As much as he appreciated the fortitude and (perceived) safety offered by the swamp's borders, and as sweet as the fruits that grew within the boundaries were, sometimes you just needed something a little more down-to-Novus to assuage your aching belly. Hooves heavy with the weight of the thin man's body thudded into the ground as he yawned, quietly trudging through the field in the dead of the night.
A mighty yawn ripped from his throat, near silent but for the whisper of his breath, yet placing his teeth on full display, which had some fangs to make his gaping jaws more of a maw. But it was a passive one as of now as the man to which it belonged lowered it to the ground, snuffling at the grasses that made of the field and searching for the lushest of stalks. It was summer, and the night was warm, but was still near enough to spring that the fields were not yet barren of life and filled with dry brown, and as he nipped off the tips of a few blades to take a taste the man found them crunching nicely in his teeth.
They weren't completely plush and full of water, but they were still quite good. Being incredibly hungry helped a lot.
He had known a trip to a place with more plentiful grasses was soon to be in order, but he had delayed as long as he could. His stomach had twisted from the amount of sugary fruit he had poured into it, and while that was not to say he had been avoiding the grasses of the swamplands, what he ate was simply not enough to counterbalance the other foods that did not make up the best of diets.
Too much fruit and too little grass made for an upset tummy.
And while simply not eating was, admittedly, one solution to the 'too much fruit' aspect of the issue, it did nothing to resolve the 'too little grass' part. And there came a time in every being's life when you simply couldn't go back to sleep no matter how hard you tried, for whatever reason.
For one Auru Geniven, connoisseur of anxiety levels the likes of which had never before been seen in Novus, that reason was the insistent stabbing pain in his abdomen, and the angry roiling of his belly as he laid on a relatively dry patch of land in the swamp, groaning quietly as he tried in vain to return to his repose.
No such luck, and so with a few fruits down the hatch for the energy needed to walk the distance to the fields (his stomach protested the lack of grass, but dealt with it for the time being), the equine found himself in fresh pastures, and despite himself, felt more than a little eager for a good, late-night meal.
Even as he cast his gaze from side to side, nervously scouting the empty (or so he thought) plains, even as he swallowed the small lump in his throat, and battled the whirling thoughts that he shouldn't be there, he found his ears pricking forwards despite himself, and found himself nosing the grasses with more excitement than he had thought he would feel.
(Admittedly, he had assumed this would be sort of a 'run in, eat as much as you can, run away again' sort of deal, but if thing stayed the way they were, he was content to ignore the feelings of being watched and the occasional clenching of his throat for a good meal. No one would have to know he was ever here.)
Crunch.
Crunch.
Munch.
He wouldn't lie, the feeling of relief in his abdomen as he swallowed mouthful after mouthful did make him wonder why he had not simply bucked up and come out here sooner. He was a member of the Court, was he not? He was allowed to go where he wished within the borders.
No you're not, you're a Commoner.
And what did that have to do with anything? He still lived here, his rank didn't restrict him from anywhere.
But you're you, you're supposed to stay in the swamps. You'll get in trouble for leaving.
Why?
Logic didn't necessitate that one be victorious over irrational anxiety, and while no amount of logical thinking could stop the itch along the man's back, or stop the heaviness in his breast, or the shortness of breath if he didn't make sure to take slow, steady breaths, the sheer need for food was, for the moment, overriding the need to run back to a place that was defensible. Or that at least felt that way.
It had been ages since she’d last seen a firefly in its luminescent, twinkling brilliance. On hazy summer evenings, Cyrene loved nothing more than to drift asleep under a celestial, ink-black sky. In fact, she’d been well on her way into the land of dreams when a pale yellow glimmer had flashed faintly across her heavy lids—some languid blinks later, her drowsiness had dissipated like mist. When the fireflies are out to play, then it’s far too early to end the day, her lips quirking into a soft smile as she recalled the silly rhyme she’d often sung to Cygnus.
