Aspen's heart felt like it was going to explode. She smiled back, hoping things were better between them, that maybe...

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Mystique was still uncertain about aspen, sure, aspen was nice, but she saw her more as a friend..
The vixen flicked her tail, addressing the both of them. 'Would you two like to stay in the den-..? We could use the company, and this part of the forest is less crawling with creatures.'

(why is aspen so obsessed with mystique)

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Aphrodite

---

Aphrodite gradually regained consciousness over a span of a few minutes, an exhausted groan emitting from the feeble ocelot. Her usually glossy pelt had collected the dirt that laid beneath her slender frame and was now completely soiled and kinked up in certain places.

Lifting a paw, she dabbed it at her eyes, trying to dispel the bleariness from her striking blue hues. Blinking, it only took her a split second to realize the Asian golden cat that was hovering above her with a facial expression of excitement painted on his face. Elevating her head up to lock eyes with whoever was standing above her, her jaw hung low. “..A-anteros?” She stammered, her voice hoarse.

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(um its her personality? Lol)

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♡ Anteros

♡ Location - near body of water, tree

♡ Mentions - Aphrodite

˳✧༚ I love making him so over the top for no reason, him and Thalia are my love children lol ˳✧༚

——

Anteros was debating what would be the best course of action for him to do— all of which infused staring at Aphrodite, hoping she would wake up soon. So, he did just that, looking at her with a burning gaze with his pure-golden eyes, looking at her with such an intensity it was as though he was trying to pierce daggers into her back,

Finally, after what seemed like hours of staring— for Anteros, of course it was really only a few minutes, no more than five— Aphrodite awoke. Her glistening, glossy blue eyes seemed to shine a stormy grey with the overcast clouds that reflected onto her eyes, making them shine a brilliant blue, her fur as glossy and shiny as her eyes were.

She had begun to dab her eyes clean, Anteros excitedly anticipating her reaction as he sat, nearly hovering directly over her body, practically shaking with the excitement he felt as his tiny fangs bit into his tongue with glee. And, upon her saying his name, he nearly exploded with happiness, it took just about everything in his will and whatever pride he had left to not fling himself against her body and squeeze her with the sheer amount of delight he felt by her saying a simple name, she had always been the only one to say to properly, to pronounce his name with such a sweet voice.

‘ An-teh-rowz ,’ she pronounced, each syllable sliding off her tongue a sweet melody to his ears. ‘Aphrodite! ,’ he squealed, a large smile on his face as he merrily jumped up, unsure of how to contain his happiness, his tail swaying rapidly behind him; wagging as if he were a dog.

‘ You remember me! You know who I am— and you remember me! ,’ he seemed to constantly backtrack on the, ‘remember me’ thing, excited by the fact that someone knows who he is, someone he knows remembers him— that his friend remembers him, even after he was made to question himself and lose all his personality and emotion for the sake of others.

‘ This is— this is wonderful, it’s amazing— ,’ he continued listing adjectives to describe how he felt, his eyes gleaming as he listed the happy and excited whirl wind of emotions he felt at that very moment.

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"Yes, we'd love to, Mystique," Andromeda replied, speaking for Aspen, who seemed at a loss of words

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Aphrodite

---

Aphrodite’s body shook with merriment; finally, after all this time, the two were reunited once again. Without thinking not even a single action through, she pounced onto the golden-furred feline, a loud purr rumbling from deep inside her throat.

“Where have you been all of this time?” Aphrodite questioned him, gasping. “I-I thought you were dead! B-but.. now you’re here. In the flesh. Right before my eyes!” The female laughed, rubbing the side of her cheek against the surface of his snout affectionately. “I can’t believe it.”

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@Rainstorm

Mystique smiled, flicking her tail lightly to beckon the two inside, 'Okay.. You'll see Bat and Thallo somewhere here.' She glanced to the two newcomers, 'I already know Aspen- but what's your name?' The vixen looked to Andromeda, curious.

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"I'm Andromeda, the other one," she joked.

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♡ Anteros

♡ Location - near body of water, tree

♡ Mentions - Aphrodite

——

Anteros was surprised by Aphrodite’s excitement, at first, mumbling to himself as he was knocked to the ground, a mixture of words such as— ‘huh,’ and, ‘what,’ although he said said many, many more, all of which were unintelligible, mushed up with one another to become nothing more than an incoherent sound.

After his brief moment of surprise, he began to laugh again, smiling a Aphrodite dawned the sam smile as him, her claws at the sides of his body as he merrily laughed out of pure glee and happiness.

