Their journey was quiet – anticipatory. Bruno ambled along with sturdy puffs of breath as the terrain grew more barren and harsh the further north they ventured. Where only hours before they had been sprinting through greenery dense and withholding, their trudging pace was a far cry from that haughty desperation. He shot Tai a shy smile through panting breaths and looked ahead to the towering, glittering earth – or, was that snow? With narrowed eyes, Bruno recalled that glacier from another fleeting encounter with the healer.

"Feeling like home yet?" He probed a poor excuse for a jab. His muscles burned with well-use even as he paused for a moment, his skin somehow both warm and crawling at the same time. The hours spent in Tai's company had stretched on long past any of their previous, frenzied run-ins, and yet he found himself greedy for more. When had Bruno ever endured more than the essential formalities from anyone? Always creeping and cowering and calculating, the young monarch felt a flimsiness in his knees that had never been there before.

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|| october y10 | three years | EM high sovereign | at frostsong cavern | @Tai ||_{BG — ART — CODE}

Every breath scorched his throat and chest. He’d chased @Bruno ♔ through the swamp, nearly dying along the way, and now he followed him north. It was twice the distance and his paws were sore (he’d never traveled so much in one day), but he was sure that it’d be worth it.

He continually peeked at Bruno along the way, and was always quick to catch his glances and smiles, which he answered with his own. Once the glacier came into view though, he snickered, laughing a little breathlessly over the prod. “Hey, maybe while we’re here, you can find me more cress,” he jabbed in return, paws carrying him toward the stream that trickled from the glacier when the weather was warm. Now, it was frozen over, and held the mauve lion’s mass when he tried stepping on it, hoping to break it open for a drink.

“Hm,” he hummed, pondering. A quick glance toward the mouth of the glacier sparked an idea — if the walls were ice, then all he needed to do was lick them. Surely the ice would melt and quench his thirst.

Making his way toward an icy stalagmite, Tai reached out to unwittingly swipe his tongue up the frozen spike, aiming to soothe that burning, parched sensation in his throat.

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"I'll see what I can do," he made the empty promise, smirking as they finally stopped near the entrance. There were two versions of the lion present, then. Bruno put on the easy mask of good company, tiptoeing after Tai as he approached the icy walls of that cavern. He was all subtle smiles and knowing eyes as he watched him lap gently at the translucent ice, a picture of the hushed anticipation pregnant in the air. He did not confess the way his veins felt like ice themselves, his stomach rolling with noxious waves each time he let his gaze linger on the man's jaw for a moment too long.

You are vile. It was his steady anthem, his mind's eye seeing what others could not – what they must not. Even in the cool darkness of the frozen cave that evening, having followed him down to hell and back, Bruno was not convinced that his company shared the same dizzied, frenzied thoughts as he did. How could he? Broad shoulders and crystal eyes had been forged for the work of goodness, even born in such cowering hidey-holes as Tai had been. He had never been a creature of shadow.

Bruno cleared his throat as if to will it not to close up, attempting to come up to Tai's side and distract himself with the sight of his fervent lapping. The longer he watched, the hotter his skin burned.

---

@Tai_{BG — ART — CODE}

He ran his tongue up the icicle once, twice — then, dissatisfied with his progress, opened his mouth to put his teeth around it and bite. A chunk snapped off and he stood there, merrily crunching on his ice until he heard @Bruno ♔ clear his throat. Quickly, Tai looked at him, embarrassment pushing his ears back. “Oh, uh — !” he blurted around his broken ice. “Is that annoying? I can stop.” Before giving Bruno the chance to respond, he pushed the ice back and gulped, clueless to whatever was going in in his companion’s head.

“Ah, sorry,” he laughed a little as the ice went down. “Uh, wanna head in and explore?”

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Everything seemed to buzz, then. Bruno watched with avid curiosity as the lion drank, expelling panting breaths that swirled with a hint of steam to recover from the long journey there. Each slow, lapping motion against the frigid cold seemed intentional, and he found himself almost too aware of how his warm breath must feel against its icy surface.

“Is that annoying? I can stop.”

He watched Tai's mouth trace the words before he bothered to understand their meaning. Blinking, Bruno became aware of the way he seemed to shrivel under his stare and he shook his head quickly.

"No – no. You make it look delicious," he insisted.

Vile.

Finally, his stare broke and he turned to follow Tai's movements as he suggested they venture further. Bruno nodded thoughtfully, squinting to peer into the vast darkness unknown before his gaze illuminated with an idea.

"Race you to the back," he challenged rapidly, attempting to bump his shoulder into the larger lion's and set off running. Bruno could not do many things, but he could outrun his demons. He could try.

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@Tai_{BG — ART — CODE}

A sheepish, amused smile followed a surprised blink at Bruno’s remark. How strange it was to be complimented by him, but he liked the way it made his heart skip and bound with nervous excitement. Hopefully, he could do the same for @Bruno ♔ while they explored the cavern.

Or, more accurately, while they dashed through it. Tai quickly looked back, mouth open to argue — they’d only arrived! They’d been traveling nonstop since Bruno had tried running from him in the jungle! It was probably nothing for the King, who was accustomed to always being on the move, but not Tai. He was heavy and slow, and used to staying in one spot. Maybe they could do that instead — find somewhere to settle down.

