Return to Sender [Hasenya]

Hasenya had been sitting at her desk, minding her own business while she worked on some pretty standard research stuff. Not related to anything important, this is just sort of how she filled the time between time with Mae or her family. When a letter slid under her door she arched a brow and peeked over. "Delivery!" Came a high-pitched voice she didn't recognize as one of KIZNA's members from the other side of her door.. Since when did mailmen enter homes? She had a whole number of questions for the mysterious courier, but put them all aside when she saw who the letter was addressed to.. and more importantly, who it was from.

With no one around to witness it, her tail started to wag from side to side while she brought it to her desk and sat back down. She couldn't explain why she felt so excited at the idea of receiving a letter from Mae.. she just was. It was the highlight of her week, and she hadn't even read it yet. Her heart almost couldn't handle the anticipation of it. Would be nice if she had words to describe the feeling.

She opened up the letter, setting out out on her desk and carefully reading through it.. more than just once. Only once wasn't enough. They felt confused, alongside a mixture of a whole load of other emotions they couldn't understand or put names to for the most part. The Renamon was excited, happy, though at the same time anxious and panicking ever so slightly. She was wonderful? Endearing? How? Even harder to choke down was the idea she hadn't done anything wrong. Certainly there must have been one small thing somewhere..

No. She was working hard lately. Leaps and bounds from how things used to be. If it hadn't been for Mae, she wouldn't be able to tell herself that on her own and feel good about it. The Renamon put her hands to her face, overwhelmed by just about everything. Her first instinct was to start writing her own letter, but she knew she wouldn't be able to put anything to words. At least not in a proper way she would be satisfied with. This had to be done in person.

"Has it really been that long since I visited?" She muttered to herself, shaking her head and standing up from her desk. Time flies, she supposed. Though if Mae wanted her to visit soon then why not now? She wasn't doing anything particularly important. Nothing more important than this, anyway. With her mind made up she digivolved into Youkomon, taking out any potential breaks and squeezing her way out of her room- Not mindful to any potential chaos or mess she may have caused on her way out of Ys.

---

Renamon was quiet and careful, while still speedy. Youkomon was much faster, while sacrificing all the quiet and carefulness the previous form had. Frankly, she wouldn't have been surprised if she managed to scare the absolute Hell out of a large number of people by making a pretty much straight beeline for Luminas. She was still smaller by a huge margin compared to most other Youkomon, but still likely a sight to behold since she was bright pink and loud.

Like she had during her last visit, she climbed up the side of the apartment building to Mae's window. The difference this time was that she had to knock in hopes of getting Mae's attention.. Since Youkomon didn't have oppose-able thumbs to speak of, and she definitely wasn't thinking straight in that moment. Would the sleeping Meicoomon hear her, even?

The Youkomon crawled in through the now open window and sat down, taking a bit to catch her breath after her long run, even if the mild panic in her brain told her she didn't need any breaks. The small multi-tailed fox looked and Mae and took one more deep breath before saying it just outright..

"I read your letter."

There was more. A whole lot more that she wanted to say then and there. But she felt she didn't have the proper words for it, and that she might come off as overbearing if she went for something a lot more heartfelt. She knew she had to try and reel it in before she scared her friend away. The idea that she was just scared and letting it make her hesitate hadn't even occurred to her.

She de-digivolved back to a Renamon, partially to let her own energy recover faster, but also it just made talking easier. Less risk of her lighting Mae's apartment on fire. Whether or not Mae would respond immediately, she would add more on after a brief and potentially awkward pause. "I.. I think I feel the same. But words are hard for me and the last thing I want to do is mess up.."

The Renamon reached back to shut the window behind her. Even if she were a nervous excited mess, she'd be a pretty crappy space heater if she let Mae get cold. Plus even if that weren't a concern, it was plain rude to just leave it wide open. Though if she were worried about being rude and not just having a little panic moment, she would've gone for the front door entrance instead of the window.

Hasenya nodded gratefully as she took the water and simply drank it all down in one go. Probably not the most attractive thing she could've done, but it just went to show how much of a rush she had been in to get there. How badly she needed to see Mae. Plus, it helped to cool her down on the emotional front as well. Maybe now she wouldn't accidentally set something on fire.. Again, maybe. "I've been thinking about you a lot too. You're almost all that's ever on my mind anymore. And I'm just so happy to have you as a friend as well. Those parts.." Surprisingly the fox was able to maintain a decent level of composure as she responded. Though this wasn't even close to the hard part.

"I feel really bad for not visiting you sooner..I've been busy lately, helping KIZNA with some things now that I'm officially able to start working and stuff. It feels really good, but it's eaten up nearly all the time I've got to read and study- and more importantly, the time I could be using to visit you." Hasenya set the glass aside and then did a little apologetic bow. When Mae used "that word" though, she very nearly lost the composure she was struggling so hard to maintain. Internally, she was screaming. "Is that what it is...?" The Renamon muttered to herself, eyes wide and blushing profusely underneath her fur.

