A wide ravine where a shallow, gentle river flows. Years of drought and silt deposits have built this area into a fertile delta. The river remains low and dry most of the year, staining its waters brown and creating muddy shores.
Caedwyn hadn't thought out how Enya might react to his actions. Each moment was being taken as it was with little care for what came next. So when Enya nipped at his maw and slid out from him he took a small jump forward, instinctually following her for a step before stopping. His eyes followed her as she bounded away, dropping down to a play-bow in front of him. He could see the grin on her face and the way her tail waved. She had said nothing but the invitation she had presented him was undeniable. Just as quickly, she had turned and began to run away from him, leaving his mind no time to overthink the situation. Instinct took over and he let out a wild, high-pitched playful bark at her as his legs pushed him forward like a spring to chase after her. His legs pounded into the ground as he ran, kicking up mud into the air around him. She was the prey and he was the hunter, and he spared no effort to catch up to her.
Coming up alongside her, he didn't immediately try to 'catch' her though. He moved to the side, jumping in as though he was going to nip at her but carefully staying just far enough away to not make contact. He playfully made mock-bites at her, jumping back away just as quickly in case she tried to turn and stop him. His body leapt into the air as he tried to dart in front of her to cut off her escape and he came sliding through the soft soil, allowing the momentum to carry him forward while he turned his attention to her. He spun around, in a near u-turn, so that now he was facing her more directly and had come in front of her. His tail waved high behind him, as he lowered his front end to return the bow she had presented him with earlier.
But instead of running away as she had had done, he only bowed for a second before jumping forward toward her. This time both front legs outstretched toward her as he aimed for her chest to try to tackle her. He hadn't planned what he'd do if he actually managed to catch her though, and knowing Enya she was just as likely to dart out of the way and let him fall on his face - or put him on his ass rather than let him catch her. The uncertainty and the adrenaline was coursing through his veins and rational thought had been pushed from his mind. She was the prey. He was the hunter. She gleamed in the afternoon light, like a prize to be caught in front of his eyes as he leapt toward her.
Enya didn't need to look behind her to know that Caedwyn had chosen to pursue her in chase. She could hear his paws beating against the muddy soil, his body heavier and larger than her own. Before long, he'd caught up to her, the two of them bolting along the stretch of dried riverbed at full speed. He nipped at her - or made the motion to do so - and Enya danced away from his reach, turning briefly to grin at him, daring to let laughter erupt from deep within her chest as she panted from the efforts of the chase. In return, she reached out with her own muzzle to bite at his legs - any of the four - quickly darting in to snap at them only to bounce away once more. She intentionally missed him, but the gesture was there, hoping to slow him in his pursuit of her.
Then, suddenly, he leapt forward in front of her. With a spin, he was once more facing her, causing her to slam on the breaks herself, shifting into a slide on her haunches much like horses do. Just as he dipped down into a bow, Enya came to a stop before him, her body largely in a sit. Then he leapt forward, both legs outstretched, and Enya braced herself for the impact. She made no effort to avoid the maneuver, instead amused by his antics. With an "Unph" she was pushed down onto her back, the mud absorbing the impact of the ground beneath her. He stood over her. She panted, her chest heaving from the effort of the sprint, her tail wagging on it's own as she laid on her back. She grinned upwards at Caedwyn, her teal eyes sparkling with excitement. "You've caught me." She declared, then giggled.
With another flourish, she curled her body upwards, quickly nipping at one of his ears, then ducked down to pull herself from beneath him and out the side between his front and hind leg. Slippery like the lizard she was modeled after, she got back up to her paws, only to turn and look at Caedwyn with another challenge glinting in her eyes. "Or have you?" Her tongue flicked from her muzzle quickly, a habit, as she stared daringly at Caedwyn. Then she bolted once more, this time out of the riverbed and up the bank, leaping as gracefully as her long legs would allow her to, only to pause at the top and look back at him. Like when she'd first found him, she let out a high pitched yip, then disappeared over the bank and into the tree line. There she turned and paused, crouched and poised behind a tree trunk waiting for him to pursue and follow her. If he did, just when he was within range, she would pounce at him, returning the favor, and make a true attempt at pinning him to the ground.
