I’ll keep the door open
in case you come home

“Koh,” he said, and watched the smile stretch across the girl’s face. He watched as it faltered, then turned to a frown. His ears twitched back uncertainly. This was the part he hated: when they realized. Would she retract her kindness, like most people did, including his mother? Fell was no stranger to being treated like an animal whenever someone realized he was mute. No one seemed to understand that action was his only means of communicating, and on top of that, seemed to think that being mute also meant he was stupid or, sometimes, deaf. It was frustrating, and he braced himself for the disappointment that was sure to come when Kohelet withdrew from him. The beginnings of anger began to burn in his throat, and he looked away. It wasn’t her fault, he knew.

To his surprise, she did not seem to immediately withdraw. In fact, she stepped toward him again, and he found his eyes torn from the frosted bark of a nearby tree and drawn back to her face, which was suddenly moving very close to his. He watched her eyes as they drew close, and under her lips where they brushed gently against his throat he felt another rush of fire. He shivered, but the only cold he felt was the little rush of air that took Kohelet’s place when she backed away.

His heart galloped away in his chest, half crazed with desire and nerves. He had never been nervous before. In Kohelet’s presence, he felt both anxious and uncharacteristically calm. Until this point, he had existed in a perpetual state of frustration and rage (and, rarely, sorrow) at the restraints of silence. He still felt those things, but they were much quieter within him, easier to ignore — especially with a distraction such as Kohelet’s painted skin so close.

She moved past him, stepping into the pool he had lead her to and subsequently forgotten about. Fell did not move, but he followed her with his eyes, muscular neck curling to keep her in his sight. He watched as she reached down to investigate, and he even laughed — a quiet coughing sound — when she pulled back from the bubble that popped at her. He fell quiet, however, when she backed into him, and sent his lust into a frenzy once again.

I’m sorry, she said, but he made no response. He had not backed away from her when she recoiled from the pool, and now he stepped around her, his skin pressed closely against hers. As he stepped into the water beside her, he raked his teeth gently across her back in a grooming motion, trying and failing to restrain himself from touching her. He was a slave to his instincts in this moment, and his instincts were screaming at him to just get closer. He could not disobey, but he could stall for a time.

He pressed his teeth (if she let him get this far) into her withers, and then began to scratch the symbol of his name on her side the way he had learned as a colt. He had no idea if she’d understand, but he relished the closeness, the softness of her fur against him, so he decided he didn’t care all that much.

FELL