‘ I thought I was dead, too— but then, then I escaped— did I mention I was kidnapped? I was kidnapped— but then I escaped, Aphrodite! I’m here, I’m actually here— and, and so are yo, you’re actually real, you’re alive and you’re the same you as before! ,’ he happily purred, laughing as he grew happier with every passing second, his vibrant yellow eyes staring back at her’s, with creases underneath them from how hard he was smiling.

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@Rainstorm

Mystique purred lightly, padding into the fox den. The burrow was large, since she had grown used to housing other animals in it, and Bat needed a LOT of play space. The kitten gave a startled hiss and scuttled off somewhere once he scented the strangers.

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(sorry for the late response!)

Aphrodite

---

The ocelot's circular eyes began to well up with tears. "I'm just so glad you're back, Anteros." She breathed, trying to fight the tears away. The corners of her lips began to tremble, as if the feline were going to burst out in heavy sobs. Pinning her ears flat against the sides of her round head, she locked gazes with her friend for a few dead silent heartbeats, before releasing her grip on him and stepping back so he could lift himself up to feet.

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˳✧༚It’s fine, my response is late, anyways, as I saw your response late. ˳✧༚

♡ Anteros

♡ Location - near lake, tree

♡ Mentions - Aphrodite

——

˳✧༚ CW for mentions of abuse. Please do not read about his backstory if you are uncomfy with this. :) ˳✧༚

He somberly nodded with her words, his head moving at a fast speed despite the sad feeling that hung in the air, looming over the two of their heads as silence began to settle in, the sounds of rustling replaced their happy, frantic words, and Aphrodite was no longer on top of Anteros.

Instead, she was now by his side, allowing him to finally pick himself up, as he did, with a small ‘hush,’ sound as he got off of the ground, shaking his body rid of any debris and dirt before the familiar silence creeped in.

Anteros paused for a second, eyeing Aphrodite as he heard her soft sniffles, scooting closer to her as he looked at her, sadly. It hurt him to see her that way; but it also reminded him; of the times they had together when they were younger, all the memories they made. . .

She had cried like this, before. She had cried, and he had comforted her. They were always there for each other in this struggling world. But then he was stripped away, and he couldn’t begin to even thin about how she felt while he just— just, disappeared on her.

For that reason, he blamed himself, a little. He remembered how the day went- the day he was taken away from his past and everything he found familiar and called ‘home’.

Stupidly, Anteros had wandered off. For a second, he separated from his pack of animals, just like him— his family— a pack of Asian golden cats, which included his close and extended family. He can’t even remember why, although he knew it was for something stupid, a fight with one of the pack members, a disagreement, something that made him walk away.

Whatever it was, it didn’t change anything , the matter of the fact still stood; he ‘ran’ away, got separated further and further away from his pack of family, and got himself lost in the wilderness. . . Found by the ‘group’. They took him after he used his powers on them upon them attacking him, knocking him unconscious and dragging him away from any thought of safety.

That was when the horrible nightmare started.

The group’s members would always change, he would never see the same person everyday where he was kept, it would constantly switch out between a group of what he thought could have been twenty to thirty animals every day, each bringing him no source of comfort, and each used him for his powers, instead.

He hated it. Every day was like a day in hell— a day of torture. He was forced to use his powers for their amusement, and if he did something against their liking, they would resort to force on him, so he made sure to never do something they would label as out of line, copying their emotions and actions, becoming a puppet void of any emotion besides those that others felt.

Finally, after a full year of their abuse, he found a way to escape and took it, wondering for a while, trying to get rid of his shell of his former self, the puppet he used to be— and then ending up where he is now.

He thought, because of his running away, it was his fault. He didn’t know how to comfort her, exactly. How was he supposed to? He couldn’t shake the voice in his head telling him it was his fault, he fully believed it, and he wasn’t sure how else to help Aphrodite besides . . . . using his powers.

Anteros could will it to go away, wash away her sadness and grief, he could. . make her happy. His golden eyes glistened with hope, and he neared her, sitting down next to her as he nuzzled his head against her affectionately, he had to use touch in order to use his powers, and he paused, just or a moment, to look at her broken appearance, he had never seen her look so sad.

‘What am I supposed to do? ,’ he whispered underneath his breath, a question to himself as he pondered whether to use his powers, or to try and comfort her some other way, although he had no idea how.

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Andromeda and Aspen padded into the cave. Aspen gave a glance at the frightened kitten and dropped a little piece of meat she had scavenged earlier in front of him, showing they meant no harm.

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Bat hesitated, meowing repeatedly to try look at the strangers, he'd dart forward to grab the meat and immediately ran back into his hiding spot. 'That's Bat- he's blind, so you should be careful with him.' Mystique said gently, padding to the herb stocks. 'Are either of you injured?'

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