Author's note: This is an entry to writing contest #26 (So In Love) by hannahsue--. The prompt was to write about a character who is falling in love or being fallen in love with.

This is basically Thalas's point of view in "A Treefox and a Watersnake" (which was told from Mist's perspective).

It's some kind of LGBT+, although not malexmale. Thalas is male, but Mist is a treefox cub. Almost adult, but not quite yet. And treefox cubs are genderless. (I just don't like "they" as singular pronoun, it feels weird. I'm not native English speaker and grew up with only gender-neutral pronouns, so I tend to default to "he" in genderless cases unless the character is clearly feminine in appearance / behavior.)

~*~*~

Life had always been...slow. Dull. Eat, sleep and swim around lazily in the wide and deep river. Every once in a while he'd encounter another watersnake and exchange a few words. Perhaps a bit more if the other happened to be a female looking for a sire for her future child. They'd entangle briefly and then go their separate ways.

Thalas pushed a stray lock of long, greenish grey hair back behind his aquatic-shaped ear, like the fin of some fish, and moved his long tail a little from side to side to keep the currents from dragging him downstream. Back to the wetlands. Back to his kin.

He had left years ago, searching for something...more than those lazy days. Yet this far he had not found anything, and had eventually made his home in the river. Perhaps...there simply wasn't anything more.

Firmly he shook the apathetic thoughts away. It was far too easy for his reptilian blood to just stop all activity other than hunting for necessary food. Instead he pushed upward, towards the surface, the sunlight, and the sounds and scents of the surrounding great forest.

It was pure chance that he surfaced just as the river carried a soaked, furry form past him. Nimbly he wrapped the end of his tail around it and lifted it up.

A treefox. He had heard the tales of the other humanoid races of the great forest, although he had never personally seen a member of another race before. This one was small, with brown hair and tail. And cute furry ears. Thalas slowly stroked his thumb over one.

But he wasn't breathing. Thalas remembered that unlike him the other races could not breathe water.

Slowly he brought the little creature closer and pressed their lips together, carefully pushing his own breath into the water-filled lungs.

A brief moment passed. Then the treefox started coughing and opened his eyes. He looked quite miserable as air painfully replaced the river water inside him.

The next moment his ears perked, and he felt around Thalas's tail with his hands. The watersnake was just about to say something as he started flailing around wildly, like a fish trying to escape a hunter.

Thalas couldn't help laughing. It just looked so funny. The treefox instantly stilled and turned his head to stare at him.

He tensed the middle part of his tail and pushed his humanoid upper body out of the water to be more on this little one's level.

The hazel fox-eyes kept staring at him. Then the treefox spoke, "...What are you?"

It took quite a while to explain to him that he was a watersnake, and yes, there were four sentient humanoid races, not just three like he - Mist, he told his name was - had believed.

He really was cute. So lively and impulsive, complete opposite of watersnakes. And he smiled in the most dazzling way when Thalas caught a fish for him.

They parted ways with a promise to meet again. Truth to be told, Thalas didn't really expect to see Mist again. Treefoxes lived short lives, in the moment. He would probably forget this encounter before next dawn.

And for some reason that made him really sad.

~*~*~

But the very next morning the water brought to his ears a voice calling his name. He instantly headed for the surface, only to find Mist high up on tree branches to escape a forest cat hunting him.

The watersnake's chest constricted painfully. Or at least that's what it felt like.

Mist himself didn't seem concerned over the lethal danger at all. He jumped down to Thalas with all the confidence he would catch him and, as the cat left without its intended prey, got all excited about getting another fish to eat.

Thalas couldn't help laughing again. How could -anything- be so carefree? So lively?

Days followed one another, and Mist came to visit him every morning, only returning home as the sun started dipping lower in the sky again in the evening. The little treefox even wanted to learn to swim since Thalas could do it, and he was happy to try and teach him. Anything to spend just a little more time with the little creature.

Yet he hadn't really understood how precious, how limited, these happy days were until Mist came to him close to tears, explaining how scared he was of growing up. Of possibly changing completely, never able to talk with him again.

"Come here." He pulled Mist to his arms and lifted him off the riverbank. "It doesn't matter," he spoke softly. "Even if you can't speak anymore, I still want to see you."

What he had been searching for all this time...it was right here. In this small form so different from his own. He didn't care if they had never been supposed to meet, being creatures of water and trees respectively. He just...never wanted to let go.

He held the treefox close to his chest and murmured, "I love you so much."