Mount Apikuni ii: bugs, underfoot

there was something about the way they walked. so sure of themselves. but different from a confident woman's step--it was a stomp more than a stroll, even in the most graceful of their sex. even with her eyes closed, she could tell a man's step by the sound of it. heavy, imposing.

utterly irritating.

Kaali slows to a halt as well, heavy-lidded as she looks at him, having heard him before her sight caught up. so thrown off kilter is she by her troubles in the Emberwood that her usual motions do not proceed right away. she is stuck in a kind of indecision, rooted to the ground.

her mouth opens, closes again. the ghost of a smile touches her lips. it fades, then returns, again, meeting his gaze finally after moments of fractured thought.

"where are you headed, lad?" she asks, voice summer-fruit sweet. she inhales, and resists a gag, bile rising in her throat. he smells of sex, and quite recent, at that.

a lecher, then. defiler. cretin.

she does her best to rein in the disgust she feels, making sure the emotion does not flicker over her face. Kaali licks her lips, instead, feigning deep interest. looking at him as if he is the only thing she's ever desired in her life.