His pounce landed squarely, pushing her down and his tail wagged as he looked to her. "You've caught me." She declared, then giggled. He let out a chuckle, about to think of something witty to say when her body twisted, slipping out from beneath his grasp like a leaf dancing in the wind. She had just as quickly escaped as he'd caught her! "Or have you?" Her words seemed equally a tease as a challenge and he noticed how her tongue came from her mouth. Whether she had meant it or not, it appeared like a childish gesture, like sticking ones tongue out in a "nah nah ha ha!" kind of way. It thoroughly amused him and he laughed. The laughter distracted him just long enough for Enya to dart away once more - this time disappearing up over the bank and out of his line of sight. She left only a teasing yip to lure him after her. And after her he surely went. He scrambled up the tall bank, sending clods of dirt and roots tumbling down into the ravine as he haphazardly ascended to the top of the hill. But when he got to the top, she wasn't there waiting for him.
Or was she? She wasn't immediately within sight, but Caedwyn knew she couldn't have gone too far. He had seen her go this way and there were tracks at the top of the hill indicating she had come this way. He froze, lifting his head high and looking around quickly side to side. His ears strained forward as he tried to listen, to determine if she was running through the brush somewhere leaving him behind. He didn't hear twigs snapping or heavy foot-falls. No, she had to be nearby. But was she lurking? or was she leaving him behind to pursue her? He didn't want to debate for too long and let her get away though. Making his best guess as to where she had gone, he quickly started to move forward again in the direction the tracks had gone - completely unsuspecting and unaware of Enya crouched behind the nearby tree.
He was so unaware that he was caught completely off-guard when she pounced at him. Her timing must have been impeccable, because he was already much too close to her to avoid her and in his desperation to attempt to both duck and side-step, he lost his footing and was swiftly overtaken by her. He rolled to the ground under her weight, feeling her pin him to the ground and he let out a heavy "oomf" as the air was knocked from his chest. He blinked and took a heavy breath as he regained himself, still laying on his back on the ground with his feet sticking somewhat into the air. It was a good ambush, he admitted. It suited their little game and Caedwyn wasn't surprised at her ability to one-up him. He chuckled and relaxed a bit, catching his breath as he allowed himself to continue laying on the ground (and allowing her to keep him pinned if she so wished). A smile came to his face as he tried to observe her face more carefully from this angle.
"It seems the hunter has become the hunted," he jested. "So what are you going to do with your prey now that you've caught me?" What was she going to do? He had been the one pursuing her but now the tables had turned. As much as he enjoyed teasing and toying with her, he kind of enjoyed this side of things. Letting her have her way seemed like quite a bit of fun and he was curious what sort of game she had in mind now that she had him at her mercy.
Enya didn't bother to watch and see if Caedwyn pursued her up the ridge and into the tree line she'd hidden herself in. If she peaked around the base, it was possible that he could see her, predict her, and avoid her playful attack. So, instead, Enya tapped into her Will to use her water element to sense where exactly Caedwyn was at. While it was not quite as accurate as sight, it was accurate enough to tell her that she'd temporarily stumped him. He lingered for a moment and she had to hold back the giggle that wanted to bubble up in her throat. She prepared herself, her tail and rump wiggling to better prepare her position. She then felt him moving towards her. Closer. Closer...
She broke off the string tied to her Will and focused fully with her sight. He stepped just around the tree and she seized her opportunity. Like the Viper nickname she owned, she struck at her prey. Caedwyn was fast - proven by his reaction to attempt to avoid her - but had not been fast enough. Their two bodies collided as her spring landed true and with swift movement, Enya had pinned Caedwyn beneath her. Unlike her, he didn't seem as interested to escape her grasp. Perhaps it was because she tried to truly pin him down, her scaled belly resting against the fur of his to ensure he didn't pull the same stunt that she had. The two of them panted from the energy of the chase.
"It seems the hunter has become the hunted... so what are you going to do with your prey now that you've caught me?" Enya hadn't thought that far ahead, so instead of responding right away, she tilted her head in thought, her tongue idly flicking from her muzzle. What was she going to do now? Her weight shifted atop Caedwyn, opting to keep him pinned, but letting him wiggle into a more comfortable lay if he so chose. "Well, normally this is where I finish my prey" She smirked and tilted her gaze downwards at Caedwyn. "But that would probably be unbecoming of the Queen to murder the King."
