He swallowed. "Pink, it is- it is-" He stopped, took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It seemed as if he was preparing for war…? "It is to loving."

Tip froze on the log. Her heartbeat stopped for a few seconds before it came back, stronger than before. "Platonic, right?" she heard herself ask over the buzzing sound in her ears.

Oh met her gaze. There was a deep, deep sadness in his eyes and she knew the answer even before his skin turned blue. "No," he whispered.

Tip hummed and turned away from him. He made a choking sound. "Are you- are you not to be saying things?" She didn't answer, and Oh continued by asking "I was thinking you would be hitting on me and yelling again?"

All right, that hurt. Tip turned her face in the opposite direction of Oh and drew her knees up to her chest. A part of her wanted to blame him for not trusting her, but… another part of her knew that it wasn't his fault. It was hers, and no one but her could take the blame. She had done almost nothing in the last few days to show that she actually liked Oh's company.

But he's a Boov, I'm not supposed to like him.

Yes, he was a Boov. But was she just a human? No, of course not.

If he wasn't just a Boov, then what was he?

Kind. That was the word that sprung to her mind, and with a pang, Tip realized that it was true. He hadn't been mean to her. He hadn't been mean to her out of spite, or out of frustration, or confusion. No, Tip could safely say that when faced with a problem, he would take time and listen. Try to understand. The time when he'd tried to run away with the Slushious flashed into her mind, but… it didn't count. It couldn't count. At the time, they had both been selfish and angry with the other for not caring about them. Besides, after Tip got the whole story she had realized that he was frightened, and with good reason! If he were to be caught, he would be killed.

And, truth to be told, if she had been in his place, she would have done the same.

Okay, so he was kind. What else? Curious, caring, funny and forgiving were all adjectives that could describe her friend. And, to be honest, at times he could be like a scared little kitten.

But she couldn't blame him for that either.

If it truly was a Boov thing to run away, if it was in his genesit was it was she knew it was-, then of course she couldn't blame him. That would be… racist? Specist? Tip knew how it was not to fit in. She wouldn't wish that on anyone. If Oh ran away sometime, she couldn't blame him anymore than he could blame her for being a pack mammal.

She could be angry, yes, and sad, yes, perhaps even betrayed, but could she blame him? No.

Then what was he?

He was kind, and curious, and caring. He was funny, he was forgiving, and he could be a scared little kitten at times.

But above all, Oh was lovable.

"I'm sorry," Tip said. "That you thought I would hurt you. And I'm sorry for all the times I have hurt you, and all the times I will hurt you. I- I have- realized some things about myself- and- and you, I have realized some things about you, too, and- I'm sorry, just- I'm sorry."

There was a pause, but Tip didn't know how Oh had reacted. She couldn't see his face. "And I am sorries, too, Tip," he murmured softly.

"What?" Tip asked, and looked over at him. "Why?"

"For making things awkward." Oh said it in the same way he'd said 'because they are Gorg' when Tip had asked 'why do these Gorg hate you so much?' He said it as if it was obvious, as if it was the truth.

Tip turned around to face him again. Confusion carved lines on her forehead as she frowned. "Do you want things to be awkward?" He shook his head. "Will you act differently after confessing?" He shook his head again. "I won't either," Tip said. "So things won't be awkward unless we force them to. Besides, it's not as if you can decide who you love, right?" Oh shook his head again, and Tip smiled softly. "You see?" she murmured, leaning closer to him and raising her eyebrows. "I can't blame you, so you shouldn't blame you either." She looked up at the sky and felt a sting of panic when she saw that the stars had moved since the last time she saw them, which said a lot about how long they had been talking about this. "Good night, Oh," Tip whispered as she got up.

Without looking back, she walked over to the lean-to and laid down on the moss she'd put on the ground. The barely audible 'good night, Tip' from Oh made her smile as she pulled her blanket over herself.

She promptly fell asleep to the crackling of burning wood and the sound of Oh singing softly.

When Tip woke up, it was to an armful of Boov. She had her arms wrapped around Oh, and he was breathing calmly. Still sleeping, then. It would be so easy to remove her arms from around him, but he was so warm, so soft. She could almost call him calming. He fit so snugly, too, as if they were two puzzle pieces made for the sole purpose of being together. With her arms around him, his back pressed into her front and her legs brought up underneath them, it felt almost as if the world had no dangers. She could've stayed like this forever, if she got the chance.

Wait, what on Earth was she thinking? An embarrassed blush creeped up her cheeks as she pulled her arms back and straightened her legs. How had she even gotten into a position like that? Tip was a light sleeper; Oh would have woken her up if he had moved her, even if it was just her arms. Alas, she must have moved herself; rolled over and grabbed hold of him after both of them fell asleep. Damn, wasn't she the one that had said things wouldn't become awkward?

