Conflicting Thoughts

As she lay beside him, Chimera moved to scoop her petite body closer to his, as he usually did when they went to sleep at night. It wasn't unexpected, and for the briefest of moments it made Aliana think that perhaps maybe her suspicions were getting the best of her—that everything was actually all right. But when she asked if he had something on his mind... well, that brought a look to Chimera's face akin to the ones her sons gave her whenever she caught them doing something they weren't supposed to. He kissed her ear and admitted to having a few things on his mind, but hesitated in saying them. instead, he squeezed her tighter to his chest and sighed. Ali peered up at him with puzzled aquamarine eyes, wondering just what was weighing so heavily on his mind that it had him acting so bizarrely.

That question would continue to linger far longer than she would have liked as Chimera started to do something very un-Chimera-like: he started beating around the bush. Ali raised a surprised brow as he started off strong, reiterating that he loved her. "And I love you," she responded, but Chimera wasn't done yet. He continued to touch her, stroke her, all while he said things that did the exact opposite of the soothing he was trying to do to her. Although Ali had never been in a relationship and experienced a breakup before, she imagined this was likely the feeling that often went along with it. Confusion, uncertainty, anxiousness while she waited for the other shoe to drop. She fixed Chimera with a sagacious smirk, piercing aqua eyes holding his gaze. "I can tell when I'm being buttered up, Chimera," she said as she reached a dainty paw up to tenderly stroke his strong chin and jaw.

She wanted to be able to say she thought of Chimera as a friend too, but if she was being honest, she didn't know what qualified someone as a friend. She'd never had any. So instead, Ali tactfully avoided answering the question directly, and instead said, "You've never asked me that question before. Why now? What's going on?"

"Aliana"