The intimacy of the moment, the game of chase, it warmed Enya through and through. She wanted to press her head into his chest, brush her muzzle against his, and perhaps bathe him with affection. She wanted to, but she resisted. She didn't want to ruin this moment the two had experienced together. For so long, their lives had been tense and stressful in one another's presence. Here, at last, was a chance for the two of them to exist together and in peace and harmony. The time they'd spent here in this Realm, it had showed her a different side of Caedwyn she'd never seen before. He was caring. He was ambitious. He was daring and brave. He was playful and cunning. He was (and this was hard for her to admit) a step ahead of her in nearly every situation. He would make a great leader and she would proudly stand beside him. She didn't want to complicate the situation by letting herself fall into the lust she was feeling in the moment. Perhaps old Enya would have, but this Enya didn't want to ruin this something that was happening.
Enya sighed and let herself brush her muzzle against his - a brief touch of affection - and then rolled off of his belly to lay beside him, staring up at the tree canopy above. Like him, her legs stuck up in the air bent at the knees. The sunlight rays that made it through the canopy made her scales along her underside glint and sparkle - minus the mud that had been caked up inside some of them from their sprint and climb up the ridge. "Thank you, Caedwyn." she spoke softly as she caught her breath from the exercise. "Thank you for giving me a chance. For helping me. For letting me see that there's a possibility for this world to be a home. I don't think I've thanked you for any of that yet, so thank you." She turned her head sideways, tipping her muzzle towards him so if he looked back, they could see eye to eye.
"Well, normally this is where I finish my prey." His breath caught in his chest and his heart stuttered at the words. He could only image what she had in mind by those words. Finish me. his mind begged, eagerly awaiting whatever she had in store for him. She was dangerous. Powerful. But there was an unspoken trust there and some deep part of him knew she wouldn't truly harm him. It gave him the security to trust whatever teasing punishment she might have bestowed on him in that moment. "But that would probably be unbecoming of the Queen to murder the King." His body froze as her head moved closer and he wondered what exactly she was going to do to him. A quick movement, as she brushed her muzzle against his. He couldn't hardly believe the tenderness of her touch and he dared not move for fear the moment would slip away. Was he breathing at all now? He wanted to return the gesture but he wasn't sure of himself now. She was in control. It had to be her. He waited with baited breath only for her to roll off him. It felt good to hear her call him King, but a wave of disappointment also washed over him as the moment slipped away. He'd built himself up expecting something from her, only for her to leave him dangling - metaphorically anyway, since he was still lying on his back.
His eyes followed her, watching how she mirrored his own position. She was looking up into the trees, but his eyes were fixated on her laying there beside him. He was suddenly aware of how the light caught the slick hardness of her scales. The greenish-blue hues seemed to glitter as a wind rustled the leaves, making the dappled light twinkle and sparkle across her neck and belly as it filtered down through the trees onto her body. He was suddenly aware of how much smaller she was than him in that moment and how feminine she appeared. He'd always overlooked it. Her confidence and vigor always made her so indomitable and intimidating that he'd never really considered their differences. Now that he was looking at her more closely, everything seemed a little new to him. The way the light draped over her made the reds and purples of her coat all the more vibrant. He noticed the little rip in her ear and he quietly wondered how she had gotten that. Had that always been there? It didn't seem to be a fresh wound but he was ashamed now to realize he couldn't remember if that had been there the whole time. Around her neck a vine held several trinkets that he hadn't really bothered to examine until now: a crystal, a tooth, and some - wait were those paws? Shriveled up and dried they were but they definitely looked like paws. What was the significance of these items?
He was lost in thought looking at her when her soft voice interrupted his careful scrutiny of her appearance. "Thank you, Caedwyn." It wasn't words he ever expected to hear from her. So unexpected was it that when he heard them, he felt a bit of shock and concern. What did she have to be thankful of him for? "Thank you for giving me a chance. For helping me. For letting me see that there's a possibility for this world to be a home. I don't think I've thanked you for any of that yet, so thank you." It felt weird hearing her talk like that. He'd never heard her words sounding so vulnerable. A part of him hated that he'd made her feel that way. No. No. No. She didn't need to thank him. He needed to thank her. He needed to thank her for not abandoning him. She had rolled so that she was looking directly at him now, but he felt ashamed. He felt like he had somehow fooled her into thinking he was a better wolf than he actually was. She had so many things to live for. She had her children. Her familiar. She had joined packs. Hell, she'd led a pack at least once already. But what had he done? He'd only made her a promise and she was lying there thanking him. He wanted to say you're wrong, and to show her how great she was. She didn't need to be thanking him.
