[Envy wheezes that time, laughing hard enough that he ducks his head down automatically, part of his forehead against the edge of Henry's shoulder. It was the deadpan, that got him.]
[His tail coils again, though this time out of happiness instead of anxiety. Wow, Envy really likes shitty tree-pased jokes. WELP. He turns to more carefully pat down the next flower.]
[Ah, yes, a science pun and there he goes. He can't even respond to that one with words, just more helpless laughing. And it's genuine laughter, too, nothing snide or sarcastic about it, which is a rare thing to hear coming from Envy.]
[It's the stupid jokes, yes, but it's also a release for all the overwhelming, confusing feelings that he's been keeping held back and doesn't know how to process, and he can't seem to stop.]
[Henry finally cracks a jagged grin. He hasn't seen Envy give himself over to laughter like that before. If there's one thing the nymph can appreciate, it's joy. You didn't get a lot of that here on the peninsula.]
[He shifts on his knees so he can turn and actually give the manticore a few joking pats on the shoulder.]
[Envy's wings shift with those pats, but he doesn't mind them. It takes a little longer for him to compose himself enough to actually form words, at which point he looks up at Henry, shoulders still shaking and showing all of his teeth in a grin.]
Yeah, I'm--haha--feline fine.
[He's so goddamn pleased with himself that his tail curls.]
[Henry was faced with a decision that needed to be made in a lightning flash. He could either give in and snort, appreciating this guy's willingness to play along...or see if he could tease him by acting like he didn't GET the pun.]
[But Henry has never been a sneaky individual, so a laugh splutters forth anyway and he covers his face with a twisted hand.]
[He got Henry to laugh again. Envy looks as though he's just caught fifty canaries, his ears sticking straight up and his tail curling back and forth at the end, this time in humor rather than anger.]
I know. They'll have to lock me up in bad joke prison, too.
[Henry, you have to uproot. No, your tail can't reach the house, stop trying.]
I'll be back.
[After a moment that stretches on for a little too long, the nymph finally pulls his claws out of the ground and scurries away inside. Where he stays for yet another long moment. Finally he returns holding two glasses of fruit punch. He didn't mean to pour fruit punch but that's what happened.]
[On his way back, his tail is trying to latch onto everything it passes from shrubs to the side of the house and finally to Envy himself.]
We had purple and red but the purple tastes like death and I don't understand why we keep buying it.
[Envy waits for Henry to get back, but he's gone long enough that it lets some of Envy's own nerves creep back in. He distracts himself by looking over Henry's garden, trying to see how many of the plants he can actually identify.]
[It's both a relief and a small resurgence of those nerves when Henry comes back outside, but he grins and takes the punch. And tries not to grin too much wider when Henry's tail attaches to his leg again.]
Maybe your housemates just enjoy tasting death, who knows?
[He'd said 'we', he's assuming there are housemates. The first sip of fruit punch gets a surprised look out of him, but not in a bad way.]
Hey, it's really sweet!
[GONNA KEEP DRINKING THIS SHIT. Which is also a great distraction.]
[He looks between the manticore and the flowerbed. There's nothing more for him to do but...it is a nice day. Henry slowly lowers himself back down and props himself up on his hands, legs stuck out before him. He faces the road and the houses of various sizes that pepper the suburbs.]
[If he just looks straight ahead and ignores the Minotaur checking her mailbox across the street, things are almost normal.]
[Envy doesn't lean on him again when he sits down, even though the idea of that sounds nice enough, because he knows that if he did he couldn't write it off as being anything but a...dating thing.]
[He's really not used to this yet.]
[But he does sit close, knees drawn up slightly so that he's not sitting on Henry's tail. And it's clear from the expression that flits over his face that he really liked hearing Henry say that.]
[The nymph is quiet for a while. Unless some terrible suicide and or murder crisis was happening, the little house didn't get that many visitors.]
I would like that...
[Henry gently brushes some dirt off the knees of what's left of his jeans. Something occurs to him but he doesn't want to bolt away again to grab something else just yet.]
Envy, has...anyone taken your picture since you got here?
