I wanna feel the change consume me
feel the outside turning in

darkness echoed into the stillness of a winter night. snow falls down, an ivory cadence layering softly. it'd blanket his muscled shoulders, trailing icy fingers down his spine like a fervent cloak wrapped about him. moving forth with renewed vigour, the winter wolf would press beneath the cover of nightfall; his body saturated in the blood of his last kill, as he seeks to wash the gore and step into the misty pools. heat would flourish down his wounded body, stiff muscles aching with the release as the beast would settle in the hot springs, washing his blood away with every whisper of hot liquid sliding down his frame. here, he finds repreive from all the chaos.

table by ryuu

She is quite a ways away from the Lagoon, an even crazier feat now that she is pregnant and had to move slower than usual to make her way to the hot springs. Once Isla had something on her mind, though, she was determined to do it, and one thing she wanted was to soak her body in the warmth of the water. She moves through the fog that envelops the territory, small plumes of it escaping a partially opened maw as she breathes in and out. Snow is lightly falling, covering her thick coat in a thin layer, reminding her of what she was missing from not living up high in the snowcapped mountains she once called her home.

She is slipping into a pool of water when movement catches her eye, stopping her mid step and instead causing for her to move toward the figure. His scent was masked by the scent of the hot spring, but as she grew closer she would be reminded of their last encounter, how it ended in passion. "Harou," she speaks his name softly, ears twitching and her tail curling around her before flicking to the side. There she stands before him, watching as he washes away the blood and gore that clung to his body. The Queen briefly wonders if @Harou will notice the obvious swell of her belly and ask if they are his, to which Isla knew she would not have any doubts in her reply.

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I wanna feel the change consume me
feel the outside turning in

the titan is alone, or so he believes to be; there is nothing that speaks of @Isla ♔'s soft approach, and her fragrance is masked by the sharpness of ice and blood. nightfall thickens, the darkness encroaching upon winter flesh as the dark wolf submerges beneath the hot, obsidian waters;

crystalline water smoothes down his muscles, and the warm blood drips from his rugged frame; washing away the bits of gore from his masculine body. he submerges once more, until he is fully washed of blood, shoulderblades no longer stiff with pain, but relaxing calmly against the stony ledge. he takes a moment to enjoy the peaceful music of streaming liquid, the crystaline flow of water dancing across his lean physique, heat soaking through his hard flesh -

and then he hears her voice, the soft murmur of his name across her delicate tongue. slowly, harou looks up, up, up; his crimson eyes finally devouring her form. he studies her briefly, noting the vague swell of her belly, the sudden but discreet change in her perfume. is she with child? maybe his? he masks his curiosity and confusion, noding once as he acknowledges her. there is a tension here between them, but it's always been of the passionate and fiery kind. still, harou makes no move, allowing her one side of the pool while he takes on the other. still, he can sense the change in her.

"i was hoping to see you, isla." he breathes at last, and his breath is calm and even, especially when he begins to slowly ask: "are you...?"

are you with child?

table by ryuu

Dual colored eyes watch him with an intense stare as she slips into the hot spring, almost instant relief as it begins to soak deep into her bones and relax her aching muscles. Who knew growing life was so taxing to the body? Isla had to give herself an internal roll of the eyes at her own sarcastic thought, instead focusing all her attention upon @Harou as he begins. "Pregnant?" She finishes his sentence, slight humor clinging to the word. "Yes, I am." She waits a few moments, wanting to gauge his reaction before she continued on. "The father is a man in Scilla." Would this news break the winter wolf's icy heart?

Isla makes herself comfortable within the pool of water, letting out a soft breath as eyes close to enjoy the feeling of her body unraveling and muscles untensing. "How have you been?" Eyes are still closed as she asks the question, a soft hum escaping her before they finally flick back open, landing squarely upon his own features. "I had heard of your challenge and the explosion that came along with it." News traveled fast when there were many fights happening during a pride challenge.

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I wanna feel the change consume me
feel the outside turning in

he watches her as she descends, the water enveloping across the thickness of her full hips. she speaks with a resolute firmess, her voice soft, but laced in edges of elegant steel. he knew @Isla ♔ to be a master of her emotions, and the winter queen carries herself with nothing but icy grace. harou rumbles quietly, addressing her words with a solemn gaze and a brief flicker of his eye-lashes closing above carmine irises, radiating a masculine calm. but o, had he been younger, he might have reacted with a possessiveness to hear that another man had impregnated her - but harou is wiser now. older now, and has learned from his past. no woman can be tamed, no matter who she was, rogue or queen.

