Scene #1566:

Owner	Pose
Faruja	It's a rather cold day out in the odd little land that the pair have found themselves within. Thus, Faruja has decided to quite simply huddle by the fire that's been stoaked in their living room. The fuzzy male is adorned in bath robes this day, all thick and comfy as he basks in warmth and a measure of peace. Though Ivalice always calls to him, he spends far more time here these days. Much of his usual work can be sent via mail. With all of that completed, Faruja can relax and try to stay warm. After some time, he finally all but collapses into the nearby couch. He even kicks his feet up on the table, the little cad. Rodentian features soften as he starts to let his thoughts drift away, on the edge of sleep, though very fragile in his near-naptime.
Ainsley	Ainsley, having been an equally busy creature receiving only the smallest respite here and there, though lacking much of the same responsibility, finds herself exiting her study, frowning at the chilled air of her home as she walks through the halls. She doesn't wear fuzzy clothes, and instead wears a pair of toeless socks and a breezy flower dress. A coat is for people who actually generate their own bodyheat. Her tail is adorned with the proto-abstractum that was crafted for the purpose of keeping her conscious, if not completely happy, during cold days. The lizard girl finds the living room, and breathes a sigh of relief when warm air washes over her face. She steps through the room and sits down next to Faruja, not uttering a word toward him... Instead she scoots up close to his side, resting her head on one of his shoulders. Her knees are drawn up near her chest, and her tail wiggles, seeking out and wrapping around his own. She stares into the flickering flames, while her hands absent-mindedly fiddle with her dress, playing with the gentle cloth's creases.
Faruja	The brush of scales and cloth alongside a bit of weight barely has the rodent shifting. Instead, as her head lays upon his shoulder and her warmth fills him, the rodent snuggles closer to the source of love and comfort. A tail wraps about an ankle, and he very nearly falls asleep on his love before that little adjustment of skirt shatters the moment. His eye opens, and he looks to his lover even as his hand wraps about one of her arms. "Hello, my dashing love." Leeean. She'll get a smooch on the cheek! "How are you feeling?" He asks, tail flicking to her proto-abstractum. He knows how cold she gets.
Ainsley	Bright blue eyes lid and shut as Ainsley receives an easy reply to her affection, the shift of his weight making her smile gently. It's the most innocuous of moments, a sweet little snuggling... When one of her arms is held, she turns her attention, hesitating when she feels a kiss against her scaly cheek, smiling at the ticklish sensation of whiskers against the black scales. "Hello, my fiery sweet," she replies almost at a whisper, touching at the forearm responsible for holding her other arm. "Tired... Not sleepy, just... emotionally exhausted." She still smiles at him, though, unable to feel depressed in his presence. "Have you ever felt like this before?"
Faruja	A smile on his love's face is a gift beyond measure. Not at all wanting to move from his distinctly comfy spot, his legs cross a touch as he listens to Ainsley. Faruja's ears perk at her question. Considering, one ear tilts. There's a small little smile. "Too often. Mostly after long periods of work with little success, or dealing with particularly onerous nobles. Something troubling you, my dear?" INquires the rodent, concern touching face and voice alike.
Ainsley	"I've seriously considered Staren's suggestion of rendering Aztlan into a crater," Ainsley tells Faruja, as she rests a hand on one of his thighs, a simple gesture of affection to comfort herself. "It is like stepping into the bowels of Hell itself whenever I go there, and I can't help feeling as though my work in the Multiverse is responsible for it getting the way it is... it was cross-world contamination that caused it." She creases her brow. "I don't know how to cope. It is beginning to buckle my ability to deal with it."
Faruja	If anything, the male snuggles closer. A sigh escapes him. After a moment's consideration, he looks more evenly into his love's eyes. "Admittedly, it is an option. But the problem is, my dear, even if we /do/ reduce it to naught but rubble, is there truly any guarantee that it shall not simply continue to produce the darkness that it does? We have to cure it, or shut away the land and leave it an unholy morass." The frowing scowl might say exactly which of those options he'd protest vehemently against. "And this is where I must insist ye stop trying to take the blame upon thineself. If ye had remained in your Order's employ and never left? Some other person would have emerged, be it disease, war, or any number of other problems." A wave of his hand. He sighs. "You lack, I think, a core of confidence. Something that gives you hope that things will improve. We each come to our own source. Mine is faith. We simply must find that which gives you the most strength. Tell me, my sweet, what do you gravitate most towards when you find yourself depressed and hopeless?"
Ainsley	Ainsley listens to Faruja, nodding in silent acceptance of his view of this. Ordinarily she would have some kind of disagreement, but lately she's been wandering around aimlessly in her efforts to find a port in the storm, something to draw her out of perpetual depression. She tried to pray to, and provide tribute to, a variety of deities that might hear her call... but found her faith to be empty. She lets out a heavy sigh. "Confidence... mmh. Sometimes I find it. That confidence deep in my heart, it is there. But I keep losing it, I keep fumbling it. You're right... I don't really know what I am fighting for, what is supposed to drive me. I... still don't know who I am supposed to be." She frowns, and takes this opportunity to sooth the crushing reality of her emotions with the soft warmth of her favorite person in the Multiverse. She wraps her arms around him and squeezes up close.
Faruja	Faruja knows his love's moods well, and now? Even he doesn't try to argue or try to start one of their many dissagreements. No, today there's nothing but concern and love for his sweet. His tail squeezes her just a little tighter as he offers all of his soft warmth, squeezed close and squeezing back to enjoy her closeness and offer the same. "This, my dear, is what is known as 'finding yourself'. It will not come quickly. But you are asking the right question. Let me tell you a secret. You are not 'supposed' to be anything. God gave us free-will to choose our own destinies. You must decide what you want out of life. What means most. What you will fight for above all. What is it that ultimately drives Ainsley? Once you have that answer, you can figure out just what will keep you strong even in the worst of times. We /all/ fumble and trip. Thank God for friends and lovers willing to pull ye up, hmm?" A small, soft grin.
Ainsley	"What is it that drives me..." Ainsley muses on that, her smile returning. The words her love has given her help her warm up, spiritually, and she soon seeks out a kiss to share with him, to show that love to him for being patient and talking to her about it. And beyond that, she has nothing more to say on the matter, settling agains the bath robe and petting at the fuzzy cloth.