oh what a shame

heat day #2

Why? Why was she so absolutely pathetic that she found herself crawling back to him? Annika didn't even know if he and Miriam were still around, but there she went jogging through the middle of a storm to seek him out. Stupid, stupid Annika. She hated herself more for every step she took towards him, her blood cold with anxiety. It was only when thunder rumbled overhead that she came to a pause, her icy gaze turning upwards as she recounted the weather upon their first meeting. How ironic, a storm and a damsel in heat. They would replay their first encounter out, wouldn't they?

She flinched as a drop of rain landed on her muzzle, hesitance radiating from every pore. With the weight she had lost, Annika wondered, would @Rosencrantz find her more attractive? More.. Miriam-esque. Although she still only saw how thickly corded her muscles were and how she could change this and that to do better, the reality was the shine had gone from her pelt. Her skin was beginning to lay uncomfortably across a frame that needed more weight, but that was alright. Annika would do whatever it took to be pretty, to lure in someone who would love her.

It was alright, she parroted herself. It was alright.
the staff team luvs u

^^

They had spent quite some time in the plains, almost comfortable in the wide open prairies now as before it was barren and exposing. Now the tall grasses swayed in the breeze in a hypnotic dance, putting him in almost a trance on most days as he would watch them sway with the clouds rolling by overhead. Eventually they should move on and discover more of the world around them, @Guildenstern was often off doing his own thing while @Miriam opted to stay nearby for the most time.

Rosencrantz, well. He was the calm before the storm. Lazying about and lumbering around when the mood struck him to investigate their surroundings. There was little else to be offered in the plains. It was quiet for the most part, offering little other than serene days with strangers doing no more than just walking by silently except for the rare few who would approach to ask the usual questions.

This place was peaceful... and boring. And yet he felt tied here as if Annika would return any day now, which slowed down his rush to move on to the next location. But would she even come by or was this just wishful thinking? She must be happy elsewhere by now, and perhaps it was time to move on.

Maybe tomorrow he would suggest for them to find their way to the mountains and leave the tall grasses behind.

That was until her scent rolled in with the thunderous clouds overhead. Their angry, heavy, grey bodies threatening above with her scent mingling with the promise of rain to come. Had she finally come for a visit? Along with... a strange, familiar scent that tangled within her perfume. Even without her heat he was drawn in, to greet her. But what he saw as he approached, weighed down his heart like stones in the pockets of a child swimming out to sea.
 
“Annika.” He was glad to see her in general, but how would he address the sickly look she had now? “... I didn't think you'd visit.” To which he chose to not address at all for the time being. 
 

^^
the staff team luvs u

Every fiber of her being screamed to turn back around, to rush back to the safety of her home and bury herself inside the den she had excavated until everything was over. She absolutely loathed how her hormones made her feel, but she had yet to put two and two together that it was not simply hormones causing her harm. It was herself more than anything, and she adrift on a sea alone during a storm. Annika moved through life blindfolded nowadays it seemed, and she couldn't decide if that made her happier or not. Or.. well, if she even understood the concept of happiness overall. If it marched up to her and slapped her in the face, would she recognize it? Probably not.

She should have turned around, left the poor man to his own life and allowed him the leeway to move like a ghost through her thoughts and nothing more. @Rosencrantz had not visited her, and she should have taken that as a sign. It was only stupidity that brought her damn near whimpering on his doorstep, but by the time she committed to leaving he was already there.

Annika paused, her cerulean gaze unreadable as she tried to process through the flurry of emotions that raged inside. The attraction was undeniable even without her heat, and her cheeks flushed a rosy pink beneath her chocolate fur as she studied him. He looked.. well, she thought.

"I wanted to give you space," she admitted truthfully, her eyes drifting to his paws before snapping back up again. Annika realized how awful it must seem for her to casually stroll up in heat after everything they had been through, but more than anything, she just wanted a friend. Nothing physical, just.. someone she could spend the evening with to take her mind off things. Hopefully.

the staff team luvs u

^^

Should he offer her food? Was she starving? Would it be considered rude, as if he thought of her incapable of feeding herself? The questions brought a grimace to his already sombre face as he tried to figure out just what to do.

