Coconut Grove sitting in the back seat smoking a cigarette you thought was gonna be your last

"no we are not" she hums in quiet agreement, studying him closely with that strangely poignant smile lingering upon dark lips. a gently curious nod follows the words he admits, mulling them over with careful precision. he too was born of war, a life bred to deliver death; at odds with the rest of the world. she'd suspected as much yet to hear the confirmation aloud....there is a saccharine gleam to shadowed eyes as she blinks hastily against the building heat pricking at their corners and stares deeply into the steady glow of his sun kissed eye. "well it's good to see you're quite the sensible man then" she jokes hoarsely, tail flicking restlessly as she blinked off to the writhing sea and inhaled deeply. when the stolen air was released once more, it came accompanied by quietly murmured words, brows furrowed "i don't remember my family..i was stolen from them at a very, very young age and raised to be a soldier with many others in a similar situation. we were trained to kill without empathy or emotion, i was one of the top in my class." a regretful shrug, feeling a little unwell as the memories of slaying her very own comrades to prove her worth licked cruelly at her conscience "the only difference i guess is that they cared little for genders where i was, a body was simply a weapon and we were treated as such...one day i escaped and made it to the teekons. it has been...strange, learning to feel again and trying to fit in with society here. but with time i think i've adapted, i feel almost...normal" she does not share the details of her escape with the pale sentry, not mentioning the love she'd felt only once before for the sweet faolan. nor how he'd died to make sure she had a future, a future to spend with...another man.

yet it did not stab with a sensation as breath taking as she'd expected. the blow did land with a resounding hiss but she embraced it, welcoming the startlingly fresh emotion. she had loved faolan and she would miss the man for the rest of her days but...she loved rosencrantz too and after succumbing to two years of sickening guilt, she had finally come to realise that one could love more than once and that that was okay. the sea still hummed, the moon and her little celestial bodies still winked and the trees still whispered curious secrets. the world cared little for the misgivings of one twisted sylph, her doubts as infinitesimal as a singular grain of sand making up the sloping beach before them. she was in love, and it filled her stomach with the fizzing sensation of a thousand shooting stars running riot within, confirming that discovering such an emotion was returned was as euphoric a sensation no matter what age you were or how many times it had happened previously. and as she gazed upon him, eyes kissed with tender starlight and lips graced with fond smiles; there was no sign of the soldier or the warrior, she appeared as no more than a windswept girl in love as her heart sang with the sea. 

and then his deep baritones rumbled forth to twirl with the breeze and tickle playfully at her ears and the words...oh those beautiful words! each syllable spoke a thousand possibilities, intricately woven futures all as beautiful as the next. surely this could not be real, these were things only whispered in tales and dreams were they not? for the man that held your heart within tenderly cupped hands to lilt sweet symphonies of love to the eddying crepuscular mist intertwining around connected figures and connected souls. her eyes flutter shut as he delivers the final question, heart lurching with a painful intensity. 

will you be my wife?​

no this cannot be real for quite suddenly it feels as if she does not remain rooted to the ground anymore. she is as light as a leaf, free as a bird, mighty as a brazen dash of starlight!! 

she floats high above the world and its many shadows and conflicts. she pirouettes and giggles with the dance of the breeze, teasing the hungry jaws of the sprightly waves for she is invincible! 

however when eyes snap open it finds paws pressed firmly within the embrace of twisting grasses and rather than cringing with disappointment she is overwhelmed by the joy to blaze from her heart at this sight of mortality. for it means this cannot be a dream for she does break the bounds of reality, she is just a wolf- a wolf in love. 

the shadows within her pressing gaze seem to shift and writhe with barely contained energy as she smiles hugely and gasps "yes rosencrantz, a hundred times yes" it is true it is true it is true, she can be loved and she can love. she is just not a solider, a monster, a robot- she is a wolf as deserving of love as anyone else. 

seeming almost to purr as she pressed close to the welcoming form of his figure, she whispered "i mean now that you've proven your exceptional skills, how could i not say yes to being able to receive that whenever i wish?" and she'd snake her muzzle along his lower jaw for emphasis before relaxing wholly into him. blinking out to the still darkening sea, seeming even more unsettled under the moon's watchful eye despite the sun's sacrifice, she murmured quietly "thank you rose, for never giving up on me" for surely there are many women out there with bright eyes and loving hearts- good people, and yet he'd broken through the terse words and melancholy looks to find the woman that lingered hopefully within.