The hot air of summer was upon the hybrid, and it seemed hot flames licked through her veins, though the heat outdoors was not the reason for this. The hybrid woman knew in her bones, though her belly had hardly given to anything but a slight swell, indiscernible except to herself. She had not told anyone yet -- it had only been the previous morning that she had determined the truth of her hope, and her blood sang with the realization, joy spurred throughout her body. She hadn't called on Larkspur, or even Sirius -- instead, she had meandered brazenly from Salsola's borders, giving reason for her departure as was customary -- she sought blood for them, strength and numbers from the outsider canines. They were in need of strength, and the sable hybrid would draw it from the land. Her judgment was trusted enough for any new blood brought to the clan, after all.
It was not new blood she truly sought, for there was plenty of it brewing in her belly. The chartreuse-eyed canine instead sought out someone else, the painted king she had denied herself for so long. They were apart now, in different packs altogether, and she would keep away from Salsola for the remainder of the following day, in all likelihood truly fulfilling the duties she had claimed as reason for departure. Stretching the truth and lying was one thing; failing the provide for the family was another entirely. They did need new blood, and she would seek it after she found Ouija. The sable hybrid had given Inferni its berth as always, but she danced closer to Anathema's borders. There was quite a respectful distance between herself and the old place, but she was closer than she would have gone to Inferni, in any case.
Though in her two-legged form, the coal-hued hybrid threw back her head and howled for him, summoning Ouija with her voice. She would keep to this form as she had in the last pregnancy, as soon her need to hunt would cease anyway. Now, not only was Larkspur required to provide for her, but the whole of the pack, as well. Her chartreuse eyes glittered happiness at the thought, and she drew her head down to peer around the forest, watching as the lightning bugs danced slowly, lighting up occasionally. The females flickered faster in the grasses, and the woman watched them in fascination, reaching for one with lightning quickness when it buzzed nearby to her. She held it in her hand, watching as the light danced from between her fingers.
A toothy smile came to her face, and the woman opened her hand slowly, her other hand reaching over to pluck the insect from her palm, holding it between the pads of her fingers. She brought it close to her eye and watched as it glowed brightly, small legs motoring madly against her. She held it so lightly it might not have even felt the pressure of her fingers, but it certainly felt as she brought those fingers to her belly, drawing the bug upward from her navel and between her breasts. A yellow-green smear, faintly glowing, was left behind, and the hybrid peered down in fascination, laughing as she moved after another bug.
She had left him. Hadn't said a word but had just up and disappeared. Though it wasn't like she owed him an explanation. She had no cause to inform him of what she had planned for her life. It was when he had found her gone, along with many others, that he realized just what he meant to her. He meant absolutely nothing to her. She had gotten what she desired out of him and just stole away into the night. He had thought that there had been at least a friendship there but that didn't appear to be the case. He wouldn't have tried to stop her. It would have simply been nice to be informed.
He had even tried following her once but had ended up giving up still some distance away. Luckily he had realized before it was too late, before he had confronted her, that stalking after her was a foolish gesture indeed. She didn't even have a passing interest in him. He had been noting more than a pawn to be used then cast aside as soon as his purpose had been served. Still he couldn't deny that he desired her even now. She was much more than a passing infatuation to him. She was his soulmate, the one that he had pledged himself to.
The howl that broke forth through the still of the night was one that he knew. He could hardly believe that he was hearing it though. Why should he be hearing it? He didn't chalk it up to his imagination since he didn't call up auditory hallucinations in order to cope. No, he was still as sane as he had been before. He simply knew his place better now. Even so he had pledged himself to her. He would do whatever she desired of him. And it was that obligation that had him heeding the call. That obligation which had him following the sound to find the source of it.
