Acorns and I Love You

Part 3 Nervous

After talking with Tami, Joe enters his room full of glee. Kip can spend the night every night the thought of that really out a bounce in his step and a smile on his face. He would have to ask grandpa but right now he didn't want to worry about that. It probably made more sense to ask after Tami moved out to the Bity house anyways. Joe sighed happily. Contented with this Joe realized that he had dropped everything to go ask his sister about his plan the first chance he got. He should probably go back to work.

Back in the orchard he had time to think again this time about how he felt about Kip. To be honest he had mostly pushed that aside when talking to Tami when the other topic of conversation was having his and Kip's routine every day. But he needed to think about it to process it. Romantic love was only something he saw on TV and just recently with his sister's courtship. Courtship. Would he have to court Kip? Well no because he wasn't in love with Kip. Or was he? How about using affection as a gauge for emotions. Would he want to hold Kip's hand? Well yes, he already cuddled with Kip on a near daily basis. He enjoys cuddling now, he looks forward to it. But what a human might consider romantic could just be courtesy. But Joe thought the time they spent with each other in his room was a bit more than just courtesy. Would he kiss Kip? He had said yes to this question before but that time was for his sister's sake. But did he want to kiss Kip for his sake? That question definitely made him blush. "Maybe I should stop thinking about this" . Besides, Kip wasn't interested; he was just his friend who was also about to move in. He shouldn't be having thoughts like this. But as Joe worked through the rest of the day, and through his solo nightly routine his mind would continuously drift to Kip. His companion and the person he wanted to see most.

Despite wanting to see Kip. When it came time for Kip to arrive at the farm Joe was nervous. Nervous about his emotions, nervous about Kip finding out. Nervous that Kip didn't want to move him and he was just making a fool of himself. And also hadn't he heard a fact about amerinthine smelling fear? Does that mean that Kip will know he's nervous? Will he press the issue? This was all just spiraling now. He needed to calm himself down. He should be calm anyways, today was a good day. He spends his day with Kip and they'll talk about anything and everything. It was fine. He was fine. It is going to be all fine. Just a few minutes later a quick Kip arrived. But Kip didn't jump into his arms like usual and this sadded Joe more than it probably should have. Instead Kip grabbed his shoulder with locked arms and looked Joe up and down. "Jiro is everything alright?" Kip looked frazzled which was unnerving. "Everythings fine," Joe said, because everything was fine. He was just freaking himself out and the last thing he would want is Kip to freak out. Joe grabbed Kip's arms and gave them a squeeze. Trying to go for that hug that I missed earlier. "Is everything alright with you? Why are you so alarmed?" Kips tensioned easied noticeably as he wrapped his arms around Jiro slowly. "I could sense that you were nervous and I left later than usual then when I had been leaving and I was worried I was making you nervous or anything else. Essentially your nervousness made me nervous" Now Joe thought about it. Kip was a little later than usual but just a little to be honest he hadn't noticed the time with what he was thinking about. "Kip you not even later than you usually are. I was just thinking too much." Joe squeezed Kip tighter. "This is nice, don't skip the hug next time. Okay Kip. I'll tell you all about this later. Everythings fine" Joe soothed. Kip wrapped his tail around Jiro. "Okay" Kip sighed and took a step back. His tail was still touching Jiro though. He wanted to know what was wrong now but he also wanted to spend his time with Jiro. It always felt like there wasn't enough time in their daily routines to be together. "You promise you'll tell me later" pressed Kip. Joe chuckled and said "I'd never lie to you" in a happy tone. Kip's demeanor changed. He was looking as bright as he usually did, then he gave Jiro a look before taking a few more step backs then running into Jiros arms. Joe was ready for it. With a proper beginning to their day together they continued with their routine like normal.

Kip could still sense a nervousness within Jiro which he didn't like. So he tried to push for more smiles. He even made a game of it in his head. How many times could he get Jiro to smile? He spun tales and jokes into the world and he pushed and prodded for more laughter with each word spoken. The smiles came easy enough Jiro was smiling at almost everything he said. Kip realized that he didn't actually need to push for a smile with Jiro. Maybe he was a smiley person? But that wasn't right. He had seen Jiro with others and he was more reserved, a little more focused and less carefree. Was Jiro smiling because of him? This entire internal monologue was happening as they walked through the fields but this last thought paused him. He actually stopped moving. Jiro smiling because of me? That made his heart flutter a little bit and brought a smile to his face. It would be nice if Jiro was smiling because it was me, not just the funny jokes. He could hear his heartbeat a little too clearly when he realized that Jiro was waiting for him. He had forgotten himself and he knew these signs a bit too well. He began walking again, cheerful mode plastered on his face but internally he was begging to panic. He was falling for Jiro like how he did with Ash. Not again he thought. He couldn't be stuck in that situation again, what would happen when Jiro fell in love and left him alone again. But he couldn't leave Jiro now the bonds were already there and he could never break them. Kip could almost feel himself resigning himself to another one sided love when Jiro interrupted his thoughts. "You're not alone" He said firmly. Kip quickly reasoned "What brought this on? And of course I'm not alone you're here with me aren't you" Joe looked at him seriously. "You are thinking about something that's making you lonely. It's not what happened earlier is it? I promise I will explain."

"No" Kip said softly "It's not that. How did you know I was feeling lonely" Kip dropped his plastered smile to something more accurate to what he was feeling. He couldn't tell Jiro what was going on but there was no point in hiding it when he just got called out. "I can tell... You are not alone. I'm here"

"I know" , but for how long Kip thought. Joe put his arm around Kip's shoulder. Then started moving his hand through Kip's hair. "What are you doing?" Kip said, slightly embarrassed. Joe just continued to run his fingers through Kip's hair. "I thought this would comfort you. I can stop if it's umm not correct."

"No, keep going, please. But maybe we should continue going on are way I don't want you to forget anything because of me"

"Will you tell me about it later"

Kip laughed inwardly "Of course Jiro" With promise of talking later they went on their way.