Maybe it's in the gutter,

Spring was coming soon, discarding the treacherous snowy days that were slowly becoming part of the passing season. The Queen took a stroll out of the forest, entering a domain that none truly owned except the world itself. She felt unbounded at the moment, neither politics or life itself taking her back, and but a moment of.. Peace, washed over her. 

Especially as the rain poured on, and Celnes stood in the open, eyes to sky.. Gently closing them, and embracing the cold rain.

the staff team luvs u

Scouting for good leads and tracking herds south of Tsukiishi had escalated considerably over the last week. Truthfully, Antares had let it get a little away from him and momentum did the rest. Winter weather and flighty, stampeding herds drove him and his curiosities south with more pressure than he had come prepared for. Even as he tried to range past their rumbling, it was difficult to find the end. But he was a determined sort and tried to make use of the miles he put in between home, searching for worthy recruits, signs of their lost prince, or even their exiled, and more.

He found true forests again eventually, then tried to rest in earnest now that he had finally distanced himself into a good span of peaceful travels. Once he had some semblance of his bearings, he knew he would have to work his way back to Shiroshika's bounds. But he was not ready to cross the openness again. Not just yet.

After seeking out an almost-thicket to rest in, Antares later awoke from a troubled, dream-filled sleep to the sound of rain. Not snow, hence the half a startle it gave him to hear it plip-plip-plip on the hardscapes around him. He breathed deep the petrichor, old, familiar and feeling like a certain comfort to an ancient part of his soul. Antares blinked this fog off, and shook out from his abandoned nap. He weighed his options and decided to slink out into the shower anyway, perusing on deeper, to find a clearing and another wolf in the rain as well.

This new realization lifted his head, ears pricked. As a stranger, he stepped forward closer anyway.

the staff team luvs u

Tranquility and peace, were rare and fleeting moments that the elken girl felt since bickering to the arts of war and politics. Flinging herself into hope of a desperation to be remembered ; to be holy like that of He who all sing in a praise that know of Him. Yet even the unwashed jealousy that usually sunk it claws into her soul could not interrupt this moment of utter sanctuary, as if she had reached a holy pinnacle — comfortable in body and soul that it seemed.. Like of a dream. Just a touch of gratefullness, that she was brought to this realm.

A wish at times to dream as a wonderlust girl then a woman of duties, fall into bitter despair of love — but she has, and yet it was never addressed into a true heartbreak. How she missed that man who clouded her thoughts and dreams itself, and the world — granting such a favor.

He walked forward, but darkened by the world itself she couldn't even read his eyes. But it was not him. Not the one she sought for the year and urned for, even knowing if he did appear.. She would still not be loved.

"Am I pretty?" did the queen ask with a self-mockery laugh, and yet.. Content. Would he call her pretty? Would he? Within her fantasies, she would be answered. Though fantasies may be, a scent like her own could not be mistaken for the year ; plaguing into an unmistakable aroma from herself, and his own. Though there was an unknown reason why she was in this fleeting moment of peace to edge of reality, but floating on the thougut this was all but part of her land of dreams.

the staff team luvs u

For as far from home as he was, Antares tried to imbue a quiet confidence to betray his.. relative uncertainty. He didn't know exactly what he was getting into. But the forests were a welcome change, and even despite the chill of the rain, he found he liked the weight of it on his fur anyway. It had helped him before, he remembered. Now he could try to puzzle out the mystery of her, next.

Before anything else, any of his usual avenues.. her question paused him just a few steps away to take that in. Unexpected so soon, even for the rogue Ostrega, he blinked at her, tail giving a tentative quiver. Well, he had not looked so closely until she prompted. She was lean, dark-browns, in a shade he didn't see that often lately in the north. Tall. He appreciated the look of poise, of a balance that he thought came alongside certain strength, or a self-assuredness, something like that even if only in this moment where she had the edge over him. It could look different, depending who, and where, but he had long begun to see its form--he once idolized fine wolves, after all, and continued to appreciate them of all sorts through life even now. That made him painfully aware of himself, too, enough to unfurl only some. He kept his nerves close to his heart, but curious interest was an easy motivator for him and he wanted to see more.