"You summoned?" The words were voiced in a neutral tone. She had called and he had come just like the obedient little puppy dog that he was. But that was simply him. Once he pledged himself to something he stuck by his word. He could be said to be loyal to a fault. And that could pretty much be said to be true since here he was with his attention focused on the ground. He couldn't even look at her now that he realized that his place was somewhere far below this beautiful Goddess. Certainly she was only here because there was something that she desired that only he could do for her. Perhaps a refresher on the contents of the gris gris? Was she having trouble finding what it was that was needed to fill it appropriately? It was the only thing that he could think of that he alone would be able to help her with. Anything beyond that she could get from someone that she deemed worthy of her time and attention, someone that was allowed to know more about her than he was.
She had not removed the gris-gris since he had given it to her, finding she needed its protection in the peril of Salsola's creation. Eris paid heed to no gods and bowed her head in prayer to no one, but she earnestly believed in more earthly magic, and this was, if nothing else, a symbol of Ouija, and something she would cherish. In another life, she might have been with him instead; Larkspur had been an accident at first, and though that accident had given her three beautiful children, the sable hybrid did not quite respect those stories of Larkspur's, of the weakness in that line of D'Angelo. It had been present in Harlowe, he'd said, more than once. The boy had attacked them and their children both, but Eris had smelled the fever in him and she had seen the madness in his jade-hued eyes. It was no god and no damnation that had driven him to act as he had.
As the painted man arrived, the hybrid watched him. She had paused near mid-step, breathless to watch his approach. He was large, dwarfing her by pounds upon pounds, though he carried it well. His form was meant to carry such bulk, and even Eris herself found an odd desire to dip her head toward him, though she resisted it. A creature of pride, especially one a newly-made queen, did not concede so easily to these desires. Still, there was divinity in his stride, the way he moved. Whatever Larkspur said about dirty blood, she might have given credence to, but even in taint there could be shining examples of beauty. She might have been such, the wolf daughter of a coyote, a good thing arising from the blight of Lykoi. Dirty things they were, she was not unclean; she had come from them and she was still holy and still pretty.
Yet, even as she turned to face him, there was hurt in him, the jade eyes that seemed flat and darkened now. It dawned on her, and all happiness drained from her in an instant. She hung her head immediately, ears sweeping back to fold neatly away into the wild tangle of her hair. Coal shoulders slumped, and the rest of her seemed to sag imperceptibly, deflated just a shade from her general swagger and conduct. Chartreuse eyes that slowly lifted to his as he spoke seemed apologetic, a rare thing in the sable hybrid, to say the least. “Ouija,” she said, able to keep her voice a shade above pleading. Prying ears or not, she still would not beg. “I am sorry I didn't tell you.” The realization had dawned on her like a fatal blow, sudden and merciless. She had thought of him, considered him, even, and knowing she might tear him from home and family with so much as a few words, she had denied herself this. He was hers, no doubt, but she... it wasn't his children she carried in her belly, though she herself perhaps loathed that they had not been Ouija's in the first place for a terrible moment.
Perhaps he was of dirty blood. He couldn't really say. He didn't know the beliefs of Khalif but he would have been spared because of his coloring. He would have been welcomed rather than shunned just because of his paleness. Or such he had been told by talks with Misery. Larkspur, because of his darkness, would never be wanted and accepted there. So even if he was dirty blooded he could still walk into the home that Larkspur would be unable to return to without risking death. So how dirty did that make him really?
Perhaps there was an air of something regal contained within his step, he was the painted king after all, but it was just a natural occurrence for he was doing nothing out of the ordinary. He had no one that he was trying to impress. There was no one that he needed to impress. He simply was who he was. With his height it was uncomfortable for him to slouch. Not to mention that it was bad posture as well. So he wasn't really trying to do anything special but just moved with his own natural grace. And well, it could be said, that the movement of his hips had earned him quite a bit of favor within the cult. Though he had also gotten a few glances over here as well.
"There is no reason for you to apologize. You owe me nothing." He couldn't blame her for his own interests if she didn't share them as well. He had been blinded by his own desires and hadn't even considered hers. Though he should have realized that they weren't shared after she had left him once she obtained her gris gris and knowledge about it. He was just a means to an end and that was it. He had come to accept that and wasn't going to press the issue any.