Leaping to her feet as nimble as a cat, the wood nymph trailed the lightning bug all the way to the edges of the rolling pasture she’d come to know as Susurro Fields. As Cyrene’s tawny eyes adjusted to the bright spill of moonlight across the grass, she drew a sharp breath in wonder as the vast meadow spread before her abruptly came alive with glowing orbs of light. Flickering in an entrancing, ephemeral rhythm of Gaea’s own creation, it was almost as if the girl’s arrival had been a silent signal for the night’s festival to begin. It was an amusing thought to dwell on, even when she knew it was merely coincidence. Nature bowed to no one.
Inhaling the sweet scent of fresh meadow grass, Cyrene’s agile legs bore down on the earth as she prepared to bound across the field, aching to feel the wind’s soft caress on her sleek feathers. Yet before a spry hoof had left the ground, keen eyes detected the shadow of a distinctly equine figure in the distance. Her body tensed at the unexpected sight, pausing in her revelry as lion eyes narrowed in observation.
From what she could make out, the lean stallion (she could tell by his faint scent) appeared to be grazing on the crisp green stalks, sweetened by summer’s heat. A midnight snack? Yet his constant need to raise his head from his meal, scanning to and fro as if afraid of what the night could bring, evoked a spitting resemblance of a frightened fawn in Cyrene’s mind. The tender-hearted girl felt the sudden need to approach him, to reassure him that he could enjoy his feast in peace—for even from a distance, the outline of his ribs failed to escape her sharp eyes.
Mind made, Cyrene walked the perimeter of the fields cloaked in shadow until she was facing the boy. Hopefully he would not startle at her appearance if he could see her coming. With hoofbeats deliberately emphasized (rather than her normally silent steps), she approached him.
"Um, hello!” she called, wings folding behind her in a casual greeting. She hesitated then, gauging his reaction, before continuing. "I couldn’t help but notice the eagerness in which you eat, and I thought I would offer you some chamomile flowers.” Brows furrowed in focus—her newfound telekinesis was still hard to summon—a bundle of white flowers appeared from the satchel slung across her back. Holding it precariously in the air between them, Cyrene quickly spoke again, as the boy seemed still quite wary of her. "They’re delicious, but I picked too much earlier today. I'd hate to see them go to waste.” Deftly, she popped one of the herbal blooms into her own mouth, smiling widely after she swallowed. "And, if you're worried, I promise I haven’t done anything funny to them,” she assured, eyes crinkling with humor.
Would he take her offer? She sure hoped so, for the poor boy looked famished.
Perhaps, under more normal circumstances for the man in question, he would have leapt up in fright at being caught in his midnight excursion. Perhaps, under more normal circumstances, he would have screeched to the high heavens and fallen onto his side in fright, momentarily paralyzed by the sheer shock of fright.
His head would have snapped up, pupils shrinking to mere pinpricks of darkness in terrified, copper irises. His ears would have fallen flat, and he would have felt his heart rate spike, adrenaline racing as Anxiety kicked in, screeching in alarm and ringing the warning bells as loudly as he could. He would have had a million thoughts flowing through his mind in a single instant, time seeming to slow down as he reared, swiping his hooves in defense against being caught.
He would have been unable to think of anything other than that he had been caught in a place he didn't belong, and surely this stranger must be here to punish him for that.
Unfortunately, he was eating at the time.
So it wasn't quite normal circumstances.
Oh, his head did snap up, sure, the man having been far too single-mindedly invested in his feast to notice the woman's approach (something that seemed to be happening a lot lately, he usually prided himself on maintaining awareness of his surroundings, but lately he hadn't been so fortunate), and his ears did fall back as his pupils shrunk. His mind did begin to kick the gears of panic into action, and the first few thoughts began to trickle through his mind as his heart rate began to pick up.
Then he tried to suck a breath in.
Unfortunately, he still had a mouthful of grass at the time.