Blackened nose sniffed the air to take in her scent. There was a package to unwrap here... not only was he glad to see Annika here, to smell her again and perhaps move beyond their past once more and continue on the path of recovery - but there was a scent of a pack on her back... and heat. Even now he knew what that scent was. Intoxicating if he wasn't so damn confused with other things that was brought to his attention.

And to not repeat past mistakes and fuck things up even more.

He was a bigger man than that, to give in to primal urges. Even if his body betrayed him just a little between his legs with mild excitement. One that was easily ignored, as he was not a teenage boy anymore. It didn't matter if his body said 'go', he had more control than that.
 
“Why?” He questioned as if the idea of giving him space was preposterous. “Are they not feeding you, your pack?” And there he goes, opening his big damn mouth and having no class. What else could he do? He thought she was starving! 

^^
the staff team luvs u

Why? Why?

Annika could do nothing but stare in response, the confusion evident on her features as she tried to articulate some sort of meaningful reply. Why had she given him space? The dark woman shifted her weight, considering things, trying not to snap that he had legs and was just as capable of visiting her as she was him. But he had Miriam, so.. it made sense. Why would he trudge all the way across the map simply to visit a woman he didn't even remember? The man had a beautiful companion day in and day out, so the idea that he sought additional company would be ridiculous.

Still, her ears wilted against her crown. "I.. don't know how to navigate this, Rosencrantz. I don't know what too much and what not." Annika shook her head. "I thought give space would be kind, but.." Was she wrong, then? Spirits, the next time she planned on doing something, she would do the opposite. That seemed to be the only way to keep her from doing anything ridiculously stupid.

The question about her pack caught her off guard, and it showed. "They feed, yes." She shrugged, glancing over herself. "Look bad? I thought look better now." Her jaw clenched as she tried to see what he was referring to, but Annika saw only the things she desperately wished to change.

the staff team luvs u

^^

The mood here took a serious nosedive.

Good job Rosencrantz, you silver-tongued devil you. It seemed they both were rather awkward about navigating this situation.“I thought you up and forgot all about me.” He said with only a little awkward humour in his tone. Honestly, humour wasn't really his thing. His tone fell flat, his delivery just sucked in general. There was a reason he didn't often opt for humour to defuse situations. 

Because of course she would rather forget about him, it would have probably been for the best yeah? As much as he would have liked to move on from the awful things from the past, he couldn't promise he was any better, or any different. There was no memories to go off of in order to promise change after all. Who's to say he wasn't stuck in some disgusting rut, thinking he was above it all?
 
“No, you don't look bad.” Shit, how was he gonna navigate this one now? “Do you truly think so?” A pause, the archangel unfortunately wasn't certain if he was making things better or worse by continuing to talk about this subject. “If this is what you want, then I am happy.” After all, whatever the fuck she did with her body was no business of his.

Even though the muscles looked far better on her.
 “The visit is nice, did you travel far?”

^^
the staff team luvs u

Although humor wasn't necessarily Annika's strong suit, she did manage to pick up on the tiniest sliver of it in his voice. Or maybe she was just imagining it, forcing it to be there because she couldn't comprehend the fact he could possibly think she would forget him. "It hard to forget someone like you," she offered in response, offering a slow and steady wag of her tail. Compliment or truth, she would never tell.

Although he reassured her she didn't look bad, Annika wasn't entirely certain how else to take his previous comment. Why would he ask if she was being fed? It simply didn't click for the woman, but that was alright. "I need lose bit more weight, I think. Want to be.. dainty, yes?" Annika lowered her head, tilting uncertainly. "Dainty women are beautiful, want that." It made sense if you squinted -- or looked the other way.

