His grin widens with her incredulous look, and Bolder’s slate eyes beam shamelessly at her. He’s enjoying himself immensely, and the young shapeshifter doesn’t bother to hide that in her presence. Perhaps this was the part of his soul that Gale had taken; the part of Bolder that had once been a quiet, contemplative child. There is nothing in his brash manner that suggests he had ever been the introverted triplet.

And Bolder doesn’t miss that more reserved nature at all when he is rewarded with the coquettish grin that flits across Lillibet’s lovely face. It only makes him more keen to see it again so the striped stallion tilts his head towards her again to say ”It doesn’t sound so bad coming from you, so I suppose I can accept it.”

Bolder tries to turn his expression into something more serious - shape it like he might turn himself into a wolf or a bird - but it is much harder to do than he realizes. At least in the presence of his opalescent companion, and so he abandons it for something more suiting of their rather audacious conversation.

Despite her flat tone, his playful smirk remains.

”You’re more than welcome to try,” the now-wingless horse nearly purrs to her. It’s a tease and a taunt; one that he watches from beneath an upright forelock. Watching Lillibet bat her lashes at him draws Bolder closer, and though he is tempted to bring his copper mouth to graze against the graceful arch of her neck, he refrains. The way she bites at her cheek only accentuates the lovely curve of it; it makes it hard for him to focus on the topic of Pangea and not the many other things they might do to pass the time.

”I think it has too many caves and ravines,” he mutters distractedly. ”It’s too hot during the day and freezing through the night.”

But, even as he looms close to the slender mare beside him, Bolder recalls the lessons that Mazikeen had given him. They hadn't all been shifting. Some had been about the importance of the Pack and understanding where it had begun. So he shares that information with Lillibet, hoping to bring her closer so he lowers his voice again, like this is another secret to be kept between them. "But Ghaul, once-leader of the East, gave its keeping to Sochi in Hyaline, who then gave it to Breach, who then passed onto my aunt, the current Alpha, Mazikeen."

"But why are you asking me about Pangea?" he counters darkly to her, "There are many other places we could be talking about."

Or perhaps they didn't need talk at all, he thought devilishly.

@Lillibet

Lillibet

Lillibet’s desire to keep that playful smirk on Bolder’s handsome moon-marked face overshadows nearly everything else as he lowers his voice conspiratorially again, whispering to her that she’s more than welcome to try. There’s a fleeting moment that the young woman considers reaching her muzzle out to press it against the muscle of his neck or nip playfully at the bulge of his shoulder. But she does not, instead concentrating on a rhythmic inhale and exhale, when all her breath wants to do is catch in her throat at the mere closeness of the mahogany man.

Then there’s the bite of her cheek and, finally, the switch in topic to Pangea. A chance to breathe normally, to cool the intensity she feels coursing through her veins.

Bolder’s answer is dismissive, nearly disinterested, and Lillibet can’t help but to grin as she tries to pull the conversation away from where they’d both like it to stay. The temptation to remain in the midst of their chemistry, floating in the light of their desire, is nearly too strong ─ but there is just something about teasing him, prolonging this feeling, that is just the slightest bit stronger.

The gold-striped woman nearly comments on the existence of Pangea’s caves (and the trouble they could find themselves in within them), but Bolder continues beyond what she had originally anticipated, granting her with a history that, truth be told, does not interest her. Ghaul’s name, though, is familiar, and she lingers on this thought for a brief moment before Bolder’s question brings her back.

His tone brings that coquettish grin back to her supple mouth before she answers with a dismissive shrug of her shoulders, her words whispered against the curve of his cheek..

“I intend to make it mine.”

I do not want to move mountains;
I want the mountains to see me coming
and to crumble.

@bolder

RAYOFLIGHT

She remains so close to him that the heat radiating from her gold-striped body nearly taunts him. Without the cover of his wings, his broad shoulders remain open and there is nothing he wants to do more than graze his side against hers. His mind is full of devilish ideas, and yet Bolder keeps forcing himself to return to their conversation, to not stare at the elegant arch of her neck or the inviting curve of her hip.

