Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lost.

She was lost.

Then again, this shouldn't have surprised her as much as it did. It was rare for Kepi to really know where she was going, mostly out of a lack of concentration on her part, to the point it was a miracle she got to her destinations half the time. blinking owlishly, the koshka stared at the random sign that stood before her, squinting up at it with brilliant eyes, almost as if in hopes that by staring at it, the letters would change and read something different. Still, the message remain unchanged;

ERASMUS: 2 MILES

She was torn between wondering how she'd managed to walk 2 miles out of Erasmus when she'd gone to run some errands and congratulating herself for her amazing stamina (she felt extremely refreshed and not at all tired). Confusion was winning out however, specially now that night had fallen; still though, Kepi squinted up at the sign some more. The sign remain unmoved, almost mocking her, "Fine..." the word was murmured up at the inanimate object before she took a better hold of the bag she was carrying and padded down the humid, dark, deserted path, idly hoping it'd take less than the whole night to get back to the troupe grounds (which were sadly, right dab, smack in the middle of Erasmus), because something told her that if Karan wasn't going to scold her, it'd be the troupe leader, "It was a really pretty butterfly," she told the land around her, almost as an excuse for having strayed so damned far.

Hopefully it wouldn't rain.

While it was true she hadn't been tired before, the day's ordeal was swiftly catching up with her; walking the whole day could be tiresome, specialy once night came and her body realised that damn, it should be asleep by now. Rather than feel miserable though, as it was not really in her nature to do so, the koshka entertained herself by jumping over puddles, left and right, her mind pondering if she would be allowed to sneak into Karan's caravan (it was damned cold, and sleeping by him was so much more warm, specialy taking into acount they lacked central heating within the caravans, and no amount of quilts could offer her the same amount of heat). Chances were that no, he wasn't going to let her, because chances were he was going to scowl at her for obvious reasons.

Still, it was slightly amusing to note how much more prone he was to showing he was angry than when she'd first met him. Now, he'd actually allow himself to display frustration upon his features rather than always walking around as if hidding behind some sort of wall. That was probably why the girl could never bring herself to feel sad when he was angry at her; at least not entirely sad, because it was her, and her actions, tha thad brought those emotions on his face. Besides, he couldn't be angry if he didn't care, and thus, that meant he cared, which made her feel oddly happy about the situation on a whole.

Her mind was dragged out of her thoughts when she heard her named called out, even in the mild darkness. Instantly, her ears perked and her head peaked out from the side of the large brown bag she was carrying, "Uhhhhh..." her tail, which had perked and waggled, the bell ringing, had lowered upon remembering he was actualy going to be damned angry with her, "I got lost?" she offered lamely, even as she rushed her step to greet him, jumping over a random puddle in the process, "I uhh..." her ears lowered, and she murmured something that resembled 'it was a really pretty butterfly...' under her breath, "M'sorry, when I realised where I was, I was near 3 miles away...." which was... quite the feat.

Most of the problem usually stemmed from the fact that while Karan was a naturally pessimistic person, always waiting for the worse to happen, knowing, expecting it to be just around the corner... Kepi was the opposite. She was a naturally optimistic person, to the point she often disregarded her own safety; as far as she was concerned, no wrong could ever happen. She had a rather cheerful perspective of the world, and the only time that her slightly more bittersweet side showed was when writing music. She had a knack for coming up with stories that often left the audience wondering if the ending was happy, or sad, due to the multiple implications.

As it was however, she had not even paused to ponder that something, anything, could have happened to her. It hadn't even crossed her mind, "What?" her ears flattened back in obvious shame; the question was rhetorical, mostly spoken in direct answer to her name, "I..." shifting the weight of the bag, she lowered it so she could look up at him with her best apologetic gaze (she had yet to notice this actually worked at times, it was just done out of habit), "I was running errands and..." and what? She'd what? Rather than try to excuse herself, she let out a sigh, "I'm sorry. I kinna got distracted. I guess that's why Anya always tells me to go with you when I go out... but nothing happened! Promise! I was alone all the time!" almost on instinct, one of her hands (despite the weight she was carrying), lifted and grabbed his arm, as if to reasure him.

Kepi was well aware of how she brought his emotions to the surface; she wasn't sure why, that's true, but was well aware that she did so, regardless. Right now however, the 'why' was beside the point, seeing as how she was bringing out anger in him, and as much as she knew it was because he cared (as much as he tried to hide that, or shake his head in denial), she disliked letting him down, "I'm fine," it was said once more, as if she felt he needed to hear it to let it sink in, "I didn't go fetch you 'cause I thought it'd only take a couple of hours to run those errands, and you seemed like you were pretty taken by that song," it seemed that at times, she WAS in fact capable of logic. In fact, it was probable she WAS indeed prone to logic; it was just that her mind strayed to different subjects much too swiftly to really share her thoughts with others.

