Vessel stood there.

He stood there for a good hour.

Maybe even two.

Xylia watched him, concerned, for a long time at the base of the hill. He just stood there. Staring at the statue with blank eyes. His face unchanging. Breathe, pulse, position, all unchanging. He just stood there, only the occasional flicking of an ear, the only thing that let Xylia knew he was still alive and aware.

Xylia finally gathered herself and walked up the hill, trying to make loud steps so she didn't frighten the small stag. He tended to startle easily when thinking. She walked up next to him, and he finally broke his position and turned his head to her.

"Vessel..." She spoke softly. "Something is... wrong... Please, you... you can tell me... What are you thinking about?"

Vessel looked down and blinked for a moment. He seemed to swallow something, and looked behind himself, then turned to her.

"... the past..." She acknowledged. He nodded. "But... what... brought it up?"

He looked down again, turning a sorrowful gaze back up to her.

"Oh... that..."

He nodded again.

"Oh Vessel..." she nuzzled him, leaning her head under his. "This is... a big thing... I know... No one said... you had to..."

He nodded, then shrugged and shook his head. She returned her gaze to its regular position, and tilted her head. "Something else?"

He nodded. He decided now was the time to write. "In my isolated youth... I never learned the meaning of having or being a parent. How could I be a father when I had none myself?..."

She could see his milky white eyes shine, glazing over. She realized that this wasn't some contemplation like he regularly had. This actually pained him. He had no confidence in this. He felt certain that he would be a terrible father.

She leaned against him again. "You... don't know... You could be... the best... father ever..." He shook his head solemnly. He didn't believe her. "Vessel... How do you know... when you've never... tried it?"

At this, he looked at her, his sad expression still unchanging. He sighed silently, wiping off what he wrote before, and writing again. "Perhaps you are correct... Perhaps I could be a good father... But, if you compare me to Skokey-"

Xylia stomped her hoof in the middle of where he was writing. "Don't... compare... yourself to him. He... is different... Everyone is... Just because he... happens... to make a good father... That doesn't mean..."

He nodded again and again, even after her voice faded. He understood her. He wiped away the unfinished sentence. "I just don't see how I could bond with a child when I cannot speak..."

"That... never stopped me..."

Vessel nodded, his expression brightening a little. He wrote more. "You make it sound so simple..."

"Of course... it sounds simple... Everything sounds simple. It will be... hard, that is... obvious. But... I know we... can do it... if we only try..."

Those last words seemed to hit him hard. He looked down to the ground, wiping off what he wrote and continuing to write. "I just need time to think... Please don't worry about me, I'll be fine..."

He gave her a long nuzzle before taking a walk. Perhaps the peace and quiet would ease his mind, if only a little.

Xylia certainly hoped so.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PHAHAHAHAHAHA

now you know :>

sorry, needed to write, Vessel's been neglected lately, i find it cute :> besides, Vessel emo writing ftw! i love writing emo Vessel crap XD i must have a problem...

AND JUST SO YOU KNOW. this doesnt mean Xy and Vessel are gonna have a baby.... yet. i know Fulu's pregnant, and Taliene's pregnant, and Aspen just had kids, and Skokey just had kids! THERE ARE A LOTTA BABIES OUT THERE. but still... *giggle* its a cute thought, isnt it?

LOL anyway, i hope to add on to this soon. not now, though, now i sleep.

BAI PLZ