By her third circuit, Turq decided that she must made a decision by nightfall. She couldn't linger here forever, stuck in some sort of purgatory. She would either head back out into the wilderness, perhaps even attempt to track down and make things right with Rivet... or she would point her nose east and go home. Turq ground her teeth together as she pondered the pros and cons of each choice, feeling as torn as ever and wanting to beat the stuffing out of someone because of it. Fortunately, nobody approached her, so the violence remained contained internally.
The glare wore off as the sun slipped behind some distant mountains to the west and Turquoise gathered her haunches beneath herself, sat beside the lake and closed her eyes. Focus, she coached herself inwardly, and make a goddamn decision already! She sucked in a deep, steadying breath of the cooling evening air, her eyelids fluttering as she concentrated. At length, she felt herself tipping toward a final decision.
"Got it," she breathed and opened her eyes to see Rivet standing on the opposite shore, staring at her with those unwelcome, beautiful, loathsome, lovely eyes of hers.
She’d been keeping entirely to herself ever since the fight she had with Turq. They’d broken up and gone their separate ways, leaving Rivet feeling a vast range of emotions; anger, regret, and a whole lot of loneliness. She was stubborn, though, and refused to allow herself to purposely go seeking out the woman that held the strings to her heart.
And then there she was in all her frustrating beauty just on the other side of the lake. She resisted the urge to rush around the edge of the lake and rush to Turq. Instead, she remained where she was already standing at the edge of the lake. Without taking her eyes off of the other woman, Rivet lowered her head toward the water to get the drink that she’d come to the lake for.
When Rivet lowered her head and took a drink, just as easy as you please, it finally spurred Turquoise into motion. She wanted to march right across the water but, of course, that would be impossible. Instead, she strode around the water, her turquoise eyes riveted on Rivet the entire time. She ground her teeth again, the sight of the dark she-wolf drinking so casually igniting a fiery sensation in her lower belly. She wanted to give the dark yearling a swift kick in the ass.
"What are you doing here?" the tawny she-wolf commanded when she reached Rivet, drawing herself up to her fullest height. Although Rivet wasn't that small, Turq loomed over the svelte DeMonte. The ridge of black fur down her spine prickled. "Did you follow me here, Rivet Sarasvati DeMonte?" She used the other woman's full name much like a scolding parent might with a disobedient child, her eyes flashing in a way that indicated she didn't know how to feel about it if, in fact, Rivet had followed her here.
Knowing the other woman as well as she did, Rivet had no doubt that her own casual behavior at the moment would irritate Turq. What else was she supposed to go? Run to her, throwing herself at Turq’s paws and beg forgiveness? To just as willingly give forgiveness? To completely forget the not so nice words that they had each thrown at each other in their moment of anger? No, it wasn’t going to be that easy. Rivet was far too stubborn and hot headed for that.
Without removing her eyes from the other woman, Rivet drank a little more while Turq stormed her way around to the side the ebon female was. Lifting her head from the water, the cool liquid dripped from her chin. Holding herself proudly, she narrowed her eyes slightly as she lifted her gaze. “Wasn’t aware that you owned these parts,” she shot back, giving a gruff snort after she spoke. “Also wasn’t aware that I needed your permission to come and go as I please…”
"You know what your problem is, Riv? You're an immature little c—" Her voice cut off suddenly and a rolling growl took its place. Turq couldn't bring herself to call her former flame such an ugly name, much as she deserved it now. She glared at her black forepaws, then lifted her gaze back to Rivet's face and spat, "You're a real piece of work, you know that? You have a lot of gall, showing up here and staring at me like some sideshow freak. I was here first." It was petty, she knew, but if Rivet could be petty, then so could she.
Her ears slicked back, slightly, as Turq spat her words out at her, knowing full well the word that had gone left unsaid. That hurt, but she refused to give the other woman the satisfaction of seeing the hurt she was feeling inside at that moment. “I do believe that it is you acting like the immature one, Turq,” she replied, keeping the hurt she felt from her voice.
