Looking with fresh eyes...

The realization chips the armor of your heart, and your face softens. "You're cold?" you croak.

Blue is torn from her fascinated observation of your hands to look at you. A sliver of light falls over her face like a gap between curtains, and a puzzled eye shines at you.

"Cold," you repeat, miming a shiver and letting your teeth chatter. "Cold."

Blue looks back at you, and for a moment you think yourself crazy for trying.

"Cuhh-oooludd...?"

You stare back, a wondering smile spreading over your face. "Yes!" you affirm quickly. "Cold!"

"Cooold."

"Right," you continue excitedly, your voice rapidly recovering. "Rain- no, water," you correct yourself. You raise a hand up to her eye level and let it slowly fall, wiggling your fingers as you do. Then - shivering again - "Cold."

Blue tilts her head heavenward, unfazed by the rain. The dim light outside illuminates her face, giving you the most detailed look you've ever had of it. She looks almost familiar to you, and her features are as pretty and mature as any girl's you've fancied. Despite that, there's a childish pinkness to her cheeks and a similarly cute nose. You can see why you thought her easily the youngest of the harpies, but were she a human girl, you wouldn't think her any younger than yourself.

"Wadder... C'chko..." Her head tilts slightly, and then she glances back at you, making you a little self-conscious for your staring. "C'ch'tacha," she says. When she can tell you don't follow her meaning, she looks down to dip a toe in a small puddle near your knee. "C'chko," she says slowly, then looking up to the sky again, she repeats, "C'ch'tacha."

"Rain," you realize, unable to repress an open grin. You copy her actions, pointing to the puddle and then upwards. "Water... rain. Rain is cold."

"R-rain. Rain cold," Blue agrees.

Nodding enthusiastically, you gesture towards her, repeating your original question. "You're cold...?"

She follows your finger until she's looking at herself. Her reaction is unexpected; she recoils a little, then stares back at you with a grimace. The sliver of light falls back onto her face, and now her blush is very obvious. Your smile fades in confusion, and then your brow shoots up as she steels herself, closes her eyes, and draws closer to you. You feel her legs press against yours, and your hand is a finger-width from poking her breast.

"A-ah, no, that's not what I meant!" you blurt, shaking your head. "I mean, thank you, but-"

Your outburst alarms her, and she pulls away with a panicked gasp. Her wings part above you for a moment, just long enough to get your eyes wet. You break off your spluttering explanation to rub the water from your eyes. You hear her wings snap back together, and when you look up, she's pulled her knees up to her chest and hides her face between them. You watch with a mix of frustration and shame as she wallows there, letting her hair mat together under the unyielding storm.

You berate yourself mentally as you slowly slide towards her, trying to come up with a way to bridge the gap in understanding. Babbling at her won't accomplish anything, obviously, but even tone doesn't seem to translate perfectly. You've caught onto their moods when they speak in their bird-tongue, but it's more of a feeling than anything you can put into words, let alone compare to Common's nuances. Anything remotely abstract will be hellish to explain at this rate.

You sigh before reaching out, opting for tapping the ground in front of her rather than her knee, as you'd originally intended. She twitches a little at the sound and looks up at you. You're stunned at the melancholic expression on her face, but it also serves as a spur to right the miscommunication. "Warm," you say, putting on a smile. "You're warm."

You slowly cup your hands and blow into them, repeating the action as she watches gloomily. You place your hands on either side of your face then, repeating, "Warm." Then, your breath shakier than before, you blow into your cupped hands until they're almost uncomfortably hot. Praying that she won't panic again, you carefully reach forward.

Blue's eyes flit between your hand and your face, wide with growing confusion, but she's rooted to the ground. Even as your hand cups her cheek, she's utterly motionless.

"Warm," you say again, leaving your hand there until the heat has ebbed away. You pull it back to breathe the warmth back before extending them again, and again once more. Blue's eyes seem to glaze over as you place your hands lightly against her face. You hadn't intended it to be, but yours has become an unusually intimate gesture. All the more so when she begins to lean into it, resting her head against your palm.

"Warm," Blue whispers, and the sweetness and relief in her tone is unmistakably human.