give a smile to the patient

The early morning sun nestled between two ridges, its pink tinted light bleeding through the rocks and illuminating the mountain in the glow. The silent lioness leapt the gap between the rocks, sending a few loose pebbles tumbling down the space as she passed. She wove through the natural pillars and greenery as she slithered her way up the peak. With a few carefully placed pawsteps, the curtain of green pulled away to a more neutral toned expanse. Extending before her was a plateau with a perfect view of the rising sun peering over the lands it held dominion over. Sharp and cold breaths escaped her open maw as she took a step forward onto the even surface. Her eyes trained forward as she took in the view of dyed hues of orange and purple turning to pink and blue. Thin clouds swirled around higher pointed rocks, clinging to them and obscuring what they held just behind.

She shook dew from her scruffy fur. Still panting from her crisp morning jog, she sat upon her haunches and lifted a paw to her face. A few scrubs of the appendage over her still damp face, followed by a few quick but purposeful licks helped to ease away the uncomfortable wet that threatened to seep deeper into her fur. She quickly glanced behind her, ears flicking towards even the faintest of sounds. She was listening. The sun haloed her, her form shaded other than bright green brown eyes that shone with a vast mixture of indiscernible emotion. She waited, her muscles taut and poised to run once again if need be.

@faust

you know the connotation

Table by Werge | stock image

The sandy furred nephilim had stuck to the high cliffs and falls of this area for the past few sunrises. Something about the open skies and vast views of the land and fog beyond felt...enlightening. Like he could cradle the lands in his paw.

Something else beyond the bird's eye view had caught his attention this day however. A familiar scent, albeit not too familiar. Their brief meeting had been one he wouldn't easily have forgotten, but the lioness in question was not someone he knew particularly well.

Padding along casually in pursuit of the fresh scent trail, Faust kept his eyes peeled for a pelt in shades of dust and bark. It was not until the wind that roamed free and wild as it did around the tallest peaks was tugging at hisbkane did he find what he was looking for. A sinewy form with a notably long tail, cloaked in brown.

"Quite a view, is it not?" The angel rumbled softly as he padded forward, coming to a stop a few tail lengths from where Snake stood as if ready to strike.

Would she, though?

@Snake

give a smile to the patient

Snake startled at the massive figure approaching from the shadows, her ears flattening to her skull at first before the recognition fluttered about her irises. Still a bit shrunken down, but more or less a touch more at ease as the angel spoke to her in that saccharine tone he seemed fond of. The lioness deliberated for a heartbeat before slowly nodding and sitting back straight once more. Her cautious ears still flicked about like radar dishes sat upon her head, but her brow wasn't as tightly knit as seconds prior.

It wasn't that she fully knew this lion, or even understood whatever motive he may carry on his shoulders, but even as skittish a creature as she seemed to somehow feel… Safe. In his presence. She rose to her paws and glanced back towards the view she'd come to. Her heart was finally beginning to settle for the first time since she started up the mountain. She looked back to the gold furred giant, a wide eyed expression looking through to him expectantly.

She curled her long tail over her back, letting the feather light brush of tail fur glide against her spine. Once, twice she repeated the quick flick while watching the other lion with purpose before turning once more and padding out further into the sun's early rays. The air was still crisp with winter chill but the fleeting warmth of the sun still managed to melt into her dark colored pelt.

@faust

 you know the connotation

Table by Werge | stock image

Either unbothered by her startlement or unnoticed, Faust came to stand at the ledge Snake was perched upon. His red eyes ran over the land as though he were looking for something and nothing at all, like a dragon counting the coins in its hoard.

He then turned to she, meeting the hazel hues of her eyes with as much emotion as he did for anything. Potentially benign, but so was a poisoned thorn half buried on a well worn pathway. It all depended on how you approached it.

"Did you ever find what you were looking for at the edge of that field?" He knew she would not, or could not answer him. But the reply mattered just as much as the question, not at all and everything. It was not something that needed an answer.

The smell of ozone and burning was still clear in his memory, the sound of wood splintering as a giant fell when he had said it would. It had been...exhilarating.

Cathartic.

And this lioness had been the only sound present to witness it. Not that he needed anyone but himself to judge it as true, his eyes were his. What they saw, he saw. And what he had seen was an angel calling down his claws to strike the earth in a show of power.

@Snake

give a smile to the patient

The silent creature's eyes widened at his question, the memory clear as day as a full body shudder wracked her form. The roar of thunder and the blinding light turning the world black and white for a blink. The fear and acceptance of death dancing fiercely within her weak heart before settling like a wounded bird with nothing left to give. Her ears flattened to her head once again as she turned back out towards the sprawling mountain landscape. 

What had she even searched for? It seemed he remembered more than she did. Then again, she was the one nearly struck down by the sky itself, not him. She quickly shook her head, then released an equally quick puff of air through her nose. She wasn't sure if that were even the right answer, but alas she stuck to it. Watching the scenery before them, she noticed more clouds crawling their way up the steep rocks and forming undulating tendrils as they scaled the sides of their immediate view. Now that he had asked, she seemed to have forgotten what her purpose was here too. 

Did she do this often? The young lioness tilted her head upwards to watch the thin clouds float downward like feathers floating in a breeze. She couldn't help but ponder about things long forgotten to the young lion's mind. Like what it felt like to not live so alone in the world. Another puff of white air flitted away from her nostrils. She blinked back at the clouds slowly encroaching upon the pair with their forms. Their white plumes sat so low she could almost taste them on her tongue. Snake smacked her lips at the thought.

And then it dawned on her.

