Eris stared for a moment, then blinked. She made to get up.
"D- do you mind…" she gestured for Razar to turn around. The raven blushed and looked out of the open window at the beautiful scenery. But he did not see it. He saw Eris' face in his mind, Elegant and clean, and it blotted out such trivialities as the most striking night to fall upon Chima in ten years. The thought of her getting dressed behind him did nothing to calm his heartbeat.
"You have some explaining to do, raven." Said Eris, joining him at the window. She now wore a nightgown, and her face filled with joy as she beheld the full moon.
"I came here for business, Eris. C-confidential if you will. I had to hide for a while, so I came in here." He stumbled over his words, and berated himself for it.
'I'm not exactly leaving a good impression.' He thought to himself. 'hold on, why am I TRYING to leave a good impression? She's my FRIEND. Nothing more... right?'
Eris poked him in the ribs.
"You were stealing again, weren't you?" she laughed.
"Yes, well I prefer the term 'permanent borrowing,'" said Razar, returning her smile. They looked each other in the eyes for several long moments. The raven was utterly lost in the eagle's yellow orbs, such as he never had been before. Not even with Rakun. He knew then that this feeling was impossible to subdue. Nor did he want to.
"Umm… what are you doing?"
Razar woke from his stupor, opening his eyes to find that he was leaning toward the Eris. He sat upright awkwardly.
"S-sorry." He stuttered. "I'm just…" he frantically tried to look for an excuse, "tired. Yeah. I'm tired."
The eagle giggled.
"You really are a bad liar. Well, never mind. You're actually kinda cute when you're embarrassed."
Razar flinched as the princess placed her arm over his shoulder. It struck the raven then, that she had always been more open when alone with him, than when they were with their friends. He wondered if she loved him back, or if she was just uncomfortable with crowds.
Eris climbed out of the window, and it was then that Razar saw the bench suspended on ropes from the bottom of the building. They sat side by side – arms over each other's shoulders - admiring the view, and being grateful for the company.
For several minutes they sat, not exchanging a word. Razar broke the silence.
"You were dreaming, yes? I'm sorry for waking you."
Eris huffed: "don't be. It was just another nightmare."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Do you want to discuss it?"
"Later, maybe. I'd rather not ruin the moment."
"As you wish. I'm sorry."
Eris turned and faced him.
"You apologize too much." She said, giggling.
"Sor- I mean, yes. I suppose I do."
A bark of laughter escaped the eagle, and she rested her head on his shoulder, cooing.
Razar froze, unsure what to do. He realised he was probably being awkward; so he gathered up his courage and let his own head lie on hers. Thus, they waited the night away. Soon, the sun rose, once more giving the world his gift of colour, and bathing it in his yellow rays. Afraid that someone might see him, Razar insisted they go back inside. They sat cross-legged on Eris' bed.
"Now that there is no moment to ruin, perhaps you would like to tell me about your dream, yes?" asked Razar, tilting his head.
"Ah yeah. The dream." Eris's features suddenly became serious again, like she usually was. Slow and halting at first, but growing steadily more sure, she began to explain…