The end result of this was his panicked reaction being suddenly overridden by the rest of his body's more important realization that he now had grass obstructing his airway, and that needed to be cleared far more than he needed to fret over the woman's presence. The man completely forgot about the stranger's presence, instead coughing the air in his lungs out as hard as he could, half-chewed grass blades fluttering from his lips in his wracking coughs.
Auru's head dropped, the man unable to stop the fit as coughed out everything he had in his mouth, body sucking in air only to continue the coughing fit, tear's pricking his eyes as he seemed to be unable to get a good breath, lungs only taking in the bare minimum before returning him to his heaving. Even as he had everything cleared out of his throat, his brain convinced him that there was something still there, not wanting his body to stop in case there was still something caught, so that he didn't run the risk of choking again.
It took him more than a few moments to get himself under control, managing a few deep breaths but still being interrupted by lighter coughs, not fully stopped but no longer the desperate fit of before. He managed to tilt his head up, looking up at the unknown woman through watering eyes, still coughing, but nowhere near as bad as mere moments before.
@Cyrene
OOC: I guess you could say he... choked on his introduction.
Having decided to approach the skittish, dark-pelted boy, Cyrene had expected many ways he could react. There was the obvious (running away), the possible (attacking blindly), and the unlikely (screaming—there had been a coyote pup once that simply refused to stop screaming until she had retreated back into the trees).
It seems she’d have to add violent choking to her list the next time she attempted to approach nervous creatures.
The girl’s already fragile hold on the chamomile bouquet broke completely the moment the boy started choking on his dinner, and they fell forgotten to the ground as Cyrene hastily tried to figure out what to do. She’d been slashed at, spit at, cackled at, (the list went on) in her lifetime, and she’d taken it all in stride—but she couldn’t let someone die the moment they met her, could she?!
"Oh! I’m so sorry! Please hold on sir, if you’ll just let me near you I can—" But he didn’t seem to register her presence at all, and as she stepped forward, he stepped back; she dodged flying bits of grass, he continued choking relentlessly. They danced to this ridiculous beat, back-and-forth, until at last his breaths steadied and his coughs stifled. As his eyes, a surprisingly brilliant copper yellow, finally began to focus, Cyrene realized with a start just how close in proximity they had gotten. Her widened eyes were mere inches from his—at this rate, he’ll choke on air—so with a quick prance backwards, she relaxed only when she found herself back at a respectable distance.
A silent moment passed, in which Cyrene steadied her panting breaths. Once she did, then—"Ahahahaha!” a peal of bright laughter exploded from her crimson lips, ringing across the starlit field. "I—I’m terribly sorry, I don’t mean to laugh at your misfortune,” she managed to gasp out after hurriedly regaining her composure. "I tend to laugh at inappropriate times, or so I’ve been told. I hope you’re alright now.” An abashed smile pulled at her lips as her amber orbs gazed mirthfully at his copper ones.
He distantly saw the bundle of flowers plop to the grass below, rolling just in his peripheral field of view. He was a tad bit preoccupied at the time and paid them little mind.
"Oh! I’m so sorry! Please hold on sir, if you’ll just let me near you I can—"
He was distantly aware of her attempting to approach him, as well as his own retreat from the situation. It was less so that he was trying to get away from her, and more so that he was staggering back as he tried to maintain his footing on the ground below him. Had the world always been spinning like that?
When he eventually managed to look up at her, not quite sure was too think as his body and mind were still more concerned with making sure he was going to survive the next five minutes, he realized just how close the two of them were. A light cough behind lips that tried to stifle it, and she seemed to realize how very near their faces were, and dancing away, lion eyes retreating. He followed her backtrack with rasping breaths.
She seemed just as startled by the situation as he did, and as both of them caught their breath from the momentary panic, he began to reach for his voice, ready to apologize for the scare. He really hadn't meant to worry her, he had just been startled at a bad tim-
"Ahahahaha!”
It sounded half-mad, and he was once again taken aback, this time truly taking a step back. A better alternative to nearly dying. Wide eyes could only watch as she managed to find her own words before he.
