talk it out just yet. Maybe she just needed time. The pressure around Ax's fingers was growing a little. Ax wondered if Fu even noticed, or perhaps if Fu thought she couldn't feel it. Ax felt... something. What was it? There were a hundred different subtle shades of disappointment and Ax's semblance tended to muddle the subtleties. Ax turned her head slightly to watched Fu out of the corner of her eye as they approached her bike, still tactfully and deliberately silent. A little frowns started to form on her lips.

Ax was really testing her own patience. Fu didn't seem to want to talk about it, whatever it was. After giving it a little time to soak, Ax felt like she understood what this was. It was like... a sort of pain in the pit of her stomach. It made Ax not want to look Fu directly in the eye, and Ax figured that Fuchsia must have been feeling that same feeling. Fuchsia wasn't looking at her.

Shame. Fuchsia was ashamed. As Fuchsia pulled her hand away, Ax let her. Ax watched Fuchsia jog up ahead, but her own pace slowed and a few seconds later stopped just a few yards away from the bike. When Fuchsia turned and spoke to her, a smile on her face, she'd see Ax standing with her lips pursed to one side, a hand placed on her hip. Ax clearly didn't seem to be buying what Fu was selling.

"M'kay. Well, I'm not ready yet. I... actually think we should maybe talk a little more first," Ax said, giving Fuchsia a sort of hesitant smile. She wanted to take charge of the conversation here, kinda, but... she didn't really want to grill Fuchsia about what she was feeling so much? She was having some trouble thinking of a way to frame this that would add some levity, ease her up a little... make the smile on her lips seem a little more real.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

Fuchsia was trying to deflect her thoughts a little. It was a complicated mess inside her head on a good day, but she didn't want this weird feeling she'd been generating on her own to drag down whatever fun they might have. She didn't quite realize that Ax was on to her, either, instead she went about securing the goggles in place over her eyes and adjusting them slightly to make sure they were more comfortable this time around, since they'd been a little tight on her head the ride before.

She'd also thought that they were more or less finished with their little talk. She thought she'd done good, opened up a little like her therapist said she should, have a little trust in others, or whatever the hell else it was she was supposed to do to create some semblance of normalcy for herself. She was still new at this. It was kind of hard. The feelings that had assailed her heart and her mind were still there, though suppressed, and she'd tried to ignore it, but the moment Ax spoke to her again, they decided they were here to stay for the time being, and she sighed softly to herself, then turned to face the bird. Was there more left to say?

"...All right," Fu conceded, "Guess a few more minutes won't hurt us. Vale's not going anywhere. What's up?" It sounded a bit like she was reminding herself of the existence of patience, because she was. They'd gotten at it early enough that there were still many hours of daylight ahead of them, there wasn't really a rush to get out of here, but she felt the urge to leave like she always did when things got complicated. Yet another mark on the board for her incessant emotional problems.

Fu found herself already wondering what it is Ax wanted to talk about. She tried not to pose it in her mind like Ax was doing this to get under her skin, that would've only led to her getting suddenly defensive, and she knew it. Ax hadn't done anything wrong. This weird feeling was on her. She knew that. It would go away if she could ignore it, but her plans to do so had been put off for the moment and she found herself crossing her arms and leaning up against the back of the bike, her eyes on Ax. She wore a straight face, but her ears, as usual, did her expressing for her, and the left one began to twitch, twitch, twitch, ever so slightly.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax was confident about one thing at least - it was shame. Emotions spoke a language of the body, and Ax had spent many years learning the ways her feelings affected her mind and body. Ax wasn't really sure what pattern of thoughts might have elicited shame in Fuchsia, nor could she know whether this sort of thing was habitual for her or not. It didn't really matter. It gave Ax enough of an idea to piece together how she wanted to approach this in the few seconds she bought herself while Fu replied.

She couldn't remember all the steps for what to do when guilt or shame was justified. In this case though, she was inclined to assume that Fuchsia's shame was reflexive, instinctual, the result of insufficient compassion for the self. Maybe there was a perfectly understandable reason why Fuchsia would feel ashamed or guilty though. Ax would be able to get a feel for that by encouraging her to be transparent.

