He shies sideways with mock affront as the red wytch reaches for his knee with blunted teeth, though his gilded head serpentines back towards the mare with a loud snort, followed by unfettered laughter at her display as she works to stand against the cool sand of the beach. "You can't fool me," he says warmly with a smirk twisting at the corners of his lips as she groans and shakes the sand from her red frame, "I know you're still young enough to put Takhar in his place." And she'd never hesitated when the need arose, either ─ which, admittedly, was quite often considering the rebellious nature of Takhar's very existence. It was one of the many reasons he had come to love the soothsayer.

Love.

It had been around the time that Aya had tampered with the waters that flowed through Eternal that the akhal-teke stallion had begun to see Jah-Lilah in a different light. From the time he had met Ciri, the red soothsayer had been a permanent staple in his life. She had worn many hats in that time: healer, life coach, milkmaid, closest confidant. And Amet had always been caught up in one crisis or another that had effectively distracted him from the way he had truly felt about Jah-Lilah all along.

But Aya's magic had allowed him time to finally realize what it was he felt for her ─ and then, once the magic of the earth-mother had worn off, his true feelings for Jah-Lilah had remained. Of course, as was the story of his life, Amet's timing was off. Eione had been pregnant with their first and only child. Jah-Lilah had been distracted by Gypsy and the long-term absence of Canaan. And then... the ice age.

But now they stand before each other again, embracing as they have always done, and Amet's heart threatens to beat straight through his chest. Dragon-King, she calls him, familiar and comforting as she plays at the scales and mane near his withers. He returns the favor, working methodically to groom her as a gentle rumble of laughter creeps up from his chest.

"An invitation," he tells her plainly, excitement dancing in his molten amber eyes. If there was anyone in the world aside from his own sister who knew just how much Hyaline had always meant to him, how much of his heart he had given to it ─ it was Jah-Lilah. "I've secured myself a throne in Hyaline again, beside the current Primarch Kensa. And I don't think I could handle if you and I were separated again." The words come out with a hint of amusement, a playful mask to hide the truth behind them, and he falls silent as he awaits the soothsayer's response with bated breath.

─ don't get cut on my edges
@[Jah-Lilah]