09-20-2018, 05:44 PM
[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 1.4;letter-spacing:.1px"]Between them, the air becomes electric. First Moon stares, and then Imperia returns his gaze. The romantic words tumble from her mouth before she can stop them, and her only saving grace is that her companion does not understand the French language. He teases her, each step drawing him closer and closer until their pelts are touching and only millimeters exist between their faces. She watches as Moon's aura transforms from a shy, blushing rose to a passionate rouge, and she nearly falters.
Her body burns. She aches to lean forward, to close the distance. "I think you are more clever than you are willing to admit," she counters, trying to keep it cool and not become distracted by the nickname. Angel. And the touch. Though it it brief, it is enough to make her melt, were she composed of wax and not flesh. Imperia's heart practically sings. The words, those three words, balance precariously at the tip of her tongue. A shallow breath, a nervous twitch of an ear. Peri steps forward, opens her maw and begins to speak--
But the moment passes. Moon visibly dims, and a distance appears between them once more. All courage mustered crumbles into ash like a log after the wildfire burns it to a lump of charcoal. Imperia manages a smile to disguise her despair. Argentine eyes tear away from the fresh scars on Moon's cheek and linger on ground as she drifts along. "Burning it all down is not necessary," says the she-wolf with a faint chuckle, shaking her head in amusement. "But it could stand to undergo a renovation to make the override controls more accessible." She refuses to go back into that building, if she can help it. Or any building, for that matter. Not for the next couple days, at least. She missed the freedom of the open landscape.
Silence befalls the pair as they wander. Imperia's heart thunders in her chest. Say it, just say it! "Moon?" her voice is little more than a whisper. She slows to a halt, gazing up at the lion with full moon eyes the color of stardust. "I think I love you," is what she wants to say. But the words just don't seem to come out. "I--uh--" She stumbles. "Are...are we really just friends?" She still remembers when Moon claimed that everything between them was just friendship. Peri believed him then, but it has been bothering her ever since. And now, after lots of thought, she realizes just what she has been trying not to see for weeks. They are not friends. They are more than that.
Her body burns. She aches to lean forward, to close the distance. "I think you are more clever than you are willing to admit," she counters, trying to keep it cool and not become distracted by the nickname. Angel. And the touch. Though it it brief, it is enough to make her melt, were she composed of wax and not flesh. Imperia's heart practically sings. The words, those three words, balance precariously at the tip of her tongue. A shallow breath, a nervous twitch of an ear. Peri steps forward, opens her maw and begins to speak--
But the moment passes. Moon visibly dims, and a distance appears between them once more. All courage mustered crumbles into ash like a log after the wildfire burns it to a lump of charcoal. Imperia manages a smile to disguise her despair. Argentine eyes tear away from the fresh scars on Moon's cheek and linger on ground as she drifts along. "Burning it all down is not necessary," says the she-wolf with a faint chuckle, shaking her head in amusement. "But it could stand to undergo a renovation to make the override controls more accessible." She refuses to go back into that building, if she can help it. Or any building, for that matter. Not for the next couple days, at least. She missed the freedom of the open landscape.
Silence befalls the pair as they wander. Imperia's heart thunders in her chest. Say it, just say it! "Moon?" her voice is little more than a whisper. She slows to a halt, gazing up at the lion with full moon eyes the color of stardust. "I think I love you," is what she wants to say. But the words just don't seem to come out. "I--uh--" She stumbles. "Are...are we really just friends?" She still remembers when Moon claimed that everything between them was just friendship. Peri believed him then, but it has been bothering her ever since. And now, after lots of thought, she realizes just what she has been trying not to see for weeks. They are not friends. They are more than that.