Post#:
20491368

>"You can take this blindfold off, Anon, I know where we are." said Gilda, her voice as dry as the soft sand underfoot.
>"It'd be kind of hard not to, considering what it- ...means and stuff." she says, gruffly, trying to hide her embarrassment at getting sentimental.
"Alright, alright, I'll take it off." you respond, undoing the knot in the red hanky on the backside of her head, and stuffing it into your pocket.
"I was only trying to be romantic, you know. Make a cute little gesture and all that."
>"Yeah, I know, dude." she says, squinting in the powerful sunlight.
>"It's not like you screwed that up or anything." suddenly letting that sentimentality come through in that rough voice of hers. Gilda adds a light, jovial punch to your leg at that, then thinks better of it and reaches around to your far leg and hugs you towards her.
>You've always liked how griffons have to go out of their way to use the safe parts of their talons when doing stuff like this.
>Especially when Gilda does it. And not because her skin's particularly soft or anything like that.
>Just cause it's her.
>You put one of your arms around her and return the gesture; both of you staring at the horizon over the water.
>You let a little time pass wordlessly. Something about the sound of waves on a shore, you know?
****

"Pfft-ahahaha!" you abruptly fail to stifle your laughter.
>"What the hell's so funny?" says Gilda, sneaking juuuust the right amount of standoffishness into her voice, and easing away from your side-by-side embrace ever so slightly.
"It's just-"
"I keep trying not to flashback to when you found me washed up here, but I can't seem to stop it."
"I must've replayed your 'hey. you alright, you weird-lookin' thing?' like 50 times in my head already."
"I *giggle* swear I still feel that stick you poked my side with! Right here!" you say, pointing to the spot, "You believe that?"
>"Hey, don't give me no crap about that. We been over that I didn't know if you were gonna like, bite, or something."
>"Besides, of course I believe it, moron. I still remember the exact way you stuttered out 'guh-guh-guh-griffon!' when you saw me!"
>You both share a laugh there. Even though she put on an extra-stupid voice when imitating you, since you know she doesn't mean anything by it.
"Heh heh, yeah. I- figured it might be nice to come back here today, since..." you just know she's raised an eyebrow and turned to look at you there, even though you're avoiding looking at her.
"...Since I'm going back to Earth in a few days."
There.
It's out.

And it seems to just hang in the air for a second before-
>"WHAT?" and just like that she ends your tender hug and steps away.
>"You're unbelievable! You're j-j-just 'going back', just like that?! And you only think to tell me *right* before it happens?!"
"You think it's easy to break that kind of news to you!? It's... Jesus, I've been losing sleep over this!"
>"You friggin' better have lost sleep! You're gonna leave me?! I thought this meant something, dammit!"
>This is getting too angry. Reel it in.
"Gilda. I have a wife back there. I told you that on the night we kissed. I still love her, you know. I told you that too. I know I did."
>Silence.
"You mean a lot to me, but I'm not just gonna leave her hanging like that. Hell, with all the time I've been gone, I'll be lucky if she hasn't killed herself out of grief."
>Silence.
>"Fine. Go back." says your griffon lover, wings spreading.
>"I don't even care!"
>"I'll hatch it myself!" she says suddenly taking off, and flying past the cliffs that line this beach.
"'Hatch it'? Gilda, did you lay an egg?!"