Dragoncrest Cliffs you better just lock me up

no need to match the length - eske got away from me, aha.

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Being Cheka would consume a lot of Eske’s time but so would have leadership if she would have been promoted. Somehow Heda, Wildfire and Dio all found time to be with their spouses, to spend time with others and Eske figured she could work it too. It was all about finding the balance in battle: she had to find that balance here. “I’ve been thinking that Heda’s not going to want me up her butt twenty four seven,” Eske speaks because she has thought about that, too. She does not want to spend less time with Kendra, unaware that the other girl has been thinking of it too. “So I’ll still have time to spar and patrol and spend time with you. And if you want to go outside of Drageda for some dyes for your paint Heda might be willing to let me escort you as long as I give her plenty of notice and she doesn’t particularly need me for anything that day.” Problem solving, Eske style. Eske thinks that Heda is reasonable and will understand …after all she had Wildfire, doesn’t she? Of course …no one besides Eske knew that she had feelings for Kendra (at least Eske thinks she has hid it well). “Since I did promise and I don’t back out on promises.”

Eske is a woman of her word and when she says something she means it, she will do it. In that regard, she is much like her grandfather, Ragnar (there is a lot of Ragnar in her, tbh). “It’s ok!” Eske is quick to assure Kendra as she watches the older girl settle on her haunches. She leans forward with the intent of bumping her muzzle against Kendra’s, offering the older girl a pretty smile. “I only wanted to share the news with you. Your presence is more than enough.” Eske admits with a flush of heat to her cheeks. She is grateful that she has fur to hide it but she cannot quite conceal the glint in her eye, the coy tilt of her muzzle. She deliberates as she reclines back on her haunches, at war with herself. She wants Kendra to know what she feels, where she stands, what she wants but she is …afraid. This is an unfamiliar battlefield that Eske feels she is woefully unprepared for …and it is not as if she can just ask her mother for advice. She supposes she could ask Wildfire but she is busy getting ready to pop out her babies, and Eske considers that she could ask Heda but talking about her feelings with her Commander is a strange prospect to the warrior princess.

“Kendra, I…there’s something you should know,” Eske begins softly, giving a soft clear of her throat as she settles back upon her own haunches. She takes a deep breath, suddenly all nerves. “I don’t like secrets so I want to be honest and forward with you and I understand if — if this changes everything in a bad way,” but by the Dragon Eske hopes not. For a second she fears that it might destroy their friendship and the thought almost suffocates her. But she has already begun and could not stop now. She owes it to Kendra to be honest about how she is feeling. She is a Warrior Princess. She can do this. “Kendra, you are beautiful, and kind” Eske salmon pink tongue runs across her jowls as she takes a deep breath. “and I absolutely love the way your eye light up when you talk about your passions even if I don’t understand,” Eske says with a soft, almost shy laugh. “You’ve become my own personal sunshine,” was that cheesy? That sounded cheesy. But it was true. “You inspire me to be a better wolf,” Or at least, try to curb her natural aggression. It doesn’t always work, and Eske will always be aggressive — that is who she is. She is a warrior through and through and that will never change. In fact, fighting was ten times less scary than this. Eske realizes she probably looks like a fumbling school girl with wide doe eyes at her high school crush. She tries to emulate her mother but she does not think she will ever capture the queen’s grace or elegance. “and I think,” She takes an uneven breath as she words stick in her throat. “— I think I might be falling in love with you.” She all but whispers fighting her inner recluse that wants her to recoil back into her shell and abort the mission. She balances, precariously, on flight or fight instincts. Eske does not flee …not from battle, not from a challenge but this…she has exposed herself, she has revealed her heart. What was it her mother used to say?: a viking never shows her heart until the axe reveals it. But Eske is not viking and her mother’s cryptic words of advice so little to comfort her as she waits Kendra’s reaction.

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