[private] There's the rub [Warrick]

[Warrick]

like the sun swallowed up by the earth

In the moments they have spent together, he’s temporarily forgotten about the matters at hand - Karaugh’s captivity, the disappearance of Gryffen (would he return and what of his followers?), and he is even able to push from his mind the fact that a piece of himself is missing, wherever Tang is in her exploration. Summer’s heat will soon give way to the chill of autumn and then the intense frozen winter, leaving Tephra flourishing and wild, and reminding him of days lost beneath the volcano’s beating heart. Their romp in the waters and even their banter in this moment, however innocent he claims it to be, is soothing the sharp angles of his auburn face and mending the emptiness that he cannot seem to fill.

He can tell that he has surprised her, and his brows raise in amusement as the droplets rain down upon her, glittering in the setting sun. Her laughter causes a chuckle of his own, nose wrinkling slightly as she shies away from him, stretching his neck out and grasping at the air where she once stood, as if in attempt to keep her to stay nearby.

Then, with a coy smile and all the gracefulness of a woman, she grins mischievously and does not hesitate to use his body and feathers to dry herself on him. His wings flex instinctively as the ebony and red velvet of her body pressed against him, his laughter fading into a stillness that is overwhelmed by the brilliance of his stoic blue gaze, following her as she circles him. As she glides past, the cobalt of his muzzle reaches towards her, lipping at the wet tendrils of black mane that still drip.

She flicks her tail against the sleekness of his haunch and he dances away, pivoting on his forelegs with a sharp snort, feathers rustling as his wings stretch with one strong flap and then tuck into his sides, a nicker leaving his throat that sounded much like a laugh.

“What else you got?” She asks him, and he tosses his head as he moves to stand before her, a small smile on his navy lips.

“That’s about it,” he admits with a snort, “No more tricks tonight, I promise.”

Warrick

@[Ceara]