I Didn't Think It Would Happen Like This

[Tree]

/He was pretty epic. /

He joked gently. He didn't share her opinions, he thought he was still him. But she was so intent on it so.... why not through a teeny tiny bit of fun in it?

[Sushi]

Willow gently poked his skin with the hooked finger.

"I loved him too. With my whole heart," she sulked.

[Tree]

Ansel softened, shifting to cup her face.

"He just had to grow up, Willow. "

He was sorry for it, too.

[Sushi]

"no. Not ever. I'll protect you from that."

Her words were soft, expression fragile as a tear skidded over his fingers. However, she harbored a sudden and intense fierceness in her heart. It seemed more and more that Willow's insides were often vastly different from what she showed on the outside.

[Tree]

Ansel looked at her, surprised by how she felt so strongly for that, pulling her up to kiss him now, arms wrapping up hold her close.

/I love you, Willow. /

[Sushi]

Willow melted into him, and for a little bit she was still. Eventually, though, she tugged on his shirt to get his attention and captured his mouth once she had.

/I want this to change everything,/ she whispered while they were both distracted by the kiss.

It was a dangerous secret and a stupid one to say, but he said he wanted her to try, so she was. It was all in pieces dropped onto him like tiny pebbles.

[Tree]

Ansel was more focused on how his wife kissed him, pulling on her hair a bit as his fingers twisted in it.

/ I'm more than happy to follow your lead. /

He was sincere, too. He wasn't implicating innuendo or thinking it might crash and burn. He just wanted to walk whatever road they went on, with her. Together.

[Sushi]

Willow let her head tip back a bit as he pulled, mouth falling away.

"If you wanted me to stop, you could have just said so."

It was a weak one but a joke all the same, a type of olive branch offered to let the rest be put aside for the moment. She wouldn't be able to stand much more of the hard stuff right now.

[Tree]

Ansel smiled, tickling her sides a bit. He caughter her unspoken need for a break, kissing at her face.

"Where would my honor as a man be if I asked for a break first? "

He chuckled, nipping along her collar, punctuating each nibble with a fluttering of tiny kisses.

[Sushi]

"I didn't say you had to ask?"

Willow tilted her head to the side, for the moment just enjoying the little thrills his teeth sent through her nerves and the fuzzy warmth of his kisses.

[Tree]

/Mmmhmm, there's the manly looophole ... you know, if I were the sort. Just take what ya want, right? /

He was very much joking, fingers dipping just below the hem of her shirt to lightly caress along her hips and back.

[Sushi]

"I meant more like telling instead of asking."

Willow didn't like that joke. It had made her feel dirty and a little afraid, which in turn made her feel guilty for being so oversensitive about something that wouldn't have bothered her at all in the past. She didn't mention it, but she did pull back and turn in his lap so she could watch the street instead of face him.

"That seemed like a manly compromise."

[Tree]

Ansel caught it and felt bad. He hadn't meant... he hugged her gently, watching the street.

"I'm manly asking, too. I don't want to be a conquer. I want to be a partner. "

He shared tenderly, hoping she understood.

[Sushi]

Willow rested her hands on the arms around her waist.

"Being manly is not a prerequisite for me liking you."

[Tree]

"I like to think I'm OK for you sometimes..."

He kissed her cheek softly.

"Even when I'm stupid. "

[Sushi]

Willow nodded in agreement, tilting her head towards him with mutual affection.

"you're being so good to me right now. And most everything good in my life happened because of you."

[Tree]

"I hope to overfill your cup with happiness. "

He answered with a smile at her.

[Sushi]

"that's... A lot."

She learned back to rest against his chest.

[Tree]

"I suppose it might feel that way...... but I hope to do it well enough that it feels comfortable and easy. "

He answered with a bright smile.

[Sushi]

Willow tilted her head back to look up at him.

"I can't even imagine."

[Tree]

"Well then, we'll just have to get painting you a dream beyond your wildest dreams. "

He shared with a warm grin, stealing a long, adoring kiss.

