Blackfeather Woods Piragua

@Cicero

With a sigh, Potema slid into the cool waters of one of the above ground streams, enjoying the brief respite from the heat outside the Woods. The darkness of the leaves swallows up the heat blazing from the sun, but once one stepped outside its canopy, they were scorching. The shadows here provided relatively cooler air daily, but humidity stealed into the Woods regardless of their blanket of leaves.

She was yearly burdened with her Arctic coat in the summer, her shedding doing little to relieve her. So here she stood, briefly under the  cascading waterway, her eyes closed as a soft trickle of water cascaded over her head.

He'd proven his strength to her, he had hoped, over the time. Sheogorath was frustrated that his plans did not work with Damien, but he also knew he must move forward. With Nemesis' departure from the woods it seemed that did not necessarily mean outside of the Woods. There was plenty yet to be discovered within.

He was less bothered by the heat than his sister, his fur nearly the opposite of hers; thin and scruffy, causing him more trouble in winter than in summer. The leaves protected them from most of the heat here in the Woods, so he was comfortable enough as he pressed through the forest until he neared a stream.

There Sheogorath saw Potema as she tried to cool herself, or so he presumed, and he stepped closer to the stream. "Hot day, isn't it?" he asked with a nonchalant crooked smile on his face as he sat down by the side. "Is the water's temperature recommendable?" Had to be pretty exhausting with her fur, he imagined, so doubtlessly the answer would be yes. But at least she no longer had to run around after her children, now that they were all safely home again so that she could relax. He stayed at the bank for now, looking thoughtfully at the water. It might be nice, even for his fur, to enjoy the water's coolness for a bit.

For a moment she had a time to herself. While her children were close to being considered adults in the pack, she was still in charge of them, shaping them to becoming members of the Dark Brotherhood. It was exhausting, on top of the hot sun and gathering herbs. She was glad to have a moment to herself in the relatively cool of the waters, immersing her head every now and then, shaking her pelt as she walked through the waterfall. 

Her head jerked up for a moment at the lanky male's voice. She hesitated, then spoke. Cicero? She ventured, wondering which part of her brother was inhabiting his body. It was hard to tell sometimes. So far she found no noticable difference, even when he spoke now she saw some familiarity in the lazy smile the man wore. Sheogorath?

No answer came to his question, only more questions. His reaction when she spoke Cicero's name was enough proof, probably, to realise that he was someone else; there was a crooked smile to his face, charming, dark, but nothing like Cicero's usual blank expression. It was the smile that his dear sister had once told Cicero she so missed to see on his face. Well, Sheogorath was here to serve.

"It's Sheo," he answered, though Sheogorath never made a habbit of literally telling anyone who he was. But it didn't matter, because she'd probably already seen, and anyway, she might still be a bit afraid of Cicero after all that had happened, and all.

Sheogorath slipped into the water, assuming the temperatures were good enough since she hadn't responded. Admittedly, as he put the first couple of steps forward the water was colder than expected. He squinted his eyes at the difference between the hot day and the cold water.

She was relieved somewhat to hear that it was the lesser of two evils — Sheogorath. Her frame relaxed slightly, only to realize she hadn't answered his question, watching with a wince as he slid into the cold waters alongside her. His fur was still patchy, great for the scorching heat of summer, but failing at keeping him warm. Potema laid down, shifting awkwardly for a bit, grasping at something to say. How have you been faring this summer?

She didn't object to his approach. As a matter of fact, she seemed more comfortable knowing that it was Sheogorath. It was a thing that pleased him greatly, to know that she trusted him over Cicero, to know that his ruse had succeeded to make her trust him and think all the wicked deeds were Cicero's fault. Not that his counterpart was completely innocent, of course, but many seeds had been planted in Cicero's head by Sheogorath and to get away with them all was a nice bonus.

She asked about his summer, then, seeming to search for idle words to pass time. "It's been a good summer. Cicero's — he's been gone all summer." All a long time by now, actually. Sheogorath approached Potema and he started grooming the fur along her neck in the places where the water had flattened her fur but she wouldn't be able to reach grooming herself. "How are the pups? They are growing big." Soon they'd not need Potema as much to look after themselves. Would they all stay at Blackfeather Woods, like the three of them had?

Cicero's been gone all summer.

There was a relief to that, as well as a sadness. Her brother's broken, splintered mind, despite how twisted he might be, was...heart-wrenching. The brother she had grown up with had not been in his body for months now. It was a sour taste in her mouth. 

She flinched at his touch initially, still not used to the thought of a different person in her brother's body touching her. Sorry, She murmured, moving into his general vicinity to make up for the sudden jolt of her body. 

Ganondorf wanted to be a priest, but — something happened, She had caught him once, nearly pissing on the altar at the Temple. She was surprised that she had allowed him to stay in the Woods after his blatant disrespecting of their sacred sites. He does not believe in the Gods. Or he does, but he thinks they are worthless. She hissed the word, still disbelieving that one of her own children would end up like this.

