[Survey] Arc Survey 025: Difference of Opinion

Gaia perked up as he gently cradled the small creature in his paws. He turned to his companion with a mischievous grin. Well this had been a nice find on their walk. Something told Gaia that Fleet was about to regret agreeing to the walk in the first place though. "Yo Fleet!" He grinned innocently. "Look at this."

Fleet huffed but glanced over. Once the other xero's eyes were on him, Gaia opened his paws to reveal a dyno beeble. It seemed to take a moment for Fleet to recognize the creature, but Gaia could see it in his eyes the moment he did. The yellow xero jumped, eyes widening. "Don't. You. Dare." Fleet narrowed his eyes.

"Don't what?" Gaia tilted his head and gently pat the dyno beeble on the head. 

"You know what." Fleet's voice waivered slightly.

"I'm not doing anything but enjoying this little guy." Gaia picked up a leaf and fed it to the dyno beeble. The bug happily began munching on it.

"Don't bring that thing any closer to me." Fleet growled, backing up a step.

"Whaaaaat?" Gaia drew out the word as he took a couple steps closer to Fleet. "This little guy? But he's so harmless." 

"Gaia..." Fleet said warningly.

"Yeeeeees Fleet?" Gaia took another step closer.

"Don't push it." Fleet flicked his tail.

Gaia sighed but decided it would be best to not push his luck. "Alright, alright." He pulled the dyno beeble closer to him. "I just don't get why these guys freak you out."

"And I don't understand why you like them so much." Fleet crossed his arms.

"They're cute, and wouldn't hurt a fly." Gaia gently stroked the insect's back.

"No they're creepy and should stay out of sight like they're meant to." Fleet turned away. "It's bad enough I find them in my house sometimes."

"If you didn't want to deal with them you chose the wrong place to live." Gaia chuckled.

Fleet pointed a finger at him. "And for someone with a fear of water you chose the wrong place to live too."

Gaia cringed. Well the other xero had him there. "Fair enough." He nodded. "But like I've said before, the vibes there are perfect. I just... stay away from the water."

Fleet huffed. "Maybe I'll have to give you some swimming lessons."

"And maybe that'll only happen when you grow to like these guys." Gaia shot back, gesturing to the dyno beeble.

"Guess it's not happening then." Fleet turned away.

"Look if you get to keep being scared of little bugs, I get to keep being scared of something that's actually dangerous. Like a bunch of water." Gaia flicked his tail. "There's a real risk there you know."

"Yeah?" Fleet sounded sarcastic. "Well there's a real risk with those things too." He pointed at the dyno beeble. "I've been attacked by them before. You were there!"

"They accidentally jumped onto your face after you scared them. That was not an attack." Gaia was deadpan. He remembered that incident rather well. It had been before... everything but Gaia had been quite happy to have found a small group of the little insects. This was before he was aware of Fleet's... aversion to them so Gaia had excitedly jumped on the opportunity to share this discovery with the other xero. After Fleet had leaned down to look he yelled and scared the poor things enough for them to jump at Fleet's face. Thankfully Gaia had managed to get them off before Fleet could accidently hurt them. A task made all the harder between Fleet flailing and Gaia desperately trying to hold in his laughter.

"It was an attack!" Fleet looked accusingly at the dyno bebble in Gaia's paws.

"Sure dude. Sure." Gaia chuckled to himself as he bent down to let the dyno bebble go on its way. He stood back up and glanced over at Fleet. "What are your chances of ever visiting me again if I got one as a pet?"

"Zero." Fleet answered immediately, voice serious. "Consider this relationship over if you do that."

"Yeesh. Harsh." Gaia sighed. As much as he enjoyed the little guys there was no way he'd end his and Fleet's relationship over them. Even if Fleet was being dramatic. "But noted. If I get one I'll just make sure it's where you can't see it if you come over." He chuckled.

"Oh I'll know. I can feel them." Fleet shivered. "You can't hide them from me."

"I'll go ahead and take that as a challenge." Gaia smirked.

"Don't you even think about it." Fleet growled.

Gaia held his paws up in surrender. "I'm just messing with ya. I won't" He glanced around. "Wanna head back then? See if we can avoid coming across any more?"

"You walk ahead of me." Fleet suddenly looked tired. "Don't tell me if you see one, just make sure we avoid it."

Gaia nodded. "You got it." He held out his paw for Fleet to take. The other xero hesitated for a moment before taking it. Even if the two had completely opposite opinions on some things, Gaia was still happy to have Fleet by his side at the end of the day.