He glanced across her face, determined not to linger despite in the molten pull. Antares didn't know who she was, what that could mean. That remained a dim worry as he regrouped enough to nod. Pretty like the woods, like in a late summer, almost near autumn, when the humid days begin to have crisp nights, but well before the last fireflies. He swallowed and felt he should level back with something more present. That was one beginning, so not to be left too many steps behind, he drew up his head steadier. “Mhm, I'd say so. Why do you ask a stranger like me..?” A soggy one, no less, one quite far from his usual roosts. But once it was said, he supposed he could take some strength from the anonymity if that suited her too. “Am I pretty?” the shadow gathered his courage into a playful smirk, like he was some expert--though he did consider himself a pretty good eye.

the staff team luvs u

An endless rain that pittered one, taking her pelt and sinking it downwards as the Deorwine was to be drenched within it's form. She could each part of her fur, heavy in form as there was no shade to cover — just the gray world around with the hints of now wet snow amongst the floor. Dreary, to the mixture, ominous, as a shadow itself emerged forward and continued. She could hear his breathing, she thought she could almost feel him — so like-life, in a wonderland of fantasies. 

A smile emerged from her face, a compliment well-received and gave a warmth ; for all compliment within reality always seemed meaningless, and without truth to the matter. All a facade to warm up to a crown that they truly do not respect, not the respect she so desired within the world. Fire-lit eyes looking at him in a wanting, a half-awake stance within lucid thoughts, for more praise that she oh-so desired and was deprived of, and yet he too, within this fiction, wanted the same.

Such peace warped into desires, with regrets and memories. A lurching within her very soul, and she pained within thoughts. Every time she closes her eyes, the nightmares plague her so. Though no regrets, that 'what ifs' will always be at the back of her mind. Their names and faces, whispering within the night — either within a vengeful calling, or a silence, that made her prefer twisted words.

"I've always found dark men handsome," she so said, her body twisting to face the dark figurine, "but every man seems to escape me." A voice of melancholy, and wandering eyes. Could she vent to the abyss? If she called to it, would it answer back?

"Will you too?"

Maybe within this rain, it could cover the sorrow that drips down from her saddened eyes, but with always, a smile.

the staff team luvs u

Anticipation zings strangely in his blood when he took even half a second to wonder why here, and why now. The Ostrega can't be bothered to doubt it, though, that much seems to ring true no matter which way he looked at it--he was over his head with this already. He let it be, went with this current this time. Even a steadying breath served as good reminder. He could feel it in his skin now too.

Antares tipped his muzzle neatly her way, and really listened. It was her shift, a pivot towards him that he found kept him sharpest, that anticipation biting at his throat again. He is still coming to glean the meanings, and he is on this new strange lookout still trying to interpret her above all else, so new to him in every way. There is.. much more to this; he senses depths to the fires here, but they are certainly not for him to understand so soon. None of that will ever be him. He is only lured forward by the unspoken.

He is present, however; only a beginning. His responsibilities miles away. Even much of his own heartache remained an entire lifetime away if he dared to frame it as such, so he gave her a brave step forward into his own arc. Perhaps he could tempt her into motion, but he would press her space all the same, giving in to chase the lure though his jaw stayed tight, considering her words. Was he that captured already? Would she let him go if he tried? “Right now I don't have a reason to,” he answered quietly, low. He was close enough he felt it warranted, and his tail flicked with slow mischief--watching her carefully in case she decided to shoo him back and away.

the staff team luvs u

There was an approach that was not rejected and rather was drawn in, steps breaking the distance that was held as she leaned a coat over to him, a touch of fire onto the coolness that was brought from the unknown. Even if this world was fiction itself, the reality she currently was in felt so real — that Celnes did not wish for it to end. Dreams that plagued her with upmost loneliness and despair, that granting a pardon for just one fable, and one desire.

But when she would wake up, it would all be behind her. For the time being, to enjoy what was presented. She did not bother asking for a name, or even a thought. Enjoying but a dream enhanced moment where her tail teased back, in wispful foxness and a allure of wanting. 

"I'm not so benevolent to release what I want," a tint of devil as she said in a whisper, a warning to the other. Upon sinking her claws would the other not liberate until she got all that was wanted. A greedy wolf, to the ends of time itself she wanted all and yet could not get what she so desired — her true desire. To fill a void, that hollowed itself through her soul.