She startled at first when he started to groom her fur and he stopped a moment. Sheogorath looked at Potema as she uttered a quick apology and moved closer again, and when she was close enough he continued on his path. A thing that had been normal when they were little, to groom and help each other, but now there was something a little bit different, at least for Sheogorath.

He listened to the story she told of Ganondorf. He knew little details of anything that'd happened, admittedly not having seen Ganondorf in a while. Not really, at least, not enough to know what went on in his mind or life. "Do you know what happened to make this change?" Sheogorath asked, pausing the grooming a moment. After speaking he looked thoughtfully at Potema. "I mean, I can't imagine a child raised with the Night Mother wakes up one day to call the Gods..." He paused, not really wanting to say it; "... Worthless."

He asked what had happened, but she merely sighed as an answer. It was not sudden, but subtle. Ganondorf's interests in her stories and instructions wanted as the days grew by, and before she knew it, he was hiding laughter at her stories, mocking eyes accompanying her lessons. By the time she confronted him about it, he had learned enough of magic to counter her burning glares and threats of curses with threats of his own. She ended his priest training then, though he insisted that he be still taught magic. In punishment, she took that away from him, leaving him with herbs and nothing more. The more I taught him, the less he believed, if that makes any sense. It hurt her to see the distrust in his eyes as they spat theology at each other. She would have reluctantly accepted him, had he not so blatantly hurt her with his words. He mocks them when he can, and has grown to mock me for it as well.

It was a sad story, that of Ganondorf, although it was one that interested Sheogorath only mildly. The interest drew forward mostly from the fact that Potema was distressed by this, for she was one of few wolves that he cared for. As she spoke he continued to groom along her neck where she could not reach, until he reached her ears. "Hmm-mm," he murmured as she spoke. "Boys will be boys. I'm sure he'll grow up into something much better, when he realises their importance, and he will make up then for what he is doing now." Children could be disobedient but often time would make them grow up and they would be better for it. A feisty personality with a mind of his own might come in handy later, when he would realise the Night Mother's importance and worship the Gods twice as much because he felt guilty for his past errors.

He had reached her ear and there was a brief pause then as he licked the fur behind her ear. Then Sheogorath moved to nibble gingerly on the side of her left ear — a place that would always trigger Damien because it was so sensitive and there was something forbidden yet absolutely alluring about that touch. He was dying to find out if that was a family thing.

The gentle preening of her brother calmed her. Just mentioning her wayward son was enough to rile her. She blamed herself for his straying, especially since she had so meticulously cultivated all of them. Perhaps it was her leaving that triggered it. She sighed, long and exasperated. Sheogorath had boiled it down to mere child rebelliousness, but there was something in her that was still afraid that it would continue long into his adult life. She didn't want it to; who knew how to the Gods, how Mephala would react?

Potema wasn't paying attention to where Sheogorath was moving. She jolted at the touch, the lightning touch flaring her loins to life, and a pleasured moan escaped her lips. But it was brief. Potema pulled herself out of the pool as fast as she could, as if Sheogorath was chasing her, wheeling around to glare at him with accusing eyes, hoping her disgusted face was enough to push down the warm feelings inside her.

everyone's horny for Sheo in the end

Reaction was what Sheogorath lived for. To push and pull his pawns forward, to make them do something, anything at times. At first he thought she would stay considering her reaction to his touch was so positive, but it lingered for less than a second. He hadn't missed it, though, that, exactly what he was looking for. Reaction. First in that moan that got him all riled up, the one sound that made him realise that he was giving reaction too.

Then the follow-up, the dash from the water, the fleeing. As she wheeled around he merely stood there, a confident and charming smile on his face; something that might have made him a rebellious and naughty prince charming in a fairy tale, if not for his ragged appearance. There was a playful spark in his eyes, one that said, I know you liked it. She liked it, and it was evident that he didn't care what anyone might think about, well, anything, really. Sheogorath wanted what he wanted and maybe it was time to shift his game around since Damien seemed out of reach. Now, in this game, he knew it was a matter of timing that might give him the advantage over Potema and make her weak-kneed in time.

His mismatched eyes continued to stare, searching for eye contact, mischief clearly written on his face. Something that said not to take it too seriously. But maybe just seriously enough, so that he could some day have a taste of these forbidden fruits. He remained there, the mischievous sparkle in his eyes, staring at her and waiting until she would turn away and leave, as he expected her to.

>:)

As she stared at him she thought the warm feeling would begin to fade and be replaced with anger. But it half lingered as he locked eyes with her, his glance meaningful. It sickened her to see the playful look dancing in his eyes. He meant to do it. She had half thought that, perhaps, it had been a mistake as he was grooming her. Had she known the spot, she would have warned him away from there...but would that have stopped him, or only prompted him to go further?

Potema felt no fury or pleasure, only disgust as her mind connected dots with half known things and implications. He had confessed to being with Damien. And now that Damien's attentions were elsewhere — on Nyx — was he turning to her instead? Her face contorted in gaping surprise and she turned away still distraught, lingering for a moment before exiting the Keep.