The girl’s giggle sounded again and he felt his chest swell more. Impossible. Ra’s didn’t think it could inflate any more. But it did, and his smile widened as she fixed her ears forward and waved her pristine banner once more. She did not seem frightened, and for that he was thankful. He didn’t want her to fear him, not in the least bit. Such a thing, he felt, might kill him. Just the thought was unbearable.

The boy’s brow creased in a worried line when he saw her expression change and her body halt its pleasant motions as the first of his statements came to a close. What had he said wrong? His eyes questioned her before his mouth would move, but as he made to speak so did she and he gave her priority, falling silent. Her words made him pause, a perplexed look crossing his features for a moment as her concerns became clear. She… had taken his statement literally? Ra’s’ face broke into a grin and he chuckled softly, shaking his head in amusement as her eyes roamed his body.

He had begun the thought, he certainly didn’t mind her eyes on him. He wasn’t hurt and she would soon see that for herself. And, though he hated the idea that she had thought she might have accidentally struck him, he wasn’t of a mind to stop her roaming gaze. But that moment was soon gone. Her features brightened with another giggle and wave of her tail and she gave him an apology at which he could only chuckle again. She was… absolutely adorable. Simply disarming; she had him falling to pieces on the inside and he could not understand how or why. She was such a wonder.

”You certainly haven’t hurt me,” Ra’s assured her, amusement apparent in the warm, spring green gaze he set on her. For some reason, even if she had, he couldn’t see himself angry at the idea. Besides, such a soft, delicate little thing hardly seemed a threat with or without some crazy, magical magnetism. He felt no need to explain his phrasing. That moment was gone now and it was time for a new one.

Without warning, a metaphorical dam burst and she spoke suddenly of her home, her hobbies, and of an individual who had afforded her some tasks. If she had been anyone else, this might have been awkward. One didn’t normally pour their troubles on someone they had only just met, but the longer this moment lasted the more it became apparent that “normal” didn’t quite fit its description. Natural, though. Her words, her actions, the way she met his eyes with a familiarity that they should not have… It was undeniably natural, yet unquestionably magical.

Ra’s’ head tilted to the side as he wondered how he might comfort this angel’s concerns, as that now seemed like the thing he needed to do. ”Maybe you are mistaken?” He questioned her passively, voice thoughtful. ”After all, it's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” It was something his mother had told him when he was younger; when he questioned her better judgment on the daily. But she was right.

With a few measured steps, Ra’s closed the distance between them until they were but a foot apart, no longer able to tolerate their distance. ”Let’s say this Sinopa has you out gathering moss,” he continued with a quick glance down to the spongy ball at their paws before locking with her infinite navy blue pools again. ”This moss, I assume you will be using it for the next season’s mothers? I remember the medicine woman using it for my cousins’ birth. So, it is necessary. But if you did not collect the moss, what would they use to help the new mothers? What you are doing is the very opposite of useless.”

He held her gaze, appreciating the fine details of her perfect, fathomless eyes from his new proximity as a warm smile pulled at his lips. From here, her scent surrounded him and he was lost in her sweet perfume and angelic features. The forest around them, the babbling stream behind him; for the moment, they ceased to exist.

and I've been doing just fine