The grass was dry to her knees as she crawled out of the lean-to. Stretching carefully, Tip sighed in relief as her joints popped. Deciding not to change clothes –she only had dirty ones left, after all, and these were warm- she walked over to the fire. Breakfast would consist of leftovers from supper last night, all she had to do was warm it up and wolf it down. After lighting the fire, Tip went over to the empty skeleton of the Slushious, grabbed a handful of trash and walked back to their camp.

The wooden bowl ended up close to the flames- not so close that it would begin burning, mind you, just close enough so that her soup would heat up. Oh began stirring from beneath the blanket Tip had left over him. He turned around and mumbled something. "Good morning, Oh," Tip called.

"Urmf?" Oh said and sat up. He rubbed at his eyes and blinked owlishly at her. "Morning."

Without further ado, he walked over to the fire. Spotting the trash, he smiled and stuffed some of it into his mouth. "I was thinking that I would clean my clothes, fetch more water, more wood, and more food for me," Tip said, messing in the fire with a wooden stick. "If I finish with that, do you need any help with the car?"

Oh thought about it for a moment. "Do not be taking this wrong, Tip," he said with a small wince, yellow flashing briefly over his skin. "But I do not think that you are knowing enough to do so."

Tip wanted to say her catchphrase –Excuse me? I got an A in geometry!- but thought better of it. "Okay," she said instead. "That's fine. Just tell me if you need help."

Oh nodded and stuffed more trash into his mouth before chewing happily. Tip snorted and turned back to her own food.

One bowl of soup and some light banter with Oh later, and Tip found herself on her way to the stream she had found yesterday. She'd emptied her backpack and put all her dirty clothing in it –Oh didn't have any-, plus she had brought five or six bottles to have water in. On the way, whenever she spotted some sticks, branches or twigs that could burn fairly well, she picked them up and carried them in the crook of her elbow.

Tip dumped her clothes into a calm part of the stream. She lit up when she saw some rocks –around the size of her fist- and went over to pick them up. A flat rock that laid next to the stream was dry enough to sit on, and with that, she went on with her work. She used the rocks almost like she would use soap; her clothes would of course not be as clean as if she had, but they would be clean enough.

Tip found a low-hanging branch that she could hang her clothes over when she finished beating them with the rocks. They would dry there until the time she needed them, Tip decided, and went further up the stream to fill the bottles. When she bent down to fill them, however, she felt something poke her stomach awkwardly.

Puzzled, Tip stood up and dropped the bottles to the ground. She put her hand in her pocket, mindful that the object inside might be dangerous, and closed her fingers around- she pulled her hand out again. A twig. A black locust twig, to be exact. Tip felt light-headed as she stumbled backwards and sat down heavily on a rock.

It was part of the twig Oh had been fiddling with yesterday. The one she had plucked out of his fingers and broken in half. Why had she done that again? The black locust three had hard wood, was long lasting and poisonous to some species. Why had she forcefully taken it from Oh and broken it in two? More importantly, why had she given half back to Oh? Why had she kept the other at all? Tip felt goosebumps spread up her arms. She felt very cold suddenly, even though she was basking in the sun. What was going on?

She twisted the twig and looked at it from another direction. The thorns seemed to taunt her, as if they thought it was hilarious that she couldn't figure this out. She glared angrily at them and chucked the twig into the stream. She regretted it immediately. "Oh no," she whispered.

Kicking of her shoes Tip ran after the twig, jumping on rocks the whole way. "God damnit," she muttered and threw herself into the stream. Fortunately, she'd aimed right, and her feet made connection with hard stone. She nearly toppled over and into the water when she reached out after the twig, the piece of wood floated into her grasp and she exhaled in relief. It was stupid, really, to feel attached to a stick. She very nearly threw it away again, but decided against it. She had one palm and a knee planted on the rock, and that was it.

"Tip?" Oh said. Tip lost her balance and fell into the water with a shriek. A second later, she resurfaced, shocked and soaked. Oh gasped. "Sorries!" he cried and jumped in after her. "I was not meaning to startle you," he said and swam over to her. Tip was almost –almost- worried for him –the water level was above her waist- but then she remembered that he'd jumped into the Atlantic. And, apparently, had a good time.

"You little," Tip growled playfully and jumped at him. He gave a small shriek and flashed yellow before ducking under. "Where did you go?" Tip turned around just in time for him to splash water into her face. She spluttered incoherently and pushed it out of her eyes. "You pig," she laughed.

"Are you having fun!?" Oh cried, and ducked away again.