"Not very far, over by mountains. Need to.. get away from them for while. Elysium. Still not sure I stay for much longer and now guy there that I want avoid. He join pack recently." Annika frowned, settling onto her haunches with a sigh. Being chased from her home by a man would be embarrassing, but she knew in reality she was simply looking for a reason to escape.

the staff team luvs u

^^

“It's the scar isn't it?” He continued. A joke at his own expense? Maybe. He knew how horribly disfigured he was. Even if some have tried over and over to explain that it wasn't all that bad, that it was charming in its own way - perhaps even distinguished, Rosencrantz couldn't help but miss that other part of his face that showed just how handsome he truly was.

That thing he saw in the reflection of water just wasn't him.

And after waking up in these new lands, it felt as if he had to get use to it all over again like a fresh wound. If only she knew of his own insecurities.
 
Curiously he eyed her with the one, dull golden eye. Listening to her desires to lose weight and be "dainty".  “Strong women are just as beautiful Annika, did no one ever tell you that?” The shift from his somewhat joking tease of earlier came off a little more serious, as though all of this was a new shocking revelation. 

“You are more than welcome to stay here as long as you need.” An awkward pause, his own eye roaming away into the fields as he wasn't quite sure what to do. “If that is what you need.” Although he couldn't ignore the desire to know who this man was that she was avoiding and why. After all. He felt almost obliged to make sure she was well after all the torment he had put her through in a life before this.
 

^^
the staff team luvs u

It likely would have been inappropriate to argue with him and say there were other parts of his body she was less inclined to forget. His face, while lovely, hadn't done the things for her that others had. For example, his dick had gotten her pregnant, and she was more keen on that part of him for the moment. "Among others," she commented dryly, shifting her weight to sink her toes into the mud below.

Her brow furrowed as he dared to call strong women beautiful, to which she shook her head. "Strong good to take physical hits from angry men. Dainty good to be pretty." Besides, she didn't want to draw the conclusion that he had been complimenting her in some fashion. Absolutely not. "No one ever say strong is beautiful before," she shrugged. No one had told her, anyway.

"I not want to impose, but would like stay for at least night. If you not busy, that is. Just need some time to clear head away from," she gestured towards the mountains with a paw, "whatever that is." Her tail wagged slowly, once, twice, three times, almost like a child hoping her mother would agree to a sleepover.

the staff team luvs u

^^

Among others. Now, Rosencrantz wasn't sharp enough to catch her drift honestly, it also didn't help that he didn't remember anything from their life before this to remember that yes, they did 'fuck' at some point. So he was easily unbothered by it as his mind drifted to and from her scent that intoxicated him so. How was she not already in the arms of another man - he would not know. With this heat of hers and wandering away from home, surely someone else would have caught her trail.

Just the thought alone had the hairs along his spine rise. Ready to fight off any other men lining up behind her as if he alone had the rights to the fruits she bore. Apparently it was hard to kill the Birserkir within the man after all as he would always have some ties to their ways and basic instincts.

As she continued, ignoring his blatant compliments to boost her self-esteem, Rosencrantz frowned in response. Casting his single-eyed gaze back onto the thing woman. “Strong is also good to raise puppies. To help when shit hits the fan.” He corrected in a brute sort of way. “Just because the stars shine, it doesn't mean the flowers are less beautiful without their own twinkle.” The analogy would make more sense to wolf-kin who knew what stars were - more than just little lights in the sky but GIANT BALLS OF GLITTERING STONE LIT BY THE RESIDUE SUNLIGHT. 

Oh but Rosen too was ignorant to that fact. 
 
“You can stay as long as necessary. The plains are full of prey, if you're hungry, I can bring you something. Rest is easiest with a full belly.”