Bruno was already on the move though. Before Tai could protest, the other male had already been swallowed by the shadows. Quickly, not wanting to lose him, the mauve lion gave chase and went rushing in after him.

The sound of panting breaths and claws scrapping across the icy ground echoed down the frozen tunnels. Bruno briefly disappeared from his sight whenever he entered one, but Tai quickly found him again — until suddenly, he couldn’t.

One wrong turn later, and Tai found himself staring at a dead end.

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"Have I worn you out yet?" Bruno popped his head out from behind the ambling lion, his expression creased with mischief. He glided in tandem with the shadows and paid no mind to the way even his own limbs burned with strain. He had learned long ago that some pains were more profitable than others.

Letting out a small sniff of amusement, the assassin stalked forward to reveal the rest of himself from around that corner and settled into what chamber Tai had found himself in. Perhaps it was not the absolute back of the cavern, but it was deep enough. They had ventured so far that only sin itself could see them. Stalagmites of ice dripped and dropped in the distance, marking the steady rhythm of Bruno's paws as he attempted to stalk up to the larger lion's side with searching eyes as he pressed just close enough so their pelts slightly brushed.

He practically trembled with the nerves that frenzied in his gut, their vibrating warcry one of utter defiance. Bruno could have thrown up right then if he had only allowed himself, a body wound tight and begging for release.

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@Tai_{BG — ART — CODE}

He’d been listening for the sound of approaching paws, so when he instead heard a voice, his skeleton jumped under his skin. He should’ve expected that — @Bruno ♔ had always been good at sneaking up on him. The mauve lion huffed, those ears turned sideways and his tail twitching, adding to his flustered, somewhat disheveled appearance.

“You have to stop doing that,” he sighed, even as he smiled — proof that he’d forgiven Bruno for stalking him again. He opened his mouth again, ready to answer his question, yet stopped when Bruno neared enough that he could feel the heat emanating from his dark coat. It swept across his own, hardly enough to tickle, but every pluck of hair sparked tiny embers in his body, rousing him. A new rush of energy coursed through him, ignited by Bruno’s barely-there touch, making his jaws snap together with a thrilled click.

“Me? Ww- worn out?” he stammered through the laughter that seemed caught in his throat, pairing well with the thrilled, bewildered expression on his freckled mug. “No, I’m- I’m good!” More laughter followed, light and trembling — giddy.

Tucking his lower lip beneath his canines, the mauve lion cleared his throat, to loosen the tightness there and make way for a rumble. “Are uh, are you good?” Tai asked, shifting his weight to lean closer and press himself harder into Bruno’s side. The white curls of hair fell about his face as he twisted his head, gingerly — questioningly — bumping the top of it into the other’s jaw while he teased and prodded, “You don’t need to uh, lay down, or anything?”

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He told the assassin not to sneak – like telling the vultures not to fly, or the giraffe not to reach so tall. Bruno only held a steady smirk as they fell into shared, buzzing silence, that cavern ripe with the scents of their long journey and their frenzying hearts. Tai's pelt was aflame in contrast to the frigid chill of the ice castle, his stammering laughter a chiming canary in the shadow of encroaching night. Bruno could not shake the feeling of magnitude despite their hushed normalcy.

"Hmm?" The monarch trilled thoughtfully as Tai turned the subject easily from his own stamina to that of Bruno's. "No – it takes more than that," he insisted with a breathy laugh of his own, though the mountain lion was quick to take the insinuation that much further.

“You don’t need to uh, lay down, or anything?”

Something came over him. Their flanks pressed together so cozily, it was easy for him to give an attempted shove into the taller man's side to try and bowl him over into the earth, muscles flexed in firm (but not unkind) insistence as he shuffled to stand over the man with arms on either side. Old habits did die hard.

"Projecting, are we?" He cooed, peering down the bridge of his nose to try and meet clover eyes fervently. Bruno suddenly could not feel the cold, nor any lingering hints of self-consciousness; he could only gaze down at wine-red delight and crave more than ever a drink.

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@Tai_{BG — ART — CODE}

”No – it takes more than that,” his companion remarked, stirring imagery in his mind. There was no need to ask what when he already knew the answer, which he tried very hard to shove back down into the crevices of his mind — where it belonged. It continued to sprout though — the dawning. He’d already known, however with each and every shared moment, they slipped deeper down the slope …

And the second he sensed @Bruno ♔ tense, his muscles flexing into his own, Tai knew it had arrived — the surrender to budding love.

Bruno pushed, and Tai yielded. The mauve lion went down easily, and with a nervous smile. He blinked up, that smile widening as the other inched over him, barricading him with his limbs. Never had he imagined he’d be thrilled to be in this position again, and yet …

“You have to stop doing that,” he breathed, trusting Bruno would catch the joke that stemmed from his childhood tendency to pin him. He trusted him to sense his keenness in being trapped under him, too. To better communicate it though, Tai allowed his trembling forelimbs to sneak up, a paw feeling for his shoulder while the other reached for the back of his neck.

There was no turning back now.

FADE

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