The young woman gave a slight shake of her head, that was quickly followed by the rest of her frame, ending with the tip of her tail. “If I’d have known you were going to be here, I would have avoided it, Your Highness.” There was more venom in her voice than she meant to have there, but if Turq was going to act like a complete jerk, then so be it. “What’s your problem, Turq? Get a splinter up your butt or something? Seriously, you act as if I knew you would be here. Well, I didn’t. I didn’t know you were going to be here, or I would have avoided coming here, letting you you’re your space that you so obviously want…”
Abruptly, she felt a wave of guilt crash over her tawny head, which she lowered somewhat. "Riv..." she started, not sure what to say. She wanted to hold onto her righteous anger. She wanted Rivet to apologize first. "I didn't mean..." She had, at the time, and she'd stuck to her guns even when several days had passed and their separation had become a lot more than just momentary. Finally, she gave an inch and acknowledged, "I shouldn't have said that."
The anger faded into the background as the guilt churned in her gut. Both feelings began to recede in the face of something else, though: an immense feeling of attachment. Turquoise gazed at Rivet now, riveted by her familiar face, her eyes burning. She wanted to pull the smaller woman close and hold her, yet she restrained herself, holding very, very still as she waited to see what Rivet would say and do now.
The words that they had snarled at each other in anger, and hurt, had cut the ebon female far more than she was willing to let on. She was too hot headed to just come right out and say that she hadn’t meant the things she had said, and hoped that Turq hadn’t meant the things that she had said. It had clearly been a lovers quarrel, but some of the things each of them had said weren’t so easily forgotten, or forgiven.
And yet…
A soft whine escaped from her before she was able to swallow it when Turq spoke. “I shouldn’t have said some of the things I said either,” she replied, dropping her gaze to the ground at her own paws. She had been so angry, so very angry, when they’d had their fight, but it had been Turq’s words of needing space that had cut the ebon woman the most. “I’m sorry…” she finally managed, not lifting her gaze from her own paws.
A thin whine made Turq's ears quiver and she looked speculatively at Rivet's face. It seemed the sound had come out unbidden. Words followed it, most notably an apology. She thought she would savor this moment, relish in her victory, yet instead Turquoise found herself rushing to meet one apology with another.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry too," she crooned, stepping forward and nuzzling the velveteen fur beneath Rivet's ear, then nudging her to coax her to look up again. "What a stupid fight," she mused quietly with a dry laugh once their eyes met. She held her former flame's gaze for a long moment, then added, "I can't stay mad at you, not with those pretty eyes and not with that pretty face."
And just like that, she fully closed the space between them. Rivet fit perfectly into the crook of Turq's throat as the tawny she-wolf slid her neck overtop the smaller DeMonte's head. A stockinged foreleg lifted to wrap around Rivet's shoulder, tugging her even closer, and Turquoise buried her muzzle in the back of her companion's neck, breathing in her scent. After a moment, she inched backward just far enough to place a lick on Rivet's black cheek.
"Let's get back together," she murmured, then more loudly and jokingly, "Can we get back together now, please?" Her lips twitched. "And let's never fight again," Turq added, the sentiment genuine, even if she knew, deep down, that their relationship would always be passionately volatile on some level and that, in all likelihood, they would rinse and repeat this entire scene.
Days prior, when she had stood there and watched the much larger woman taking off after having snarled about needing her space, Rivet had thought her heart would break into many little pieces. She’d also figured that she would never see Turq again. And she had sworn to herself that she would not apologize. Yet here she was, apologizing with a whine. Way to stick to your guns, she silently chided herself.
But she did not even remotely resist when her lover pulled her close, leaning against her much larger companion. “It was a stupid fight,” she murmured against Turq’s chest, breathing in the woman’s scent deeply. It had been a cold few nights sleeping without her companion, but not cold as in winter cold. It was cold and lonely. Not a pleasant feeling in the least, and definitely not something she was wanting to go through too often.