^^
the staff team luvs u

Strong was good to raise puppies. It was an unintentional shot straight through her heart, one that made her ears fall flat against her head in grief of the life she would never have. Children were not for her, it seemed, and she would forever be cursed with a rotten womb that bore nothing but the scars of abuse. Annika knew he hadn't meant to cut her so deeply, but children were.. a sensitive subject. "Yeah," she said with a shrug. "For raising puppies." As for when shit hit the fan.. well, when did it ever stop? Annika couldn't recall the last time she'd ever not been in a shit-covered fan. What the hell was he talking about? Everything he was describing pointed her to being useless.

And then he said some confusing mess of words about stars and flowers and twinkles, to which she pursed her lips in thought as she tried to decipher the codex. "I not understand what you mean," the Russian admitted meekly, the corners of her lips twisted into a barely-there smile that faded as quickly as it came.

But, anyway.

"If you think food good idea, then okay. You not.. you not think I too big, yes? Can eat a little more?" Was she really asking for his permission to eat supper? Yes. Because that's how bloody damaged her poor brain had become.

the staff team luvs u

^^

Stupid be what stupid is.

Of course puppies was a sore spot for her and yet it didn't quite seem to click in Rosencrantz's man-brain of his. He simply thought that a strong woman would make a great mother, a wonderful caregiver and a ferocious protector while the father would most likely be off doing something else... whatever it is men did during that time.

Clearly Rosencrantz had plenty of experience in being a father himself.

What he could tell was just how down she was - again. Like this pack of hers was not making her feel better or bringing out the best of her since she had joined. Whatever had happened with this "male" she spoke of, it had clearly done a number on her. Well, perhaps that among other things. 
 
“What I am trying to say is that you may not be dainty and small, but just as beautiful.” Frankly he thought what he said was really nice, and yet it fell as flat as paper. So perhaps he had to take the more direct route with this one - back to the basics for a basic-brained male like Rosencrantz.

At least she accepted the offer for food without taking any kind of insult from it. So quickly he began to walk toward one of the caches that were hidden around their camp, to share with their weary visitor for the night. “You don't need to any less than you did before.” Once the cache was dug up, he stepped aside to invite Annika to take what she wanted. “Whoever said you needed to lose weight should have gotten bit.”

^^
the staff team luvs u

 

While an absolute mystery as to how she still seemed so magnetized towards the man, Annika wanted to believe it was because there was.. more. More to him than just the unintentional punches to the gut -- and they were unintentional, she knew. No one on any plane of existence would have been able to tell a grieving woman that she looked prime for puppy-bearing after a conversation that she had lost their litter. Not with a straight face, anyway. Some part of them would have fractured at the mere thought of it, would have given away and been a tell. Rosen? Naw, he just didn't realize it, bless his soul.

Annika wondered if maybe their litter had died because they simply hadn't known how to breathe, based on the obliviousness of their father. Okay, no, no, she was being far too harsh on him.

She had already begun walking by the time he mentioned something about being beautiful, and truth be told, she thought it was a joke. Hah, very funny. It was only when she glanced at him from across her shoulder that she realized he may have been being truthful, and she paused mid-stride to stare him down. Say psych right now, her narrowed gaze seemed to say, but Annika did feel a stain of warmth blossom across her cheeks. "Oh, uhm," the woman mumbled, clearly flustered. Had it been the first time anyone had ever genuinely called her that? Yes, yes it had. What a sad little life she lead.

Anyway, back onto the discussion of food.

"I say that, not anyone else. You going bite me like old times?" Annika teased, forcing a small laugh to indicate yes, here is where we laugh because it is a joke. Context clues and all. Annika sifted through the cache until she'd selected her meal of choice and promptly settled down beneath a nearby tree, her stomach growling in anticipation. "You share?" It was only polite to ask before she devoured it, after all.

the staff team luvs u

^^

Oh how he had changed since his time in previous lives. Ever since coming across little frightened Miriam, he had grown... softer? Careful. The sharp edges that still lingered on his frame were ever so present still, waiting and willing to bite into anyone who would dare to cross him and any of those who travelled with them. There were no lands for him to guard this time, no people other than the one woman as @Guildenstern would most likely turn on him if he stepped in to assist unless requested. 
 
