Hoshor Plains don't need your mercy kiss

@Nephele if ud like but anyone else is also free to join!

the bard went fishing, drenched in the creek that runs through the land, and brings home a lovely, fatty catch! hurray!

but the bard also brings bad news to janus. unfortunately, he cannot delight on the fish entirely for himself. no hurray. the knives and napkins are put away, what a waste.

he carries the fish, blood dripping from cinnamon chin and seeping into a tongue whose tasted far worse. how badly does he wish to sneak off with the fish like a secret lover. perhaps kiss her pretty fish lips, before gobbling her whole — y'know, like a normal fling.
but then, the bear that chased him down would bend him until his nose was shoved up his ass and he'd left in the middle of the herd to be trampled. that wouldn't be fun, so the bard behaves.

there was a pest amongst them. she'd been introduced to the little man sometimes near his acceptance, and had done her utmost to avoid him since then. she was not blind to the way he scratched, to the fleas jumping off his coat like he were a trampoline.

she would rather burn than become infested, but she was not one to risk the spread of such parasites either. fuck that.

she stomped through the flatlands, briefly questioning her husband's decision making in accepting the weird little dude. what had he been thinking? she was cut from her thoughts at the sight of her target carrying a fish in the distance. she stopped a ways off, treating it as if the very air around him was contaminated.

"you!" she shouted at bard, tail giving a thrash behind her.

tags for ref

the shout of a woman halts the bard in his tracks and he regrets doing so. the alpha female — the one who looks so much like @Hiemis — barks at him. she commands through plains, the grass moving aside all so she could come boss him around. he too, wonders why he joined this shit. but here he was, seeing his once bride-to-be in a stranger.

janus' thin, mangy tail now sits stiffly between his legs, and wide eyes glare at her expectantly. the excitement drained from his body, he waits for whatever hell the broad in front of him has to say.

the little man stopped, and she lifted her chin to give him a look over. he was the physical embodiment of everything nephele thought unattractive. "follow me," she demanded with the sternness of a mother telling their child to clean their room for the fiftieth time.

she paused, "bring your fishy too," it would act as a snack for him. that, or he could pick his teeth with the bones when he became bored of her future demand. she turned tail and began to walk towards the northern stretch of the territory, a glance given behind only to confirm that the man followed as he was directed.

sobbing

the hiemis-mimic shouts an order and janus finds himself complying with little effort. she even patronizes his fish, but he forgives it. she even talks like hiemis, sometimes!

he couldn't speak, but he looks to her with round eyes; where're we going? if it's to his death, he doesn't mind too much.

he asked a question with his eyes, and she returns the answer with a look of her own; you'll see when we get there. it did not take terribly long to arrive at their intended location, which currently sat at the furthest reach of their claim. hotsprings! they were not unlike those at firestone, however on a smaller more manageable scale.

"get in," she instructed with a motion of her snout. he could have a spa day soaking in springs with seafood for lunch. that was royal treatment! "the water should kill off those pests that cling to you."

..i ain't got pests. he protests as the fish plops onto the ground from his mouth. still, bard slinks into the waters. she seemed pretty keen on making sure he took a bath, and the bard couldn't afford to rebel.

he denied any company to his coat but slithers to join the water anyway. she gives an approving nod, pleased that he was at least cooperative with her instructions.

she turned to glance at the fish he dropped before moving to nudge the snack over to him. "stay in the water for as long as it takes you to eat this fish. you will be clean by then," she instructed before moving off to continue more important chores.

yea, yeah.. he grumbles beneath his breath before snatching at a chunk of fish.

at the very least, he didn't have to share. bard sits in the water, unsure of whether to lash out or just stay put after being dragged along like a cub. ultimately, accidentally, he decides the latter.