He gently rolled to his side, turning to face back at her. He was so close to her now that he had to fold his legs in, and even so he was still so close that his body was touching her. He could feel the soft push of air as she breathed. Her face was so close to his and he looked to her eyes that had been looking at him, two round orbs bright shining like turquois gems. All he could do was let a faded smile crease his maw. "You deserve more than what I've given you," he breathed the words out quietly. It had come out before he realized and he'd only half meant to actually say it. It was what his heart had said but his mind was too slow to stop his mouth. It was a blessing that his face was already covered by the reddish hue of his fur or she might have seen the hint of blush stain his face. With embarrassment rising in him, he averted his gaze and looked down to the ornaments she had around her neck again.
"Keeping your trophies nearby, I see?" He changed the topic but his voice was still soft. He moved his paw up to her neck and gently pushed it into her fur to fiddle with the necklace, carefully trying to inspect each item a little closer.
---
Caedwyn rolled over to meet her eyes and she found herself wondering what he was thinking. He smiled at her as he stared, and she wondered if he was happy to be here with her. It was hard to forget what she'd done to him, hard to forget the pain she had put him through. She remembered it like yesterday, finding him washed up along the shore of the river. She remembered how he'd gotten each one of those scars on his face - scars from her very own teeth. She had damn near tortured him and here he was, laying beside her and smiling at her with his vibrant yellow eyes. He seemed happy. He seemed more than happy. It didn't stop Enya from wondering, however. "You deserve more than what I've given you." he said softly to her. Enya smirked at the comment, rotating her own body onto it's side so they were now laying face to face, knees to knees. "I know" she responded quickly with typical Enya fashion. She let out a tiny huff of amusement, a short laugh. "That's why we're doing this together, isn't it?" She shifted her head slightly on the soil to grow more comfortable. A paw reached out to extend, touching him gently on the shoulder. "So we can both earn what we deserve." She meant it, too. He deserved far more than she'd ever given him. He deserved a home, a place where he could be happy, he deserved a family to love and care for. He deserved to be respected and admired. This was his chance, and Enya intended to do everything in her power to ensure that it happened. She would, naturally, speak her mind if they differed in opinions of how to rule their pack, but it would be privately. She would never pull a move like she had on Ixora again. That had been wrong on so many levels and to this day she still regretted her actions.
Caedwyn's gaze shifted from her own to the trinkets tied around her neck. She retucked her extended leg back up against her, then bent it in a way to hold her trinkets out and up for him to see. "Something like that" she answered softly as she pushed herself up into a half-sit, letting her necklace dangle now so she could point at each trinket with a toe as she spoke. "Do you remember the black dragon that raged war against Vrolga? He was huge, a wingspan large enough to cover half the jungle with his shadow. Vrolga, ever the fearless pack that it was, launched their selves at the beast to defend their lands. Naturally, I was at the front and when the beast had landed, I took the opportunity to mount the beast, holding on for dear life as he took flight." She had been so stupid and reckless in that fight, and yet somehow it had all worked out in the end. "I don't think he expected a wolf to climb atop his head and strike at his eyes while mid-flight, but that's what I did. My venom did it's work, and the beast was forced to land once more. There he was finished. This is a prize, one of his smallest teeth he had." Some of his smaller bones had been used in her armor set, but the sheer size of the majority of them were simply impractical to use as decoration. "It reminds me to never underestimate my opponents regardless of the circumstances, and to never back down." Her toe then pointed at the crystal behind the tooth, "This here helps me channel my clarivoyance magic. It's possible to see without it, but this significantly reduces the drain, allowing me to see glimpses of the past, present and future for longer. It was a gift from a witch, Ember." She missed that witch terribly, and found herself quickly wondering if she'd ever see her again. "These," Enya then gestured at both of the paws hanging from the necklace, one on each side. She smirked and chuckled as she pointed at them. "Were also gifts of a sort. When I was at my darkest, these two wolves decided to try and take advantage of me. Drunken as I was, I still managed to escape their advances. The next morning these were delivered by Charlie, a wolf of Casfura. It was payback for their unsightly actions, he said. I've had them enchanted so they will never rot or reek. They remind me to never overindulge, and to always keep my guard up."