If there was one person that seemed to be able to get her to concentrate on one thing for long enough to share some ounces of insight, it was Karan. There was a mild pause as he spoke again, her hand curling into the fabric of his shirt to give him a small, reassuring tug before letting go, "You were worried?" Not that she'd doubted it at all; more than anything, she was pleasantly surprised he was voicing that out loud, "I... thank you for worrying," that was the thing to say in these cases, right? Right.

She fell into step with him rather easily, shifting the bag in her arms again, her eyes straying up to him, "Even if I want to go to a festival, or I want to go see the ducks in the pond?" she asked, "Even if I want to go to a dance?" she wasn't, in fact, poking fun at him at all; she was honestly curious, for she knew he wasn't a social guy. In the least. At times she wondered how she'd managed to last so long beside him; probably due to a combination of both being persistent and the fact she was... more or less, his only friend.

Now, if she could figure out why that left a bad after taste, all would be swell in the world.

"Really?" it was mostly rhetorical, but in a way, she felt the need to know, "I just..." had her hands been free, she would have been worrying them slightly on her jacket, but seeing as how they were occupied with the bag she was carrying, she had to content herself with looking slightly pathetic, her ears flopping to her sides, "I know I'm... you don't always get your work done because I distract you," she knew this was true, and most of the time, it was her fault. So thus, lately, when she found he was particularly inspired and did not need any input on her part, she either actually managed to sit to the side with a book or Owen (or both) and simply stayed there. Either that, or she left to go out for a stroll... or went to run errands, which of course turned into a big vicious circle because no sooner was she out of Karan's sight, that she got distracted by the tiniest thing and rushed off in an opposite direction.

There was a pause as her eyes strayed off to the sides, watching the countryside, "I don't know. Usually people don't worry over people they don't care about. So it's not natural, I guess. It's only natural if you care," there we go, whole new can of worms right there. Not that she had any idea what it was she was implying; it was what she thought, and so, she happily voiced out her thoughts. Almost as if in retaliation to her words, she looked up at him, just in time to still see him colored just so, "Were you out all day looking for me?" her own brows creased with worry, and had her hands been free, she'd have reached up to check his temperature... so in a way, thank the lord for the bag she was carrying with her, no doubt.

A blink followed his words, and her mouth opened just so, only to shut again. When she reopened again, it was with an obvious smile on her features, "Everybody can dance. They just do it differently," no sooner had the words come out of her mouth, that the koshka took a step away from him, heading towards the side of the road. There, he placed the bag on a large rock (and thus away from the puddles on he floor) before turning back to face him, "See? Here," she said as she spread her arms at him, almost as if to invite him to a hug, reminiscent of their first meeting, though... it was obvious it wasn't a hug she was looking for, "Come here, I'll show you."

There was a momentary pause as she watched him, almost as if adding two and two and yet... not, "Inspire you?" another pause, still with her arms extended invitingly towards him, "You mean sort of like a muse?" ever since he'd come to stay, Kepi had spent more and more time in his caravan, and due to the fact he liked to work so much, the girl had taken it upon herself to simply let him do so. That meant she needed a distraction; thankfully, the many books he owned provided for a wonderful distraction. Not only that, but she'd learnt quite a few concepts from them... the 'muse' being one of the few she'd picked up in the last few weeks, "That's..." she seemed to falter here, as if lacking words, though she smiled, and it was obvious she was racking her brains for a word to describe how overwhelmed she felt, "Much more flattering than I probably deserve," that said, she moved her hands slightly, as if beckoning him towards her.

Her hands curled a little as she tilted her head, "I don't think you care. I know you care. I'm just... happily surprised that you do? I mean, it's not like I've done much to warrant that," after all, she could still remember how they met (which was strange, seeing as how she was prone to forgetfulness; there was little that she could remember with such vivid detail, and amusingly enough, that day was one of those things). Again, there was worry in her eyes as she regarded him, "All day? And you probably didn't eat... you worry about me, but sometimes, I worry that you disregard yourself for my sake, and worry me in turn. What if YOU had gotten sick?" like she was really in any place to talk; she's been gone the whole day too.

Still, the invites to dance was held till he walked over to her, "Karan," it was a direct response to her name from his lips, though unlike him, she'd said it with a smile, "What, why?" obviously, their minds were not on the same track, because Kepi could not, for the life of her, figure out why dancing would be a bad idea. Was he afraid of falling or tripping over her feet? She wasn't the mot graceful of dancers either, but at least the koshka felt confident she could move well enough not to trip him, "I won't trip you. Here," rather than wait for him to take the last step forward, she moved forth, slipping her hand into his. Her other hand guided his around her waist before she mirrored it and smiled up, "See? There. It's not hard. Especially if it's slow dancing. You just sway. There's no skill... it's just moving," except they were very, very close, and it was making her feel rather giddy.

