[private] A lonely road for just a ghost // Jassal Pony

[vulgaris]

Vulgaris

"  when she's coming for my heart it feels like armageddon. "
He turns his gaze to the queen as she pins her ears back in a display of aggression that he doesn’t quite understand. His gray head tilts slightly as he observes her but he says nothing until it clicks in his mind what Lepis had done recently. Oh. Right. Would she believe that the boisterous laughter that erupts from him is an honest accident? All those rows of pointed teeth shimmer in the lightning as he recalls the warning that great queen Kagerus had issued the members of Loess, and now here she is – drenched and pissed off like the cat beside her. It’s too much for him.

“Vulgaris,” he corrects her with a chuckle curling through the warmth of his voice. He’s not offended, really, but it’s an excuse to get a little further under her skin. But then the cat is moving once more and his hunger for senseless violence is reignited within his chest. She steps forward and he matches her movements on his long legs while his lips spread to reveal his teeth once more. The pit organs behind his nostrils watch her closely – brilliant oranges and reds against a navy blue backdrop – to overcome the darkness cast by the storm and the forest canopy. His sight remains unbothered by the flickering of lightning. Venom drips from one of his fangs in anticipation of their collision.

“Let’s make a bet. If I can devour your pet in one bite, Ilma comes to Loess. If it takes two, then I’ll be your prisoner instead.” His voice is breathy like a lustful suitor whispering into his lady’s ears, burdened so heavily with want and unbridled desire. (He would like that, wouldn’t he? To be the antlered queen’s slave for a year or two?)

But he does not wait for her response or some indignant warning as she had given Loess before. Already, his body is surging forward with his head tucked low to scoop the leopard into his waiting jaws. The cougars had all been quick to leap at him with outstretched claws and he can still recall the way he caught their small chests tight between his fangs. Will this strange cat do the same?

The hunger drives a reptilian hiss from deep within him. What a fine game they’ll play today.

@[Kagerus]