Enya's ear flicked - the torn one - and she sat up further to exist in a full sit. The paw that she had been using to point at her necklace shifted to the notch on her ear. "This is from my own daughter, Arachne. It was repayment for running out on her. It evened things up, she said." She chuckled, smiling at the memory of her lost daughter, "She was still so young, but reminded me so much of myself. I miss her terribly." She shifted her body to expose the bite mark on her hind leg. "A monster alligator I fought in Vrolga, defending a pack mate. It was a demon, as a matter of fact." She lowered the paw she was using to point with and shrugged both of her shoulders. "My first true test in Vrolga, a fight with a large tiger. It was the first time I'd endured actual combat, supported by both Ixora and Andromache." Saying each of those names made Enya's heart ache inside. "These are all part of my story, in the end. Even after I learned how to heal through my Will, I chose to keep and maintain the scars and items. The shoulder piece on my armor - the skull of the giant anaconda that nearly strangled me to death. The various bones it's made of, lesser creatures that had challenged me or proved worthy in combat. I used to have quite a hoard back in Vrolga, but between everything that happened with the shifting of the lands, my exile and re-entry, then finding my way across multiple planes of existence, I've lost the majority of it."
Her smile waned as she spoke out loud a fact she knew to be true. "In the end, they're all just things, but I worry that when I get older I won't remember. Perhaps I'm being overconfident, thinking that I'll live long enough to have to face such a problem." Her smile regrew on her muzzle, "Ah, look what you've gone and done, Caed. You've managed to get me monologuing." She smirked at him and relaxed back into a lay, landing with an unph and tucking her legs back up against her after fiddling with her necklace.
"I know" She had responded to his first comment. He had been rather embarrassed by what he'd said to her, his words having a tenderness to them that he had let slip out unintentionally. Enya on the other hand didn't seem embarrassed at all. She knew she deserved more. Her confidence oozed out in her words and in the little amused huff she let out, giving Caedwyn a little bit of relief that she didn't read too much into his words. She sat up, using her paw to manipulate her trinkets and he lifted his head - thought kept his body reclined in a comfortable position. He leaned in to look as she started to point at the objects around her neck. The first was a tooth of some sort and the shape was unfamiliar to him. "Do you remember the black dragon that raged war against Vrolga?" Did he remember the dragon that attacked Vrolga? He had missed out on so many things that had happened in Vrolga. Was this when he was undercover in Athadia? How long had he been in Athadia exactly? Was it a full year? He was thinking back now of the time he spent there as a spy and he wondered if maybe Enya had forgotten he wasn't always around in Vrolga. No, surely she hadn't forgotten. There had been so many things that happened between them as a result of his time in Athadia. There was definitely no way she had forgotten. So was this dragon after he'd returned? Or when he'd been exiled? Or perhaps when he had been ill or recovering from his injuries at the waterfall? He certainly couldn't remember a dragon. He chose to stay quiet and listened as she continued explaining how she had bested the beast and come into possession of such a trophy. It was a nice addition to any hoard.
Next his attention was drawn over to a crystal and she explained it aided with her clairvoyance. He vaguely recalled once before that Enya had used her clairvoyance but he had forgotten that she possessed such abilities. He remembered that Enya had warned Vrolga about the doom that befell their lands - though looking back now he realized no amount of warning or preparation would have benefitted them. They all ended up stranded in that gods-forsaken desert anyway, despite the warning. He wondered now what Enya might see in their future or if she had dared look that far ahead. Was that how it worked? or did the visions come to her more randomly? He was about to ask when she mentioned that the crystal was a gift from a wolf named Ember. His brow furrowed ever so slightly as he pondered the name. It seemed suspiciously familiar but he couldn't quite remember where (or if) he had heard it before. He'd met quite a few new wolves recently during his travels, and of course there was the time in Athadia and there were so many wolves coming and going there. Maybe it was someone from before? He felt like he should know the answer, but nothing came to him readily and he remained quiet, not wanting to interrupt. Instead he nodded with interest to let Enya know he was still listening.
