when teya returned from the mountain she slept a long while, fitful; when she could no longer keep herself banked down like an ember, the girl restlessly paced to find one or another of her fellows.
a lull in the snow brought to her the round belly of the creamwhite moon. she stood in a deep drift with head flung back, uncaring of who might see her this night.
It was the mother's hope that one day the family would reunite. Akavir was capable; he was a stalwart creature who loved his girls so very much, and Ibis granted him the last of her faith, and so much love; she would suffer his absence as long as it took.
Ibis would not let her daughter out of her sight from that point forward if she could help it. However, in the night when she sat curled against her remaining daughter within their shared hollow, Lilitu's rhythmic breathing did not stave off the sadness that threatened Ibis.
She rose — carefully — and slipped away through the moonlight. The snow silenced the fen in every way, but the pounding of the woman's racing heart beat like a drum in her ear.
When she passed the figure she stopped. The woman's head was raised towards the moon, its light shining like a beacon upon the snow; Ibis was stunned a moment by the beautiful scene.
the glow of it seemed to pulse softly, drawng teya deeper into its center. she closed her eyes, pretending as though she could feel the pristine lunar glow moving transparently across her skin, across muscles, through limbs, through veins —
another, and close. teya's widewater gaze opened, and head lowered as she searched shyly for the water. it was the tiny woman from the pack meeting, the one who appeared to be spun from silk and moonweb. the girl cleared her throat, waved her tail once, inviting the other to come closer if she wished.
Beneath the light of the moon the other woman was radiant. There was a sheen to her coat as all the white-tipped hairs caught the light, meanwhile the rust quality of her ochre face and top-line competed; the most striking thing to Ibis was the shine of her blue eyes, almost transformed to silver with the borrowed glow.
There was an invitation to get closer and Ibis was already moving to do so, her steps weighted by sadness, the rest of her staring outright. Had she been in her right mind Ibis might have blushed and apologized; she felt only awe, and cautiously reached out to play at the woman's scruff, to watch the moonlight dance.
teya had not expected the breath of the other suddenly warming her nape, warm breath pooling between the hairs, down against her skin. a shiver chased the movement, as much from the sudden shift from cold to near heat as for the nearness of the woman.
she was more beautiful even closer to teya; where valmua had been foxfire and steelcut appeal, where bridget seemed to fill her always with summertime and the comforting slow lick of amberglow, this one was silken enchantment and soft curvatures.
breath hitched in her throat; she marvelled how very changed it was from her meeting with the man between the lakemists. teya lifted her own muzzle, lifting toward the roundness of the nearest satin ear, wondering how else they might shift beneath the knowing gleam of the moon.
She was needy; Akavir had vanished long before moonrise, it felt like days, weeks without him. To stave off the heartache of his absence Ibis focused on her remaining daughter during the day, finding it harder in the evening. Here before her was a beatiful woman whose radiance sparked through the desperate tinder left in the wake of loss.
Ibis felt a breath against her ear. She heard the softening of the air as the stranger sighed, and that spark came again, deep in her belly, a similar warmth to what Ibis felt for her husband; she grew more tactile, grooming at the woman's contours as if she were made of fragile ice.
teya felt glimmerdown light and limned with a growing sensation of confidence. the foreign nature of it was something she chased as the other's teeth raked through her fur.
a burgeoning sense of want licking fire down her limbs.
teya kissed the soft roundness of the woman's face, her throat, her shoulder, not understanding the way her flesh seemed to alight in sparkling spires through belly and flanks.
she pressed their figures together, marveling at the delicate sculpting of the other, a low whine rising in her throat.
The other woman accepted Ibis' presence, seeming receptive to her doting and the shifting of her body, which gave rise to a deeper desire within Ibis.
Each time the mother touched upon the glimmering body of the moon-bathed stranger, they would turn and offer the same physicality; exploring one-another's soft coats, softer curves, bodies scything together in some form of ancient dance.
Ibis knew how to love a man; she knew how to stoke the fire of their lust and take advantage of their desires. She did not know what she was doing now, only that it brought a similar lust to life within herself.
They moved together, touching, caressing, but unable to fill the void that a man could; without knowing how to proceed Ibis felt an ache in her belly and pressed closer to the stranger in the moonlight, letting the feeling of Teya's warm body and rousing affections distract her from her deeper worries.
In the dawnlight she could mourn her losses anew; for now, in this nowhere-space of stolen shine, all she desired was the woman.
teya kissed the underside of the starlight woman's chin, growing more bold as the other yielded. her unsurety began to fade beneath the clasp of want flooding her veins. the violet knew nothing for any sort of body; she was untried with all of it, but this did not matter
— they could learn together. widewater eyes, dazzled and soft with desire, found the featherwisp features of her companion. teya said nothing, only reached to nose her again, their breath mingling before she began to back toward the treeline, a shy smile lighting her mouth.
How little she knew of this; in all her trysts there had been an end goal, a great desire to be overwhelmed and to bring life. In this instance, with this person, it was all different. More grounded, more about the feelings evoked and sensations shared.
A single touch set her skin aflame. A look came; an invitation, drawing Ibis through the spectacle of moon-touched forest and in to the darkness, but she would not be alone there. So often it was Ibis doing the leading.. this time, she was glad to follow.