Slowly he lifted his head, eyes trailing up the glowing smear with interest and skimming over the gift that he had given her until he finally settled his gaze on her face. "What is it that you desire?" There was a twitch of his lips as he spoke, a hint of a smile, but it quickly faded. Sure, he was glad to see her again but it also pained him as well. Since she had left without a word it had been impossible to get her off his mind. Still, he wasn't upset with her either. How could he be? No, he was neutral, entirely blank. His voice hadn't held any sort of tangible emotional tone to it. He was only waiting to be commanded so that he could mindlessly act.
He wasn't a broken creature though. He still had his own life and he lived it. Just as he still had the same desires but he was holding himself back. He was doing just as he would do with Addison. He refused to move towards her and get close. He wouldn't reach out to try to touch and embrace her as he had previously done. She had shut him out the last time, same as Addison had done on their first meeting and continued to from time to time. He only needed the one lesson to remind himself to keep himself in check. Something had happened and he was no longer allowed to touch, that was all he knew and all he needed to know. He was simply here because of a pledge that he had made. No matter how much it hurt him he would always be around for Eris just as he said that he would. If nothing else he was true to his word. That was the one thing that could always be counted on with him. He had loyalty instilled with him. It was a lesson from that cult that he couldn't undo, not that he would ever really want to. He cherished what he had learned there even though it was different from the way things seemed to be over here. And well, those core values and beliefs had brought him close to Eris the first time. As much as it might hurt now he was still glad to have met her. To know there was at least one other that shared in his beliefs.
Word Count → 327 Sort of powerplayed her picking up his hands -- yemme know if no good and will edit.
It was not so easy to humble the coal-hued woman, but Ouija had -- he had shown her nothing but kindness and done only as she had asked, and he would have done more, had she only speak the word. Devotion was not quite the right word for it, but she had rolled the dice and ended up with another, as had he. She could not have him, not in the way they were perhaps meant to be. Her children were in Salsola, and there would be more of them -- and they were not Ouija's. It was not fair to him. Guilt burned in her, sour and sharp as acid, as he spoke again, and she dipped her head to the earth, stepping forward toward him even then and reaching for his hands. They would dwarf her smaller coal ones, she knew, but they would be gentle nonetheless.
“I owe you praise and worship, as you owe me,” she said, squeezing his hands briefly in her grasp. She held them there a moment and then let them drop, feeling she was not worthy enough to touch him. “I wanted to see you,” the coyote said, shrugging her shoulders slowly. Eris had thought he would have him tonight, but she did not think he would deign to give himself over. “I left without telling you, but I couldn't tell anyone other than who we were taking. I wanted to ask you, too... but your lady, your family,” she said, folding her ears back. The D'Angelos reigned here; Larkspur belonged to her and was something of an anomaly in patchwork Salsola, the only one aside from his own children. “I wouldn't tell anyone else that much,” she added, albeit now a hint of pleading crept into her voice. She hadn't imagined Ouija angry with her, and placid as it was, his anger frightened her just a bit and made her deeply sad, neither feeling something she had expected.
He allowed his his hands to be taken but made no movements of his own. He didn't try to hold her hand in return but rather he just allowed for himself to be used. Certainly that is what all of this was, her just using him once more. He couldn't blame her though she he allowed for it time and again. He sorta had to since he had pledged himself to her. "You owe me nothing." He repeated himself once again. He didn't expect anything at all from her. Or at least nothing more than a request for something else that she desired. After all that is just what it was that he was waiting on. For her to state what she wanted from him so that she could end up leaving him once again.
He didn't try to stop her when she released her hold on his hands but just allowed for his own to fall limply back to his sides. "Well I am right here. Is there anything else that you want?" He responded automatically, his words still hollow and empty. He wasn't certain how to act o respond since the relationship that he thought that they had once had turned out to be false. There wasn't a friendship there as he had imagined there to be. She had shunned him just as Addison had done before. And so it was in that careful manner that he dealt with Addison that he was dealing with Eris. He refused to get close or say too much lest he should upset her.
