we show off our different scarlet letters
Flora lets the matter drift for now, content to leave it where it’s fallen between them, though she knows she’ll turn the butcher’s words over later when she’s alone, rolling them like stones in her palm, trying to feel the edges until she finds a shape that fits into her own understanding.
His relief rumbles through her chest where her cheek rests against him, and she hums in quiet answer, the sound warm and unhurried. Part of her would be perfectly happy to remain here a while longer, kneeling in the cooling pool of blood with the carcass between them like some grim altar, but the air is already beginning to shift. The warmth is leaving the body, the copper scent growing sharper, stickier, on her skin. Sooner or later, the whole thing will start to smell.
When he decides to leave it for the scavengers, she nods, watching the way his blade moves, clean and purposeful. Her breath catches in a soft inhale as he slips it through cartilage and bone to take the wolf’s head, the movement efficient enough to be almost elegant. She rises when he does, the cold biting a little sharper now that she’s not folded against him, and flashes him a grin that’s all teeth and approval.
"I can’t just burn it all off like you can," she says, tone playfully apologetic as she glances down at herself, blood spattered across her arms, clinging in her hair. "So you’ll have to be patient while I shower." Her gaze flicks to the head in his hand, a spark of amusement curling through her smile. "Unless you’d rather have your drink with me looking like this. I doubt anyone would dare say anything to us about it," she adds with a crooked smile.
His relief rumbles through her chest where her cheek rests against him, and she hums in quiet answer, the sound warm and unhurried. Part of her would be perfectly happy to remain here a while longer, kneeling in the cooling pool of blood with the carcass between them like some grim altar, but the air is already beginning to shift. The warmth is leaving the body, the copper scent growing sharper, stickier, on her skin. Sooner or later, the whole thing will start to smell.
When he decides to leave it for the scavengers, she nods, watching the way his blade moves, clean and purposeful. Her breath catches in a soft inhale as he slips it through cartilage and bone to take the wolf’s head, the movement efficient enough to be almost elegant. She rises when he does, the cold biting a little sharper now that she’s not folded against him, and flashes him a grin that’s all teeth and approval.
"I can’t just burn it all off like you can," she says, tone playfully apologetic as she glances down at herself, blood spattered across her arms, clinging in her hair. "So you’ll have to be patient while I shower." Her gaze flicks to the head in his hand, a spark of amusement curling through her smile. "Unless you’d rather have your drink with me looking like this. I doubt anyone would dare say anything to us about it," she adds with a crooked smile.
