He had searched far and wide to find the one thing that @Talisa might accept forgiveness for. He had, after all, been offered a bounty too good to refuse. Farrow carried the burden of his prize in the form of a healing scar sprawled across his chest and his cheek, and it was not the plump flamingo clenched between his teeth who had inflicted those wounds. And yet—the hunt for the damned bird seemed so much more tedious. Let it be known that Farrow did not go to the ends of the earth to find Talisa what she desired, and he could only hope she would have waited for him. He so dearly enjoyed the faces of lionesses as he so gallantly felled their enemies (or even better, when he could make them laugh with his sarcastic, stupid banter).

Farrow could not quite remember the way to Vermeda. His years spent journeying left little room left to memorize the roads he'd traveled only once before, and so he relied on their scents, converging toward the smell of water and moss. The tangled web of the Grove made it hard to navigate; Farrow was far more used to the bitter chill of the mountains, the dry and ceaseless nothingness of the tundras in the far north. He could even fare the deserts better than he could this ancient and tangled place.

The flamingo twitched once in his jaw, its last throes and desperate attempts to escape quickly diminishing; the freshness of this kill was something out of luck. He had been right to hold off until his return to Amaryllis to hunt for her.

He paused, bracing his shoulder against the thick trunk of a winding tree, keeping a firm grasp on the pink-feathered bird but keen to rest his legs a moment longer. His mane was tangled and unkempt, the blood from both his last battles half-dried on his pelt. He was certain there were a few pink feathers stuck in his hair, too, somewhere.

Ironically, Talisa had moved outside of the Brook to do a small bit of hunting in an effort to bring some food back to the kids and to Morrigan. Desperate to stretch her legs and get back on her feet, even if she was still quite afraid to go anywhere without someone at her flank. There were too many times where she thought that time had gone by so quickly while also going slow. Feeling as though she had met Morrigan many, many years ago when really it had been maybe six months but their connection had been instantaneous. Maua leaning into their love with full force and giving them their true desire for a family, even if danger lurked the very moment they were acquired.

Luckily for Talisa she didn't have to think on the bad for long because she saw a friendly face. A face that she swore up and down that had gone missing but here he was, and with a flamingo hanging out of his jaws. For me? she seemed to ask herself, suddenly feeling quite embarrassed. Talisa was somewhat unkempt from how she normally presented herself and certainly was not as trim as when they'd first met. Suddenly wanting nothing more than to turn the other way so that @Farrow wouldn't see her not looking so unruly. Of course, she didn't look all that bad and it was all in her head but she did feel the great and strong desire to look beautiful after having not seen him for so long. Ultimately huffing out a quick shred of a breath and deciding that she shouldn't care. Chuffing out to him and moving towards him, each step seemingly becoming happier and peppier than the last.

manip & table code by k'sariya

Low and behold, @Talisa was the first soul he'd run into. Had Farrow been a spiritual man, he would have called it divine will, but it just so happened he considered it pure luck. The lioness was strikingly beautiful compared to the disheveled, scarred, and bloody Farrow, eyes half-wild and face flushed with heat from the excitement of the hunt. The flamingo had long expired, its efforts wasted and limp between his jaws. As she strutted toward him, Farrow reveled in her optimistic presence. She smelled the same; the mud and moss of the brook entangled in her natural essence. “Talisa,” he bellowed, the fringe of her name followed by a warm purr, “Gods, beautiful as always.” Upon her approach, he dropped the flamingo at her feet; it had been the plumpest of the flock, shorter in stature given its body weighing so heavily on its stalky legs. He had chased nearly half the flock into the sky before he found it fumbling to get airborne, and just as it leapt in the air to fly away, Farrow's back legs propelled him into the sky to catch it midflight; it would have been an extravagant sight, had Talisa been there to see it. The fall had not been so graceful - mud cake the entirety of his right shoulder.

“It took me months of tracking, but I found your flamingo,” he said, embellishing the story a little bit, though he doubted Talisa would truly believe him. He had been gone for months now, and hunting down a flamingo would not take that long of a time. But if Talisa dared to inquire more, Farrow might spend hours telling of what he'd truly been hunting down in all that time. “Is it to your liking?” He looked almost like a golden retriever, begging for her approval and excited over the thrill of the chase. He'd held up his end of their bargain, but he was unsure if Talisa would be angry that it had taken him so long.

Hell, at least he got to see her again. That was a prize enough.

