<blockquote><div><cite>Dragonjaj wrote:</cite>Oka tilts her head "May???" At that moment May called "Andrew!" then came runing in and glumped andy  giving him a kiss. Rowko laughed "Now i see what took you so long."</div></blockquote><br/><br/>You could tell Andy's emotional state from the way the white fur on his muzzle and cheeks went pink when the underlying skin flushed. He made sure to return the kiss first, but then disangaged, red as a very red thing.<br/><br/>"Mmmmmm! It's not what it looks like... okay, it sort of is. But I was delayed because I was captured by May's family. They wanted to... let's just say they were holding a dinner party, in my honour. May helped me escape, and..." He'd meant to talk to May about not saying anything about the goddess appearing, but he'd just have to hope she didn't say anything.<br/><br/>"Anyway, we eventually got here, and immmediately got them to send a relief force. We didn't..." He minutely inspected the floor, his face a study in embarrasment. "Well we did... I mean, not until after I was sure the message was delivered, but then we both needed some rest, and May wanted to, and I wanted to, I mean, May saved me, and she's beautiful, courageous, kind..."<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div>Thar grabed andy by his shoulders and pulled him away from may and shook him slightly. <br/>"What on this rock where you thinking!"</div></blockquote><br/><br/>Andy managed to slip away and turned to face him. "I wasn't exactly, at least not very much. Besides, in my world, different anthro species can't prodice viable offspring... not without a team of genetic engineers. Oh, you mean the mission!"<br/><br/>He shook his head. "I was the best one for the task. It had to be done solo since there were already too few of us to properly defend the subway station. One extra pistol wasn't going to turmn the tide. I was a small loss in a stand-up fight, stealthy enough to get here in one piece, and hopefully non-threatening enough to deliver the message without getting shot.<br/><br/>"If you think I wanted to do this out of some sort of misplaced desire for mindless heroics, you're nuts. I just couldn't face the alternative of leaving injured human beings to die. I know I'm only a 14 year old kid, a whelp, I heard you call me, but in case you havn't noticed, I haven't had the option to _be_ one much recently. I'm no big tough soldier, like you, or these guys, or some badass longcoat or powerful naga. I've been scared, and alone, and I _still_ did what I thought was needed."<br/><br/>He rounded on the larger man looking annoyed. "I'd love to be home, playing computer games with no bigger worry than what my next merit badge was going to be, but I can't, and almost certainly never will. So I could either kill myself, or let the myriad threats in this place do it for me, hide in a corner hunched up in a fetal position and rocking back and forth, and believe me, the amount of fear I've been through, that was tempting, or I could deal with the situation as best as I can!<br/><br/>"I know what I said about having acted in my own self interest, but that includes thesae intangible things too. I'm no hero, just someone trying to live from day to day, but if I gave up on things like compassion, duty, the scout code, what would be the point? I can't afford to carry much with me, and these are things that weigh nothing, but mean a lot to me... Oh, what's the use? As far as anyone's concerned, I'm comic relief, or a liability. Just once, I'd like to hear someone admit I contributed to the common good, that I was useful, that I helped! Just once!"<br/><br/>He turned away and kicked at a bit of rubble. "I'll take you to the mess hall, I'm good for that at least."