Big Salmon Lake hateraid

They stood there, hovering on the brink of something fathomless, with their breath fogging in the chilly winter air. But perspective was also important to maintain here: there was, in fact, still a fish eating another smaller fish entombed in ice in the middle of an entirely frozen lake. He was also standing next to a mysterious shadow with a pair of eyes so blue that he feared drowning in them. Her emotions were wild, and raging, and he wanted desperately to lose himself in that fire so that he might feel properly again, if only for a moment.

His question hung uncertainly in the air between them, and wondered why his mind would betray the only chance he had to escape the crushing depths of his anguish. But then, as soft as a whisper, he felt the heat of her breath billow over his own lips and her whiskers tangle with his own. Rian, shocked, did not dare move, breathe, or think until she pulled away again and only then did he suck in a desperate breath through his clenched teeth. A searing heat bloomed across his cheeks, and his toes went entirely numb, but he couldn't recognize it for what it was—infatuation. It was uncomfortable, of course, but he wanted more. 

Rian swallowed thickly and flattened his ears. "Yeah," he squeaked. "You-uh, pretty good thinking, that." He stammered awkwardly as he attempted to take a step back, only to slip a bit on the ice. His elbow connected hard and pain shot up through the funny bone straight to his skull. He winched, hissed, and righted himself. "Ice is bullshit." He decreed, and so it shall be.