race me! race me!

When Mortis stumbled through his words Hanako had a hard time suppressing a smile. She bit down on her lip as she looked forward, intently focused as she counted the number of seagulls soaring overhead. Though in reality he probably wouldn't mind, Hanako was convinced that if she laughed it would hurt his feelings and he'd be so very offended that he'd never want to speak to her again! More than that, as silly as it sounded she wanted to laugh with him, not at him. Though they'd only just met she couldn't help but feel as though they had so much potential, so many fun times to be had and memories to be shared, the thought of messing up now made her throat tighten. But of course it soon dawned on her that she was overthinking it, again. Why did he mind always race to play the long game? And what was the point in looking so desperately to the future if she couldn't enjoy the here and now? If she knew the answers to those questions she pretended not to.

Hanako leaned a little further into his embrace, taking comfort in his scent and the soft thudding of his pulse. Instead of correcting his pronunciation she took a softer approach.

"Mm, I think some people call them raccoon dogs? The name's pretty fitting if you ask me." Though she wouldn't say that to Toshi's face, he'd probably nip her ankles if she tried.

When Mortis went onto describe his tree house Hanako could easily picture it in her mind, an old worn tree with bent branches and a thick, sturdy trunk. Imagining it wasn't enough though, Hanako wanted to see the real thing. So when Mortis leapt to his paws she followed suit, her fur all puffed up and her tail already wagging with excitement. Any and all tiredness she'd felt before was gone, her paws felt almost weightless like she could run yet another face at full speed. Instead of rushing off to who knows where she looked expectantly at Mortis, not wanting to leave the shade of his wing. For reasons.

"Lead the way." She beamed, gesturing with a dip of her head.