"These" she pointed at the dried paws - one of the items Caedwyn was most curious about, "Were also gifts of a sort." A gift? What sort of weird gift was that? The thought was quick and equally pushed away as her story about the paws unfolded. Her story was not detailed and yet the events she laid out were very clear. She had been drunken and some asshats had thought that the perfect opportunity to force themselves on her it seemed. What idiots. Caedwyn thought as he imagined Enya snapping and kicking their asses. It was an amusing thought, thinking of Enya putting them in their place, but at the same time his mind wandered over the events that had led to that situation. He'd never considered that Enya was vulnerable in that way. Stupid. He thought again at himself. Of course someone might think to do such things to Enya. She was obviously desirable. She was strong, charismatic, beautiful - and well she'd had a mate before. She had taken Rin as her mate and had children. The wolves who had advanced her obviously could see her worth, but they were stupid to think they could force her to give something she didn't also desire.
Desire.
The thought lingered, even as Enya was continuing to explain how she had gotten the paws from someone in Casfura and how they were enchanted. His mind passed over those details and instead remained on Enya herself. She was desirable. His eyes looked up from the paws, looking to her face while she was talking. His heart was beating a little faster though there was no clear reason why it should have been. She was pointing at her ear now and though he was still listening, it was like the words were far away and he wasn't really concentrating on what she was saying. He knew what happened to those who tried to force themselves on her but his mind suddenly jumped to wonder what happened to those she did want. What about those she desired? How would he know if she desired someone?
How would he know?! Why the hell was he wondering that?
She had moved again and his eyes flicked away from her face to her thigh as she pointed out a scar there as well. He could see the outline of her muscles beneath her fur (or maybe he was just imagining that he could) and could almost feel the strength of her body simply by looking at her powerful leg. She was motioning again to her shoulder and detailing the battles that had left those scars. His eyes followed, soaking up the sight of her like a greedy dragon counting each of the coins in its golden treasure hoard. Why was he feeling like this? He'd seen Enya a thousand times before. Why was it like he was seeing her for the first time? Why did he want more? And why did it feel like he couldn't get enough of her? She was still talking and he was nodding, with soft little "Hmm" and "ah" to acknowledge her. Deep down his mind was focused elsewhere. It was consumed with desire. He didn't understand it. He didn't have the word to put on it. He could just feel it.
"Ah, look what you've gone and done, Caed." When she addressed him directly, his mind jumped out of the trance he'd been in and he was a bit startled. He hadn't realize how deep in his own thoughts he'd been. How consumed he'd been.
Caed. He was brought back to the first time they'd met, when he'd so casually told her to call him Caed. It felt so very long ago now and he tried to remember what all they'd said during that first meeting. She had laid back down with a little flop. Instead of laying back down himself, he used his front legs to push himself up into a halfway sitting position. His back end remained laying down, but he shifted his weight into his front legs as he turned and leaned his head over her body so he could look down at her. His face was just above hers and his eyes were looking to meet hers. His nose was just to the side of her muzzle, almost touching and he leaned in a bit closer before he spoke.
"It's fine," he said softly in return. "I rather enjoy hearing your voice." His heart was pounding in his chest and yet somehow confidence had swelled within him. His voice was steady and sure of himself as he spoke. His eyes then moved down following the crook of her neck, down past her throat and to the little trophies she had just told him about. Shifting his weight ever so slightly to balance on one foreleg, he lifted the other to raise his paw gently toward her neck and gently touched her necklace, making the items shift slightly as though he was examining them. "I still think a necklace of fangs would have suited you nicely."
