KIREENA

She laced ears to her skull, eyes focusing on @Kovirah as her heart lurched in her breast. He had come back...for her. Knowing that had the red woman feeling something akin to panic rising from her gut. It burned through her chest and left a bitter, sour taste at the back of her tongue. "Why....would...". It has been obvious to her that the dark maned male enjoyed his freedom.. even in their first meeting.

Why had he not only risked his LIFE, but his freedom? For her? Heat suffused her cheeks as she stomped a foot. These unfamiliar emotions..the fear, the panic...they boiled and lead to something she WAS familiar with. Anger. "What if you had been POISONED?!" Had he not thought of that? "I survived because I was given an antidote. You could have DIED.". and for what? A veritable stranger?

She felt her limbs tremble, the need to lash out at him warring with an equally intense need to throw herself at him for an altogether different form of physical contact. "Why would you risk your life like that? Your freedom...I'm..I'm not important, Kovirah. Not nearly important enough to lose yourself over.". Her voice was hoarse, throat tightening as the whirlwind of emotion rose up and with a hand tightened around her vocal chords.

code by flea, art by irish

He levels a stare at her, though he is inwardly confused about why she is angry with him. Had he not gone to see her? Had he not searched day and night for the very poison that cost her the fight? was that not enough for you?

Slowly, surely, his face wrinkles into a frown. A glare. Shadow of his brow eclipses stormy, blue eyes.

"Calm yourself, @Kireena ♞." he warns, dangerously. Her body language screaming of a lingering potential fight, and Kovirah truly didn't wish to dance in such a manner. Perhaps a different one, maybe, but not for sheer violence. He wishes no ill will, or harm, upon the red giantess.

He himself tenses, tail twitching in the anticipation of all the worst outcomes imagined in his head. She continues, accusing him of almost being poisoned. Yes, he could have. Yes, Kovirah had considered this when approaching the border. It was a risk he was willing to take, but one that didn't set well with the object of his attention. Usually calm and collected, his mask is iron but through cracks there is an anxious anger to match her own.

With confusion to boot.

And then, his voice almost erupts in a contained warning--"Do not question my decision, Kireena!"it booms in the first syllables, leveling out as he continues, voice falling to low, quiet, baritone tones. "You cannot change what has already come to pass, so stop dwelling upon it. There was no poison and I am fine"

It was unusual for him to let his temper show, but he had a hard time controlling it here. Why did she get so defensive? Wasn't attempting to save a friend the right thing? Right? Ugh, this is why he never cared. This is why he kept everyone at arms length.

code by daanyan, Art by Rabbit

Didn't he know that the LAST thing you tell a woman was to calm down?! The red giant felt something snap and her ears slapped back against her skull. It was only through the sheer force of will that she refrained from snarling at him, that she managed to keep her lips firm where they were. The second came when he admonished her about his decision and she did snarl then.

"You're right. It was your decision. But THIS is my decision!" She snapped as she lurched forward, intending to cover the distance between them. A woman such as herself - used to the song of battle recognized within @Kovirah that same readiness that came before blood and fur began to fly. Emotion had overruled any sense, and she threw herself at the dark maned male, intending to cross the distance swiftly enough he wouldn't be able to stop her.

Or so that was her hope. Violence wasn't the intention this time - but physical contact certainly was. She would attempt to roughly bunt her skull against his breast - to bury her face in his mane.. muscles tight, limbs trembling not in fear but adrenaline. Would he fight? Would he run? Would he stand? She didn't know. Instead, she simply moved without thought - without pause and waited the outcome.

ART BY VASILIA, CODE BY LARS

"You're right. It was your decision. But THIS is my decision!"

And she closes the distance so quickly, he half expects a claw to take into him, as he takes several steps back. And another. He feels her brush against him and he is afraid. Just like he had been when Maia had touched him for the first time. He feels his heart breaking against the ribs of his chest, the way the throat tightens, his muscles tense. A panic rises like a thick miasma, and Kovirah feels like he cannot breathe.

He needs space, he needs it now.

Kovirah is nearly overwhelmed with the instinct to flee. He shoves her form him then, forcing his body to respond to the commands his inner self was demanding of it. The shove, bite a sore attempt is barely more than a gentle push to her--he assumes-- as the dark maned male takes three more steps away from her. It would be hard to miss the uncomfortable glaze in his eyes, even as his body kept up the image he so carefully crafted.

"I think it's best you return to the Rainforest." he finally found his voice. "It's your home now"

And the he truly cannot stand it any longer. Kovirah turns and bolts into the dense thicket of the swamp, leaving the woman alone.


All the while, the sting of tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, and he had to squeeze them shut. Run, run father, run faster, all the way away from this horrible feeling in his gut.

Fuck this, fuck all of this.

What was wrong with him?



--exit
@Kireena ♞

code by daanyan, Art by Rabbit

Time ticked, and for a moment it was frozen. She was close enough to get the scent of him - and there for the briefest of moments.. she catalogued, memorized.. and reveled. And then.. he shoved and she stumbled - caught unaware by the sudden and brisque motion. When @Kovirah backed away, his eyes wild, she took a step back herself, jaws hanging open in shock.

The words as they fell seemed loud as lightning. Echoing as if shouted in the open caverns of a cave. As she watched the maned male back away, and then turn and run the red giant felt something wrap around her chest and squeeze. Breath froze, her eyes locked on his retreating form before she realized she was still standing there easily twenty minutes later. The woman turned and moved in silence towards the Rainforest.

Little did the noble know that the icy hand that rose up to wrap around her heart at his abrupt departure had also wrapped it, coating the organ with a shield of frost. She had opened her heart to someone - despite what her brain told her and only ended up in more pain than she could have imagined.

Never again.

//Exit//

ART BY VASILIA, CODE BY LARS