Loving and Learning

First Flighting Part 1

Dante watched the two sisters. He can feel his mouth wanting to smile at seeing Elvira's tenderness, it was so pure. He bit him lip and kept watching, eventually the harsh reminder that he was rarely like this with his siblings came, making keeping his frown easier. Deidra eventually curled up to Elvira and fell asleep. Elvira turned back to Dante.

"So Dante, some neighborhood dogs we know are doing a pool party at their house at night in about a week, would you like to come?" Gonna be lots of animals there I know, I can introduce you." Elvira asked.

"A lot of animals hanging around a pool going crazy. Yeah I'm sure someone is bound to drown." Dante said with some hints of sarcasm.

"Tee hee, don't worry, there will be tons floating stuff to keep everyone safe." Elvira said.

"Sure some human will get annoyed with all the ruckus and call animal control, yeah no thanks." Dante flatly said.

Elvira again frowned.

"Well.....ok if you don't wanna go." She said, her voice hinting to disappointment.

As she looked away to check on Deidra, Dante lowered his head sadly, feeling some hatred towards himself.

"Well maybe we can just hang with Dolly and Dylan again soon." Elvira suggested. "Wonder if they like a hike in the woods at night."

"Still bent on getting us cursed are you, cause we all need that, besides Dylan and Dolly have already been in the woods once at night." Dante said, acting bored.

Elvira paused briefly

"Are you sure you're ok Dante, you seem like something is upsetting you?"

"I'm fine, nothing is wrong." Dante said flatly.

Elvira wasn't convinced, but she felt unsure if she should pursue it further.

"Is....he mad at me or something?" She thought.

Dante read her face, he knew she suspected. He turned away as he can Elvira's expressions of worry form, he couldn't bare seeing it.

"Well if you say so." She said.

She took her paw and place it on his.

"But if you ever need to talk, just tell me." She finished.

Dante can feel his face heat up at Elvira's soft and gentle touch. Her face gazed at him with beautiful eyes that also hinted her own feelings to him.

"Dude have you not seen the way that girl looks at you or gets really happy to be around you, that's not typical for anyone to act around another if they weren't into them."

He desperately wanted to take his other paw and lay it on hers. His tail wagged slightly and he can feel sweat forming in his paw pads.

"No, NO! You can't crack!" Dante thought.

He hastily pulled his paw away.

"Trust me Elvira I'm fine. Dolly and Dylan have been helping me more and everyone else, I don't need any more emotional support." He insisted.

Elvira flinched a bit. Dante knew he struck something there.

"Oh....alright then." She said, giving a uneasy smile.

Dante felt like innards were twisting. She was clearly bothered but was still holding a smile.

After that, there was just silence for about at least twelve minutes. Dante and Elvira watched Juday and Cleo doing skateboarding tricks, but Dante couldn't relax. He wanted to punch himself for what he said, knowing what it implied to her. He felt tempted to take it all back, to apologize and comfort her, but he couldn't. He had to protect her, even if it hurts.

"Hey Elvira, can you come over and help Cleo with photos?" Juday suddenly called out.

Elvira got up, picking up Deidra and placing her back in flower bed, being careful not to wake Deidra.

"I'll be back." Elvira said.

She walked away, a little relieved to get away from the awkward air surrounding them. She looked down at the ground as she walked.

"I must have done something wrong." Elvira thought.

Her slightly distraught face didn't escape Juday.

"Are you ok Elvira?" Juday said.

"Huh?" Yeah I'm fine." Elvira insisted.

She grabbed a camera that was on the ground.

"Well then come on, let's get started." Cleo said.

Back at the flower bed, Dante to felt a bit of relief away from the awkwardness, but he felt no better about the situation as a whole, he was hoping he can get this over with by the end of the day. He turned to check on Deidra.

And she was suddenly awake, peaking her head out from the bed and staring at him. Dante looked once on the side before looking back at her, it was back to more awkwardness.

"H-Hey Deidra, uhhhh Elvira just went over there i-if you're looking for her." Dante said, pointing where Elvira was at.

But Deidra's gaze stayed on him and she took a small unsure step, still showing she was still afraid. An idea came up to Dante.

"Deidra matters so much to Elvira, if I made her uncomfortable, then I'm sure Elvira would tell me to leave." He thought.

"I-I'm uh"

"Hmmm?"

He was disrupted with the sound of a meek voice. He focused back on Deidra, who's mouth was hanging down as she tried to find her words, visibly nervous.

"I'm s-sorry I-I got s-scared the other day?" Deidra stuttered.

Dante was a bit off guard, he hadn't expected her to talk to him, especially without Elvira next to her.

"Oh uh, it's ok." Dante said, not sure what to say.

Deidra looked down, shaking a bit and stepping slightly back further into the bed. Watching the poor kitten struggle just to make simple eye contact was hard to watch and disheartening. Dante remembered what Elvira had said to him, about Deidra's story as an abandoned stray.

"No....I can't do that. This cat has clearly gone through enough from everything I know so far and I don't need to be part of it." Dante thought.

She was still looking down.

"Do you, ummm like Elvira?" Deidra asked.

Dante's eyes widen, surprised she was asking. He had a feeling that Deidra was sorta Elvira's wing kitty. He figured it was likely Elvira had spent a lot of time talking about him, likely even gushing about him, unaware of his own strong feelings to her.

Nobody could know.

"I m-mean, she's a great friend, if that's what you mean?" Dante said, playing dumb.

Deidra gave a slight smile, but also hints she was disappointed.

She was ready to speak again but was interrupted as a shadow loomed over. Both Dante and Deidra turned to see Juday standing over them. Dante gulped, he felt his nerves becoming tense, sensing something was up.

"Oh hey Juday." Deidra said.

Juday only briefly looked at her before turning his attention on Dante.

"Deidra why don't go over to your sisters for a bit, I like to talk to Dante if you don't mind." Juday said.

Dante felt as though his eyes were gonna pop from their sockets.

Deidra didn't say anything and did as she was told. Dante wished she stayed out, he didn't want to be alone with him. Juday as always looked as blank as ever, and yet it was terrifying Dante more than ever, and he felt frozen in fear as Juday stared at him.

Dante's facade cracked even more.

"He knows, doesn't he?"