"congratulations, isla. i'm sure they will be as beautiful as you." he breathes quietly, offering her a silent smile.

then his voice darkens when she mentions of the chaos that happened in the desert, the surge of fights that would evidently spill so much blood. had he still been living his bachelor ways, he would not care. but he had women and children to care for, sons to raise, and this turn of events would weigh heavily on his mind. already, the crown feels heavy, burdened by tension, burdened by stress. a seething calamity he hides behind a stoic guise of cool, icy violence.

"i've seen better days." he begins: "and yes. caladan's queen attacked my son. i responded likewise, but failed to steal their queen, aphrodite. we are no longer allies with the cove and their treacherous ways. more importantly, i'm sure you know of icefang. she's come to andal, asking - begging - for our aid in her fight against you. she is not alone in her promise. a man by the name luther seemed to side with her, both insisting to go against you. there is war brewing on the horizon, isla. they want you and cassandra punished. but i'm sure you already know this. i'm sure you'll be prepared."

he would sigh darkly, slip his head back to rest against the ledge, looking back up at the snowfall that danced all around them. his gaze then flicks back to isla, remembering their intimate nights prior to this meeting, and he holds her gaze quietly, intensely. he didn't know what else to say, but deep in his heart, he knew if push came to shove - he would defend the scillian queen. he sensed honor in isla. while he knew isla intimately, he barely knew of icefang. still, harou remains silent. politics is deadly business, one played with knives. in his heart, he wants to know that he could trust isla.

table by ryuu

She can feel his eyes watch her as she descends, the hungry stare causing for a swirl of emotion to envelop her heart. She thinks of moving closer toward @Harou, to press her nose into the side of his neck to take in his scent. She refrains, though, instead giving him an appreciative smile to his congratulations. "They will be strong as me, I can feel it." With the kicks and rollovers they seem to do in her stomach, Isla could only assume that there were more than just two or three growing inside of her - all wanting to be felt.

There is an air of darkness that consumes the two of them as Harou begins to explain what all had happened at the challenge. A brow rises at the information of him trying and failing to steal Aphrodite, telling the Scillan Queen that Andal and Caladan were no longer allied. It made sense to the Greyflood, especially with the theft he had tried to succeed in. What Isla wasn't expecting, though, was talks of Icefang. She can feel the irritation rising inside of her at the thought of the white woman, ears falling back to pin against her head as she listens to what he tells her. "I've known war was coming ever since the day Cassandra lost her challenge," she begins, a roll of her eyes given. "And Luther, he is a Rike and that family is an enemy to my own. They have tried to steal our home and want to kill my mother." Her tone is leveled while she speaks, trying to keep herself as calm as she could - for the cubs, if anything.

"Have you decided? On if you will help her?" Her attention stays fully on Harou, almost holding her breath to see what his response would be. It would change the course of their... whatever it was they were (friends? more than that?). Would hormones take over and cause her to violently attack if he said he would help her?

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he was something to lean against
something violent and fierce and unmoving

his blood-tinged irises never leave the she-wolf's form, both consuming and intense. it would be a blatant lie to assume he had no feelings for @Isla ♔, but the truth was, the winter titan felt familiarity and comraderie between him and the scillian queen. perhaps, he even feels a hidden lust. all this would be conveyed with a silent message, a quiet and seething energy, as the huntsman radiates an outward, masculine calm. inwardly, though, he fights two wars: he holds onto nyaxia's words, he holds onto her ardent whispers and gentle confessions, all the while beholding isla's stern, unwavering gaze. it's the only thing that steels harou's nerves, that chains the beast around nyaxia's metaphoric fingers and beckons him to the huntress' phantom side. in this, harou wants to remain faithful, loyal, duty-bound;

thus, lingering thoughts of gently pushing isla up against the wall fade - taper - withering behind a stoic mask of controlled ice. for isla, there is friendliness, loyalty, intensity, compassion, courage. he listens to her speak, catching the syllables drip over her accented words, the blend of fire and ice charging beneath the eloquent emotions behind them. still, isla remains composed, unreadable as stone, even if he can vaguely sense the ire amplified by her suddenly frigid aura. it seems the mere mention of icefang would draw the dissapproval within her tone, her voice laced in something more, something angry, perhaps. harou knows wrath, harou knows rage, least of all, the supressed rage of a hormonal woman. the further they discuss, the further harou's truth beams outward. for isla, he will only give her truth. their alliance had been sealed through sensual acts, afterall, a deep and soul-searching intimacy.

