Backdated to before Claudius and Ulilohi leave for Anathema, if that's ok! Put it wherever fits in your timeline 8D
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[/html]The trek to Luna's home did not take long. After working with her so much in the agriculture project, Claudius decided that it was high time to pay her a personal visit and maybe have some tea. The tea wasn't necessary, and neither was his crafting bag that he carried with him, but the pretext was important for him. If he just showed up empty-handed like the first time, he'd feel too silly to talk to her. Besides, he wanted to pay her pack for the tea and the kindness she'd shown him when they had first met. But most of all, he wanted to pay her a social visit since they hadn't had time to chat in ages. Since he had been working on improving his craft and since assuming his responsibilities as Ulilohi's right-hand man, he'd been very busy.
He approached the village on two legs with his bag slung over his left shoulder and bumping comfortably against his right hip, and with a rabbit tied to a string dangling over his right shoulder. When he neared her hut, he dropped his right arm, which had been supporting the fresh catch, and dangled it at his side. He reached out to knock on something, but hesitated. He wasn't sure if she was home or somewhere else. After a few more seconds gathering his courage, he called out for his friend.
"Luh-luna?" he tried, hesitant. "I-it's Cuh-claudius," he added. [html]
The healer rarely had a day where she did not find something to do, be it hunting or gathering herbs for the growing stack at her home, or even checking the crops for any progress. Today was no exception, so she found herself stalking the stalls to check on the animals, especially the farm birds, Chika's home.
But soon enough, she had to accept that there was nothing else to do there, and so she headed straight towards her hut, where a few plants that needed to be classified waited for her on the table. So off she went, with the omnipresent Spirit Guide trailing behind her. Her train of thought drifted between trivial topics, like the weather and the crops, to the comrades whom had left the tribe in search of a safer place. It didn't hit her yet why they had done that. Wasn't the tribe safe enough now? Hadn't Claudius done a good job leading them?...
As if she had been hitten by a wave of frozen water, she halted, and for a moment only blinked. Lately the craftsman had managed to slide into her thoughts more frequently, and she was starting to feel a bit unnerved by those sudden intrusions. She had only talked to him well once, and that encounter had been accidental (she almost smirked at the memory of his puzzled face when she appeared). It had been funny, and she had truly enjoyed his company.
The woman didn't have to walk much before realizing that the very man he had been thinking about was now standong at her home's door, uncertainty written in all of his features, as if he feared interrupting her or something. She moved closer to him unaware of her silent approach, so, when she answered to his calling with an innocent "Yes?", she wasn't expecting that reaction.
[/html]Although the first time he had met Luna, it had been by accident, Claudius still felt waves of paranoia crash over him and threaten to engulf him. He was a worrier by nature, and so, he was worried that she would not want to see him, that he was interrupting her, or that he had approached the wrong hut. But she called out a reply and he felt his fluttering heart calm down for a moment. He took a breath to steady himself and then another to fuel his speech.
“I-I ca-a-ame tuh-to th-huh-hank yuh-you,” he began. He then realized that at some point, he’d reached out for the doorframe and clutched it tighter in an attempt to steady himself. “Personally,” he added, “suh-since I nuh-never... guh-got you anythi-i-i-ing... in return... for the tea... or huh-helping w-uh with... the Agri-c-c-cul-t-u-u-re... work... suh-so I thuh-though I’d... pa-a-ay... you a... v-i-i-isit... I hope... that’s... all-ri-i-ight?” Suddenly self-conscious, he wished he was holding his hands together so that he could wring them anxiously. [html]
[html] Why don't we make Luna convince Claudius into taking a dip with her?
The medic was a little bit surprised at Claudius' explanation. She had had little social interaction lately, mainly because of her habit of walking around the village, collecting herbs and mainly enjoying the fresh air. A couple of times she thought about the possibility of somebody in need of her attention, but the peaceful silence of the forest, unbroken, detered her from running back and quitting her enjoyable solitude.
However, she welcomed this change in the monotony that her life had acquired lately. "Well...that was no big deal. The tea, I mean. It was actually a pleassure to...have you here." She said, her voice unusually shaky. She noticed that he was in a similar state as hers, but augmented, which she found both strange and...cute. she reached his spotted shoulder with her hand and stroked it lightly, as if to sothe him down. "Why don't you come on in? I can prepare some tea, if you want." With her stack replenished, she had more than enough for both her friend and herself. But a glimpse over the male's shoulder ("His pelt looks more shiny than the last time I saw him, what has he done to it?") was enough to notice that she had no water. "Errr...or maybe not. I'll have to go for water first. Mind coming along with me?" She asked suddenly, withdrawing her hand and grabbing a bunch of the fabric of her skirt and twisting it nervously, but letting go of it almost immediatly. The river was not very far away from her home, so it would only take a few minutes to go for some water and go back to her hut. However, the thought of water also gave Luna an idea...
[/html] He was glad that Luna hadn't noticed that his entire reasoning for visiting her was contrived. Luckily, she seemed to be just as thick as he was in some social aspects, so it was a relief she hadn't seen through his poor ruse. He nodded quickly and emphatically when she responded. Yes, it was no problem, but he'd wanted to visit her anyhow. He hoped this much was obvious.
He jumped when she rested her hand on his shoulder, but was able to recover from the shock quickly enough. He supposed that being around Terra had had its benefits. Getting used to unexpected personal contact was one of them.
He nodded when she invited him in and was able to follow her, but had to stop when she froze abruptly. He gave her a curious look, but didn't say anything. When she suggested that they go to fetch water together, he nodded once in reply.
"S-s-s-ure," he said. "I wuh-will juh-hu-hu-ust luh-leave my-y ba-a-ag huh-here... so thuh-that I ca-a-an... help yuh-you ca-a-arry... the water..." he said, and then moved to put his bag down on the floor of her hut.
"Shuh-shall we?" he asked and then extended his arm, indicating that he was ready to set out--whenever she was. [html]
