[PRP] Some Kind of Wonderful, I *Guess* [Gecko, Hunter]

[Scaramouche Fandango]

It was a glorious sunset.

Fair Hunter loved this time of day. Soon it would be dusk and she and her caimans would head out for one more hunt, then come in happily exhausted. But now was the time of day where the light was orange, bathing everything it touched in liquid fire. The murky waters were a copper blaze, marred only by the gentle rings of ripples 'round her hooves as she moved from fish trap to fish trap, checking each one for a catch. She shut her eyes, seeing red and gold behind her lids as she basked for a moment in the sun's light. She took a deep breath and sighed contentedly. This was bliss.

A loud splash nearby interrupted her reverie, and she groaned and rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. Her erstwhile companion was checking her own traps, and while it was true that Hunter couldn't actually stand the thought of Gecko ever leaving and had come to have some really complicated feelings about the kimeti, it was also true that she couldn't ever let her know. She was far too set in her pattern of faux-grumpishness to ever really lighten up- and she suspected that if she started acting like a starstruck filly, all sunshine and rainbows, that Gecko would be more than a little confused. Surely Gecko knew the prickliness was Hunter's shield; she wouldn't be the same kin without it. And perhaps the prickliness shielded Gecko as well; though she might be grouchy, she knew that Gecko knew she was honest and honorable and all the things that kin needed in her life. It was a bit difficult to wrap her mind around, these feelings- but she knew deep down that this was right; that their cohabitation made a better life for both of them.

Even if Frog did end up in her stock pond from time to time. There were worse things that could happen. (Some of these worse things, the very worst things, kept her awake at night, watching the swamp for sinister shadows approaching their bower, waiting for whispers of the past to catch up with Gecko, but so far these worst things hadn't been made manifest. Not that she'd tell Gecko; she always had been good at getting by on little sleep.) The traps in her area checked, she trotted through the water over to where Gecko was busily pulling at a submerged vine. "Gecko!" she groused. "All that splashing's gonna scare away the fish!"  

[So Long Gay Bowser]

It was the bestest kind of gift of all that Gecko had found Welcome Home Fair Hunter. Rather than looking soft and sweet with a rotten core, she was super scary with the best heart a kin could have. She was grumpy, sure. But there was love underneath all the teeth and snappy-snaps. Even if everyone else couldn't see it, Gecko could. It was why she stayed, after their initial row with each other over the fishes. Hunter was good.

So today, she was at peace. Not thinking about her past, not scared of her future. Just here. Just happy. Flailing her tail in the water, she floundered over to where they had set their traps. Hunter's were very good, yes! But she just kind of forgot a few knots. It was no biggie! It was a most good trap. It was good, then, that Gecko could help restock the fish stock! Stock? That was a lot of stocks. ANYWAY! Regardless of vocabulary, it was a good and wonderful day.

At the jolt of Hunter's voice, Gecko jumped and flailed, dropping into the water with a disgraceful squawk. As she rolled about in the mud, she gave a horrible whine back to her friend.

"S-sorry! I was thinking about life and stuff!"  

[Scaramouche Fandango]

She had to laugh- that was one thing Gecko could always do, make her laugh. Abandoning her traps, she trotted over to Gecko and pulled her up out of the mud. "Gecko," she said again, but with no harshness- almost a bit of a chuckle. "You're a mess." She nuzzled the kimeti's cheek, just to clean it and wipe it off a bit. No other reason. None whatsoever. "There's mud all over you."

It was funny. The whole situation was funny. Not a ha-ha kind of funny, but an unexpected surprise kind of funny. Like finding two fish instead of just one, or like finding a really pretty stone in a pile of rubble. She'd found herself laughing and smiling a lot more now that Gecko was around- even though the kimeti pulled on her every nerve, she found herself in a situation where that was... ideal. It was different and new and maybe, just maybe, it was rounding off her sharp edges a bit. Polishing them, like a rock in a riverbed. But at the same time, Gecko kept her on her toes. Every day was new and she found herself surprised with just how monotonous things used to be, looking back.

When she thought about it, this sunset might be a little less perfect without Gecko around. "What about life? And stuff? Something on your mind?"