Veli licked the side of his face, laughing. "Silly humans." He scoffed, nuzzling against him. "Trying to explain thigns."

"Huh?" Noah asked, "Don't tell me you believe in aliens on Earth."

Veli just gave him a look, raising one eyebrow.

"Funny. Most people don't believe in mermen."

"Yeah, but think logically. Underwater creatures can evolve to become humanoid, obviously...but creatures who have found the technology and have the time to travel to other solar systems? Extremely unlikely."

That wasn't saying he didn't believe they COULD be, of course, he just personally knew that NASA crafts were often mistaken for UFOs.

"A good point. However, how would you explain the long life that we have? And how they seem to pop out of nowhere? And, of course, other things that humans don't tend to see about the world?" Veli smiled, kissing his cheekbones and over his nose.

"Turtles live hundreds of years too," Noah snickered, "and I don't pretend to know everything. I just know people mistake aircrafts for alien UFOs. Happens all the time."

"So I'm a turtle, huh?" Veli laughed nibbling his shoulder.

"There's a lot to life that can't be known, Noah. Not little green men, perhaps, but you gotta admit, it'd be impossible for us to be alone in the world, what with all the stars in the sky."

Noah sighed. Durr. Clearly, Veli wasn't getting his point. He grabbed his food and headed for the kitchen.

Hrm? Head moving slightly to one side, Veli watched him with brows furrowed. Huh!

"Noah?" He asked meekly, grabbing his drink and shuffling after.

Noah just leaned against the counter, eyes facing the floor, and shook his head.

Nibbling his lower lip, Veli carefully dumped the rest of his drink down the sink, putting the glass in the dishwasher.

"I'm sorry." He didn't know what he did wrong, but, hey.

Noah just shook his head again. Anything he felt like saying now was an order, and that wasn't cool.

Oh, no...

Veli just gave a sad little sigh, reaching down and grabbing one of Noah's hands, kissing the back of it.

"I'm sorry." He said again. "I'll be in the room painting if you want me."

Finally, Noah nodded.

"Alright."

"I love you." Veli reminded quietly, going back up to the bedroom and immersing himself in the world of painting again.

"I love you too," Noah murmured, but all too quetly all too late.

Poor Veli had brought back some terrible damned memories. His mother, for one, refusing to just let him believe what he believed. His schools telling him that everything he thought was wrong.

There was a reason he left the goddamned south.

It was no use. Veli just couldn't paint. The few spots he tried he just messed up. So he cleaned his brushes, hopped in the shower, grabbed a shirt upon exiting and went into the unused bedroom. He found a few blankets that had been brought from his home and made himself a little nest on the floor.

He didn't want to bother his Noah.

After some time, Noah mysteriously escaped to the other bathroom, locking the door behind him. His mind cleared as he inhaled, he felt a bit strange, like he was floating. He was forgetting.

...and the hall began to smell like smoke?

Hrm? Veli poked his head up from his little nest, slowly pushing himself up. What an odd smell...

Tugging his shirt down over his behind, he moved out into the hallway, sniffing with furrowed brows. What was that?

And Noah realized the smell was probably carrying upon hearing the footsteps.

"Might wanna open some windows," he said, voice oddly gruff.

Huh. The smell was making him feel kinda funny... Not a good funny, either.

"'Kay." Veli called in, his voice thin. "What're you doin'?"

Oh, shit. Noah sighed, exhaling a plume of smoke.

"If I open this door, it'll just get worse. You should go open some goddamn windows."

"Okay." Veli mumbled, progressively feeling worse. He moved and popped open a few, leaning out to breathe in. Holy Shit.

Shaking his head, feeling more like he was going to throw up again by the moment, he moved back to the second bedroom, shutting the door tight and popping the windows there, barely making it back to his little nest before he went down on the floor.

Woah. Not good feelings.

Five minutes or so, and Noah was finished. The smoke dissipated when he opened the door and he leaned against the tub, head swimming in utter nothingness, feeling lightheaded and floaty.

Veli didn't seem to be capable of movement himself. He just lay on the ground, eyes closed, eventually moving to hide under his blankets. He didn't move much after that.