One could only begin to imagine the amount of desire that slipped its way underneath her skin and burned into her core at the sight of him. While the idea of others being hurt or hunted sounded awful, the idea behind battle was always so intoxicating. Something about seeing someone speckled with blood just sent tingles down her spine and her pace slowed as she got closer. Lilac eyes drinking in his disheveled appearance as though he was the most majestic thing -- next to Morrigan, of course -- that she had ever seen. Stahhhhp... she quietly and lethargically pulled out of her mouth but there was no true trace of it being necessary to follow up on that demand. In fact, she expressed it clearly by tone and posture alone that she was absolutely flattered and wanted him to continue. Bathe her in that warm glow of being treated like a Queen -- it didn't take much to soothe her.

What a fight you must have put up -- she muses gently as she wanders towards him a few more steps. Takes a quick look at the flamingo that she cautiously stepped over, and boldly took to scooping her tongue to a spot on @Farrow's cheek that was warm with matted blood. It is very much to my liking, the flamingo, too, perhaps but she was a little preoccupied with the fluttering of her heart at seeing a knight on her doorstep. Desperate to relinquish the energy that lingered within and surprised as hell that she had any to begin with.

manip & table code by k'sariya

Farrow felt more bold acting like himself around her now. She had waited all this time and did not seem angry at his late arrival. Such was the nature of a mercenary like him to never quite be on time. Stahhhhp... she crooned, causing Farrow's lips to curl into a clever smirk. Despite her jesting protests, her demeanor seemed at ease and comfortable with his clever advances, so Farrow felt content to continue complimenting and amusing her. He rather enjoyed the way she looked when she was tickled. What a fight you must have put up -- she began again as she inched closer, and instead of collecting her prize as it lay splayed haphazardly on the ground beside them, she instead approached him face-on, and ran her tongue against the tangled, kinked fur of his cheek. A shiver ran up his spine. It had been a while since Farrow had been touched so kindly, so often had he only been met with fangs and claws, and even longer had been it since he'd been embraced by the soft grasp of a woman. An audible sigh left his mouth, leaning into her touch. It is very much to my liking.

Oh? She wasn't even looking at the flamingo. Her eyes were on him. Is that so?

“Enough to earn your attention, just as I had hoped it would,” he whispered back, returning her fervent energy by placing his mouth right by her ear, his tone lowering to a husky gruffness. “But it could not be nearly worthy enough to earn your affection, now could it?” Farrow could not deny how much he'd love to entangle himself in her company, throwing themselves into worriless, thoughtless abandon, but he could no further deny his love for the hunt—all kinds of them. @Talisa just so happened to be such a delightful, pretty prize.

The magnetic pull that she felt being so close to the bloodied knight was undeniable and strong. Something within Talisa simply yearning to fall and fall hard, desperate to cling to something so distant yet so good. What was more was there was a part of her that thought of Morrigan. Of the wife that she had at home that was currently babysitting so that she could stretch her legs. The wife that was doing everything she could to protect her and their children, her sisters and Vermeda. Talisa might even go so far as to say that being so close to someone while her wife was being a wife felt wrong. As though she were throwing mud on their marriage but attempted to soothe that discomfort by reminding herself that they were who they were. Both of them did not subject themselves to taking one slice of pie and calling it quits.

A shiver ran so viciously down her spine as his mouth inched to her ear, eyes swiftly closing as she melted into his deep baritone silk. The heat in her skin was enough to send her into the entanglement that she was sure @Farrow could provide for her. A notion of his handsomeness draped over her spirit as she clung to the refined spirit of her soul. Arguably desiring him in the time he had been absent and now knowing to take a piece when it was offered but not wishing to be so greedy as to let him in so quickly. Even if she wanted it. Let us feast on this prize, she attempted to push her head against his in an effort to shoo him further from her ear -- his seductive tones could come again some other time. Then perhaps we can make talk of affection. For he, too, was a pretty prize and one that she would've delighted in sharing with her Morrigan if he or she were interested.

manip & table code by k'sariya

Had Farrow known of Morrigan, he would not have pressed his flirtations quite as hard (something difficult for him to do in general, given his nature), but he did not protest at her suggestion at feasting on the prize he had originally brought for her. In fact, Farrow rather enjoyed feeling her slip between his fingers, well within his sights but just out of his reach. He could admire her from there, and feel the exhilaration of his heart racing against his chest as he raced to catch up to her. Had she given into their whims so easy, he might not have had nearly as much fun.

As she gently pushed him away, Farrow relented and took a step back, allowing her space once more. He leaned down to grab the flamingo and set it between them, before lowering himself onto his belly. He glanced toward her, as if silently inviting her to take the first bite. He was content to watch her, hoping still to learn more about her and her people. He had come to this peninsula with the intention to stay, but his scent was still fresh when some of his old friends had caught up to him and invited him on a journey he could not refuse. Now, he hoped to stay for good (and hoped there would be enough excitement around Amaryllis to keep him entertained). He wanted to know more about these lands and the lions that inhabited them, and he was content to set aside his flirtations in order to learn more about what made @Talisa Talisa.

