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Zara's eyes slowly drifted open. Gods...that had been a horrible dream. And such a vivid one at that. He snuggled into his body pillow, sighing in deeply. But as soon as he did so, he heard a surprised yelp from just above his head. He withdrew and opened his eyes, yelping and shooting himself back further upon realizing that he had snuggled up against Gwen's chest. The back of his head banged against the wall behind him with an audible thump, making him grunt and rub his head with a paw.Not a dream...he thought to himself, his cheeks burning brightly, All of that happened... He jerked as he felt Gwen's hand caress the back of his head. She sucked a breath in through her teeth.

"'That sounded like it hurt...'" she said with concern, "'Are you alright?'"

"...Mmhm..." Zara answered unintelligibly, nodding his head. He blushed a little as she lightly massaged the lump that had formed on his head. It felt...odd to see someone that he barely knew show such concern over his wellbeing. And her concern was apparent through the worried look in her eyes. Suddenly realizing that he was looking at them, his eyes quickly darted off to the side. He heard her sigh slightly, and her blushed as her breath brushed his fur with warmth.

"'Zara...'" she said gently, "'could you please...look me in the eyes? It would mean a lot to me if you did...'" Zara groaned internally. As much as he didn't want to, he had already troubled her enough. At the very least, he owed her that... Biting his lip, he slowly returned his gaze to her, his blush brightening as they looked into each other's eyes. She smiled at him. "'There...that's much better... Thank you...'" Still biting his lip, Zara grunted and nodded in response. He shifted his hips a bit; he had no idea what to do. How long had he been asleep? Should he get up now? She wasn't moving, so did that mean she was waiting for him? Did she want him to move? Was she waiting for him to say something? What should he say? What should he do? What did she want from--

His thought process was cut short as he felt Gwen run her hand along his hair again. He couldn't help but let out a slight squeak as he felt himself relax again. His eyes even began to droop. He heard Gwen let out a pleasant giggle. "'Does that feel nice?'" she asked in the same, gentle tone. A soft murr escaped Zara's lips before he could catch it. Again, the pleasant sounds of her giggle filled his ears. "'It sure seems like it...'" The dark type struggled to keep his eyes open; he didn't want to fall asleep in front of her again. "'Your eyes are very nice,'" she said as she continued to pet him, "'Has anyone ever told you that?'" Zara's entire face flushed red. His cheeks felt so hot that he was sure that they were glowing by now.

He wasn't used to getting this much attention, and he wasn't used to getting this much praise. But most of all, he wasn't used to liking it. The pleasant sounds of Gwen's giggles filled his ears once more. "'Oh Zaaaraaa. Are you still there?'" Zara blinked and shook his head. Whoa...he had really spaced out there... A shiver ran up his spine as the tip of Gwen's fingers brushed the back of his ears, though it went unnoticed by her. "'I get why you don't want to talk much,'" she went on, "'You're shy. I get that, and I understand that...'" She sighed again, making Zara's blush an even deeper shade of red as her warm breath gently brushed his neck fur. "'I just really wish you could talk things out with me a little bit. It would just really help if you did...'"

Zara's gaze fell down to the bed. "...I'm sorry..." he apologized. Gwen shook her head.

"'No, no, it's ok. I'm not going to try and force you to... Besides...we already saw how that turned out...'" Zara bit his lip again, feeling his throat close up on him. As he began to well up, Gwen resumed with her petting, causing him to settle back down. He suddenly remembered Gwen's desire to keep eye contact, and immediately returned his gaze to her. She smiled at him, pleased by his action, and gently rubbed his head. "'I really like your fur,'" she went on, "'It's so soft...and warm... I think I'd pet it all_day if I could...'" Zara's cheeks were _aching_by this point. He was blushing so hard that he thought he could see a faint, red glow emanating from his cheeks. Gwen's voice was just so soft...so soothing...and they were so close to each other. It all felt so oddly..._intimate. "'It must be tedious, though,'" she continued, "'cleaning it, I mean. You must have to scrub at it a lot...brush it...all sorts of things.'"

Unsure of whether or not she was looking for a response, Zara decided to nod just in case. She smiled at him again, brushing the tip of her fingers along the back of his ear. Another soft murr escaped from Zara's lips, prompting another pleasant giggle from Gwen. "'I bet you have to use a lot of shampoo,'' she went on, "'though I guess that also means that you don't need to bother with normal soap.'" She continued to go on, talking about various things. Zara barely ever had to come up with a response, and when he did, it usually only involved nodding or shaking his head. It was...nice. He didn't have to worry about making himself look like a fool. And as she talked, he couldn't help but wonder if she was doing it on purpose so that he wouldn't have to talk. If she was, it was quite thoughtful of her to do. It almost made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Almost.

He still wasn't sure if that was what she was doing, so he didn't want to get his hopes up. He didn't want to ask her about it either, mostly because...well...it would've been a weird thing to ask about.

He jerked in surprise as he felt Gwen's hand rest upon his forearm. It was only then that he realized that he had been resting it on Gwen's side. His face immediately lit up red. How long had he left it there for? When had he put it there? Oh gods...his arm was on Gwen's exposed_midriff. Sure, his sleeve was in between, but _still. "'Hey, Zara?'" she suddenly asked, "'Um...this is gonna sound weird, but um...is it ok if I roll up your sleeve?'"

...Dammit...

