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hassian was a tad stubborn when it came to opening up to somebody. kate could tell you all about that within a single rant. he didn’t like people getting close to him, and especially when they were constantly needing him for something. just threw him off, really. he wanted to keep everyone at arm’s length. being in his own solitude was very integral to hassian.
kate kind of squeezed her way into his life with unbridled determination. she didn’t understand the thoughts of a loner, but at the same time, she tried to be as respectful as possible to hassian’s wishes to be in solitude. just… not all the time. people wouldn’t understand the dynamic of their friendship, because for the longest time… hassian wouldn’t even use the word friend when talking about kate.
tau took a shorter time getting used to seeing kate as frequently as they did. he more often than not would be scampering about doing dragon knows what, but kate brought him little gifts too… kate even brought tau muujin meet on the sly sometimes when hassian wasn’t around. not to the point where he might reprimand the both of them, but it was a little cheeky either way. if anything, kate would make tau love her before hassian admitted they were becoming close friends.
kenyatta had a few reservations about kate trying to befriend hassian, because of his attitude and the way he wanted to be alone all the time. she told kate that she was worried such behavior would eventually rub off on kate, and that she would want to isolate herself in some grove just like him. kate wasn’t like that, and she had to reassure kenyatta that she wasn’t going to suddenly become a recluse. kenyatta was projecting her thoughts only a little bit when she expressed those particular ones.
hassian wasn’t completely sure if he could trust a human. he didn’t know that much about them, and it didn’t occur to him to simply ask about what it was like - or anything like that.
eventually, he started to notice himself slowly not minding when she would approach him. no longer the frustration of somebody coming up to him again for some idle prattle. he taught her to shoot an arrow on a bow that he helped her craft, and he took time out of his day to form a makeshift setup of chapaa and sernuk targets. sometimes he still wished that she would go off on her own and learn the way that he did, but as time went on, he didn’t really mind giving advice and tips as much anymore.
kate brought him the things he asked for, but mostly when she offered. she even sometimes brought him the extra foods she made at her home. surprisingly, what she cooked was delicious, and he often scarfed it down realizing that it was usually the first meal of the day when she brought him something. hassian often didn’t go to his mother’s to eat just because he would rather be alone than listen to sifuu talk about things he didn’t particularly care about.
kate did have to have a conversation with hassian at some point about sifuu. she didn’t understand why hassian wasn’t as close with her as sifuu might wish he was. it really wasn’t her liberty to know the reason, but kate also wished that hassian would be a little more sensitive with sifuu. she didn’t press it after the first initial conversation… but maybe a little later down the road she could touch on it again. who knows?
it had been a little while since kate went and bothered hassian, though. she was busy redecorating her house with tish, and then spending quite a bit of time with a certain chef at the inn. hassian wondered when she would come and bother him for a little while, and also thought about tau whining for her when he brought up her name. tau was pretty loyal to hassian, and yet…
maybe he could visit her at her home? he’d done it a couple times before when he would repay her for her kindness in some small way, but not much. since he was so keen on his own privacy, after all.
but then again, he was stubborn.
it was several days gone when kate was seen by them again. tau barked happily the moment he saw her walking the path to bahari bay in the early morning. hassian was in his own thoughts when tau startled him a little, and he patted his plumehound before seeing what tau was making a big fuss about. kate had her bow and arrows neatly strapped to her like she was ready to hunt, which he wouldn’t admit out loud that he was proud to see.
she waved at them as she walked closer, a smile on her face and a glow on her cheeks from the morning sun. she planned on it being a good day to stretch her legs and give her skills a little bit of conditioning. she didn’t know if she would cross paths with hassian, but she wasn’t opposed to it at all.
tau didn’t hesitate to walk ahead of hassian so that he could greet kate first. she expressed happiness at his approach, and even hunched down so that she could scratch behind both his ears with her hands. he panted, whined happily, and then shook his entire body when she finished. she remained eye level with him until she pulled out a treat for him that she unwrapped from a bit of cut cloth from her pack. tau adored her for times like this.
“i was wondering when i would see you again. tau missed you.”
“just tau?” kate teased, slowly standing while tau took a seat in between them and alternated from looking at his master and looking at kate. he had a goofy plumehound grin on his snout, with his tongue dangling in the open air.
“don’t flatter yourself, kate.” hassian said, but kate knew that it wasn’t meant harshly. she could see that he was at ease, strangely enough. she still wasn’t used to this side of hassian, but she also knew there would probably still be some sort of guard up.
“consider me a little flattered.” she continued to tease.
hassian shook his head. he knew this friendship was going to constantly keep him on his toes.