[Sushi]

Willow pulled away when the upside down kiss started to put a crick in her neck.

"I want all of you to be that happy."

That was the biggest dream she could think of that didn't feel ridiculous or stupid to want.

[Tree]

"Well, then it sounds like it's our turn to have a happily ever after. "

Ansel shared with a warmth in his tone, kissing at her neck.

[Sushi]

That one hit her somewhere deep and vulnerable. Like a single plucked cord, it shook her at her core. That was the biggest of all dreams, even though it was also one that she couldn't believe in. Whether that should be classified as "couldn't anymore" or "couldn't yet" would remain to be seen. Either way, she stood up to try to feel balanced again.

"Can we go on another walk?"

[Tree]

"Anywhere you want. "

Ansel answered, standing to take his wife's hand and follow after her.

[Sushi]

Willow wasn't really choosing anything in particular. She really just wanted to peek in display windows, so to speak. She snuck a glance at people on the street, idly imagining what kinds of creatures they might actually be.

And when the street ran out and they were just walking through the old forest, she let him lead.

"It really seems so familiar and so strange at the same time."

[Tree]

Ansel glanced over his wife. Eyebrow quirking up in question as he gently tucked her hand into his elbow.

"Oh?"

[Sushi]

Willow nodded.

"I know I've never been here before, but it's like there's something I almost remember constantly at the edges."

She considered a particularly ancient tree.

"I like it."

[Tree]

"Those sorts of feelings are almost homey, huh? "

He shared with a smile, looking about.

"Do you think Gus would be just as accepted among your new friends as you were? "

He asked, unbothered in the slightest by the thought that it could be otherwise. He was just considering maybe a family trip here someday. It would be nice to expand the children's knowledge and travel logs for recreational intents.

[Sushi]

Willow was befuddled by the question.

"He's human. He can be accepted anywhere."

[Tree]

"Uh.... you think? "

So he didn't directly disagree, but he was so caught off guard by the notion of humans accepted anywhere that he was fully distracted from his prevision thoughts.

"I do not know that I've ever noticed that....."

But she was right and how she had just blown his mind was impressive.

[Sushi]

"You don't have to worry about being accepted, so maybe it's just not on your radar?"

She shrugged.

[Tree]

Ansel looked at her with a slight wince.

"Not exactly not worried about it. "

Just never thought of it. Whenever they traveled it was seen as being touristic, so kind and welcoming. Diplomatic efforts were just as likely to be welcoming as murderous, but it was just what the job was. But Nirmal life..... he didn't really care who did or didn't want him around so long as they left him be.

[Sushi]

Willow merely shrugged again before resting her head on his shoulder and waiting for him to start walking again.

"It's not a bad thing. It's not even a big deal. I was just saying that my entire life has been centered around trying to seem human for that very reason, so of course I noticed."

[Tree]

"I would.... this is silly. Everyone should be able to fit in as they are. To heck with anyone who thinks otherwise. "

Humans could be blindly accepted everywhere? Everyone should be then. Or, that's how he felt about it.

[Sushi]

Willow smiled a little, comforted by the childlike view.

"You would what?" She pressed curiously.

"What were you going to say?"

[Tree]

"I would think humans would fear themselves the most. They've done the most destruction to one another.... they're who should be unwelcome if any were. "

He admitted with a small shrug.

[Sushi]

Aww. Dang, she had been hoping for more cuteness. Oh well.

"Coming from the same man that mentioned killing someone for being irritating is acceptable to his kind?"

Willow waved it away.

"It's okay. No sense in should-haves anyway."

[Tree]

"It's so stoooopid, though. People should be able to just.... exist, you know? So he has a tail or she has wings or an extra eye or something. None of that hurts anyone else unless the one operating the meat suit intends it. Punish the individual meat suit ; not all the innocents."

He was not a fan of any form of segregation unless it was to keep all safe.

[Sushi]

Willow shrugged.

"It's not about us. You realize that, right? We're just the reparation - serving the sentence for our parents' sins. There wouldn't been existing conceptions if the people before us hadn't done sufficient harm."