SHIELD
we watched the night under moonlight mixed in ocean air
the salty breeze tickled our necks
and we counted galaxies forgetting boundaries,
imagined reaching for them,
like for each other
She wraps muddy forelimbs over his shoulders, pressing her face wantonly against his, her broad forehead and large paws leaving streaks and lines of mud upon every part of his body she can possibly touch. Attacking, fighting, competing, loving: she adores the play that joins them together, the way they wrap themselves around each other, chasing smoke and laughing at light.
He retaliates swiftly: he always does. Amalia yowls her surprise as birds arise from the marshes, dropping clawfuls of mud down upon her head, a rain of earth and refuse. Dropping her hold upon the Sword's shoulders the leopard falls back onto the ground, trying to cover her face with her paws and rumbling a strange, growling laugh. At the same time she reaches out with her mind for her own small army of animal assistants, ready to swiftly retaliate, to strike back as the dance demands.
From the grasses, the bushes, the damp and soggy ground, a flock of small but tenacious field mice emerge in a symphony of muddy squeaks. Paws soaked in mire they begin to climb, reaching for his limbs in an attempt to scamper up him and leave tiny prints on every surface of his form.
He retaliates swiftly: he always does. Amalia yowls her surprise as birds arise from the marshes, dropping clawfuls of mud down upon her head, a rain of earth and refuse. Dropping her hold upon the Sword's shoulders the leopard falls back onto the ground, trying to cover her face with her paws and rumbling a strange, growling laugh. At the same time she reaches out with her mind for her own small army of animal assistants, ready to swiftly retaliate, to strike back as the dance demands.
From the grasses, the bushes, the damp and soggy ground, a flock of small but tenacious field mice emerge in a symphony of muddy squeaks. Paws soaked in mire they begin to climb, reaching for his limbs in an attempt to scamper up him and leave tiny prints on every surface of his form.
SWORD
the stars lined our heartbeats,
and we fell
so much harder,
than we ever had
before