The nickname had slipped from her lips without any sort of thought or reason behind it. Just as it had left her, her magic came to play. While the necklace around her chest began to faintly glow, her mind saw a picture. It was the two of them, back when Enya had been hardly more than a mongrel. She'd been standing beneath a large glowing tree, the light reflecting on her then-dull scales and emaciated figure. There was Caedwyn, still as handsome as he was now, and yet younger with a look of mischief glinting in his eye. "Caedwyn." he said, still eyeing her out of the corner of his eyes. "I suppose you could call me Caed though, if you think we'll be seeing each other again?" He turned his head to her to speak more directly. "If you come to Vrolga, I can show you how to get that fang and much more. What do you think?" The vision of their past came and went with a flash, and Enya was brought back to reality as the Caedwyn before her shifted from his lay to push up into a partial sit. Back then there had been mischief in his eyes, and perhaps now there still was, but Enya was noticing something different in the way that he looked at her. Their eyes met and a nervousness entered her body, making her heart beat faster than before. No. Was it nervousness? Yes, she concluded, it was, but not the sort that made her want to flee with unease. It was nervousness of excitement, suddenly realizing that she had no idea what intentions Caedwyn had with her.
Their muzzles lingered dangerously close. She could once more feel his breaths as he exhaled. Her forked tongue flicked out quickly, then retreated between her teeth. Click came the sound. She tested the air, trying to decipher what thoughts were going through his head. She had been so absorbed in talking about herself that she'd missed how he had reacted to her stories before - or rather how he hadn't reacted to the stories directly.
"It's fine... I rather enjoy hearing your voice." Her heart beat quicker as he spoke softly, a tone she'd never really heard him use with her before. So many times before their words had been exchanged with anger or malice or resentment. Sometimes disbelief was sprinkled in between. Sometimes encouragement. Even the flirtation wasn't out of the norm for them. Example a: when they first met. Never had she heard this sort of tone from him before. Careful and confident, she realized. Confidence. Had she ever heard him act with confidence? There was the natural confidence most every wolf possessed but... this was something different. "I still think a necklace of fangs would have suited you nicely." Her mind drifted from trying to decipher the emotions on Caedwy's face, in his actions, and she returned to the present. A smirked stretched across her muzzle as she looked to find contact with his eyes. Hadn't that been what he had proposed to her when they'd first met? Was he thinking of their meeting, just as she had been? "I suppose there's still time to receive one as a gift." she mused with amusement, her tongue flicking again from between her teeth. Click.
Her instincts pushed her to reach upwards towards him, to wrap her legs around his neck and pull him down to her. The way he stared, the way he hovered so close to her, with just a hair's distance between their muzzles. Enya was anything but bashful when it came to romance and at this point in her life deemed herself quite experienced in this department. Instead of reacting to her instincts, Enya's body remained still, a paw shifting to brush against his as his tussled her necklace resting against her scaled underside. It wasn't the fear of intimacy that fought against her instincts. It was the fear of ruining the friendship that was finally growing between the two of them. Besides, she was probably jumping to conclusions here. In all of her time with him, Enya didn't really know Caedwyn. She knew parts of his history, and bits of his personality, but the wolf as a whole? She'd learned more about him in the past six months than she ever had known before.
So, instead of trying to read his eyes and through them, his mind, with magic she didn't possess, she opted for the simpler solution. "What are you thinking right now, Caed?" Her voice matched his in level. 'What are your intentions?' she wanted to follow up with, but felt the second question could obscure the meaning of the first.
The crystal she had shown him earlier was giving off a faint glow and he wondered what might have triggered this reaction. Was it what he'd said to her? or perhaps the way he moved his paw touching the items that rested on her scaled chest. She had mentioned something about using the crystal to amplify her powers. Was she using her powers now? It intrigued him as he tried to guess if she was looking forward or backward in time with her abilities. There wasn't anything interesting in the past was there? It wasn't like there was anything secret or interesting about Caedwyn's past that she didn't already know (in his opinion) so obviously she must have been looking ahead. What was she searching for? Was she seeing how this moment was going to play out between them? Or looking much, much farther ahead than that? He was curious and the idea that Enya had somehow been tempted to spy on what was coming next greatly amused him. "I suppose there's still time to receive one as a gift." Her tongue flicked out at him but the motion was one he had become accustomed to. Was that what she was looking for? To see if he gathered her a beautiful necklace full of fangs and presented it to her? She had a dragons tooth. It would be difficult to find fangs of equal quality. Some trivial little tooth simply wasn't good enough to go on such an ornament.