“Anything excited happen while I was gone?” he asked inquisitively, waiting a few moments until after she'd settled and taken a few bites before he'd press his questions.

It would have been all too easy to succumb to the wiles of a flirtatious knight and be whisked away in a matter of moments. Too easy for her to bend and break under the weight of being loved, cherished and molded into someone else's for a little while. Talisa found love so easily within the embrace of another but she wanted to hold onto it for as long as she could. For too often did she fall into bliss only for it to be ripped out from beneath her and that was always the most painful.

So as they parted by inches she took to watching him take the flamingo and setting it between them as if he were placing it upon a table. A fine main course meal prepared for them, hunted by him. Talisa wasted no time in getting her jaws to the flamingo as he invited her to go for it. Taking a good bite and chewing as ladylike as she could. More like what hasn't happened -- she corrected him, as so many things had happened since she had last seem him. So much that she wasn't even sure where to begin. Prides have fallen and risen, and sure enough those would continue to do so and as always she felt the weight of news heavy on her shoulders but she was no dishonest fool, and my wife and I met with our Deity, Maua, who granted us children. I have three children. She smiled, keeping her lilac eyes trained to @Farrow's as though knowing that something would change within him. That he would put a line between them like most did when she mentioned having a mate. Most seemed to deem having one as the end of it, especially when it came to being a lioness.

manip & table code by k'sariya

There were many places where lions would congregate; lands vast and fertile enough to support herds, with temperatures neither too hot nor too cold. Eventually, families and groups would grow into prides and kingdoms, uniting under a single ruler or spread out across multiple. Farrow had seen it all before, and he knew how tumultuous it could be. This land might be especially new and dangerous, he considered, since it had only been a few months since this country opened up to the rest of the world. He was certain @Talisa and her folk had seen quite a few violent and terrifying ambitions they might have not witnessed ever before. Prides have fallen and risen, she began, and Farrow nodded between mouthfuls of flamingo, and my wife and I met with our Deity, Maua, who granted us children. I have three children. He choked on a few misplaced feathers, coughing up his meal hastily before recollecting himself just as quickly. Met with a God? Wait. Wife?

Oh, Farrow, what have you gotten yourself into?

He could hardly blame himself. She'd fluttered her eyes at him, too. But it seemed that Talisa had more on her plate than she might have had the first time they'd met. Farrow had been around long enough to have met lions who strayed from their relationships (or entertained the romances of others despite being fully committed). Farrow himself had always enjoyed a life untethered to another, but had never denied himself the spoils of spending a night with a woman. But perhaps Talisa's wife in tandem with her cubs and her God caused Farrow to balk just a bit.

His experiences suddenly paled in comparison.

“Fuck, Tali,” he coughed, suddenly finding an extra feather lodged between his teeth, “you could've told me that. I would've brought enough for the wife and the kids.” He was not so put off by her domestic situation now as he was by her proclamation of god-meeting and god-given-children-having. Even the thought of it sounded bewildering in his head. Certainly, she must have misspoken. “And maybe I wouldn't have flirted with you so hard. I didn't want to force anything on you.” He hadn't considered that maybe he looked too deep into Talisa's own advances, and maybe she'd just been returning his gestures with common niceness? Farrow had been around too long to know the difference between wanted and unwanted, and he was certain he was reading Talisa's signals correctly, but even he knew better than to be a homewrecker who couldn't keep it in his pants.

There were quite a number of things that had transpired since @Farrow had been gone and perhaps eventually she could recount all of the events and share them with him. For now, though, she was heavily concentrated on eating this flamingo as properly as she could while retaining this air of mystery that surrounded the two of them. Wondering exactly how he would about the revelation of Morrigan and her brood. The magic of her children and how wondrous the spectacle was to outsiders who might not recognize the gifts that Maua had in store. My wife and children are well taken care of, don't worry. After all, they had a whole pride that was willing to do whatever it took to keep them healthy and well-fed. Talisa was not worried in the slightest.

You forced nothing on me. My wife and I are... polygamous. We share many partners and delight in our own. They had yet to truly share in any partner and she had not yet been told of Morrigan being with anyone else but she imagined that if and when the time came the two of them would share in their experiences and be overjoyed by each other's findings whether they panned out or not. They were loyal to one another in their love but it was a love that was not to be contained or restrained. I intend to enjoy your company, Farrow. Regardless of where the end may be. As it should be, for she had quite delighted in surprising him and seeing him regurgitate a part of the flamingo in his surprise. Perhaps the most endearing thing he had done yet.

manip & table code by k'sariya