"Fireflies are like... krill. That flash green." That was as close as Glory could describe them. "I can imagine that the glowing things taste bad... The glowing is a chemical reaction, so I bet it tastes bad."

Finally done with her homework, she set it aside and took out the paints. "Think you can help me get the colors right on this thing?" she aked, taking out the wooden seashell.

Léan nodded, somewhat understanding. "Bad doesn't even begin to describe how they taste...ugh, awful..." He glanced at the seashell, curious. "Where did you make this? Of course I'll help..."

"I made it in shop," Glory replied. "I needed something to keep my hands busy. I still need to put a bailing clasp at the top, and I think a rawhide cord would be best to string it on... But it needs to be painted first."

Léan tilted his head at it, curious. "I see...what color are you thinking of painting it?" His blue eyes twinkled a bit, fascinated by the small piece of carved wood. Wood didn't take too well to water, and it didn't last long...so he wasn't too used to it.

"I was hoping to get something relatively close to 'natural'," Glory replied. "I even managed to dig out a bottle of iridescent paint for it."

Léan nodded. "Most shells are grayish, black, or white. Clam shells can be blue, and even brown. I've even seen a few orange shells before. Crab shells are mostly red, of course."

"White might be best," Glory mused, thinking. "It will take a few coats to cover the wood's natural color, but once the white is on, I can paint over some of the pearl color to make it shimmer."

"That would look nice..." Léan agreed, watching her. He seemed ten times less cranky now that he was away from Arcturus, and, strangely enough, perfectly comfortable in her home.

Nodding, Glory opened the bottle of white paint and carefully put the first coat on the wooden shell, making sure that there were no spots that she missed and that the coat was even.

"We need to let that dry before we put the second coat on," she said, setting it aside to dry.

Léan nodded, smiling, resting his head on one of the cushions. He felt like dead weight, seeing as he couldn't move from the couch, but he was glad to have enjoyable company for once.

"You seem like you're in a better mood now," Glory commented. He seemed much more relaxed than he had before... He was even genuinely smiling, for once.

Léan nodded, smile still in place. "I love my brother, I really do...but I now understand why I only used to meet with him once a month," he commented mournfully, slightly teasingly.

"I'm not sure why he's sticking around, actually," Glory said. "He showed up when you got hurt, right? That was a while ago, you're all healed up by now. So why hasn't he gone home yet?"

Léan chewed his lip, then sighed. "He was planning to leave a while ago, but he refused to once he started to see me changing a bit...becoming more social..." He sighed again. "Basically, around the time he started trying to push us together."

"You have changed, you know," Glory replied. "You're not as unsociable. You've even been smiling. I mean, I'm still not sure how 'together' your brother is trying to get us, but at least something's been happening."

Léan grumbled, as gruff as ever. "Yes, yes...I'm aware of this. I don't really know what his intentions are, but..." He trailed off, looking down. He didn't exactly know what to say. He didn't even know if he wanted them together...

"I'm good with just being friends," Glory said. "Trust me, I am. I have no idea what Archie is planning. Well, no, I know what he ultimately wants to happen, but I have no idea how he plans on getting us there. I am perfectly fine with just being friends." And... she had no idea why she was rambling. She had been perfectly fine a moment ago, so why was she suddenly acting like she had a direct connection between her mouth and her brain?

Léan cleared his throat, going a little pink. It seemed he was having problems forming some kind of connection between his mouth and brain. "Well...I..." He paused, then mumbled something under his breath. "...wouldn't...actuallyminditbeingsomethingmoretha nthat."

Glory blinked for a moment, trying to figure out what he had said. Then it clicked, and she turned bright red.

"You... wouldn't?" she managed to squeak. "Really?"

Léan never turned red when he blushed. Instead, he turned pink. It made him look like a giant, unripe peach. He looked completely speechless. "I...I wouldn't..."

Glory didn't know what to say. She'd never been in any kind of similar situation before, having never had the time to form a proper relationship with someone. Her single past boyfriend had been a kind of whirlwind thing, nothing like the slow building from over the summer. But if she was being honest with herself... She wouldn't mind it being more, either.

"I... I wouldn't mind, either..." she managed to say, still red.

Léan's shoulders went up to his chin--he honestly hadn't been expecting that. He stayed completely pink.

"...Oh..."

He wasn't sure what else to say. Honestly, he'd only ever been with Selena...and that hadn't exactly been a good relationship, considering how she was...he didn't even know what to do.

"Maybe we should think abou this for a while?" Glory suggested quickly. Anything to cut the building tension. She really, really hoped that she wouldn't ruin anything between them... She liked having him as a friend, and she didn't want to mess that up.

"I...well...if we're both sure about it, then...there's not much to think about..." Léan offered, quietly, still bright pink. His tail was swishing back and forth nervously.

"I-it's still something to get used to, though," Glory pointed out, her blush gradually fading. "I mean... Neither of us have had a good relationship to go on..."