Ashe
My jaws part in something that, on two legs, might have been a smile—here it’s a flash of teeth, not in threat but in recognition. The golden light spills over us, catching on the faint steam curling from my breath, my chest rising and falling with a sharper edge now that memory has a face to match. My ears tip forward, tail shifting in a slow arc behind me, and I lift my head, pride flickering in my gaze.
I’m proud of her, I tell him, voice carrying both warmth and relief. For holding her own with you. It’s no small feat to keep up with Deimos, and I don’t pretend otherwise. Another cloud of breath escapes as I dip my head slightly, not in submission but in gratitude. And… thank you. For making sure she was safe.
The honesty comes easier than I expect. My paws shift in the snow, the thin crust breaking beneath them with a crisp crunch, grounding me in the present. I’ve been staying close to her, habitually, I suppose. She's in the Citadel. The words come quieter, my ears angling back a fraction. I wasn’t ready to let her go. To see her age so swiftly, thanks to Frey.
I breathe out, the cold biting the inside of my nose as another pale cloud rises and vanishes. So I follow. Not to smother, just… to be close. My gaze lingers on him, measuring whether that sounds like the truth it is—or the lie I keep trying to convince myself of.
I’m proud of her, I tell him, voice carrying both warmth and relief. For holding her own with you. It’s no small feat to keep up with Deimos, and I don’t pretend otherwise. Another cloud of breath escapes as I dip my head slightly, not in submission but in gratitude. And… thank you. For making sure she was safe.
The honesty comes easier than I expect. My paws shift in the snow, the thin crust breaking beneath them with a crisp crunch, grounding me in the present. I’ve been staying close to her, habitually, I suppose. She's in the Citadel. The words come quieter, my ears angling back a fraction. I wasn’t ready to let her go. To see her age so swiftly, thanks to Frey.
I breathe out, the cold biting the inside of my nose as another pale cloud rises and vanishes. So I follow. Not to smother, just… to be close. My gaze lingers on him, measuring whether that sounds like the truth it is—or the lie I keep trying to convince myself of.
inside my blood and bone
and their network of tendon and meat
you and i, our histories of hunting
and being the beast.