She didn't understand these things at all. To have words put to it was a bit of a shock to the system. "I-I.. Would have written back, but it didn't feel right to me. I wanted to tell you how I felt in person. I thought that if maybe we were together in person, the words might come to me but they feel even further away and it's just frustrating." The flustered mess of fox did her best to explain herself.

"T-That's some really dangerous permission to just give to me, you know.." Hasenya chuckled albeit a bit awkwardly, she thought maybe a joke or two might help calm the both of them down. At least Mae, if not herself. "Cos' I'd really like to stay just... For a real long time. Obviously can't be forever, but-" Hasenya stopped herself, shaking her head. It definitely didn't help her out none. She wasn't sure how to say what she wanted to say without coming off as overbearing or something else.

Noticing that Mae was trembling, the fox stared at her. Not saying anything at first, but her expression clearly read she was thinking hard about something. After awhile though, without any words, she reached over and pulled the Meicoomon against her in a tight and warm hug. Choosing to let her actions speak for her in ways that her stutter-y and overthought words couldn't.

At this point she started to tremble as well, scared she might still ruin this somehow even if she didn't say a word. The last thing she wanted for Mae was for them to fear her, but she still wanted to let them know how she felt. "...Don't suppose you saw that coming, huh?" The Renamon asked, making another attempt at a joke to try and lighten things.

She would hug Mae tighter in response to those last few words about her staying, but she feared she may accidentally hurt the poor cat. "Just... Do what comes naturally? I wanted to hug you and hold you closely, but I guess I'm making it sound more simple than it is." Hasenya shook her head, pulling Mae just a tad closer. She had no intention of letting go any time soon, 'less she was asked to of course.

"Take your time to figure out what you want to do, just... Just let me hold you, that's all I want." Hasenya huffed and then buried her face against the Meicoomon. There was more she wanted to say and even more she wanted to do to express how she felt, but she could settle for this. Giving Mae warmth and affection was more than enough for her at the moment. "And if you're really serious about wanting me to stay.. Then I'll talk to my dad's about it. I love my family, and I love working with KIZNA- and I can still do both from this far away, but I really just.."

She paused, taking a breath to keep herself from escalating too high. Holding on to Mae made it substantially easier to stay at least a little bit composed. "I need to be closer to you or it's gonna drive me damn crazy." Hasenya finally finished, nuzzling affectionately against Mae.

"...I guess I do. I see why you take the opportunity when it's presented to you." Hasenya chuckled lightly. If she didn't have a bundle of affectionate and warm meicoomon to hug onto, that might've flustered her- and it still did, just not to the same intensity as every other time before now.

Mae wouldn't have to be uncomfortable for much longer, when Hasenya pulled her out from her pink fluff and looked down at her. "It doesn't have to be immediate. It'll take some preparing and then.. uh, well. I'm sure dad and papa will wanna talk about it before anything." Hasenya shook her head. "That's all stuff I can do on my own, you don't necessarily have to be there. Though I do have quite a lot of things to move.." They added, laughing a bit awkwardly. Mae had been to her room before, she probably knew about all those gosh darn books this nerd fox was hoarding.

She paused for what felt like a real long while at that last uncertain sounding statement Mae had made. Regardless of the certainty, the words specifically are what got to the Renamon. Making her feel all sorts of things she had either never felt or couldn't put words to, to such an intensity that she felt she might just explode. It was probably a miracle she didn't literally combust and set everything on fire.

"...M-Me too." Hasenya hesitated to use those particular words, she was just so afraid of messing this up she feared she could ruin it all just by.. being honest. Which in hindsight would be incredibly stupid, but in the current moment it wasn't very easy to think straight. "I care about you a lot. And I think I might be in.. l-love with you too. B-But.. why me?" She just had to ask, tilting her head to one side. "I-I'm not the strongest, or the smartest, or the nicest to look at.. B-But I do care for you a whole lot."

That wasn't at all a hard question to answer. All that time thinking about the cat would pay off in more additional ways. "I think a better question is why not? I can't help but admire someone like you, who saved my life. It inspired and motivated me to get off my lazy rear and crawl out of the cave I call my room. And a whole lot more than that but.. I won't bore you with the details." She ended jokingly, placing a hand on top of Mae's head and gently patting them. "You're funny, strong, soft. I love being around you, too. Making you happy makes me happy. Making you smile? It'll never get old. It's.. oddly fulfilling."

Slowly but surely she was calming down, getting it all out of her system and knowing Mae felt the same way she did was very reassuring. Still, she was careful about how tightly she held the cat and how roughly she patted her head. Though she knew full well Mae could probably put her lights out with about as much ease as it took to open a book, Hasenya really did know how it felt now when Mae was in a larger form and holding her small Renamon self; she was afraid of hurting Mae, or making her feel scared.

"...Who's the cute one now, huh?" Hasenya grinned, remembering the mountain and the comment Mae had made which to her looked like an opportunity for a bit of playful revenge.