"'I realized that I've been talking_all_ about your fur,'" she went on, "'but all I've been petting this entire time was your hair. So...would you mind it? I can make it quick if you want.'"

Zara bit his lip. Well, he thought to himself, she didn't have problems with me leaving my arm there sleeved... So I guess she won't have a problem with me leaving it there sleeveless... Especially since she's the one asking... His eyes still locked on hers, he nodded in response. With a gentle smile, she looked down at his arm and carefully slid his sleeve up. A shiver shot up Zara's spine. Why was he so flustered about this?! They weren't doing anything...naughty. She was just looking into his eyes as she touched him...gently...as they laid together...on her bed...alone...with no one else to see...

Feathers of Ho-Oh, why?

As her hand gently ran up and down his arm, ticklish tingles spread up his neck. He squeaked softly every now and then, pursing his lips in an effort to muffle them. Grovyle smiled pleasantly at him. "'I was right,'" she said softly, "'it is soft...maybe even softer than your hair. And so warm too...'"

He began to whimper inwardly; he was beginning to feel feelings downstairs that he wasn't sure were appropriate to have in a situation like this. He felt the need to say something about this, only to think twice about it. How would she react if he told her about how he was getting a stiffy from her, and not even through any inherently arousing actions? He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable, but at the same time...he felt like he was being a creep!

"'Does it feel weird?'' asked Gwen, snapping him out of his thoughts, "'Being petted. Does it feel weird?'"

"...A little," he mumbled, his cheeks red hot. Gwen giggled a little.

"'Do you want me to stop?'" she asked, her hand stopping in place. Zara hesitated for a moment; it had felt nice. Barring his unusual spike of arousal, it had felt quite soothing. Whilst he formulated his thoughts, Gwen smiled pleasantly at him. "'Or maybe you'd prefer...that I did this?'" Her hand moved back to his hair and resumed in petting him, eliciting an involuntary murr from the dark type. She giggled softly at his reaction. "'I _thought_you might like that...'"

It was getting increasingly difficult for him not to make some kind of noise. Every now and then, a soft squeak or yelp would escape from his lips, giving him all the more reason to blush. He just couldn't help himself anymore. They were just so intimately close, and it didn't help that they were staring right_into each other's eyes. He suddenly remembered that he had left his arm on Gwen's side. He moved it off of her and rested it on his _own side. As he did, her eyes briefly flickered towards it before returning to him.

"'Oh,'" she said with a hint of disappointment, "'was that uncomfortable?'"

Zara felt his cheeks flare up, but he was sure that they were as red as they could be. "N-no I...I just...y-you don't...you probably don't wanna...want me to touch_you..." A moment of silence passed. Then, Gwen suddenly snorted. _Then, she began to giggle. And then, her giggles turned into pleasant laughter. Zara soon found himself smiling, even laughing a bit nervously. But Gwen's fingertips suddenly brushed the back of his ear, silencing his laughter and making him murr. Eventually, Gwen settled down and continued on with petting him.

"'Zara,'" she began, "'touching you is all I've been doing for the past few minutes. So if you wanna rest your arm on me, then that's fine.'" Zara tensed suddenly as he felt a hand rub at his back. It took a moment for him to realize that it was Gwen's, and that her other arm had been under him the entire time. "'Besides...I...actually kind of liked it...'" she went on, "'It was nice...and warm...which is nice for a cold blooded morph like me.'" She chuckled a bit, tickling Zara's neck fur with her breath. "'We don't have control over the air conditioning in these rooms, so I can't make it warmer for myself, and with the recent heatwave, I've been either too hot or too cold. But with you, I can feel a happy medium.'" She rested her hand on the back of his head, looking deep into his eyes. "'So it's ok. It's very kind of you to think about me, and I thank you for that. But if you're comfortable with your arm on me, then by _all_means, do it.'"

For a moment, they just stared into each other's eyes. It took Zara a bit to realize that she was waiting on him now. He drummed his fingers on his thigh nervously. He had been given permission. She was okay with him touching her. And it was just her side. It wasn't anything that personal. Reluctantly, he moved his arm back onto her side, blushing as he felt her skin against his fur. He eased his arm more and more until a fingertip brushed her back. Zara's paw froze, and he glanced at her. No change in expression. She was still smiling at him sweetly and staring him deep in the eyes. He couldn't help but shiver a bit.

Gently, he eased his paw to rest there as well, his paw pads brushing lightly against Gwen's back. Seemingly pleased by this, she resumed petting him down his hair with one hand, and rubbing his back gently with the other.

"'See?'" she asked softly, "'Nothing to worry about. Now you and I are both comfier, right?'" Zara nodded dumbly, and she smiled. "'Yeah...it's not so bad now, is it?'" Zara shook his head. Gwen smiled again, this time lightly running her fingers through his hair. "'Hey, don't answer this if you don't want to, but...I'm curious to know... Is this your first time being this close to someone?'"

Zara bit his lip, feeling his cheeks heat up once again. Bashfully, he nodded his head. Gwen giggled a bit. "'Well, I won't lie. You're the second person I've gotten this close to.'" Surprisingly, it was Gwen who blushed this time. "'My roommate...well, she's a fire type. On some nights, it gets really cold for me. And since we can't control the air conditioning, we...uh...'" She couldn't help but laugh nervously as she went on. "'The two of us cuddle with each other so that I can stay warm.'" Zara's cheeks weren't the only thing burning by this point.