"More important than your health?" it was obvious she didn't know whether to look flattered or worried over this piece of information; then again, in a way, it made sense. She was the one that stuck by his side, bar Owen, and she was the one he spent the most time with (albeit at first against his will). One could almost guess them to be family, or perhaps more attached than they should have, but Kepi hadn't really been bothered by that; she liked being with him, and that was that. Why bother pondering it if it didn't harm anyone? No one had the right to tell her whom she could, or could not be (not even those that still sent them strange glances when they walked together down the street, for after all, his ears were easily missed amongst the mass of black hair). Despite it all, she had to admit that she rather liked the idea of being his muse, though really, she had no idea WHY he'd think that. As far as she was aware, she didn't look at all like a muse, or even act like one, "I... fine. You worry about me, and I'll worry about you then. That way we're even," and they were going to eat something as soon as they got home, even if they made it back at the crack of dawn. She'd make sure of that.

The fact he was stiff had not gone unnoticed (it was hard for her to not notice when she was so damned near), and her eyes shifted up to look at him, "You just move. Slowly. Usually it's the boy that leads, but here, I'll show you," that he was having troubles of... another variety did not occur to her; she simply wrote it all down to his usual nervous nature whenever it came to any sort of physical contact. As Thus so, as she attempted to move (with little success - not that she care, she was actually enjoying herself for unknown reason even with the failure to actually dance), the koshka blinked, her eye brows rising up to hide amongst her bangs, "Hmmmm?"" she was no doubt, prompting him to continue as he made an attempt to explain himself, "You just...?" she prompted further, still smiling up at him.

It was right about then that she notice how... near they were getting, and for the first time since she'd grabbed his hand, she looked ever so mildly confused. As if not entirely sure WHEN that had happened; one moment she'd been staring up at his eyes, and suddenly... he was very near. Oh so very near. And he was apologising, "Huh?" as if snapping from some sort of daydream, the koshka blinked again, her hand unconsciously curling into the fabric of his vest when he pulled away (WHY was he pulling away? For some odd reason and despite the earlier confusion, him pulling away was not what she wanted). However, just as she though that he was going to pull away entirely, he came back down to capture her lips, surprising her once more (my, but today was a day for surprises, was it not?). Despite the surprise and the fact she'd been caught mildly off guard, the hesitation lasted merely a few seconds before she corresponded in kind (clumbsily, but it was the intention that counted - she'd never really kissed anyone before after all). The hand that she'd curled around his waist pressed them together a bit further as she stood on tip toes.

Till she was out of breath, at which point she was forced to pull away from him, even if slightly. Kepi couldn't, for the life of her, even begin to figure out what it was that had happened, or what had really spurred it, but that didn't seem to matter because it felt right. For a moment, she hesitated, then she dug one hand into a pocket, all the while without tearing her gaze from his, and then lifted a small piece of candy up pressing it against his lips for him to take, "You taste sweet," came her words as she smiled up at him, looking almost bashful for the very first time.

The fact he was hiding from her (or rather, as much as he could, given the current situation they were in - which basically meant lowering his head so his bangs hid his eyes from view) came as no surprise to Kepi. He was prone to looking away when he felt uncomfortable, however, at this point, she felt it had more to do with the fact he felt uncomfortable with himself, rather than with her. Rather than let him reply immediately, the girl pressed the candy against his lips till he took it. Satisfied that he had complied, she smiled up at him again, "Upset?" she questioned lightly, "With you?" there was a small pause, though she kept her gaze on him, "No. I'm not upset with you. I can be upset with a storm, or with someone that glares at us when we walk down the road," oh, but she had seen them; the fact she didn't address them and chose to ignore them did not mean she didn't know they were there, "I can be upset with many things, but not with you. Not now anyhow..." another pause, "Actualy, I..." she faltered here, slightly flustered with herself, nervous, because after all, she had never really taken the time to question herself and now she was suddenly faced with a situation and facts she hadn't chosen to acknowledge, "Since when...?" her hands, still gripping his clothes, messed with it in her anxiety, clutching it and releasing it, as if a nervous tick to keep them occupied, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Suddenly, reaching home was no longer as important. Nor was the impending rain that was going to downpour any minute now, by the looks of those clouds. The world could have stopped moving for all Kepi cared; Hell could have frozen over and she wouldn't have noticed, so far into moment was she. In fact, if anyone would have asked her later on, the koshka could have lightly claimed to think that there had been no one else on the face of the planet but them at that precise moment.

Either way, there went her whole analogy of them being almost like family; family members didn't kiss. Or at least not like that anyways. Forced to face the entirety of the situation though, she was confused; what she had earlier thought to be true no longer applied, and yet the fact that this felt more right than anything else she had experienced also stood to reason. After a few moments of internal debate, which only showed briefly on her face via a small amount of confusion, Kepi decided to hell with reasoning. Right now, this felt right. He felt right. What ever 'this' was, was no doubt what she wanted, and thus, she could wait to figure out what 'this' was. She was in absolutely no rush whatsoever. That in mind, she hooded her eyes and stopped her mildly restless movement, "I've said it before... but I guess it was different," reaching around him, she hugged herself to him, closing her eyes to the emotions she yet could not name; the ones that bubbled at pit of her stomach, "I really do like you. I like you very, very much."