Florentine watches as her voice and his name upon her tongue causes Only’s spine to tighten. His soft curves become harder, sharper. The serpentine boy rises through his neck, a cobra alert, ready to defend.
He turns to her, the movement loud in the swaying of the grasses. His serpent eyes set upon her and though they are wary, though they are bright with momentary violence and surprise, Florentine smiles at him.
It is a smile that only grows larger, holding a laugh trapped behind her lips when his eyes sweep the grasses. He looks for golden eyes, hungry and fierce. They were eyes that once stalked the girl of flowers, eyes that once watched her, keeping her safe. They were eyes that did not trust Only; maybe they were wise…
His words are the chink in the dam that holds back her laughter and it breaks, her laughter pouring out to fill the space between them. The Dusk girl walks to him as he reaches for her. Their muzzles press, familiar, warm, welcoming. It was a touch of home, a touch of childhood. It is then she lays a kiss of welcome upon his cheek, even as laughter still pours from her lips.
“You are not as relieved as I am, believe me. Now there is no curfew, no eyes to make sure I am behaving myself.” She pauses, her eyes gleaming, “I suppose that is the advantage of being regarded an adult. Now my adventures are my own, I only have myself to answer to if trouble finds me sleeping.”
Her lips still tingle with the ghost of his skin – soft, so soft. It was not sleek, it was not the sensation of warm scales… “You are soft now.” She says gently, sadly. Her eyes trail over his body, where her eyes seek scales, she finds only gleaming black hair. “What happened to your skin?”
Only asks after her, their friends, then more and more. Words pour from his lips and the girl watches him: his lips, his eyes, the wrinkles that form upon his face with his every flustered and keen expression. “You talk as much as me.” Florentine remarks quite comfortably. “I am impressed, it’s quite an achievement you know.”
A slender, caramel shoulder bumps into his, that coy smile returning to play across her lips as she eyes her old compatriot fondly. “I have been well, very well, but better to have met a friendly face again.”
How long had she been here? Long enough to find love. Long enough to feel the hole in her heart where her family should be… “I have been here for what feels like an age, but also the blink of an eye… Time moves in funny ways doesn’t it?” The girl of sunset bruises asks as she turns her head to survey the scaled, Dawn boy from the corner of her eye.
Flora gaze does not let her gaze sway from him, not when he struggles over his words, not when he squirms beneath the press of her amethyst gaze. It is a gaze that laughs, it is a gaze that leaves a playful pinch across his skin. It is a gaze that dances wild and free, “I am big, of course.” Florentine affirms with a laugh,” Not fat, nor pregnant - so far as I am aware –“ She flares her wings to survey her sides which were, mercifully, just as she remembered them to be.
The lavender girl continues, no skip in the easy roll of her conversation as she leads him on through the sea of grasses, “It would require sex for the latter and there has been none of that –“ She suddenly pauses, her lashes lowering in thought as Flora begins to realize that this was likely one of those times where she tended to reveal too much information…
Her eyebrows lift in contemplation and her gaze shifts back to him, “You probably did not wish to know that.” She huffs, continuing to walk beside him.
Oh-
The word hangs between them and Flora’s smile grows and grows and grows. Her tail switches, snapping playfully against his side as she peers at him from the corner of her gaze once more. “Good to know some things never change, Only.”
Although some things, most definitely do change.
@
★ She is clothed with strength and dignity,
and she laughs without fear of the future ★