“If it would make you believe me, perhaps I will.” Golden eye, sharp and stern shifted to take in Annika's own gaze. If she needed a little push in the right direction to make sure she was not trying to fit a square piece into a round hole, then so be it. Call it tough.. love? Maybe a little too soon to be tossing around that word, but it seemed like what she needed above all else. As she took the meal he followed, just close enough to keep the conversation going but remaining far enough to not impose on her meal.

With a shake of his head, he refused the offering. “No, you eat.” The cache was theirs after all for a reason, to eat whenever necessary and so he wasn't needing it like Annika was right now. Plus, he was certain @Miriam would want the same, she did ask about their meeting last time after all. Made sure he pursued Annika before that as well.

Speaking of which, if Annika did stay here for a night or two before returning to the mountains of which she came. She would have to be aware of the others who would most likely return as well. “Miriam would be happy to see you.” Smooth.

^^
the staff team luvs u

It was strange getting to know a ghost, particularly when said ghost had amnesia. Deep down she was nearly offended that he had managed to forget someone quite like herself, but she supposed it fed merrily into her claims of being forgettable. Whatever lands they now inhabited, the gods had stripped some of memories and not others. It made no sense and for a change, she felt homesick for the before-realm.

At least the food tasted the same.

"Hah," she chortled at his comment, wondering how much of his ferocity had bled into this dimension with him. "Perhaps we spar soon. Many bites, then." Bites and bitchslaps, Annika's favorite game -- or it had been, once. Now she wasn't entirely sure who she was or what she enjoyed.. was fighting one of them? She couldn't tell.

Her ear twitched towards him as he commented on Miriam's theoretical happiness at seeing her. Yes, yes.. she was certain the silvery woman would be downright delighted to set eyes on Annika's disastrous self. There were those who could befriend anyone, but Annika knew she was a difficult nut to crack. She nibbled absently on her food, doing her best to pretend all was well and normal and good between them.

"Is nice woman, be happy see her. Happy see you, too," the woman offered with a soft clearing of her throat, cheeks flushing as she returned to chewing at her food.

the staff team luvs u

^^

“I wouldn't oppose. You'd have to gain more weight to be a proper opponent though.” He teased lightly, bringing up a point that she would be more ferocious with some weight behind her bites again as opposed to the lanky shell of a woman she was now. Maybe that would knock some sense back into her, he could only hope.

Speaking of Miriam, Annika was right. She is a nice woman. Gentle, a little too much so at times but it wasn't completely awful. There were simply times and things he would wish she could see in his eyes as opposed to gently floating by life avoiding any kind of confrontation. He would not allow them to be pushovers. Even as wanderers, they had to hold their own and not be constantly pushed around by others.

“Are you aware you're in heat?” Way to break it gently my man. He could only ignore it for so long before bringing it up as a topic of conversation. “Did you meet anyone along the way?” In other words, did she find much trouble while travelling on her own during such a troublesome time like this? Surely she had learned her lesson before with him in their previous life - if she had no intention of children outside of her pack and its men in there, surely she knew what could happen out here away from their borders.

^^
the staff team luvs u

Despite his encouragements, Annika couldn't help but taste ash when she stripped a piece of muscle from the carcass. She had trained herself to be so put off by the mere smell of meat that trying to break the spell was proving difficult, but.. well, she would do it -- or try, anyway. If @Rosencrantz believed her to be beautiful when she was bulky, Annie was surprised at her willingness to oblige. It made sense, of course, considering some part of her still longed for the relationship they had experienced in their previous lives.. but those days were gone. That Annika, that Rosen -- they were ghosts now, and no matter what she did, she could not get them back.

Her ear twitched at the abrupt shift in conversation. Annika noted with some amusement that it had taken him quite a while to notice, but she nodded. "Yes, I know. Is why left the mountains and other man -- did not want to make mistake with him." Not that it would matter, really, because at the end of the day she was incapable of bearing children. Maybe it was just her way of rationalizing a return to Rosencrantz, though she did her best to hide the lusty look from her gaze. "If bothers, can leave." Or he could do something about it, you know.

