[Mature?] // Rhonen

[Rhonen]

rhonen

molten eyes and a smile made for war

It’s as if Nihlus’ words are coming to Rhonen through a thick fog. He can hear and understand him, but his body is thrumming with the knowledge of being so close, a faint ringing in his ears, and damn if he isn’t more distracted then he’s ever been in his whole life. In general, he’s not particularly distractible. Moody, yes. Abrasive, yes. Foolish about his own safety, absolutely. Distracted? Not very often. But the tiny amount of space left between the two of them is more than he can distance himself from. The imagining of what if – what if there wasn’t any space? In between a slew of words that Rhonen tucks away in his memory for later inspection, Nihlus leans in not once but twice, closing the gap to a hairsbreadth before pulling away again.

Rhonen had forgotten what it was like to be teased, by anyone. For a moment his twin’s voice, light and teasing, threatens to distract him from the other stallion, but then memory of Aubri fades and all that is left is Rhonen, and Nihlus, and the fog that nearly crackles with invisible energy.

“Nihlus,” he repeats and if his eyes have gone a little unfocused with the pressure, well, who can blame him. He isn’t used to playing this game at all, much less at his companion’s advanced level. Rhonen needs to close the gap, to snap the rubber band of building intensity, the dense fog that is pressing down on him. So, he smiles, and for the instant before they touch it is the sweet smile of the boy he might have grown up to be, the boy that Natilyn and Mikhael would have raised him to be, if everything had gone to plan.

He slides his muzzle down Nihlus’ neck, breathing in his scent, and presses his body to the darker stallion’s. When they touch, the fog lifts instantly in a crackle of electricity, and still he has butterflies in his stomach but his brain has cleared and his grin turns mischievous just before he nips at the other stallion’s haunch (not enough to injure, but maybe it’s more than a nibble, that’s just the way he is) and dances away, laughter now reflecting in his dark eyes to match the cheerful smirk on his face. “I think a nymph should be harder to catch than this,” he says as he backs slowly away.