Farin felt that his mother had a great point, so he calmed his mood by repeating to himself that he would have to wait for the right moment.
Cyrille was sticking close to him, but the man wasn't allowed to follow him anymore the moment Farin said he had to do tasks that Cyrille couldn't see. The man wasn't overly happy about it, but he had no choice but to leave whenever that argument came up.

In the courtyard, Lori giggled happily next to Farin, leaning against him and making something.
"What are you up to?", Farin asked curiously, peeking over her head to look at what she held in her hands. It was a grasshopper - made out of actual grass and leaves, woven together to form the insect. "A toy?"
"A present!" "Oh my. For whom?"
Lori punched his arm for the teasing tone, her face flushing angrily. "It's not like that! But that idiot has said he hasn't ever seen one, so I thought I'd show him." The 'idiot' was one of the boys playing with Lori, that much Farin knew.

He petted her head, deciding not to tease her any further. "That's kind of you. Can I have one as well?"
"Hmm! This one is for you!" Lori immediately handed over the grasshopper, beaming. Farin smiled. "Thank you very much." Seeing the toy, he felt like showing it to Alvarr. The God might even take the children along today, and they'd surely like it.

I finally have some more time to visit him today, Farin thought happily. He hadn't dared to go since the ceremony.
"I'm off now, Lori. I'll be back later." "Yes! See you later." Her cheerful voice sent him off.

Farin unceremoniously sat down in the grass, letting himself fall back into the soft green and staring up. Most of his sight was filled with the rocky walls reaching into the sky, blurring in the distance. Far up above, the opening was showing a bright blue.

"It's beautiful here", he whispered to himself, falling into a daze. Everything about this place was inviting him to stay forever, a world so different from outside even though all that parted it was a wall of stone.

Suddenly, a ticklish feeling appeared on his cheeks; red strands of hair softly caressing his skin as a pair of golden eyes moved over him and a beautiful face blocked his view.
Farin twitched in surprise.
Alvarr was perfectly still while waiting for Farin to react to his sudden appearance. He had snuck closer without a sound, obviously surprising Farin, but whether that was a negative thing depended on Farin's reaction.

After a moment of just staring at the beautiful face not too far from his own but flipped upside down, Farin felt a wide grin growing on his face. With a chuckle, he reached up, allowing his fingers to curl themselves into the soft hair around Alvarr's ears, fingers caressing the other's skin.

"Hello", he greeted with a relaxed whisper.

Alvarr returned the greeting with a quiet call, then lowered his head. Farin froze at seeing the face approach his, when it tilted to the side. Soft lips and skin rubbed against the sensitive area of his throat, the purring hum of Alvarr's sounds transmitting to his skin. Farin's fingers were still intertwined in Alvarr's hair, going along with the movement of the God's greetings.

Ah... Whatever. It's not like anyone else is here, a thought whispered inside Farin's head. Who cared if this was abnormal behavior for a human? Alvarr wasn't human, and there was no one to judge around.
Relaxing, Farin leaned his head to nuzzle against Alvarr's, returning the motion with happy chuckles. Alvarr's purrs grew louder, his ear folding under Farin's fingers.

After maybe 15, 20 seconds of intimate contact, Alvarr lifted his head, tilting it so that Farin's hand was at his cheek and nuzzling against it for a moment. Farin's heart throbbed.
The Alvarr looked content with the touch, his ear folded down in a peaceful gesture - he looked so defenseless and happy, Farin's fingers twitched with the desire to pull him down for more cuddling.

He bit his tongue, letting his hand sink while Alvarr moved around him to sit at his side, looking down at him with an expression of comfortable ease on his face. "Hello", he purred, the word earning a rumble along with the sound.

"Yeah, I guessed that was your greeting", Farin chuckled, raising his upper body into a seating posture. The twinges in his heart were annoying. He felt like a bad person, enjoying the greeting with completely different intentions.
His neck was still warm with Alvarr's breath.

He hid the feeling behind a friendly smile. Now I feel like a pervert.
Alvarr's tail moved behind his back, slow and relaxed, not understanding the other's plight. His mouth opened slowly. "Today... ba-ket... not?", he tried, and Farin blinked with delight. "You've learned more words!"

He leaned forward, pointing to his mouth.
"Basket", he said, then repeated the word slowly until Alvarr could say it right. "You don't have a basket today? No basket today?"

Alvarr made an approving sound then carefully asked: "Long and short?"
Farin nodded. "Yes. 'You don't have a basket today?', long sentence. 'No basket today?', short sentence." Alvarr nodded. "No basket today?", he asked once more, this time with almost perfect pronunciation. Farin hummed in agreement.