"I—I’m terribly sorry, I don’t mean to laugh at your misfortune,"
He hadn't even yet recovered the brainpower to think such a thing.
"I tend to laugh at inappropriate times, or so I’ve been told. I hope you’re alright now. My name is Cyrene. What is yours?"
It was a different experience, to be the one on the receiving end of such visible nervousness. He could recognize the mannerisms he so often portrayed as easily as the back of his hoof. Usually, even when he was spooked, he rarely received shyness as a response.
Concern?
Yes.
Apologies?
Also yes.
Embarrassment?
Not... really, no.
His brain clattered to a halt. He had never received such a reaction before upon being met. He had just nearly choked himself on his meal only moments ago, and neither brain nor body had quite caught up to the situation other than immense relief that he was alive. He had had his situation met with laughter that was swiftly followed up by what looked like social anxiety over having done the wrong thing.
He blinked once, an ear flicking as he tried to process.
He couldn't, not with his brain still in recovery mode.
So he neglected her question, and did the one thing he could think to do. Something he didn't think he'd done so freely since he was a foal, nearly doubled over with the force of it as his head dropped, eyes closing as he couldn't manage to keep them open under the force of his actions.
"Bahahahaha!"
@Cyrene
OOC: Not much happened and prob. not my best work but didn't want to leave you hanging any more after swearing to do it for several days now ^^
When the dark-pelted boy’s laughter poured from his lips like moonlight, his lean frame shaking with the effort, Cyrene could no longer suppress her own mirth. It swelled out of her like snowmelt in spring, and melded with his; their laughter resounded through the firefly fields like a melody.
After she’d lost her mother and Cygnus, her vibrant, beautiful world was plunged into darkness—an endless night. She’d tried her best to live in that darkness, to find comfort in the starry skies. To stop wishing for the warmth of the sun. Once, she had even thought of herself like a paper lantern that had burned too brightly, too quickly. It was poetic, and brought her some consolation in a way. For a lantern could be lit again, could it not?
There was a tickle on her nose. A flickering firefly winked tauntingly up at her as it sat calmly on her velveteen muzzle, and Cyrene’s laughter ebbed as she wrinkled her brow. You’re a fool for landing on me, little firefly. Summoning all the concentration she could muster, she felt the air around her tense as she drew her limited telekinesis into action again. Too late, the smug firefly registered its impending doom and tried to zoom away in a panic—but it got only inches, for there it stayed, frozen in midair as Cyrene gave a gasp of delight.
"I’ve caught one!” she exclaimed, bright eyes shifting to the boy’s bronze ones in eagerness. "This telekinesis is quite handy. Once I’ve figured out how to properly use it, of course,” and her gaze dropped to the trampled chamomile bouquet in momentary embarrassment. It lasted only a second, before it was replaced with thrill as a familiar glowing light flashed from his direction.
"Ah, there’s another one! On your shoulder, enjoying the warmth from your fur I’m sure.” Releasing the stunned insect she held captive, Cyrene inched closer to him, completely forgetting the earlier incident in her excitement. Unfortunately, the girl’s attention span wasn’t much better than the glowing bugs she hunted—easily distracted was putting it too lightly.
"Look, I’ve got it! Two in a minute, what skill I possess,” she sang in a mock boast as she pranced away in glee, the poor bug trailing after her, still frozen in her telepathic clutches.
A distance away, Cyrene looked back over her gold-mottled shoulder as a wonderful idea popped into her mind. A mischievous grin spread over rosy lips as she addressed him. "How about a competition to see who can catch the most? If I win, you must tell me your name. And if you win…” she pondered for a moment, before shaking her head once and grinning. "Well, you can decide that if you do.”
