bruises to prove it

[Raphael Salvage]

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Word Count: 528

Still rushing with adrenaline from his run in with the freighted, unpredictable boar, Raphael stood, confidence mixed with pure surprise radiating from his pose, looking down at the dark colored she-wolf laying feet away from him. Normally, he would have been calmer in this type of situation, but with his rush still running through his blood stream, he was finding it hard to think completely straight. His muscles were still tense, ready to spring at any moment, and he was afraid this meeting might not be as friendly as he would hope. That was only a second before, however, a soft smile spread across her lips and a melodic laugh echoed from her throat. Her laugh seemed out of place to him, but when he stepped back and looked at the situation there they were, he just almost got trampled by a fleeing boar and she had, in some way unknown to him, ended up on the ground. He couldn’t help but let a little laugh slip out of his mouth in response to hers. “Maybe, madam, if I learned some of your fluid moves, I could pass as a dancer” he teased still a laugh lingering in his voice. His breath was airy as he tried to catch his breath after his pursuit through the think woods, but not as heavily disrupted as hers was after, what he assumed, was a failed hunt.




As she rose from her awkward stance on the ground, he took a step forward crunching a dead leaf under his footfall, though he did not really seem to notice or care since the only prey worth scaring away was probably still tumbling through the underbrush. He held himself confidently and tall as he advanced slightly towards her, a smile still settling on his muzzle. With her now standing, he could better see her and found that she was attractive, exotic in a way. Her dark, earthy fur only made her grey eyes seem to glow more as she advanced and the slight shuffle of her feet made her body sway in a way that somehow made her even better looking. He silently cursed himself for thinking of the she-wolf in that way when he knew nothing could come out of it. Still, he found that he couldn’t help it. He was a guy after all, but he refused to give the thought any more attention. Instead he found himself locking his gaze into hers as she stopped and once again her sweet voice swirled out to meet his ears. “Or another species all together” he said referring to the difficulty of catching a boar especially a healthy one as her target had been. They could easily injure a canine like one of them with their sharp teeth and tusk not to mention their hooves. It was only then that the pale hybrid noticed that he had yet to introduce himself thanks to the strangeness of the situation they were in. “I am Raphael” he said, the teasing tone in his voice morphing into a more semi-serious tone while still holding a hint of playfulness, “and may I ask what people call you, madam?”

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