Alvarr smiled, showing off his white carnivore teeth. Most of the teeth Farin could see were dangerously pointed, probably a weapon on their own. His fingers are claws, too.

Remembering something, Farin held out his palm. "Give me your hand." Alvarr blinked, thoughtfully looking at Farin's hand, then placed his own hand into the other's while watching Farin to see if he had understood correctly.
Farin glanced at the hand on his palm. Alvarr's fingers seemed longer than an ordinary human's, thinner but stronger. Towards the tips of his fingers, his skin turned darker and thicker, ending in blackish, thick nails. He could probably pierce a body with that, Farin mused, but surprisingly didn't feel worried. Without a word, he turned Alvarr's hand so that his palm pointed up, then used his free hand to take out the grasshopper from a pocket on his robe and placing it into the open palm.

Alvarr made a noise of surprise and curiosity, pulling back his hand to take a closer look at the green thing. His ears and tail twitched curiously as he poked it and turned it around, letting his thumb glide over the woven structure.

"Mine?", he asked, glancing up at Farin with his golden eyes. When the carrier nodded, he smiled again. "Thank you."
"I wonder if your people have toys like that, too?", Farin muttered, more to himself. "You probably live quite differently from us." Alvarr reacted to his mutters by blinking. While he didn't talk too much, he seemed to understand more words than he let on at first glance. Farin felt that the God just didn't enjoy talking too much, but still listened to his words.

"Do you know grasshoppers?", he asked, pointing at the green figure and then at the forest. Farin flicked his tail, then frowned as he looked at the insect. Finally, he shook his head. With a long finger and sharp nail, he drew into a patch of earth next to them. The sketch showed an insect akin to a branch-like praying mantis.
"That kind of insect? But as large as the grasshopper?" Once more, using his fingers to point out the length of the toy. Alvarr shook his head again, then stretched out his arms. Stretched out some more, frowned, then realized his arms were already stretched as far as possible and awkwardly making a sound.

"...Larger?", Farin asked with a twitching face. Alvarr nodded. "...I think I don't want to go into that forest alone..."

A praying mantis was creepy enough for its size. While he couldn't tell what kind of insect the drawing was exactly, the mere thought of having such a thing in large was causing him to shiver.

Alvarr saw him shiver and tugged at Farin's sleeve to catch his attention. With a finger pointed at his body, he solemnly said: "Protect."

A warm feeling settled in Farin's heart as he laughed. "Will you? Thanks. That feels much safer."
The Alvarr stood up with his eyes glancing at the forest before bending at his waist to look at Farin again. Actually, the human had noticed already that Alvarr avoided not sharing the same eye-height, so he tried to do the same. Hurriedly standing up to put them on equal height again, he turned to face the forest. "Is something there?"

"Go?" "Ehh..." The carrier awkwardly rubbed his neck. "Only a bit?" Alvarr was wanting to show him the forest, but it really was rather creepy.
The God walked forward slowly, looking back again and again until Farin was walking at his side. Human and God kept close to each other, one very relaxed, the other looking around with a mixture of curiosity and nervosity. The trees were growing up to the sky, creating a ceiling of branches and leaves, immediately making the surroundings much darker. The ground was beginning to be overgrown with thick bushes mere meters into the forest and - to Farin's surprise - tilted slightly. If he looked carefully enough, he could tell that the ground was sloping downwards.

Hesitating, Farin stopped walking. Alvarr stopped at the same moment, fixing Farin with a still body, warily lifting his ears. Farin looked back to the entrance of the cave. "Let's go back, I don't think I have the time to explore today", Farin finally said. His shoes weren't suited to parading through the thicker and thicker growing foliage up front and the daylight would vanish quickly once the sun went down. He'd rather not be here in the dark, despite the strong guide at his side.

Alvarr didn't look offended at all, leading him right back out of the forest and looking Farin up and down again to make sure he wasn't hurt or feeling unwell. "I'm fine", the human confirmed, turning in a circle to prove it. Just as he was facing with his back towards the God, Alvarr made a noise that had Farin freeze immediately.

What?? What is it?? Am I not fine, after all?!

His blood was chilling as something tugged at the back of his clothes, making clicking sounds. Alvarr answered them and the clicks returned more annoyed, the force tugging at his back growing stronger. An annoyed sound by Alvarr, then the force was gone with a very angry clicking. Farin didn't dare to move an inch, his face white until Alvarr walked around him, showing him what had been attached to his back.