It was a bit of an assumption to figure that her shame was unjustified, maybe... and Fuchsia had cautioned her against assumptions... but Fuchsia didn't know just how sharp Ax could be. Not yet.

"It's okay to want to hold hands, you know. It doesn't make you bad. It doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong," Ax said. She couldn't be sure that was really the core of what was eating at her, but Fuchsia knew she was an empath. It made sense she'd figure that, right? And if there was something else going on that she should've known about, well... there'd probably be some signs she could pick up on.

"It's okay to want to be close to someone, to just wanna be who you are with someone."

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

The alley cat was fairly confused by her own emotions, at the moment, but her solution was a tried and true method of ignoring the problem long enough to get to a spot where she could actively think about it. Of course, Ax had stopped her from doing this, which definitely became a source of a little bit of agitation for her as she fidgeted under Ax's gaze. Fuchsia was certain though that Ax had most likely picked up on her suddenly weird emotions with that equally weird ability of hers, but she let herself be surprised by the fact that she actually thought it best to stop and try to talk about it some more.

She wasn't really sure if this was a good idea or not, however.

She frowned at the bird while she explained this to her, trying to reassure her of her own feelings, but this had the effect of making Fuchsia fall silent for a bit while she worked something out in her own head. She didn't think Ax had this right. In fact, she knew the bird didn't have this right. She didn't feel bad for wanting to hold Ax's hand. She felt bad for feeling bad about the fact that Ax had rejected her offer. And what was worse is that she wasn't really sure why it made her feel a bit fucky on the inside.

Ax was starting to sound like her shrink or something.

"That's not it," she stated simply, "but I'm not really sure what it is. It's fine you don't wanna hold hands, really, I get it. That's why I asked." She was repeating herself now, but she wasn't really sure what else to say on the topic. This was exactly the kind of thing she'd talked about earlier. It was starting to sound like Ax was assuming her feelings, and yet, true to form, she didn't even understand her own take on this or why it was happening. She briefly contemplated asking Ax to drop the subject, but decided against it. That wouldn't be fair. Maybe if she answered her questions, or something, they might both figure some shit out?

"But, I told you before, I don't always know why I'm feelin' the way I feel. This is one of them times, I'd rather not try to dissect it right now," she answered honestly, holding Ax's gaze with her own. The inside corners of her eyebrows were turned up slightly, her brow beginning to furrow. Worry, that's what she was starting to feel, and for many different reasons. Her anxiety was coming back to her. Was Ax forming opinions now? Did she look like some kind of desperate weirdo? Was Ax patronizing her, or was she just concerned? Was this going to effect the rest of the date? Would she even be comfortable enough to ride this bike? Ugh... She had to be careful, lest she start creating regrets instead of anxieties. She waited for Ax to continue, though.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax suspected that the pressure of her stare wasn't helping matters, so she made a conscious effort to relax her body language a little. She let her shoulders slump, stepping over to the bike at a leisurely but deliberate pace, turning and leaning her tailfeathers back against it. The machine had more than enough mass and stability to stay put. She folded her arms over her chest and looked up toward the sky and the trees, away from Fu, trying to make this feel less like an interrogation and more like a normal talk between a pair of adults.

Ax's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked up at the tree tops flanking the path out to Makeout Point. She felt a weird blend of emotions that she didn't immediately understand. It was... an out-of-control feeling, sort of, at the core? A tightness and rigidity in her muscles that she had to consciously fight against. It was uncomfortable, nervous, tense... she turned her head after a moment to look over at Fu and try to get another clue by looking at her face, to find that Fu was staring her in the eye from close by.

Ax's lips parted as Fu finished speaking, her brow knitting together in concern, worry. Then the feeling started to strangle her. She felt herself growing more jittery in the wake of what Fu said. A lump somewhere in the back of her throat. A feeling of heaviness in her stomach. Ax's arms unconsciously slipped down to cross over her stomach instead of her chest. The bird frowned, looked away, hesitated, and then nodded.

