He's purring again. He purred last night. I like his purrs. Riley thinks to himself, finding himself feeling a tiny bit sleepy again. He bit back a yawn.

He's so small, so precious. Just fragile. I will never hurt him, and I won't let anyone else hurt him. But he doesn't want me killing ... well then, I'll just pound others that hurt him enough to where they think twice about hurting little Riley. Shade found himself thinking these thoughts, confused but not to bothered by them He did see Riley as precious after all. He tenderly smiled down to Riley as he stroked the smaller boys cheek.

Riley looks up at Shade, a sleepy smile on his face. "I love you Shade." He says, leaning slightly on Shade.

"Heh...I guess I've come to reciprocate this human emotion you call love, Riley." He said, heart pounding at this point. He was blushing nicely over the bridge of his nose and along his cheeks.

"Yay!" Riley says, giving him a quick squeeze before pausing. "I can hear your heart beat." Riley says slowly, tapping slightly with Shade's heartbeat.

He laughed softly in an awkward way, he still wasn't sure what he thought of his hearts reaction to being so close to Riley. It sped up a bit, beating stronger now.

"Do hybrid's hearts usually beat this fast?" Riley asks, giving up trying to keep with the heartbeat.

"No, actually." He admitted, blushing a good bit more.

"Then why is your heart beating so fast?" Riley asks, innocently looking up at Shade with a smile.

He blushed deep scarlet at that precious, innocent little smile. "I...uh...I don't know....for sure." he said, having to search for words.