5/22/2026, 1:59 AM
Her face warmed at his words, wondering if he believed her to be afraid of the water. She wasn't, even if that was what it might've seemed in the moment. One bloodied paw drifted along the surface, watching as crimson bled into the clear stream water. It was soothing, like a balm to the abrasions on her pads.
His words settled over her like a blanket fresh out of the dryer, warmth seeping into her skin after so many months of cold. Her eyes stung, exhaustion and emotion both making tears glisten in her waterline.
How could he know what she needed to hear, as though he'd read a script written along each of her ribs - words she craved so desperately but kept so close to her chest even she could not read them?
The weight of perfection had always hung over her head, held up by threads of spider silk, seconds away from snapping. To know that, with Khyan, she was somewhere else entirely, somewhere with nothing above her but the clouds... it acted like the stream to her paws - soothing injuries buried deep rather than on the surface.
Her lower lip wobbled and, without further preamble, she surged into the water with him, body crashing into his chest and face buried into the side of his neck, as though somehow she could knit the two of them together into one.
"Sono andato alla ricerca del mio tutto," she gasped, chest-to-chest - could he feel her heart beating in rhythm with his own? Pulling back just slightly, she pressed her forehead to his temple, eyes falling shut. "E gli dèi mi hanno condotto dritto a te, cuore mio."
Her breath hitched and she held onto him tighter, as though he'd disappear if she let go. Free to behave as she wished, Idalie wanted nothing more than to cling to him and never part. "Ti prego, non lasciarmi di nuovo, Khy; non so cosa farei se..." Her eyes burned again and her tail tucked between her legs beneath the surface of the water.
She couldn't finish her sentence. Couldn't bare the thought.
His words settled over her like a blanket fresh out of the dryer, warmth seeping into her skin after so many months of cold. Her eyes stung, exhaustion and emotion both making tears glisten in her waterline.
How could he know what she needed to hear, as though he'd read a script written along each of her ribs - words she craved so desperately but kept so close to her chest even she could not read them?
The weight of perfection had always hung over her head, held up by threads of spider silk, seconds away from snapping. To know that, with Khyan, she was somewhere else entirely, somewhere with nothing above her but the clouds... it acted like the stream to her paws - soothing injuries buried deep rather than on the surface.
Her lower lip wobbled and, without further preamble, she surged into the water with him, body crashing into his chest and face buried into the side of his neck, as though somehow she could knit the two of them together into one.
"Sono andato alla ricerca del mio tutto," she gasped, chest-to-chest - could he feel her heart beating in rhythm with his own? Pulling back just slightly, she pressed her forehead to his temple, eyes falling shut. "E gli dèi mi hanno condotto dritto a te, cuore mio."
Her breath hitched and she held onto him tighter, as though he'd disappear if she let go. Free to behave as she wished, Idalie wanted nothing more than to cling to him and never part. "Ti prego, non lasciarmi di nuovo, Khy; non so cosa farei se..." Her eyes burned again and her tail tucked between her legs beneath the surface of the water.
She couldn't finish her sentence. Couldn't bare the thought.