Lillibet grins as he tells her about the canyons and ravines (and he has own similar thoughts of what kind of trouble those secret nooks might inspire). She listens as he ambles over what he knows of Pangea and its past. To Bolder, it doesn’t seem like much. He has never paid much attention to the former kingdom seat of the East. To him, it had been as he said. Too hot during the day, too cold at night; Bolder was a stallion used to crafting his skin to be whatever barrier he needed it to be against the elements. Whatever his shapeshifting couldn’t achieve, his wings could always take him some place more favorable.

He rarely spent time in Pangea, but as the gold-striped woman beside him keeps talking, the place no longer seems so unappealing to him.

That coquettish grin followed by the lovely shrug of her shoulders only entices the idea more. The words whispered against his copper cheek caused the young stallion to turn his head towards hers. Bolder’s gaze - surprisingly clear like a gray winter dawn - attempted to meet the warmth of her amber one, intent on drawing their game out longer. ”And then what?” he asks, quiet and low, letting her decide if they were still speaking of politics or not.

@Lillibet

Lillibet

Lillibet watches and waits, her breath bated and golden eyes hooded as Bolder’s gaze seeks her out. She sees the fleeting glances to her ivory neck and curved hip, and she mirrors them with stolen glimpses of her own. She lingers at the set of his jaw and the sinew of his mahogany hind, no longer obscured by the brilliantly feathered wings that had previously rested against his sides. The ethereal woman waits for him to finally bridge the gap between them and turn the electricity they feel into something more. They both play at the edge of whatever this is ─ the heat coils in Lillibet’s stomach and her heart beats a rapid staccato at the inside of her ribs, just begging to be let out.

And just when she thinks he might press that soft maw against her alabaster skin, the wave of their desire is tugged back out to sea. She’s able to breathe, but only for a moment, as she whispers her plans into the flute of his pricked ear.

Bolder’s silver gaze catches and holds her ─ Lillibet returns it confidently, the fire in her eyes blazing. She anticipates his response, curious which path he will take. He could choose to leave the Meadow and carry this information back to the Crown of the East, swiping away her plans just as swiftly as her impulsive mind had brainstormed them if his aunt and uncle so wished.

Or…

His voice is gruffer than before and it feeds another flare of heat in her stomach. Lillibet giggles quietly under her breath and tilts her head to the side, letting the space between their cheeks dwindle and her lilac-tinted forelock fall in faux-inhibition across the twinkle in her eyes.

“And then I will need someone to keep me company while I explore my new home, won’t I?” It’s not a direct invitation, but he doesn’t need one. And if the crackle of chemistry affects him as it does her, she knows she won’t need to say much else to get him over the wasteland’s threshold.

I do not want to move mountains;
I want the mountains to see me coming
and to crumble.

@bolder

RAYOFLIGHT

By the Gods, she was an enrapturing creature.

Bolder could feel it – whatever this near-constant current was between them – and the electricity igniting in his veins made him wonder if to touch her might start a storm. Or rather, what kind of storm they might make. She is unlike the girl from Tephra; even the way she laughs seems to surpass that hazy daydream. He smiles but the very edges of it smolder into something bright and burning. She is right there, close enough that even the warmth of her breath graces his neck.

Close enough with their bowed necks and turned heads that she might even be able to hear how loudly the thoughts churn through his thick skull.

He catches her fierce gaze, and keeps it, determined to hold it to him until they meet again.

It wouldn’t hurt Hyaline to learn a little more about their neighbors, he thinks. Mazikeen had agreed to let him explore and learn about the Baltians, so perhaps she might be pleased by learning about Pangea’s leader as well. He certainly won’t mind learning more, especially if their exploring is as scintillating as this has been. His heated stare certainly says as much before he quietly replies, ”I guess you will.”

@Lillibet quick closer before i throw something up in pangea *insert cowboy emoji here*