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[passedthroughfire]

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[passedthroughfire]

It's okay.

I can't promise I'll be perfect, either. I'm...I have no experience, I'm still just learning.

I have one other thing? But I don't quite know how to explain it.

[blumenthal]

[ There's a gentle nudge of his knee against hers. ]

I'm listening. Do your best, and we will figure it out.

[passedthroughfire]

Well, I feel so often that...

[her guilt is strong and immediate, but she tries to push through.]

...that when i want things, and I ask for them--which is hard enough--I am told that i have to compromise in some way. It would be nice to, um, have to feel less like I'm compromising all the time, in a relationship. You know?

[blumenthal]

[ Caleb is clearly sympathetic, giving a strained smile. ]

I don't think I have ever experienced a relationship, romantic or otherwise, where compromise was not necessary.

But I understand what you are saying. If I could give you what you asked for today, I would.

[ He shakes his head ruefully. ]

There are things that I can't rush, and trying would only hurt us both. I am sorry. Truly.

[passedthroughfire]

I know.

[she immediately regrets it, and is sort of looking for an exit strategy. running away and never speaking to Caleb again is looking more appealing by the second.

she stays.]

I meant...I meant if it gets to that. To a relationship? It would just be nice to...to feel like...never mind. I'm sorry. I know you--I'm happy to wait for you. That isn't what I meant.

[blumenthal]

Then I am sorry to have misinterpreted.

[ He is, genuinely. This isn't a conversation where he should be assuming he knows anything. ]

I don't want to promise things I am not sure I can fulfill. But I do want to...to do what I can to make sure you are happy and content, no matter what sort of relationship we have.

[passedthroughfire]

It's okay.

[she's quiet for a little while. She still kind of wants to bolt, but again suppresses the urge. Stays.]

Thank you. I appreciate that.

Is there anything you need from me?

[blumenthal]

Ja, there is. I need your reassurance that we will continue to spend time together as we have been. How else will we know each other better?

[ Caleb offers a thin smile and a squeeze of her hand, fingers threaded together. He also glances significantly toward the ray of warm sunshine stretching across the floor from the open window. ]

For a start, that seems like a good spot for a catnap.

[passedthroughfire]

[she smiles. The anxiety is leaving her a little at a time, and it's a warm, genuine smile.]

Yes, of course. That's easy--I planned on it anyway.

[her eyes follows his toward the sunbeam]

Oh, how'd you know, cat naps are my favorite.

[blumenthal]

[ Reassured, Caleb nods. This has gone about as well as it could have, he thinks. Things are clearer now, at least. ]

I guessed. [ It's so easy, as usual, to return her smile. ] They're mine too.

[passedthroughfire]

[she leans over, kisses him on the cheek.]

big cats or little?

[blumenthal]

[ His stomach definitely flips a little. All of her casual affection is so sweet. ]

Little, definitely. There's only so much sunbeam.

[ With a gesture and a few murmured words, Caleb's form shifts. A cat that could be Frumpkin's twin but for a pair of bright blue eyes rather than amber jumps down from the couch, tail up and trotting to the square of warm sunlight washed across the floor. ]

[passedthroughfire]

Good idea.

[the cat that she transforms into is surprisingly not orange--she's always liked a sort of dilute tortie look, probably because they're as spicy as she wants to be. Cat-Keyleth nuzzles affectionately against Cat-Caleb before following him, tail twitching, to the patch of sun, stretching out peacefully.]