02-21-2017, 08:28 AM
He was here most often, perhaps. It wasn't the hard-packed clay of a desert where the pale gold of land met the deep blue of a cloudless sky, but it was open. It was the only place in Sylva where the trees gave way to the sunlight that stretched down to bathe his back in warmth, the black of it soaking in the rays with the eagerness of a starving man.
With his eyes closed, he could almost slip into a cruel dream. One that repeated often. One that would have eventually darkened into a nightmare with the haunting blood and screams had not there been little hooves racing toward him.
His lips quirked as he remained still, as she ran too fast for her little legs and crashed right into him. She rebounded as she apologized, very carefully pronouncing each syllable of his name and looking contrite with a ducked head. But of course, with her, those lesser emotions never stayed long and she was lighting with glee again proclaiming herself finally old enough now to be on her own with him.
An adventure? His eyes narrowed and he managed to look skeptical as he repeated her. A hard, brown stare took her in slowly from face, to rump, to feet, and all the way through again. He loved that she was mostly as black as he was, but he wasn't really sure why. Are you sure you can handle that? You look a bit.. fragile. Amusement flickered into those eyes as he toyed with her, dropping the word with the grace of a warrior that had no training for dealing with children, even his favorite one.
What if you break? I can't have your momma coming after me, you know. Erratic tingles drove down his spine at that, probably for both good and bad reasons that he'd rather not explore further. He drew her a sly grin on his dark face as he reached to nuzzle her, and instead gave her a good shove to test her balance and strength. He didn't really touch anyone, usually, even his little moonbeam friend. But today he would make an exception.