"luther stays within the desert. we took him in - him and his women and children - i could not turn them away in their time of need, but i would never support any violence towards your family. i would like to meet them one day, your family. as of now, until luther does anything, we will remain neutral towards him. before you, i had no idea who he was. i never claim to be a pacifist, but i'm not a dictator either." here, harou ponders briefly in his style of leadership. even he himself vaguely knew of his style. he wonders how others would percieve him. was he a good leader? was he sound of mind, heart and body? did others see him as a criminal, or did they see him as a warrior king?

"i wouldn't be here if i had the intentions of siding with icefang. to be perfectly frank, icefang has gotten on my nerves. i don't trust her. i don't know why. perhaps, it's because she gives off these catty vibes. plus, she's way older, come to think of it. usually, you can't trust one so senile." any attraction he felt towards icefang had been snuffed out by her eventual haughty attitude. he huffs out a little puff of steam, relaxed, even as isla seems to be one edge. apart of him wants to see isla calm again, to soothe her worries with a caressing palm. here, he would have sealed their friendship with intimacy, but he cannot imagine another woman apart from nyaxia sharing intimate moments with him. so harou stays in his side of the pool, relaxed, calm, poised.

ryuu

So he didn't know who Luther was. It was a bit of a shock to her, with how well known the Rike man was among Amaryllis, but something inside of her sneered at the thought that that rat hasn't infiltrated every lion's senses, making him less powerful than Luther thought he was. Her ears perk up at the mentions of @Harou wishing to meet her family, a brow rising slightly. "My family?" She echoes, finding it in her to wade a step closer to him, the plumes of fog from heated water dancing alongside her as she broke a cloud free. "Perhaps one day you will." Isla couldn't promise him anything. "Hell, you might already have met some of them." Whose to say Harou hadn't already met one of her relatives? There were so many of them within these lands that it may be hard not to meet one.


She is uncertain as to why she is surprised to hear that the Andal King wasn't going to side with Icefang, but nevertheless it gains an appreciative look that warms her features. "I would have to agree," she responds through a light chuckle, the corners of her eyes creasing as the sound flows from her maw. "I do appreciate it, Harou. I know Scilla has many allies, but knowing you won't be on the other side of the battlefield eases me." She didn't know how she would feel if she had to ttear into an Oasis member - Luther excluded.

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he was something to lean against
something violent and fierce and unmoving

his crimson eyes would land across her thick silver form, studying her beneath a heady gaze as she takes a step closer. the mist would weave along her voluptuous curves, and he would involutarily follow the trail of the diaphonous mists, watching quietly as the blue fog would wrap around her beautiful, sultry figure. even though she seemed wider along the hips, it did not take away from her natural beauty; it only added to her allure, and something dark - and intense - involuntarily stirs within the man, but he would remain outwardly calm and refrain from acknowledging it. perhaps, harou feels protective of isla. perhaps, he would lay down his own life for her.

"apart from you? i don't know, but maybe you're right." the beast agrees with the queen, but he isn't exactly certain. they exchange more words, and leviathan would remain mostly quiet, even as they share muted laughter together. only recently is he beginning to understand the intricate web of amaryllis and all their strong families. only time would tell where would he and his family fit into the mold. still, his gaze does not waver from the scillian queen. his smile does grow a touch darker, curving upward a little wolfishly. @Isla ♔ is someone he could lean into - trust - and he's finding her company to be addictive. he realizes he could listen to her voice all day; be lulled by her sweet, feminine essence.

"i would rather die than betray you." breathes the titan, a whisp of dark hair falling across his angular visage. the steamy mists would rise all around him, their tendrils smoothing down his brawny shoulders like ephemeral arms. he would keep his word to this dark queen. his loyalty would be unwavering.

ryuu

Isla was drawn toward @Harou, but not in a way that was confusing to her. Just like him, his company brought her ease and comfort as if they had been long time friends. And even though there was animalistic attraction between the two, they both knew how to hold in the reigns and stay to themselves - even if the Queen's hormones were making her want to bury her nose into his thick mane. She refrains, instead finding her way back toward the edge of the spring to allow for her body to relax some more.

"And I you," comes her reply to his words, speaking of rather dying than having to betray the other. Isla knew she never wanted to be put in that position, and she prayed to Maua that she would never be. The Queen will stay a little while longer, conversing with Harou and enjoying his company, a little reluctant to leave but knowing she must get back to her duties. She moves to give him a departing touch of her nose to his cheek before climbing out of the hot spring, giving herself a good shake and sending water droplets flying before she started her journey back to Scilla.

exit Isla.

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