The male shook his head as she seemed to think it necessary to explain herself. "You never have to tell me anything. I pledged myself to you not the other way around. I was the only one to believe in the sharing of a soul. It is fine, you have nothing to worry over. You have your own life and I realize and accept that I am not a part of it unless there is something you need or desire. I apologize that I didn't realize sooner that we weren't truly friends." He wasn't upset but accepting of the situation. It was more that he was disappointed in himself for not realizing any of this sooner. It hurt to learn that the one being he thought he had a true connection with turned out not to share it.
He sighed and looked away from Eris, looking instead to the insect flickering about. "I had no lady at the time you left. Addison was just a friend, a relation, that shared a den with me. She simply didn't wish to stay alone since she felt I was the only one she could trust there." He wasn't certain why he bothered to explain the nature of the relationship with her. It was likely that she didn't care in the first. But while they were busy sharing private information he figured that there was more that he should end up getting out in the open. He could share his own explanation for why he was acting as he was.
"Eris, I..." He began but found that he could only finish it up with a shake of his head. Ouija held out a dyed hand, keeping it still and steady, as he watched one of the bugs flicker around it for awhile before finally landing on it. Gently he closed his fingers around it and turned to face Eris once more, holding out his hand with the captured bug in it towards her. "I am interested in you. I find myself continuing to think about you, always wondering what you are doing and if you are okay." The confession was finally made in a rush. He wasn't certain why he had told her other than he felt that he needed to. She lived in a different place and so it wasn't likely that he would see her too often, or ever again after this. After all why would she want to be around him after he had said what he had? He sounded like something of a stalker. And it was made even worse because he was certain that she didn't feel anywhere close to the same as he did.
Word Count :: 422 Blah. IDEK if you wanted to continue this, but I felt bad so I gravedug. ;_; We could wrap up in a post or two; sadOuijaEris makes me saaad. <3 \:
There was an emptiness in the pallid god, a seeming indifference for her that sent a stab of guilt through her chest. The sable-shaded woman knew she ought to have taken him with her; she knew she ought to have been with him rather than Larkspur, perhaps even rather than Haku. Of any of the men she had encountered since coming here to this part of the world, Ouija would have been the best of them, she thought. There was stability in his muscled arms, all dappled with the colors of wild nature. Her chartreuse eyes regarded his jade-colored ones as he spoke, her ears drooping and her chin falling nearly to meet her chest.
The coyote woman lifted her head up as he spoke her name, though her heart had sunk straight through her guts and was lurking somewhere in her pelvic region, beating right next to her children. The coyote woman's smile blossomed slowly, though her heart did not rise, and sadness lingered in her chartreuse gaze. It had lost all its razor sharpness and womanly confidence, and instead now seemed girlish and small. “I would have had you. I should have. It's a cruel trick of fate to separate us,” the coyote murmured, tilting her cheek into his hand and brushing the bug away. She cared only for his touch.
There was a strange sort of hesitation in her, and her gaze grew blank, distant, gazing over the field that flickered with the yellow lamps of the tiny bugs. “I want you, Ouija, but I cannot have you in the way either of us want,” the coyote confessed. There had been instability in her life and she would not give that over to her children. Her voice had grown hesitant, and she continued only after this pause. “My children have a father and I will not do to them as was done to me. I didn't know my father's name until I was a grown woman -- they will have their blood father.”
“We are more than friends, but we can't be together as we truly deserve,” she said, shaking her head sadly. “At least not in this life. There are others to come, though, and we will know each other in all of them,” the hybrid murmured. She writhed closer, nudging her body against his and drawing her arms about his waist. Her hands rested on the knotted muscle of his back, and she inhaled his scent, earthy and reminiscent of Anathema.
