Suyin was about to go do some strength training, when she spotted Nianzu. He was sitting down in the area they usually trained at, looking in her direction. For a moment she held her breath, worried that he would walk away as soon as he saw her, but thankfully he gave a small smile.
Without a second of hesitation, Suyin ran toward him, only slowing down we she got close to him. He had been avoiding her for days and she couldn't help but miss him. Sure she spent time with other members of the north house, but it wasn't quite the same. She enjoyed his company more than anyone else.
“Are you tired of hiding and ready to do some sparring?” She asked eagerly.
Nianzu had sat there, thinking that Suyin might show up. When he saw her, he could feel butterflies in his stomach. This was it. Today he would tell Suyin about his feelings. After much debate with Juanyu, they decided the best way to approach it was from the heart and in the moment. Juanyu was determined to include a song, but Nianzu did a hard pass.
As she ran toward him, thoughts rushed to his head about what he should say. “Uh yea. That is what I was waiting here for. Not to tell you anything important but to see if you wanted to spar.” He responded nervously. If he could, he would slap himself for sounding so suspiciously.
But it went over well enough. Suyin let out a laugh and bumped his shoulder with her paw. “You will have to tell me what you have been up to the last few days. It feels like it has been so long since we did any sparring. I was starting to think that you met a new partner and decided to ditch me.”
“I would never do that to you. I was just... thinking I guess. There has been a lot of stuff that is on my mind.” He explained. Suyin gave an understanding nod.
“I know that you and I are just sparring partners, but you can talk to me about anything. You are my friend after all.” She explained. “Why don't you tell me what is on your mind while we warm up?”
“Yea, good idea.” He said, following her lead. They began to do their stretches.
“Lately it feels like you have been avoiding me. The only reason I knew that you weren't mad at me was when I talked to your friend Jianyu. Though truthfully I felt like I knew less about you after I was done talking with him. I had no idea that you had friends outside of the North house.” Suyin said.
He had almost forgotten that Jianyu talked to Suyin. When he talked to Jianyu he was left with the understanding that he did not say anything important to Suyin, but instead just had a casual conversation. He made a mental note to drill Jianyu about exactly what he said next time they spoke. “Jianyu is my only friend in the west house. We don't actually know each other that well. I was just helping him get into shape.”
Suyin grinned. “See, I would have never guessed that you would want to help out someone like that. I always see you a competitor and never as a mentor.”
“It is a little more complicated then that,” he said, though not really wanting to explain that Jianyu had been helping him figure out the right things to say. “I am sorry that it seems I have been avoiding you though. From now on I am not going to do that anymore.”
“I'll hold you to that.” She responded with a wink. “Now are you ready to start sparring?”
“Actually I was hoping we could take a walk first. There is one more thing I would like to tell you.” Nianzu responded. He already had a quiet area in mind.
Suyin raised an eyebrow. “You would rather talk then spar? Who are you and where is Nianzu?” She said jokingly.
He laughed, but stayed focus. “Follow me.” They walked in silence, which helped Nianzu figure out exactly what he wanted to say. He stopped at an area where there was no one around and it was quiet. “So here we are. Beautiful area.” He looked around as smiled.
She simple nodded her head.
“The reason I have been avoiding you isn't because I am angry or jealous or anything like that. While I was off doing my overthinking, all I thought about was you and how I missed being near you. I already knew that I enjoyed your company, but I didn't realize how use to it I was until we spent some time apart.” He explained. “I haven't met someone I enjoyed being around in such a long time. I was young when I had my first romance and that ended with a lot of pain. Since then I have never really wanted to get back in a relationship.”
He looked at her and smiled. “Then I met you. When we first met I did not think we could ever get along. But you proved me wrong. At this point I couldn't image spending anymore time away from you.”
This was all very sudden, Suyin thought as she watched Nianzu. He had never shown much emotion before, but now it felt like he was getting everything off his chest.
“What I am trying to say Suyin is that, if you would like, I would like to be your mate.” He blurted out and quickly looked away. At that moment he felt incredibly silly. Why oh why couldn't his parents had made an arrange marriage when he was a cub to save him from this future embarrassment.
“This is big Nianzu.” She said, sitting down. “I mean, if we become mates, there will be a lot more responsibilities placed on us.”
His faced dropped instantly. That was not the answer he was hoping for.
When she saw his reaction, she shook her head. “It isn't that I don't like you though. I think being your mate would be a lot of fun. And we already have a lot in common, we are practically a perfect fit.”
“But-”
“But I'm not positive. Why don't we do a trial run of being together. Think of it as a warm up. I just do not want to jump into this without knowing what we are getting into. If the trial run works out then I say we get married, but if it doesn't we continue to be friends.” She said.
“That works for me.” Nianzu said, finally feeling raveled. “Now that we got that mushy stuff out of the way, I think I am ready to win our sparring match.” Suyin grinned and they raced each other to their training spot.
WC: 1,162