@Auru | notes: she's a wild child ;A; make Auru win pls
She laughed back at his hysterical cries, Auru not knowing what to do with himself in the ridiculous situation he was suddenly in. It seemed the sentiment was shared, as they just kept laughing at one another, quickly devolving into not laughing for any reason other than that the other one was laughing. Why was it even still funny? It wasn't, hadn't really been funny to begin with, but they had to relieve the tension between them somehow, and this seemed better than any of the alternatives.
It was infectious, like a drug or a disease. Once it started it was difficult to stop. They just kept building onto each other, and just when he thought they might be finished, his abdomen would twitch again and there he'd go, giggling infectiously and snorting as he tried to fight back the laughter to, inevitably, no avail.
It was like convulsions. But a nice form of convulsions. He felt happy. There was something pleasant about this practically nonstop laughter, even if it was beginning to hurt. The continual endorphin rush left him grinning like a mad man, Anxiety silenced as the adrenaline, cortisol, and epinephrine were overwhelmed by the endorphins. He felt giddy. Not quite hysteria but pretty damn close.
His own laughter took longer to die off than hers, as the sight of the firefly on the stranger's nose seemed to incite another round of giggles, something his diaphragm was making sure he knew it did not appreciate. That did nothing to stop his laughter, however, if anything the thought of his diaphragm having a mind of its own seemed to amuse him.
...For some reason.
He wasn't really in any state of mind to be questioning it.
His laughter did die down as he watched the woman before him fumble with her telekinesis, a sentiment he could share despite being a native Novusean. His mental state often left much to be desired with his control over even this most minimal magic he held. Vespera help him if he ever developed greater powers, he'd surely cause some real damage to anyone who spooked him from then on.
That would be bad.
That was neither here nor there, and he refocused his musings on the potential outcomes of the future to look back at the woman, head pulling back as he realized just how close she had gotten. She seemed to be staring quite intently at a spot on his shoulder, and he craned his neck to try and see what she was looking at, confused by her sudden approach but still riding too high on endorphins to care outside of being startled.
Ah, there was another one of the glow bugs on his shoulder, and he watched as it slowly was lifted away from him and trailed after the red woman before him, who pulled back and returned his personal space to him as she began to prance about. The feeling of her breath gone from his skin, he felt his flesh momentarily ripple in discomfort as he shuddered, shaking the uncomfortable itch that built up after too close of a personal encounter.
"Look, I've got it! Two in a minute, what skill I possess."
Better than his in any case. With his luck he'd likely try to grab one, miss completely, and end up pulling on the mane of a court sovereign and end up starting an international conflict.
To be fair, that was a rather dramatic and over the top situation he proposed, but it could happen. You never knew.
He continued to watch the incredibly happy woman, and felt himself smile a bit in his own right, bemused if anything by how pleased she was at the simple accomplishment. Again, not that he had much to brag about, his own abilities at telekinesis rather lacking, but he was well aware of his faults, and knew that in the grand scheme of things, catching a firefly was a rather simple endeavor.
It was still nice, he supposed, to be so happy over something so small.
She was looking at him.
"How about a competition to see who can catch the most? If I win, you must tell me your name. And if you win…”
He was still a young man, only barely out of foal hood, and while he may have spent the majority of his life either with his parents or alone, his brain still momentarily raced off into a direction that was wholly inappropriate, before he shook it from his head at the same time as she shook her own head.
No, no, no, bad thoughts. Bad thoughts. Not going there.
He was going to blame the endorphin rush from laughing so much and never think on this incident again.
"Well, you can decide that if you do.”
Why was she making it worse.
Quickly, he had to defuse it before Anxiety grabbed a hold of those thoughts and made them worse. He didn't think he could handle a panic attack on top of that level of embarrassment, that would just be too much for him.
So he acted on impulse, trotting forwards and reaching out with his own telekinesis to grab onto the firefly she held as he stuck out his tongue.
"Well that's one for me, and my name's Auru Geniven, so I hope you can think up another prize while catching fireflies because if you can't then you won't even need to bother!"