She looked down to her own stomach. Right. She could feel herself curl inward a bit, remembering how hungry she had become. She was always hungry at this rate, but she had to get creative to survive anymore. She stood up once more. She came to this peak with a purpose, driven by hunger. She began to pad away from the edge, her head lowered to taste the ground with her perforated tongue. She'd done this before, thankfully but she could only hope to find of which she sought this time around. 

She headed straight for a dried bush just a few tail lengths away, her muzzle shuffling around within it. After a moment of rattling dried twigs, and digging, she uprooted a thick and gnarled root from beneath the plant. The earthen shaded feline lapped at the dirtied surface for a few heart beats before biting the vegetation in half with a loud crunch and subsequent chewing. She drug her split tongue along her maw as she rose her head from her 'meal'. She had nearly forgotten her 'audience' in the rush and felt her face warm significantly. She shyly looked back down and curled her tail around her paws before glancing back up to the massive lion with a sheepish expression.

@faust

 you know the connotation

Table by Werge | stock image

The angel settled comfortably onto his belly, relaxing without much care as he watched Snake move about.

Licking the ground, sniffing through bushes, all normal enough things. He felt no judgement or emotion beyond mild curiosity towards the strange behaviors. Surely he'd seen stranger, or would with time.

When the vegetal scent and crunching reached him, Faust's attention was once again drawn to Snake from where it had wandered to the sky. Now this was interesting, a lion so destitute in food to the point of being forced to eat roots.

"La, ruigra na rramau..." He purred with dry amusement and a shake of his head, "Are you eating that because you like the taste? Or perhaps you need help?" Faust let his head roll to a tilt, noting the look of embarrassment beginning to saturate the poor lioness. Such emotions were not things that helped anyone, there was only what one did...and did not.

In the nephilim's heart, shame was not a thing. It was...well, a shame ironically, that Snake let it effect her so.

@Snake

give a smile to the patient

Snake's ears pinned back indignantly as the angel began to speak in tongues, a language likely the native language of his kin. She didn't understand the dialect but could see very well the glint in his eye as he rumbled out his foreign words to her. If she had to give it a guess, it was likely in regard to pitying her state, which while granted was still sore for her. Not all could be as plump and well fed in appearance as he. Or they could and she was just terrible at hunting. Likely the latter. She sighed through her nose as his line of questioning continued. 

She looked down to the split root, its yellowed innards emitting an air that could sting eyes if too close. She shrugged. In response. It certainly wasn't the worst she had eaten, but certainly not comparable to flesh of prey. No, no this root was simply sustenance. She hesitated upon his second question. Help? On one paw, the offer could be gracious, having someone to linger with and eat real meat instead of root flesh and other vegetation would be nice, but on the contrary… Snake wasn't a cub anymore. To rely so heavily upon another, even after what happened the last time she carried such an arrangement.

She couldn't face abandonment a second time. Not like that. This lion of whom she didn't even know the name of, while kind, was still… A stranger. An offer too good to be true was what was to entail from it. She finally decided, and with a dull look she shook her head. As quickly as she declined, she hatched an idea that morphed her face into that of passionate conviction as it climbed up her brain stem. She stamped the ground with her paw in rapid succession before plucking what remained of the root from the dusty ground. She promptly trotted over to the angelic mane and dropped the remainder of it at his feet.

Her tail swayed in a broad sweep behind her seated form and her split tongue gave kitten licks to her upper lip. She blinked between the herb and the young male expectantly.

@faust

 you know the connotation

Table by Werge | stock image

Her face had soured at his words, but just as quickly shifted to something else. Like a cub who knew something she shouldn't, that was how he would describe the serpentine lioness. Which for all he knew, may not be far from the truth.

He followed her sights from him to the root, opening his mouth in a silent 'ah' as understanding dawned on him when it was dropped at his paws. Flayer did always warn him about feeding strays, but this was something else entirely.

"Nirn hol mow hol...how generous, mirn maura." Faust hummed as he turned the offering over as if inspecting it. His expression was neutral as ever, except for a slight wry uptugging on one side of his mouth. Perhaps a half smile, or a half polite grimace. It was all in the eye of the beholder, truly.

"You need this more than I," He scooted the root back towards Snake, chin tilted upward and head tilted ever so slightly to the side as he looked back at the dusky furred serpent. "I insist, since you seem to...enjoy it so much."

@Snake

give a smile to the patient

Oh no no no, he wasn't weaseling his way out of this one now. The lithe medic slithered her way around her company, showing an air of confidence rare to even herself. Her tail flicked at his nose before she hopped her way back over to the bush she had found. With a purposeful paw, the lioness watched him with a knowing smile as she pulled away the dried foliage to reveal a small hole with two more of the potato-like roots. She was set. She nodded back to the other, her eyes still trained on the half bitten root.

Snake plucked another from the dirt and trotted back to his side. She set her own down and sliced it open with a rake of her pearly claw. It split into two, releasing that crisp sensation into the air. The smaller rogue dipped her head down and lapped at the yellow tinted inside before glancing back up to her audience. Her tail swept wide behind her once more and her tongue darted out, earthy eyes watching him now.

@faust

 you know the connotation

Table by Werge | stock image

Funny, her name was becoming more and more fitting with each interaction. But even small serpents could have venom.

Faust hummed, looking from Snake to the root one more time before sighing. Eve. If her bite had venom, if she was so willing to feast upon the odd tubers, he highly doubted that he had anything to fear from them.

Leaning down, he took the root into his mouth and but down. Bitter, acrid juice dripped over his tongue and the nephilim's muzzle creased with distaste. Surely she did not eat these things for anything but a strange, masochistic kick. He'd have eaten grass before whatever this was.

"Thank you, Snake. For the rrames mu mosnem." Faust smiled thinly at the lioness.

@Snake