ASCENSION [FAR] | MATURE

[attr="class","pltxt"]She felt him in her bones before his scent ever reached her nostrils. A throbbing, dull ache in the marrow of her bones. A twinge of fear? Excitement? Anticipation perhaps… between her legs. It was as if her body was betraying her, feeling everything tenfold in his absence. But now—now she knew he was close. Far’s blood was warm as she padded across the dry, brown earth. It wasn’t the sun heating her veins. It was the thought of him, her King, finally returning to Sethos. Anger boiled her insides. Her crimson eyes, like windows into her very veins, flashed dangerously over anything that moved: the sway of dry, stiff bracken in the salty breeze, the flash of a vole darting away from her advance, a seagull looping in lazy circles above the desolate Butte.

She could feel him, so close that her chest twisted with conflict. But even as his cry rose over the rumble of the ocean, her mottled paws were flashing over the gritty sand without an ounce of hesitation. Usually so controlled—so incredibly in check of her emotions—Far felt her desperation like a wild, untamed friend. It engulfed her, pulled her forward, and dumped her in front of her King.

Breathless, she could feel the rattled rise and fall of her chest as she slowed to a stop before him. Sual. He stood with his tail raised behind him—an ashy plume of fur that sent his scent into the air with every lazy swish. He was just as she remembered him, and yet… The changes came to her attention one at a time. First, she noted the rippling muscles along his flank, his chest, his legs; that was unchanged. His brute strength and power came off him like an aura. Next, she saw the scars crossing his cheeks. They were pink and ragged, the fur still stripped away from the horrendous flesh. They’re eyes locked, and Far saw the familiar seafoam gaze of her King looking back at her.

Inside, she recoiled as if he had touched her. He did not blink. He did not move. And his left eye, marked with a painful line across the lid, was gauged blind. Far moved closer, stopping so close to the gargantuan brute that he would be able to touch her with his muzzle if he chose to reach forward. Her bloody gaze stayed locked on his, showing him that she was unperturbed by the white glint of his blind eye.

He radiated danger and untapped energy, and she could feel her body humming with his. He had left without goddamn word, for months. She could be Queen of Sethos without a King, that much she had proven in his absence. But there had been something missing in his absence—a damper to her fire, a slight loss of rage without his presence.

In this moment, she could let the dormant anger towards him rise up and engulf her. Or… or she could keep the embers nestled deep within her, red hot and waiting.

”My King,” she said at last. The tension between them was like a thunderstorm about to break. The electricity was static in the air, lost without lightning to drive it home. She did not bow. She did not even tilt her head. She looked up at him, for he would always be taller than her, and waited to see how he would explain himself. ”It’s been a long fucking time.” Her voice—sometimes sweet as a blossom, other times a rumbling and dark as a night under a new moon—was swollen with desire. There was an edge to it, and with a shock, Far realized she feared touching him, as if coming in contact with his pelt would be too much. As if the act could ignite an explosion that would engulf them both.

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Count | 648
Tagged | @saul
Muse | excellent
Notes | LET’S GET ROWDY