If only this was real.

the staff team luvs u

Closer, still, and senses alight.. he didn't mind the rain any, not when he felt his skin prickle while watching her--wondering when he would cross a threshold of too far, or if he would, even as seconds ticked on around them. It would make him bolder, slowly, steadily, with all the time that went and still, he remained, and well enough to measure his breath. But for now, it all focused on her.

Such a whisper of a threat pricked up his ears, chilling with a burn all at once. The forest queen already had his attention, but that let him warm into a touch more confidence, deciding to be undaunted by such. Not now. He was beginning to find his place in this moment and it further brought him to a greater understanding. His body language remained, saying wordlessly that he accepted this--though that he did not underestimate her, or her final say, while he dared her to show him what her strength would mean. He was here already, too deep to just turn-tail, her lure effective to bring him here--and baiting more.

Quietly, but with a new rougery arcing at his tail and making every step light, he knew enough to be the right nobody here. It was what he needed it to be, too. So far removed from everything that his last year had become. Since the star had fallen, and now, misplaced in a new world entirely leagues from his snowy perch, the shadow had found her. What that entire reason would be, he would discern later. When he felt like he could, or should, he chanced a fleeting, playfully small nip of first contact, half to prove neither would disappear. If she didn't disagree, he wouldn't let that be the last.

the staff team luvs u

To feel the touch of a man without a disgust, nor' the fumes that blinded her nose and eyes. A peaceful, an aroma that came through where she could not help but brush against him when she felt his nip, desiring to intake all that there was. To smell to feel, where such desires flourished and yet — Celnes desired a comfort, a strong desire for someone to want her for her then of the crown she reigns, or the disgust for that very same reason. Some did and though knew as a ruler couldn't simply give into the desires.. But maybe just once, she could have that within her own mind. Voices, to be mixed, as she held no strain back to the juices of her justly desires. 

Yet in the end — the Queen believed this was all a pleasant dream. One, all to loved and desired it would bring days of happiness before the mortality would set in. A stranger, formed within the minds eye that wasn't exactly of her desires, but it was what Celnes desperately needed. Maybe within the morning, she would find herself drifting away without a second thought — not even checking what is reality, and what is not. Yet for now, would enjoy all the sins of desire that the world has given her.

the staff team luvs u

He received far more than he deserved with that small clip of teeth, but leaned willingly back as instinct posed the very good suggestion, and she let him keep close to the source. At first it was still a foreign sensation in his young Ostrega blood, though one he was learning how to appreciate it properly once he'd got the hint. How to savor it, and how to give in and finally, blessedly, let go. Usually, it was not for him and here he breathed deep, too tempted now with his reservations dropping around her lures. Antares followed her lead, and maybe in his smallest of ways, tried to make one of his own--to show her that he was worth the time, and the space here with her, close. She wouldn't regret it being him, and he wanted to see what all the mysterious woman would have of him.

He didn't need to be anywhere else, and too easily, it all closed in around them. Risks well set aside, time all but irrelevant, she had him sharp but this helped him succumb to the gravitational pull with a new, keen fervor. In the quiet cover of these rainsoaked woods, he was hers. It would be whatever they decided this needed to be, he got the feeling, as he pressed on with more nipping teeth and advancing touch. Enough to forget about it all where he tried to memorize something so new, burning, and alive. He wanted to be reminded of how tangible it could be, and be miles away from everything but himself all at once. Maybe here, selfishly, he could be that and so much more. Maybe, almost anything.

the staff team luvs u

Thoughts of desire of which she only wished this was the first of all; and not of the flies of a past memory. But politics demanded, and her blood to be fruitful were her youngest to born fruitful of a less pleasurable time then of now. Voices entertwining as she let none stay quiet, for who would hear within the land of dreams? All too much was she expressing her enjoyment of so, and the fake infatuation of this mysterious man of the night itself. To bury her nose deep into his fur and felt her soul ignited.

Celnes would urge throughout the night, an endless steam where she didn't let him leave and fully indulge herself into all that was be — until finally a morning would come without a night of rest, and she would wisp away to Elkshire, and slumber without a thought. A vague of memories, a land of dreams ; assume none was real, but miss the times she held with the stranger of the night.

She wished it was real.

the staff team luvs u