He had set himself up for all of this. He hadn't once considered the female's feelings or desires throughout the whole ordeal but had only focused on himself and how he perceived things to be. The entire nature of their relationship had been something that existed only in his head. It was this realization, along with his other recent losses, that had simply hollowed him out. He had come because he had been called. He had given his word and so he couldn't break it. While he was glad to see Eris again it was also torture. To be this close to what he desired but was unable to have.
"There are bits and pieces of our destiny that we choose. You decided to leave after I had joined. If you had not wanted me near then you could have said so. I would have listened." Even when they had been in Anathema together he hadn't bothered her too often. He remained tied up in his own things to try and get too close to her. After all she had her own family that he as caring for and he wasn't a part of any of that. Still, if she fled because he was in the same pack then he would have left should she have asked it of him. He had left his old pack because of Addison and the murders that had been taking place. It wasn't a safe place for her when she had wanted to start a family, not that such had ever happened.
His fingers made to caress the female's cheek as she leaned it into his hand. She was so beautiful and he couldn't help but to he mesmerized by her. But it was more than just a physical beauty that attracted him. There was more to her that he didn't have the words to explain. "I don't want your body Eris. I mean, I do but it isn't just that. I have been able to go without that. I don't know how to explain it but I want something more. I enjoy whatever time is spent with you, even if it is only sitting in silence. I feel... complete, I suppose, when I am with you." He was fumbling with words. He had no idea how to explain himself exactly. All he knew was how he felt but not the proper way to place it in words. The times before that he had spent with her he would just forget about the world and everything that was happening. It was like no one else existed during those times, only the two of them.
The large male had started to feel a bit better but in a few words that had been completely demolished all over again. Perhaps she hadn't meant it in the fashion that he had taken it but her words had made him feel completely inadequate. Ouija had no idea who his own father was but that had never bothered him until this very moment. "I understand. I am certain you have made the perfect choice. Your children are lucky, as is your chosen. What reason could ever possess you to settle on someone who can't list exact familial ties? You are doing what is best for everyone involved and I respect that." He spoke softly, words laden with hurt. At least now he knew exactly was he was undesirable to her. His imperfection had been placed out there but it was beyond his control. There was no way for him to correct it and make himself adequate. The cult was gone, his mother was dead. There was just no way for him to know who had fathered him. He had never thought to question it before because that was just the way it was. He might not have known which one he was his actual father but all had a hand in raising him. He had a large family in the cult and could turn to anyone in there for help and guidance. It wasn't until outside of the cult did he learn that nowhere else seemed to function that way. And now he was being presented with how what he had grown up with was wrong and made him unfit to even be considered to be with the one female that he desperately desired.
He hung his head and closed his eyes, forcing out the well wishes that he felt needed to be said. "I hope he is taking good care of you and keeping you happy. That he is taking care of all of your wants and desires." While there was the jealousy and heartache that he wasn't chosen even after pledging himself he didn't wish for things to go awry. After all he had only ever wanted Eris to be happy always. And why should he expect her to want and trust him when King had ended up dieing? If he couldn't keep his cub safe then how could he be expected to take care of a litter? A previous one had already been lost when Addison miscarried. So that there was a second strike against his abilities to provide a safe environment.
He was surprised when she pressed herself close to him but he couldn't turn her away no matter how much it hurt and tortured him for her to be within reach and yet still so far away. Sure, he could physically touch her but that didn't matter when he couldn't truly have her. She would just leave him again and who knew if he would ever see her again. "I would like that. And maybe in one I will finally be worthy enough to be with you." He spoke honestly as he slipped his arms around the hybrid female and held her close. "And even if not then I will always be around for you. Not matter what you need you only have to ask." He reached a hand up in order to try to gently run his fingers through Eris's hair. "It is not much but if you find that you ever need someone just to watch the pups long enough for you to spend some time alone with your chosen then I can take care of them for you." He doubted that she would want that since it came across as a pathetic attempt to get closer to her. Still if it was someone else making her happy then he was willing to help out and allow her to have that time to herself to remain happy and fulfilled.
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