Goddess he needed a break.
Tension was running high in the Court, for a multitude of reasons, and while Auru Geniven was a high strung man as it was, even on his good days, even he had his limits. And he had reached them.
He needed a break, he needed to get away from the calamity of the Court. And so his hooves had carried him away from the Court, and leaving from the swampland in which he resided, he had one of two locations in the immediate vicinity to choose from for his momentary get away.
The Bellum Steppe was obviously out.
So a thin and ill-kempt man with a shock of hair like a lion's mane slowly picked his way down the creek side, finding that if anything, he surprisingly liked it here. He was accustomed to spending his time in skulking shadows and darkness, to hauling his fragile bones through thick murk and swamp water, and the creek meant for lovers was quite a change from that. But the burbling water was clear and cool, satiating his parched throat with something that did not taste of decay, and in fact was clear and quite refreshing. To say nothing of the marvelous canopies and luscious greenery, delicious and filling on his hungry belly.
The mists that shrouded the creek gave him some of the sense of security the murk and shadows of the swamp did as well, yet the sun still shone and gave him that feeling of warmth that he instinctively longed for, even if his mind convinced him to spend most of his days hiding from it for fear that its warming light might lead foul eyes to find him.
Auru felt so refreshed by all these aspects that made the Amare Creek so enjoyable a place to visit for him, that he even knelt by a place where the creek waters pooled deeper, splashing his face with light bursts of telekinetic power, weak though it may be it sufficed for splashing the water onto his visage, the man rubbing at it with a moss covered stone as he rubbed away the dirt and grime. He felt so cleansed that he in fact stepped into the waters, giving himself an impromptu bath as he washed away the muck and decay-filled waters, setting the rock down once most of the muck had been removed to tug at the hairs of his mane and tail with his telekinesis, smoothing out the knots and tangles before a little searching allowed him to find a jagged branch that could suffice for a brush, allowing him to truly feel refreshed as he was truly clean for the first time in a while, with his mane and tail brushed out to some extent, which began poofing back up as he stepped from the creek and continued walking, the sunlight drying his cleansed body.
He was all freshened up.
Auru was ready for the blind date he was about to be forced into by the will of the gods.
Not even Tempus knew how the situation would go from here.
But it began a little something like this.
Enjoying his stroll, Auru's gaze had in fact taken to the treetops, watching the birds that flitted about the treetops and sang their beautiful songs. As such, he was unaware that another was in the nearby vicinity, and the lion-boy failed to see Rostislav when they came into each other's lines of sight. At least, not at first. His roaming gaze continued to wander, but when he caught a glimpse of a dark and rather large form out of the corner of his eye, his head jerked towards it, the man jumping some in fright at the unexpected, and seemingly sudden appearance of another individual.
Now, normally Auru would have probably picked this moment to break down sobbing in terror, as the other man looked anything but friendly on a normal day. But Auru was relaxed and enjoying a walk, he was freshened up and felt all the more confident for it, clean figure brightening his mood and putting a little more surety in his step. So while he was anxious at the sudden appearance of a vicious looking man, he did not panic and flee, but rather, simply took a step back and bowed his head in apology, stuttering as he spoke in a manner almost, endearing.
Like a blushing schoolgirl encountering a handsome boy.
"S-So sorry, I d-didn't realize anyone else was here."
He looked away, as if too shy to meet the other's gaze, freshly washed and thick, luxurious lion's mane fluttering about him in the gentle breeze. His hoof toyed with the ground, and a light flush of warmth painted itself on his cheeks as he looked away, nibbling lightly on his lips and making them glisten ever so with spit as they flushed under the attention of his teeth, unsure of what to say next or how to approach this situation.
@Rostislav
OOC: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