But that wasn't exactly what Caedwyn had in mind. If she had looked ahead and found out what was coming next, he was going to make sure to keep her guessing. "What are you thinking right now, Caed?" He smiled, gently revealing his teeth as he peered down at her. His body felt like it was on autopilot. His heart was beating faster but the jittery nervousness had disappeared. "I'm thinking -," he began, his tone deepening but still somehow quiet. The combination made it come out in a growling tone. Not one of aggression but instead sounding much more primal than the voice he normally spoke with. He started to lean in closer his nose dipping under her chin. "- about your necklace of fangs. Shall I give it to you now, Enya?" Even closer. His mouth moved over her throat and he slowly opened his mouth, jaws parting over her neck he moved with careful diligence and control. His hot breath breathed into her and he softly - with the utmost gentle touch, allowed his teeth to touch the scales on her neck. It was only for a moment, as he didn't want to frighten her, and as soon as he had done so he continued his slow motions - flicking out his own tongue to gently, slowly lick the scales on her neck, pushing his nose upward under her jaw to push her head up and back was he gave a long, smooth motion with his mouth along the scales of her chin before retracting his tongue back into his mouth.
"I'm thinking..." he trailed off, grinning at her with his lips pulled back and his teeth barred, but not with aggression. He spoke with an even lower tone than before and Enya had to strain to listen to his words. The sounds around them, the bugs that sang of the evening coming and going, disappeared from her ears as she deciphered every syllable Caedwyn spoke. "About your necklace of fangs. Shall I give it to you now, Enya?" She wasn't sure exactly what he meant by the phrase but she found herself excited to find out, a shiver snaking through her spine. Enya did love gifts, after all.
His muzzle lowered closer to her neck. Instinctually, she tilted her own muzzle downwards to protect the vital spot of her body but it did her no good, for as she made the motion, Caedwyn's own muzzle pushed her from blocking her neck. The shiver through her spine snaked it's way back up. Then she felt it: his fangs around her throat. She froze. With his voice ceasing, there was nothing else for her to tune her ears to. All she could hear was her breathing growing heavier, her heart beating louder in her chest. She felt the pinch of his fangs against her scales and swallowed hard. Tha-thunk tha-thunk tha-thunk her heart pounded. Had she been entirely wrong about the friendship that had been growing between them? Had this all been a grand scheme to get back at her for all of the wrongs she'd done to him? Had she been blind to his true intention, because she'd been so desperate for companionship in this new world?
He'd said 'I want you here, with me, as equals.' and she'd believed him immediately. What if what he'd said and what he'd meant were drastically different? Even with as quick as the motion had been on Caedwyn's part, it didn't stop these thoughts from racing through her mind. He released her neck and Enya swallowed again, letting out a heavy breath, a sigh of relief, only to quickly and sharply inhale once more when she felt his tongue against her scales drag upwards, ceasing at her chin. Had... had he just licked her? Her instincts raged within, yet she continued to remain still and motionless, frozen in place. Her mind suddenly shifted from 'He's going to kill me' to 'He's going to claim me'
What did this mean? Was this a good idea? Probably not, knowing her own track record. Her tongue flicked once more from her muzzle, click, to just hardly graze his ear. Her eyes closed as she struggled internally, fighting with herself. "Caedwyn, this isn't a good idea." she wanted to tell him, but when she tried to open her muzzle, it ceased to obey her. "Caedwyn, you don't know what you're getting into with me." Every relationship she'd been in had ended in disaster. It was why, since Meliodas, she had sworn to herself that she'd focus on something else, focus on making a dream come true over falling into the temptations she found, yet here she was. Caedwyn would gain nothing by being with her. He was already the leader of their pack. He would surely have plenty of wolves fawning over him in the future, once they united them all under their rule. He didn't need her. He didn't want her. He deserve a wolf who didn't fuck up her whole life with every turn she took. He deserved a wolf who could give him their whole heart. Rin was gone. He was gone forever. She knew this, and yet still she dreamed of him. Caedwyn didn't deserve that. Having a fling was dangerous. Having a fling would let her fall back into her old ways, a dangerous addiction. She couldn't promise that she could just stop when he realized that he deserved more than her.
"Caedwyn..." is all she managed to mutter, her paw lifting to brush the backside against his face. "Are you sure this is what you want?" It was the closest thing she could say to reflect the thoughts that raced through her mind, the closest she could mutter to convey the doubt she had about the situation not because of him, but because of her.
