MOST HAVE LEARNED

THAT THOSE WHO PLAY WITH FIRE

SPEND THEIR LIVES ICING BURNS

Every nerve ending in her body was on fire. Slowly her head lifted from the bits and pieces of elk flesh that lay at her paws. Never did her eyes leave him, locked upon those mismatched eyes that had sent a shock through her system. Her tongue lapped out, gliding across her lips in an attempt to cleanse herself of the blood that clung to her dark fur. The protracted silence that ensued was filled with the unknowing, but also with an all consuming knowledge of what they had found in each other. Their completion reflected from honey brown eyes flecked through with forest green against those divergent mahogany and teal orbs. But then, all at once, he spoke and every inflection of his voice cascaded over her, washing her anew and piercing her in a way nothing had before. She spoke her name, simply and honestly, to him in return. Less than the span of a breath passed before he was echoing it back to her, and the way his tongue caressed her name sent fresh, invisible shivers down her spine.

A smile finds its way to his features, and the warmness that had alighted in Dessa’s chest bloomed further. To know she could cause him happiness made her glow from the inside out. So many times Elowen had tried to describe the gift that the imprint bond could bestow upon you. Never had she understood, reveling in her independence and her ability to fulfill her every desire and goal in life for herself. Meeting Cae had been an accomplishment she had never imagined, but it filled her with a sense of something new and boundless. It had roots stretching further into her very being than her old oak tree’s roots had plummeted into the earth. As he stepped closer, Dessa found herself mimicking his motions, stepping over the forgotten meal, drawing her nearer to him. She had explored much of the western world of Moladion, but now all she wanted to was to explore him, to understand this effect that he had on her. For some time now she had wanted only to roam, to explore all this world had to offer her. Now she felt as if she could be content in this moment for as many days as it would be allowed.

A sparse two feet separated them now, and Dessa blinked simply as her nostrils flared and she was finally able to smell him for the first time. His scent was timber, splashed with stone and mingling with fresh grass – even though the ground was lightly dusted with snow. She knew the words even as they left his mouth – he lived upon the mountain. Though the mountain’s presence was plain upon him, he held his own unique musk, and it was one she would never forget. Even as he gestured to the west where the mountains stood plain upon the horizon, her eyes never left him. She found the way his head tilted slightly to the side most endearing, and a smile finally broke through the trancelike state of her façade. She gave no pause, finding her quickness of mind returning to her as she answered. “Here, there; anywhere. Even alone, consensus can be hard to reach. Of late, along the northern banks of Aplos Riverside.”

It was with her next inhale that she realized how marred her fur must be, as she tasted the forgotten meal upon her lips. For the first time since he had approached, her gaze dropped from his as she lifted a paw and wiped at her muzzle. She glanced back up at him, her smile quirking slightly, not in embarrassment but more so in amusement. “Are you hungry? I took far more than I could ever hope to consume alone.” She gestured back at the remnants of the meal, offering them to him if he should wish it. Whether he wished to feast side by side with her or continue their conversation from where they stood, she did not care. She only wished to remain in his company.

OOC: oh my gosh, chloe; i'm so sorry! i thought i posted this at the start of my vacation but when i was going through my to do list i glanced over his board and saw it never updated!! sorry for making you wait; so glad it was saved on my desktop. DX

Dessa

three | maddox x elowen | diveen