"Duh," Tip grinned.

Oh stared at her as if she was crazy, but then his control slipped and he giggled. "Go away!" he laughed, splashing more water in her direction.

"Never!"

They fought, stumbled, splashed and laughed for a while before Tip grabbed hold of Oh and locked her arms around him. "Do you surrender!?" she yelled.

"Yes, yes!" Oh cried, kicking his feet uselessly. "I do!"

Tip let go and pushed him towards the shore. He climbed up, and then he reached a hand out to help her. Without hesitating, Tip grabbed it.

And time seemed to stop for a few moments as she looked up and into his eyes. The sun was shining on him, and water droplets were running down his purple skin. Tip had looked into his eyes before, but this was different. Maybe it was because of the way they lit up with joy from the inside; or maybe it was because in this situation, he had the upper hand; or maybe it was just because Tip knew, now, that he loved her. No matter the reason, her heart ached painfully and she averted her gaze as he pulled her up from the river. Goodness gracious he was strong for his small size.

This isn't good.

"What were you to doing?" Oh asked her as he shook his head.

"What?" Tip looked down on her own body and sighed heavily. Wet clothes, wet hair, wet skin, and she had nothing to dry herself with. Unless… She shot a look at the clothes that were hanging over the branch.

"In the river," Oh clarified. "On the rock."

"I was, uh…" Tip regarded the clothing and bit her lip before reaching out and pulling down the green, soft jacket. "Drinking water," she lied. "I didn't want to drink from the bottles since you're going to drink of that water too." The lie rolled easily off her tongue, so why did it leave such a bitter taste? "Do you mind turning away or something while I dry myself? Just for privacy?"

Oh dutifully turned around and walked over to a rock. "Am I to close my eyes?" he yelled over his shoulder.

"You don't have to," Tip answered as she pulled her singlet off.

"I am doing it," Oh replied and Tip rolled her eyes and stepped out of her soaked shorts.

"Of course you are," she said and wriggled her way out of her underwear.

There. She was as naked as the day she was born, standing in the middle of the forest. Oh was sitting ten, fifteen feet away from her with closed eyes. How easy wouldn't it be to tell him to turn around, announce that she was done and watch as he stared at her, at the water causing her brown skin to shine in the sun? Too easy. Tip grimaced and began drying herself with the jacket. What was she thinking? She couldn't use him like that. What was wrong with her? She blushed and pulled on new, dry clothes, subtly slipping the twig from one pocket to another.

"All done," she said with fake cheerfulness. Oh turned around –so trusting, he shouldn't- and smiled at her.

They began walking back towards their camp. "My tunic is cleanness now," Oh stated "That is a bonus."

Tip didn't answer, instead she looked away in shame. Her hand sneaked itself into her pocket, and her fingers brushed against the sharp thorns. "The twig," she said absentmindedly.

"What?"

"The one I snapped in two yesterday," Tip continued. "Do you still have it? The black locust?"

Oh opened the round pocket in the front of his tunic. "This one?" he asked and unfurled his fingers.

Tip inhaled sharply. "Yes," she breathed, placing a hand to her chest. "Yes, that one." She looked away and tried to calm her racing heart.

"Why do you wanting to know?" Oh said and closed his pocket again.

"Uh." Yeah, why did she want to know? It's just a piece of wood, Tip, just a twig. But somehow, it felt like it was something much, much more. "No reason," she muttered, stuffing her hands in her pockets, pressing the pad on her thumb into one of the thorns. "No reason."

"How's the car going?" Tip asked that night at dinner.

Oh looked up from his 'food' and smiled. "Oh, it is going greatness! I am thinking that I am half the way!"

"That's great!" Tip said. She looked down into her food again, frowning lightly. "Are you- are you mad at me? Since I can't help you fix the car?"

"What? No!" Oh placed his 'food' down at his side and inched closer to her. "Are you mad at me, for not knowing the humanspersons customs?"

"Of course not, Oh, you're a Boov."

"Then why should I being mad at you, for being humanspersons?" Oh asked rhetorically.

Tip looked at him sharply. "Are you saying humans are stupid?"

"No!" Oh cried, backpedaling as fast as he could. "No, no! Humanspersons do not knowing Boov technology, is what I am saying!"

"Ooooh," Tip said, and readjusted her position so she was facing the sunset again. Oh moved next to her, no doubt readjusting his own position. "That explains." They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, watching the sun disappear over the horizon.

The first stars appeared on the sky, and Tip said, "Oh, tell me about the story of the Boov."

The only friendly Boov she'd ever met turned around to stare at her in surprise, before a wide grin stretched across his face. His eyes were shining brightly when he answered. "I would be happiness to."