The little thing was no type of animal he had ever seen before. It looked ferocious and fluffy, biting and tearing small bloody wounds into the hand that gripped it tightly, although the hand's owner ignored it. Alvarr pulled the animal to his chest, frowning at Farin. "Sorry. Mine."
"Your... pet?", Farin asked carefully, staring at the angry furball. Its furious face didn't really look like something you'd want as a pet. Especially not if it was prone to biting and scratching.

"Pet?" "An animal that is yours." "Ah. Yes, pet." More staring at the slowly calming down animal. With its numerous eyes, it blinked up at Farin, tail and paws drooping in a dejected manner. It's sad appearance turned from frightening to downright adorable. Farin tried to reach out for it, keeping a safe distance, just checking how it reacted to him. The little thing stretched out is paws, waving them towards his hands, making sad and longing clicks without showing its teeth. Its desperate, struggling appearance was rather adorable.

"Is it dangerous?", Farin asked Alvarr. The animal had just been hanging from his back, he hadn't felt it at all. That meant it hadn't tried to hurt him, but was being carried along. Alvarr raised it to his face, where it snarled, before twisting its body to wave for Farin again.
"Uhm, safe?", Alvarr questioningly said, obviously not quite certain. Farin tried approaching it with his fingers anyway, ready to jolt back at any second.

The animal perked up at the sight, rubbing itself against Farin's palm the moment it was close enough, curling its tiny claws around his fingers. Farin relaxed and smiled at the feeling of its prickly fur. "Oh, does it like me?"
Alvarr stared down, then suddenly pulled his hand away and -

- threw the animal into the forest. Furious clicks sounded from the animal, but it didn't return again.
Stunned, Farin looked after it, his hand still frozen in place. Alvarr was nonchalantly turning back to him, as if nothing had ever happened, tail waving relaxedly. It was slightly bizarre, but who was a human to understand the thoughts of a God?

"Aaaalright. I won't question that."
Despite not being too articulate, Alvarr skillfully changed the topic. With a sound, he attracted Farin's attention, then tried to explain himself while pointing into a certain direction of the forest. "Home." "Is that where you live?" A nod. "Home, father. Father... know, your words."
There it was, the information that Farin had wondered about. His eyes widened as he stared at Alvarr, completely forgetting about the animal. "Your father can speak my language? He taught you?" "Yes. Next visit, go father, talk?"

The sentence was cut up, but the meaning was conveyed. Farin felt elated, hurriedly nodding.
His heartbeat was rising. I can see where they live? And even talk freely to one of them that understands me? The pleasant anticipation of exploring an unknown world while also meeting someone who could maybe answer some of his questions was making him fidgety.  

"Of course! If it's fine for me to go, then I'd really like to!" His body twitched to jump over and hug Alvarr - a behavior he was used to from Eylir, who liked jumping his friends whenever he was overjoyed. It had rubbed off on him a bit, but he was rarely as giddy as he was in this cave.
Realizing the person in front of him wasn't one of his usual friends, though, he stopped in the middle of the motion with an awkward jolt and leaned back with a cough. 

Alvarr blinked, lifting his arms the same way Farin had done and waiting. "What?", he asked, curiously waiting for Farin to show him the unfinished gesture. The human looked at him with an awkward face. "No, that, just a hug..." "Hug?" Alvarr kept his arms up and Farin stared at them, contemplating. I feel like I'd take advantage of him... But on the other hand, a hug isn't really overly intimate, is it?

Coming to a conclusion, Farin ended up approaching Alvarr after all, leading the man's hands to be on his waist's height on one side, on his shoulder's height on the other. Then he wrapped his own arms around Alvarr's shoulder and waist. 
Mirroring the movement, the God wrapped his arms around the other as well, giving a purr and nuzzling his head against Farin's cheek again when he realized his head was right next to the human's.

...No, I'm pretty sure I'm taking advantage of him. With a body the same as his own height and soft hair like fur on his skin, the Alvarr - whose body temperature was higher than a human's - was very comfortable to hug. Added to that, with the fact that he seemed to be used to body contact, he had no intentions of retreating from Farin at all, resulting in them staying in that position for way too long.

Feeling the rumbling purr on his chest, Farin exhaled slowly, looking up at the sky. His heart was aching.

The God wasn't hostile at all, but to Farin he was dangerous in a completely different way.

Owl

Cuddles!

Theatre

Spoiler

Alvarr: "Hug!"
Farin: "...Sure."

In the forest
Small animal: " >:C "
Small animal: "I was just trying to get along with your waaaay nicer spouse-to-be, ah?!"

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