how come I never got used to the feeling of sleeping in a cage?
too long driving, too damn hungry; a tied-up hound but nothing stays
It was easier when she teased him in their first months together, when nothing truly bound them together. It was fun, it was without strings attached. After watching her parents live separate lives, their hearts straying to other ends of the world, Valdis wondered the necessity for those vulnerable emotions. Love played such a destructive role. While it initially brought mother and father together – from what she has heard, and there was never a true confession of the “L” word – it also ripped them apart as their fleeting hearts sought other company.
That makes sense of her hesitance to fall back into Sinner’s arms and return to their habit, because she realizes how much she wants him now. This – whatever they are – can become catastrophic years down the road that leaves them both battered and bruised.
But then, their eyes greet each other again, and everything in Valdis wants to melt into him despite the repercussions. She knows the dangers, but that’s what their relationship built a foundation on, isn’t it? A perilous hunter with his prey?
That’s why she says and does nothing when he said he doesn’t know because he, too, is uncertain what lies ahead. Sylva has been taken from him and his Queen is lost somewhere. His newest child is standing in front of him with a hesitant mother closely watching. No one could have expected any of this to happen, so it’s only right that he answers her hesitation with his own. Shrugging, she lowers her eyes to Erio as he faces his father for the very first time. Amid the shame of his petite size, a shadow of a smile threatens to break the stoicism of her pretty face. It reminds her of the family they’ve built together, even if it is facing its trials and tribulations now. Sinner’s reaction – warmth, pride, adoration – surprises Valdis and there’s no feasible way to mask it. Her ears swivel forward and her brows lift underneath her metallic forelock. Truthfully, she expected the hellhound to shun a weak offspring.
But Erio plays against her accusations that sparks a small grin from his sire followed by a playful nudge. The boy’s plumed tail wags exuberantly as he bounds in a circle. ”I like this body more,” being a hellhound seemingly lessens his insecurities. ”But…” he trails off and pauses to inch backward and shift his body into that of a horse. His skin ripples as the shaggy, black coat sheds away to reveal the sapphire tobiano markings instead. His watchful eyes lift to father, then mother, to read their reactions. He waits for them to see what he is – what he truly is – before shifting his body back into an obsidian hellhound.
There’s a small sense of unity in this meeting, and there’s only such much energy Valdis can spend on resisting. Almost shyly at first, she slowly closes the space between herself and Sinner. Her forehead presses to his neck and her eyes shut. ”I missed you,” she murmurs under her breath even as she thinks of Dracarys and the void she has left her daughter, ”but you never visited me.” Litotes, the father of her unborn child, reminded her of how barren Pangea’s borders were and how her past lover didn’t seem to care.
With a rattled breath, Valdis resigns to Sinner and what they can and cannot be.
Valdis
@[Sinner]