02-25-2020, 11:52 AM
we wear the mask
that grins and lies
that grins and lies
There is a noticeable darkening of the forest when the lioness girl, pressed thin against the pine-needled floor, turns her wary brown eyes on him. Halcyon does not fault her uncertainty; she must know his predatory instincts in just the same way she knows her own, and she can see the heft of his feline body despite his obvious youth. He severs their eye contact to look into the wooded shadows beyond the tawny lion ─ his orange feline gaze is received by inky shadows and the dark, unripened green undersides of wide leaves, by silent and murky tree trunks that sprout like giant sentinels even as the obsidian tendrils of the floor's shadows hold them tight.
The tiger cub cannot see the glowing yellow eyes of the forest, but he can feel them. His dorsal fur begins to stand in response, though it's easy enough to attribute his bodily reaction to his sudden surprise at encountering the lion cub, so when Halcyon's gaze returns to hers and she whispers a hesitant greeting, the yearling boy settles into an apologetic smile.
He settles onto his hindquarters, letting his striped tail sweep habitually against the earthen floor, and offers a quiet bout of laughter as the girl swats at a windswept leaf. The sound feels odd, though, in the heavy darkness of the forest, and seems to fall flat between the feline pair. "It's nice to meet you, Beryl," he says after clearing his throat, the extra split second giving him a moment to remember what Mama had told him about new friends and refined social behavior. "Oh," he adds at her question, ears swiveling backwards in something close to embarrassment, "That's just something my Mama says when she's surprised. But I think there are some flying fish off the coast of Ischia, if you're..."
Halcyon trails off, pauses for just a moment before tilting his head slightly to the side with curiosity, "I've never seen a lion before."
@[Beryl]
""
The tiger cub cannot see the glowing yellow eyes of the forest, but he can feel them. His dorsal fur begins to stand in response, though it's easy enough to attribute his bodily reaction to his sudden surprise at encountering the lion cub, so when Halcyon's gaze returns to hers and she whispers a hesitant greeting, the yearling boy settles into an apologetic smile.
He settles onto his hindquarters, letting his striped tail sweep habitually against the earthen floor, and offers a quiet bout of laughter as the girl swats at a windswept leaf. The sound feels odd, though, in the heavy darkness of the forest, and seems to fall flat between the feline pair. "It's nice to meet you, Beryl," he says after clearing his throat, the extra split second giving him a moment to remember what Mama had told him about new friends and refined social behavior. "Oh," he adds at her question, ears swiveling backwards in something close to embarrassment, "That's just something my Mama says when she's surprised. But I think there are some flying fish off the coast of Ischia, if you're..."
Halcyon trails off, pauses for just a moment before tilting his head slightly to the side with curiosity, "I've never seen a lion before."
""