[private] the river coursing through us is dirty and deep

[magnus]

although this world is made of fearsome beasts that bark and bite
we were born to put these creatures through one hell of a fight

Her contradictions do not grow less intriguing the longer that they walk together, and he does not bother to hide his interest—does not bother to hide the curiosity that sparks and gleams in his gold-flecked eyes. It feels right to walk through Tephra with her by his side and he hopes that she chooses to stay; that whatever it was that drew her through all of her options to the volcanic island was enough to keep her.

She continues to tease him and he laughs, the humor clear in his scarred lips. “That’s not saying much because I do not look very smart.” He rolls his shoulders. “What an incredibly low bar for me to clear.” His teeth flash white behind the ink of his muzzle and he playfully nudges her with his nose, smelling the exotic and the familiar on her flesh, the way it combines into something new, into something only hers.

Her answer stirs a spike of joy in him, and interest, and he tilts his head in her direction so that he can study her a little more closely. His gaze is direct and unblinking and unreadable, his thoughts nothing but undercurrents beneath it. There is a bruising there for a moment but it’s gone before it can full develop, before it can flourish, and in its stead is a spark of mischief and something almost flirtatious.

“I would be lying if I said you hadn’t intrigued me,” his voice is a touch huskier, the smoke and the ash finding their way into the syllables. “You still do.” His lopsided smile deepens on one side and he turns his gaze to the path before them, feeling the edges of her tail as they find purchase on his golden hide.

“Perhaps a smarter place though,” he quips, unable to keep the self-deprecating humor from finding its way to his lips. It softens though when he looks back at her, when he reaches over and pulls softly on the edges of her mane. “I don’t intend to leave again though.” He inhales the thick scent of flowers and sulfur on the wind, that floral and bitter bite utterly unique to Tephra. “At least not for a while.”

magnus

@[North]