"'Okay," Ax agreed, with clear reluctance, looking back over at Fu. Ax clearly wanted to hammer this out, but she knew that there was no way to break this down easily if Fuchsia didn't have the self awareness to pick her feelings and thoughts apart. There was a chance that this could backfire or turn worse if left alone, but there was also a chance that Ax just needed to let Fu feel this out and work it out on her own. Ax couldn't help someone who didn't want it.

"We can let it go then, but if you change your mind and you wanna talk about it, I'm game," Ax let out a little sigh and then tried to brush it off. Fu's nervousness was giving her a lot to work through and sort out. It was tough to connect with someone new when you felt like you had to play therapist to avoid a crisis, but that was pretty much dating in a nutshell, wasn't it? This wasn't exactly Ax's idea of a great time, but Ax had dealt with anxiety like this with other people too. Fu wasn't the first.

"Maybe we'll both feel better after we hit the road again," Ax attempted to be optimistic, putting on a confident smile and slipping her shades back on. She moved to raise her leg over the bike and settle in, pushing her tail aside for Fuchsia again.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

There was some uncomfortable time where Ax seemed to hesitate, looking away from her, standing around beside the bike and not addressing things directly, or right away. What was she up to? Was she sitting there, trying to figure it out? Fuchsia couldn't even figure herself out, so she viewed that as folly. There was only one way to get herself to feel better right now and that was to simply move on for the time being. She could dissect it later in the comfort of her own thoughts.

Ax seemed to go through a few changes in emotion. She was definitely thinking about something, and just watching her like this was making her pretty anxious. She bit her lip, rolling it in between her teeth, just waiting for her to say something, anything. It was only a few seconds, but seemed to last forever. Then, finally, a single word came. Okay. Her face visibly relaxed, her jaw untensing.

"You'll be the first t'know," she replied, which was actually pretty truthful, she could see herself at this point discussing it further with Ax, importantly though, the distinction was with time. She'd talk about it later.

Her anxieties refused to settle, until Ax climbed aboard the bike, and cleared her tail away so that Fuchsia could join her.

"Yes, please," she said, and then she did so, climbing on back, then settling against the bird's back with a sigh. She felt better already. Now she could move forward, focus on the rest of today, not brood about some weird feelings she got over a simple hand-gesture. She sidled up against Ax a bit, getting comfortable.

"Punch it," she said, a bit of mischief returning to her voice, "I wanna go fast." Fu felt that the speed would help her burn off some of this excess energy, maybe.

[Ax L Rose]

Fu's reassurance maybe hadn't been exactly what Ax wanted, but it was something. Fu's fears buzzed in the back of her mind while she settled in on her bike. Soon enough it was roaring to life again. The music started back up again.

Ax's eyes flicked to the side as Fu told her to punch it. In response, Ax revved the engine a few times and scared away all the birds nearby. She gave Fu a moment to get good and comfortable, made sure the cat's arms were good and secure around her waist, and then she obeyed. The engine picked up just like that, accelerating sharply enough that an unprepared passenger might've fallen off if they weren't ready. Ax seemed to see no reason to waste time - the faster they got going, the faster the incessant buzzing would hopefully fade.

Still, she found herself frowning a little. Acceleration made her excited and energetic, gave her the usual rush, but... she couldn't help but remember the rush of Fuchsia's lips against hers. Had she let herself get too confident, too comfortable? Whatever the case, the smart call seemed to not expect more little moves like that. Evidently Fuchsia had some personal issues she needed to work through, and Ax would be taking that into consideration going forward.

No need to agonize. The whole idea behind an experiment like this required one to be open to the possibility that it might fail. They still had all night ahead of them, a big wide city full of options... if nothing else, they could still have fun as friends. Ax would just need to keep her expectations in check.

Soon enough, Ax felt more at ease. A little more herself. It must've been the roar of a guitar from her speakers as she and the black cat rode off toward the City of Vale.