He let the bug they had both grabbed onto go, counting it as one point for himself. She never said he couldn't re-catch what she already had. He then turned and began cantering off into the rest of the field, searching for the closest glowing insect to grab onto.
@Cyrene
OOC: Auru you naughty boy, this is my way of reminding myself that he is a young man who is completely pansexual so when he's not panicking his thoughts probably wander at times xD He's riding such an endorphin high that he's being much, much braver and more forward than he normally would be, good on you kiddo.
She couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed until her stomach ached in sweet agony, until starlight tears threatened to flow out of her flickering ember eyes. All because of little glowing fireflies, and a tawny-eyed boy she’d met under the strangest of circumstances. Yet with those two deceptively simple things, a weight she’d long ceased to feel lifted from Cyrene’s weary shoulders.
"Well? Are you going to accept—" but the rest of her singing jest dissipated into the cavernous night as teasing lips abruptly fell open. Lion eyes widened in momentary disbelief, as the laughing boy dashed forwards at the speed of light and swiftly snatched her captive bug away. With a wry smirk aimed pointedly towards her, for good measure.
How sly! Cyrene pouted, before snapping to action herself. Alas, she had never specified—that is what misjudging one’s opponent leads to, she chuckled. "Beginner’s luck, Auru!” she called over a speckled shoulder as she sped off, bright gaze already swiftly scanning the horizon for those glinting insect derrières.
Three, four, five. The ones she’d caught before counted, of course. She had to keep the game fair, after he’d so marvelously outwitted her. Gilded mahogany feathers rustled softly through the grass as Cyrene dived from one glowing shape to the next, quick to loosen her psychic hold on the startled bugs as soon as she’d spotted another.
But like a tottering foal, her newfound powers were still hard to grasp in their entirety; and the autumn girl blew a pesky curl from her eyes in frustration, as she lost her hold on yet another finicky firefly. "At this point, I am going to lose,” she mumbled in realization—and she had been the one to propose the challenge in the first place.
They seemed to have mutually decided when the hunt was over, and as her hooves padded softly through the swaying tendrils of flaxen meadow grass, Cyrene’s thoughts drifted to those bittersweet days she’d spent as a bouncing, carefree filly. How wonderfully innocent she’d been, before those same amber eyes had stared emptily, defeatedly, into the corrosive realms of death.
For as long as she lived, she hoped to never see that darkness again.
As Auru’s starlight-soaked pelt gradually appeared in front of her, a sharp smirk settled itself naturally across her fair visage. "I’ve caught precisely eleven glowing bugs in the ten or so minutes since I saw you last. Has your beginner’s luck managed to top that?”
@Auru | notes: I 100% laughed when I typed 'derriere'
He felt a gay and child-like giggle bubble up from his chest as he heard her call to him as he cantered off, mind already whirling as he tried to figure out what the best way to go about this was.
"Beginner's luck, Auru!"
He was tempted to call a reply back, but he could already hear the sounds of her moving off. He slowed, to a walk, not wanting to crash into anything, and turned to look over his shoulder as he watched her fade into the distance. He drew to a complete halt as he turned back to the land in front of him, eyes flickering to and fro as he contemplated his plan of attack.
Now, Auru Geniven was not a dumb man at all. He wouldn't even be considered slow. In another world, he could have easily gone on through higher learning and earned a doctorate of some sort, in a world where the society of his species was as such that mental disorders could be treated, instead of running wild and consuming him as they did here. No, Auru Geniven was not a dumb man, if anything, he was actually disturbingly intelligent.
The problem was, that Anxiety and Paranoia took advantage of that, when they inhabited a mind that was sharp and quick, able to make split second connections between thoughts and jump through topics at a frightening pace, so too could they then grab a hold of that intelligence and use it for themselves, creating whispers and screams meant to incite panic and fear in the depths of his mind so rapidly, and using all of that brainpower to manufacture intrusive thoughts so quickly, that it became too much for the poor man to handle.
