Redtail Rise melisma

she's surprised, somewhat, when he leaps into a play-bow. Avicus has hunted with the healer, and has certainly seen him in motion, but the notion of his physicality counters everything she feels about him. he's the still, the cerebral, the moonlit pool on a clear night.

and yet, here are ripples across that surface.

her jaws open wide, letting her tongue loll. it's not a smile, but it is an answer as she feints forward, nipping at his forepaws before dashing away. 

the red girl splashes briefly down into the shallows before rising up on the banks, shaking her fur while at a run and sending crystalline droplets everywhere in her wake. she looks back, her heart beginning to gallop with the thrill of the chase.