 

the staff team luvs u

^^

He had noticed right away - the man had only withheld his tongue on the matter as she seemed upset by something. Too forward for him to mention such a fragile state to someone who had a fragile mind. But there was no ignoring it. The longer she lingered the more his body desired to close the distance between them. The more he yearned to show her he was a man, and she, a woman. The reminder of what had happened in a life previous to him kept him rooted on the spot, not wanting to repeat the past mistakes and dredge up the awful memories of a time long ago.

Long ago at least to him. 

Even if she could hide the lusty look in her eyes, he could not within his. She could stay for a night or two he thought back to his previous musings, this time with a little more greed in them. “What of making the same mistake with me?” It was almost a warning. As if he would need someone to remain by her side to keep him off of her. If the other man was a mistake then surely he was no better according to their previous conversation.
 
“My brother and I aren't known to be chivalrous.” And to hell if Guildenstern thought he could get his paws on Annika.

^^
the staff team luvs u

Annika glanced at him from the corner of her blue gaze, quite confused with how to handle the situation. She shifted her weight somewhat, lost with what to do or say. "It wouldn't matter," she said with some indifference. "Is not like anything would come from it." She was about as barren as they came and did tend to enjoy indulging in the physical things, but Rosen didn't seem.. excited by it. If anything, he seemed cautious -- a fair and valid reaction.

"Have no interest in your brother." It was said with some force to drive the point home, but she repeated her earlier statement: "I can go if it bothers you. It'll be over in a few days, I can come back then." Annika pushed herself onto her paws, tail flicking. Besides, she didn't want to throw a wrench into his relationship with Miriam. Unsatisfied, frustrated, the woman looked to him for guidance. Should she stay or should she go?

the staff team luvs u

^^

Oh what a wretched thing he was. The words she chose didn't help his desires, didn't push him away neither. It almost felt like she was teasing him, taunting him, luring him in to give in to the selfish temptations. Maybe she wanted him to show her she was still desirable. He frowned at his own thoughts - disgusting. How could he twist this all into his own fantasy just to justify his desires?

“It's not a bother.” His eye trailed her as she moved. Instinctively he moved forward, a single step before his senses remind him that perhaps this was too much. That this is not what she wanted, even if those eyes of hers he could have sworn said otherwise. If she were to leave now, wouldn't someone else just snatch her up instead? “I can't ignore it however.”

Another warning as his breath deepened. He was a beast of instinctual needs. He made it as clear as he could without saying the exact words. If she stayed, he would certainly give into his desires... if she left, he would not chase but await her return - taking that as sign enough she was not interested in the same carnal desires he had on the mind.

Her home was not for her, no man or at least one she avoided. Annika had come here during her time, even if she didn't think anything would come from it, it didn't matter. It drew him in, it would draw any man in.

^^
the staff team luvs u

Annika's ear twitched at his.. unusual way of discussing things. Her heat didn't bother him, he claimed, but he wouldn't ignore it and she had half a mind to ask what the fuck that meant. If she wasn't receptive to his advances, would he ignore it then? Did she have an option, or must she be the one to walk away and potentially find company elsewhere? Female, preferably.

The woman straightened up, staring at him with a blank expression. "I don't want you to want me just because of your instincts," she finally said, shaking her head. "I don't want to be a mistake or come between you and Miriam. She deserves better than that." Annika had resigned herself to being a secondhand kind of gal, but Miriam.. she couldn't do it to her. She just couldn't. Particularly not when Rosencrantz only lusted after her; with the meaningful connection that she so desperately craved being one sided, she would be reducing herself to nothing but a whore. Again.