When one thought for too long, one tended to get tired. But Anxiety and Paranoia didn't get tired like Auru did, they could keep going even when he was too tired to add 2 and 2. They could use his intelligence against him, and frighten him so overwhelmingly and thoroughly that even when he was drained from listening to their screams they could keep going, and they could drown him in intrusive thoughts and render him little more than a blubbering mess hardly able to think at all under the weight of the panic, and when he could think, every train of thought was manipulated and pulled off course as they took his intelligence for their own and convinced him that he was, in fact, stupid, and that they were clearly right and he should listen to them.
But all of that aside, the fact still remained that Anxiety and Paranoia were like parasites, and the brainpower, in the end, belonged to him. And as he looked on the field, he found a chance to use it for the first time in a while.
Neither of them said that 'catching' the fireflies had to involve the use of telekinesis...
In the end, while he was successful, he also had been a tad too impulsive in his actions and rather began to regret his plan when Cyrene finally approached him once more, wondering just how well he had been able to do and speaking of her catches with no small amount of pride.
With what closely amounted to haunted eyes, Auru looked up at her from where he stood with his head bowed, his coat glowing like the night sky.
"Help me."
See, finding summer fruits ripe filled with sweet, sticky juices had been the start of what could have been a good plan. The insects fed on sweet sugars, and he could use the fruits to attract them and allow him to catch more than simply chasing after them would have allowed.
The problem arose when he realized he had nothing to catch them with, and so decided to rub the fruit juice on himself.
Auru looked up at the pegasus, flanks and mane sticky beyond belief and with 20, 30, only the gods even knew how many fireflies stuck to him. Even when he pried them off they kept flying back to get at the juices he had coated himself with, which, to be fair, had been the initial point.
It was just that now he didn't know how to make them go away.
He'd certainly won, but right now it felt a bit more like losing. If only because he felt like an absolute idiot for thinking that covering himself in sticky fruit juice was the right way to go about this, and now he was standing there, glowing brighter than the night sky, unable to detach his newfound entourage of fireflies.
How wondrously had the tables been turned—the spritely nymph could not remember the last time she had played the daunting role of the astonished; rather, she had always been the one inciting the astonishment. Yet in a span of mere hours, Auru Geniven had singlehandedly managed the impressive feat thrice.
Were it not for the agony that dripped loud and begging from his copper-bright eyes, Cyrene would have surrendered completely and utterly to her violent urge to laugh. But her sore stomach had grown sick of the action, and protested the notion quite viciously.
Oh, Auru. With a shake of sable curls, she could not keep a smile from lining her eyes as she gingerly approached the boy’s syrup-soaked sides. "Well, you have certainly won,” Cyrene stated with twinkling irony, gazing with overt wonder at the storm of lightning bugs that wined and dined merrily at the expense of their dark skinned host.
The teasing girl allowed herself a moment more to commit the scene to memory—she had a feeling it would be a long while yet until another would ever surpass it—and then wine-dark feathers lifted keen and taut against the darkening sky.
Eyeing Auru delicately, Cyrene took a few paces back before chirping out a light, musical warning: "I suggest for you to close your eyes.”
A breath of a pause followed—and then those massive wings atop her shoulders began to beat torrential gales of wind aimed precisely for his fruit-stained pelt. Every which way, stunned and flickering intruders flew back to their rightful homes in the billowing prairie grass. Only a few especially stubborn ones remained, their gazes steadfast and sour upon Cyrene’s vibrant smile. "That was only temporary. I remember coming across a small stream a little ways east; follow me, quickly!”
And away she sped, Auru at her heels. Through the bending grass, over tricky gnarled roots, until a sparkling blue stream appeared bubbling and bright in front of them. Hopefully, this would do the trick. But—ah, she had almost forgotten!
"Have you decided on a prize?” she asked, curiosity nestling enchantingly upon her lips.
@Auru | THIS IS SO LATE AHH SORRY but after auru declares his prize we can wrap this up with one more round! this thread was so fun omg ouo