Even as Turq spoke her last sentence, Rivet knew that they would have their spats here and there. All lovers had their quarrels. That was not something even they could get away from. “Oh we’ll fight,” she sighed into her lover’s fur. “Just… it doesn’t need to go even half as far as it did. And don’t leave me like that again. Do you hear me?” A brief quiver ran down her spine as she remained wrapped in the embrace of the larger female.
She was content to stay there, holding onto her former and present lover, but it occurred to Turq that she'd been in the middle of something when Rivet had walked back into her life, just like that. She blinked those gemstone eyes and sat up straighter, loosening her hold on Rivet slightly. A sort of wan smile edged its way onto her lips and she decided right then and there never to speak of the choice she'd been deliberating, nor the decision she'd arrived at when Rivet had reappeared with impeccable timing. Anyway, Rivet had stepped in and made the decision for her and nothing else mattered beyond that point.
"What do we do now? I mean, where shall we go?" Turquoise asked after a few beats, sliding her leg away from Rivet and sitting upright, the better to face her. She looked awfully pretty in the low light reflecting off the lake. "Before our fight, we were discussing the idea of finding and joining a pack," she reminded Rivet, lips pursing. They hadn't had any specific place in mind then, though Turquoise knew of at least one possible option now.
It was a relief to hear her companion promising to never walk out on her again. Rivet would definitely work hard to make sure that promise was kept because she did not want to go through what she’d been going through the last several days all over again. Though she was hot headed and stubborn, there was no doubt in her mind that she cared very, very deeply for her larger companion. “Good because I wouldn’t want to have to hunt you down and hurt you if you leave me again,” she growled, though there was a playful note in her voice, which was followed by a light nip to Turq’s nose.
It was hard to not allow herself to move with Turq when she shifted so that they could see each other better, but she remained in place. She was sincerely glad that she’d ended up happening upon Turquoise when she did, though she would never know about the choices her lover had been contemplating. “I’d kind of like to see around this area at least a little more,” she answered, casting a glance toward the lake beside them. “We could look into whatever packs are around the area. If we like one of them, we could join it.”
"Sounds like a plan," Turq agreed. "I say we start first thing in the morning." With a flourish, she was on her feet, black-striped-and-tipped tail twitching in the air. "In the meantime, I'd love to ravish you, Riv," she said huskily, a hungry light entering her turquoise eyes. Oh, yes, she would eat well tonight, and it wouldn't be food LOL I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF.
Where there was a will, there was a way. If pushed hard enough, or hurt deep enough, surely Rivet really could figure out some way to hurt Turq, even if not physically or on her own. But that wasn’t something that she was even remotely thinking about, nor did she was to think about it. Rivet just wanted to be with her companion for many years to come.
The smaller female nodded her head in agreement. “First thing in the morning sounds good.” Because for the rest of whatever was left of this day, Rivet didn’t want to share her lover with anyone else. A playful growl easily escaped from her and a mischievous light was instantly in her mismatched eyes when Turq spoke.
Leaping to her paws, her tail swayed eagerly behind her. “Have to catch me first…” she teased, breaking out into a lope, moving away from the lake as well as her lover.
The make-up sex would be good, Turquoise felt certain. She leered at Rivet as if the svelte DeMonte woman was a choice cut of meat, even licking her lips. The expression died an instant death when Rivet pivoted and raced away. Turq looked after her in dismay for a moment, disliking being teased and having to work for it. But, from here, she could see what a fine piece of ass she would be working for, which was incredibly motivating.
"I'm going to scissor you into next week!" Turq promised. In their dynamic, she occasionally stepped into the masculine role, though generally neither of them considered one to be "the man" and the other "the woman" in the relationship; they were both ladies, thank-you very much! Activities that lent to mutual pleasure were favored.
Digging her black claws into the silty lakeshore, Turquoise leaped after her lover, her blood already hot with the notion of lovemaking. She could easily overtake Rivet, yet she allowed her to trail ahead for a while. When she grew impatient with lust, with need for Rivet's delicious body, she simply caught up with her, tackled her to the ground like a lion felling a wildebeest, then dragged her into some brush to have her way with her all night long.