"I want you, but I can't have you." He was.. he was taken by somebody else, and she didn't know what else there was to say on the matter. It broke her heart to admit, but it was simply how her life (and death) seemed to go. Annika bit her lip and turned to leave, unwilling to bother him more than she already had.

exit unless stopped

the staff team luvs u

^^

“I don't understand what you want.” Well now he was getting annoyed. Perhaps it was their difference in genders, sexes and beliefs, perhaps the ways they were raised - but he simply could not get an understanding of Annika and the way she acted. The way she spoke to him and the way she looked at him. It got him fired up at every angle.

Just like that she was already walking away, not giving him the chance to speak again and immediately he moved to block her way. Perhaps not the best of moves seeing the situation they were in, the way she made him feel. From the front he'd close in on her, almost as if he was ushering her back to where they were before. “I don't know what you think is going on, but Miriam and I are not involved.”

She was pretty and he desired her too at times... but she was too kind for a man like him. Never would she be interested in a monster like him.“I make sure she is safe, she and her daughter.” With a fire in his eye he stared into Annika. If she wanted to go she would have to hear him out first and move quickly. “If you want me as you say, I am here now. Put aside your anxieties and stop thinking for once.”

^^
the staff team luvs u

To day she was surprised by his abrupt "outburst" was putting it lightly. Annika had anticipated that this new Rosen would roll over and play dead, maybe tuck his tail. There hadn't been an ounce of fire to the spirit she haunted, and now that he was flickering to life she found herself almost grinning. He claimed she didn't know what she wanted, but had she been keeping it undercover? Annika thought she had been as crystal clear as was physically possible.

Still, she was intrigued.

Her icy gaze narrowed on the scarred man with amusement, but it was what he said about Miriam that caught her off guard. Oh, so she was single? That was good to know. That was very good to know, and not for anyone's business but her own. Thanks.

He was testing her, wasn't he? Or perhaps he was simply so enticed by her scent and so utterly horrified at the prospect of being blue balled that he was willing to say whatever was necessary to indulge in a little Russian roulette. He bid her to stop thinking, and though she knew it to be dangerous, she agreed. If he wanted her to be a mindless slave to her heat, so be it.

Annika flashed a thin smirk before stepping towards him, lifting her muzzle to gently nip at his shoulder while her tail flicked teasingly. She took a step away and glanced at him coyly from across her shoulder, beckoning him to somewhere more private.

the staff team luvs u

^^

With furrowed brows he waited impatiently for her answer. Hackles prickled along his spine almost challenging for her to talk back to him. To continue this little frustrating game of hers or finally decide what the hell she wanted out of him after these past encounters. Surely with her travelling away from home during her season meant more than just a simple trip. More than just to find herself away from a certain man in her pack if she had come to him here, and not accept Miriam's aid - but instead insisted she looked forward to seeing him too.

All the signs pointed to one thing, and yet he wouldn't force himself on her either. But there was a mutual interest, he could feel it. It drew him in like shit to a fly. No words were shared this time, instead she walked to him... nipping at his shoulder and beckoning him to join her. For a moment he stood. Glaring with that one good eye and half wanting to walk away and leave the confusing woman to her own devices.

But fuck him he was a beast of basic instincts. Was there even a redeemable bone in his body? Certainly Miriam would be disappointed should she find out he ultimately decided to follow Annika to wherever she was going. Turning to follow in her footsteps and watch her behind as she moved.

^^
the staff team luvs u

Excitement shuddered down her spine as she beheld his glare -- yes, yes, more! Piece by piece she chiseled away to reveal the bastard beneath, no longer hidden behind some frilly disguise of chivalry -- or whatever the fuck he thought he was. Her tongue ran along her teeth at the possibility of a fight, but she was already walking on eggshells with borrowed time.

She only lead him into the woods, where they could shelter from the rain more efficiently. "Do you want to know what I want? Truthfully?" the woman asked, pausing once she had him delightfully out of view. "Do you want to know why I've come here looking for you so often and why I came here now?" Her gaze was steely, a trap, but she knew there was every possibility she left this interaction unsatisfied.

the staff team luvs u