[In spite of all the nerves about this...everything twisting his stomach into prickly knots, Envy can't help but give Henry an amused sort of smirk that's decidedly flirtatious.]
[The lightest shade of green was starting to appear across the bridge of what used to be his nose. On anybody else it would seem he was getting ill but no. This is just how trees blush.]
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wolfintheattic) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
theattic2014-11-09 07:55 pm
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Do you have a tree joke for everything?
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[And the worst part about Henry and his shitty tree jokes is he delivered them in that straight-faced deadpan of his. No wide grins here.]
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You...you should go back to jail for that..!
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[His tail coils again, though this time out of happiness instead of anxiety. Wow, Envy really likes shitty tree-pased jokes. WELP. He turns to more carefully pat down the next flower.]
I've already served my photosentences.
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[It's the stupid jokes, yes, but it's also a release for all the overwhelming, confusing feelings that he's been keeping held back and doesn't know how to process, and he can't seem to stop.]
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[He shifts on his knees so he can turn and actually give the manticore a few joking pats on the shoulder.]
Envy, are you cholrofeeling okay?
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Yeah, I'm--haha--feline fine.
[He's so goddamn pleased with himself that his tail curls.]
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[But Henry has never been a sneaky individual, so a laugh splutters forth anyway and he covers his face with a twisted hand.]
That was awful.
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I know. They'll have to lock me up in bad joke prison, too.
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[He turns back to the flowerbed and...oh! They're all planted. He's run out of things to distract himself with. Uh oh!]
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[The face Henry starts making gets Envy to tilt his head, glancing between the garden and the nymph's face with a puzzled sort of look.]
What's that face for?
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[In a fit of sudden anxiety he reels his arms back and then plunges them fully into the earth. THERE.]
Do you want something to drink?
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[Startled, Envy leans his head back as his ears go out to the sides. Some of his fur frizzes up.]
I...could have something?
[HE HOPES THAT HE'S NOT BEING OFFERED LIKE...WATER OUT OF THE GROUND.]
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[Henry, you have to uproot. No, your tail can't reach the house, stop trying.]
I'll be back.
[After a moment that stretches on for a little too long, the nymph finally pulls his claws out of the ground and scurries away inside. Where he stays for yet another long moment. Finally he returns holding two glasses of fruit punch. He didn't mean to pour fruit punch but that's what happened.]
[On his way back, his tail is trying to latch onto everything it passes from shrubs to the side of the house and finally to Envy himself.]
We had purple and red but the purple tastes like death and I don't understand why we keep buying it.
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[It's both a relief and a small resurgence of those nerves when Henry comes back outside, but he grins and takes the punch. And tries not to grin too much wider when Henry's tail attaches to his leg again.]
Maybe your housemates just enjoy tasting death, who knows?
[He'd said 'we', he's assuming there are housemates. The first sip of fruit punch gets a surprised look out of him, but not in a bad way.]
Hey, it's really sweet!
[GONNA KEEP DRINKING THIS SHIT. Which is also a great distraction.]
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[The look on Envy's face when he tastes the punch for the first time finally draws that grin back out of hiding.]
I can bring you more if you want.
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Nah, c'mon and sit back down, this is enough for now.
[Sit back down with him.]
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[If he just looks straight ahead and ignores the Minotaur checking her mailbox across the street, things are almost normal.]
I'm glad you came.
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[He's really not used to this yet.]
[But he does sit close, knees drawn up slightly so that he's not sitting on Henry's tail. And it's clear from the expression that flits over his face that he really liked hearing Henry say that.]
Yeah? I'll have to come around a lot, then.
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I would like that...
[Henry gently brushes some dirt off the knees of what's left of his jeans. Something occurs to him but he doesn't want to bolt away again to grab something else just yet.]
Envy, has...anyone taken your picture since you got here?
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[Envy looks up at the question, curious and a little surprised.]
I don't think so. I mean, sometimes people try to take pictures at the Triple T, but then they get kicked out so I don't think that really counts.
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...I have a camera.
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So you want to take my picture, then?
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[The lightest shade of green was starting to appear across the bridge of what used to be his nose. On anybody else it would seem he was getting ill but no. This is just how trees blush.]
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I don't see why I wouldn't be.
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