Pray it desires not You Posted on October 24, 2023 at 04:48:18 PM by Yael
Fell parts from Yael and Zurok with a satisfied whuff of air and a toss of his head. He slips back into the depths of the pine forest, back in the direction of his own herd; toward the meadow, and the wide, shallow section of the river that marks the favored spot of the Bay’s main band.
Yael accepts Zurok’s invitation for a walk with a slight nod of her tawny head. She has explored almost every corner of the Bay she could reach in her brief two years of life, but she never tires of it, so she keeps her pace slow and savory as they move through the trees. Her coat, not yet adorned with any scars or marks aside from the small snip of white at her lips, gleams in the sunlight that pours brokenly through the branches of the trees. It’s many different shades of red and gold and sable, a fine lacework of dapples falling across her back and shoulders like a delicate dark shawl. Low-hanging branches drag fine, rough fingers down her spine as they walk, and her skin leaps at the touch to shake it off, but she feels no irritation at the sensation. She’s used to it — it’s part of the Bay.
“I have lived here my whole life, yes,” she says, answering Zurok’s earlier question. “I’ve gone over the borders into the neighboring lands a few times, of course, but I’ve never really left.” Her tail switches pleasantly at the feathers of her hind hooves; mostly, Yael keeps it lifted slightly to prevent the tips from dragging.
She listens as Zurok talks about Fell, and then about his own herd. “Have you brought anyone over yet? Where do you come from, anyway? Your speech is so… formal,” she says, her tone a friendly, gently teasing one. She brushes her shoulder against his in a playful shove. Though she pokes fun, Yael observes that nothing about Zurok feels forced or insincere. She even flushes at his compliment — she’s never had trouble seeing herself as worthy or fierce, but it had never occurred to her that she might be considered beautiful. Though she doesn’t suspect a trick or a lie from Zurok, still she tamps down the heat in her cheeks, for she finds it to be a silly response to a compliment.
She smiles easily at him, falling into her own comfortable habits of playful testing. “Oh, come now, that’s unnecessary,” she purrs. “Don’t make me blush. You’re far prettier than I am, anyway.” Replies: