deep in the woods (pt1)

The two relax by the bonfire as they sip on their cider. Not many words are shared between them, but not many are needed. Her long, sleek feline tail swishes a bit restlessly as she sips. As the cider warms her from the inside, her movements become a bit more languid and relaxed. The stress of being 'lost' in the corn maze was now gone, and she just focused on the present. The fire crackled as the flames licked the wood in the firepit, sending embers up into the darkening sky.

Her tail, without her realizing, swishes and drops on Rofaran's own, and rests there. He looks over at her in surprise, and she blinks at him unknowingly. Seeing his attention, though, she feels compelled to speak. "What do you think about what the others are saying?"

He looks sheepish. "About us?"

Kokoro blinks, confused. Then, awareness comes to light and she blushes. "What? No, Rofaran," she stutters, staring at him for a moment before shaking her head. "The others talk about us?" She thinks about the rest of her adventuring party—they were off doing something else tonight. Sab had teased her about not wanting to third-wheel the very obvious date between them. Which this ... wasn't. At least, not officially. But, if Kokoro had to be honest... it did feel like one... kind of.

Or maybe it was wishful thinking.

"Uh—that's not the point," she interrupts before Rofaran can say anything. She's curious, but she's way too flustered to talk about this now. "I meant how there might be a monster or something around."

Rofaran seemed surprised that she brought it up. "Even if there was a monster, the two of us are strong of us to handle it. You're strong enough to handle most things we come across on our adventures, anyway." Kokoro's heart swells from the compliment, and she has to look away from him. As she does, she notices huddles of some phims looking nervously into the forest. She wondered if they had heard or saw something. She's about to get up to investigate when a small cherub phim appears in front of you. Kokoro startles slightly, the fur on her hackles raising slightly.

"Oops! Didn't mean to scare ya~" the orange phim says sheepishly. "I'm Nellie! The host of the festival! I just wanted to pop on over and say hello, I'm hoping you two lovebirds are enjoying yourselves?"

"Oh, well, we're not-" Rofaran starts immediately, so quickly that the warm feeling in Kokoro's heart extinguishes almost immediately.

She forces a smile. "We're not like that. We're just some adventurers. We're part of the same party." There's a note of coldness in her voice as she says this, enough that it falters Nellie's smile and she understands not to push or tease further.

"Well--adventurers, then!" Nellie says quickly in recovery, and Kokoro and Rofaran nod in response. The cherub wags her long tail, tilting her head. "That works out! Maybe you two can patrol the grounds a bit, to make everyone feel a bit more at ease? They seem to think there's an owlbear out there or something!" She pauses, trying to gauge their thoughts. Some adventurers were only it for money, but the pair seemed willing to accept already. Two do-gooders, it seemed. "Well, if you wouldn't mind--I can throw in some free cider after?"

The pair agreed, and soon later the three of them were heading out into the forest, the curious and cautious eyes of other festival goers watching them leave. Nellie led the way, chatting with Kokoro as Rofaran mostly stayed quiet, looking around in the forest for these tracks that the others mentioned seeing. Fallen trees, strange pawprints... he didn't see any of it. Perhaps people were just telling spooky stories to fit the mood. He shook his head softly.