Tisis

Rescue Party (N)

As we sit at the campfire Julia had prepared, the immediate stress of the situation we just barely escaped slowly melts away in the flickers of the flames before us.

All the dogs eye the flames nervously and keep their distance...well, all except for Ray, who plops himself down next to Sirus and Tyr, whom we basically had to stop from jumping right inside.

Eventually, over the scarce meal, Julia, who sits next to me, sits up and takes my hand, saying something, "Now, let me see...you probably didn't even know, which fin..."

She stops mid-sentence, gets up, squats down in front of me and takes my other hand, inspecting my fingers.
I'm too tired to stop her.

"Um...Nym, where...where is the ring?"

Sirus chimes in, while producing the package from his clothes, "Ah yes, they are here."
"And...and why do...she...she did say 'Yes', didn't she? So why isn't she..."
"Actually, she didn't," Sirus begins to explain and causing Julia's jaw to drop.

"W-what is wrong with you, woman?!" she suddenly yells, standing up to her full height, her face a grimace of anger and disappointment.

The shadows the dancing lights of the fire cast give her a surreal, if not even demonic look.

Of course the dogs also look what all the ruckus is about and some of them growl, because Julia's screech apparently woke them up.

Before I can even open my mouth to answer, Julia takes my shoulders and starts shaking me, "After all that trouble, after he finally opens up and frigging proposes to you, you turn him down?! What's your problem?! Does that turn you guys on or something?!"

Sirus cuts in, "Stop it, Julia and listen before you jump to conclusions. She did not 'turn me down' either."
Julia turns around to Sirus, her anger changing to confusion.
"She...wait, what other answers than 'Yes' and 'No' are there?"

While my world is still spinning a little, Sirus answers calmly, "'Ask me again later'. And I have to agree with her. We were...under a lot of stress down there. So she asked me, to ask her again, once we're out of there and our life has normalized again. She just did not want to make an impulsive decision, that's all."
"But it's supposed to be impulsive! And surprising! And romantic! And..."
"And what planet do you hail from?" I ask.

Julia, completely taken aback, turns around and looks at me, before asking, "Come again, please?"
"This is Tisis. Impulsive actions can get you killed here. And...I don't want him to promise me 'to stay with me until we die', when this 'until we die' is most likely just hours away. I want him to do it, because he wants to."
"We did change our relationship status though, if it's any comfort to you."
"Ah yeah? To what?"
"Friends with benefits."

Heh...I guess that's true...

"Friends with benefits, huh? Hey Nym, mind if I borrow your 'friend' every now and then, then?"
"Sorry Julia, not interested," Sirus is quick to answer.
"Aww, spoilsport."

I shake my head at Julia's feeble attempt to force a reaction from me, and change the topic, "Alright now...time to fess up, Julia. How are you here? And what are you doing with a whole pack of winged dogs?"

Julia looks down at me, scratches her head and then returns to her place to sit down.

"Yeah, about that...Ray did not take me to the colony...you sure scared him good with your 'the world is going to end' speech...so, after fetching a few supplies from the cave, like the water pouch Tyr here brought down for you, we took off right away."

Tyr perks up at the mention of his name, jumps to his stubby little feet, sticks out of his tongue and his tail wags energetically.

Suddenly Sirus says, "Come to think of it...Tyr's a girl, isn't she?"
"Yes, she is. See? No wings up here and no junk down here," Julia explains and tickles Tyr's belly.
"I thought something was strange, but it took me a while to realize it...heh, called her a 'him' the entire time. Oops."
"Eh, I don't think she minds all that much. From how I understand it, she'd rather have been born a guy anyway. But why do you ask?"
"Oh, just curious...I didn't think that the females left the pack."
"They usually don't, but Tyr here kinda insisted on coming along. So she rode on Ray's back...and it was damn good she did. There's no way we could have made it in time, if not for her."