Falls of the Hinterlands and i'm always tired, but never of you

eyes emojis @Mona <3 backdated to 2/29

 

The strange device wrapped around Mona's neck seemed to be bothering her quite a bit, and it had Nathaniel worried. Perhaps more than he should have been. He remembered well that it hadn't been very long since their first meeting; since she had shrank from him in front of that cave. Sometimes he wondered if she had truly stopped fearing him, or if she was hiding it. It wouldn't surprise the ex-soldier.
Such thoughts came to him as his face was buried in the earliest blooming flowers he had found, carefully selecting those he deemed prettiest and nipping them towards the base of the stem. This is a stupid idea, he reminded himself stiffly as he gathered the flowers gently into a sort of messy bouquet. But really, he couldn't think of anything else, and-- and he was desperate to see his firebird smile. To be without it felt strangely like drowning, so here he was, ass-deep in flowers.
When he felt his offering was sufficient, the ex-soldier took the bundle in his mouth and carried it back to the place he had been setting up. He arranged them carefully just outside the entrance of what he hoped would be a makeshift den for the day-- a fallen boulder propped against a rocky slope offered sheltered space he had not hesitated to clear out upon discovery. It offered a clear view of the falls, which Nat hadn't really considered until after he had gone off to hunt.
The spoils of that effort lay within the space, under assorted foliage he had collected to cover it. A mountain goat, wounded when he found it. Nathaniel considered himself lucky; perhaps his efforts at lifting Mona's spirits would be successful. The ex-soldier gave his set-up one last sweeping glance before he turned and made his way out towards the Sweep. He had asked that Mona meet him there-- then he would lead her to his surprise, and then... well, Nat hadn't thought that far yet. But he was sure it'd be worth it.

while the presence of her soldier always cheered mona, the melancholy that had settled over her the day she woke with the collar had not lifted. torn each day between rage and sorrow, the girl had begun to pick at her food, swallowing only what was necessary, and withdrawing from the other wolves of tindome, feeling quite othered indeed by her malaise.
such was her despair that the mayfair had become rather bedraggled from lack of preening. this ashamed the girl to no end, having been raised to keep oneself trim as a wit. 
"fuck," mona swore in a distinctly unladylike tone, tumbling out of her makeshift den and tangling her long limbs together so that down her slim body went again, into an ungainly explosion of snow. rolling her eyes at her own stupidity as hard as she could, the mayfair gathered herself and her senses. she was going to be late if she did not leave right this instant.
and so without further adieu, the firebird crossed the borders at full speed and leapt into the cracking ice of the weir, forgetting for a moment that she was utterly terrified of beavers. mona splashed to the bank as quickly as she could and shook out her coat with frantic tumbles. there! a ... a bath, of sorts. it was still a bath, the mayfair decided firmly, finding her beeline for the cedar-trees and pausing every dozen steps or so to preen whatever part of her fur seemed rather tangled.
it was a lightly damp and slightly ruffled girl that arrived shyly at the sweet-smelling sweep, her murkwater eyes searching for nathaniel's familiar form. but propriety tutted; she had time, surely. and so mona fell to her quick grooming once more, turning 'round to smooth out her red plume of which she was so proud, and so naively focused nothing else in that moment mattered.

Nathaniel caught a flash of brilliant scarlet, lustrous under the sun, and knew Mona had come. A smile tugged at his lips but only barely, and he moved forward, searching. When she came fully into his view, he stilled and admired her for a moment. His firebird-- more put-together than she had been as of late, he noted, watching her preen herself with warmth in his gaze. After a few beats he stepped forward, flicking an ear and offering her a smile.
Firebird. He greeted, moving close and, if allowed, drawing his tongue gently across her cheek. The ex-soldier glanced behind them, towards the falls. Are you ready?
When he got his answer, he led his firebird to the place he had made for them. Nathaniel said nothing even when they arrived and he led her to the 'den' entrance, but his gaze did not leave her. He moved past her to drag the goat from the space he had cleared for them, moving it to just in front of the 'den' before he turned back to her. The ex soldier studied her for a moment, then seemed to remember something-- and promptly leaned down to nudge the bundle of flowers he had collected earlier towards her.

as if attuned, mona turned her slim muzzle toward where she knew the man would be, by dumb luck or perhaps serendipity glancing up at the moment nathaniel leant forward to kiss her cheek. but this time she did not draw away; her heart fluttered beyond her control in the cage of her ribs and the girl let out the small sigh that had been carried in the hollow of her cheek. 
it was with a smile that mona lifted the dusky green of her eyes to the sunlit water that was his. "faucon," she rejoined quietly. the girl's subdued nature had surely not gone unnoticed to the rochester, but mona found a gentle happiness within herself as she followed the line of his gaze, toward the falls. 
the mayfair followed at his side, marvelling as the world darkened around her, though the fragrance of cedar clung to her scarlet fur after a handful of brushings against the aromatic trees. and in time, the roar of the falls was more deeply audible. mona's breath caught in her throat despite herself; the girl drank in the site of the den, the strength of the falling water its view; she caught the scent of the fresh meat he had killed for the pair of them, and let her gaze linger for only an additional moment on the effortless grace of nathaniel's shoulders as he pulled the —
it was a goat, and her mouth watered, but mona pulled her eyes away from it, afraid he would catch her staring at him and it would all be ruined. for a moment nathaniel loomed before her, and the girl met his observative stare for a tremulous second. however, the man had yet another surprise, and this time mona's eyes widened. 
as if by magick, the kind in the stories she had been told during puphood, were real, nathaniel had conjured flowers for her. flowers! mona scarcely drew in air as she pranced forward gleefully, lowering her muzzle to take in the light perfumes, touch their petals with her small red forepaw — and then her laughter came, uncontrollable and delighted and relieved; her slim haunches lowered to the ground near the bouquet and she gathered them around herself, sighing audibly with a pleasure that was not without its tearstains. she did not need to thank nathaniel, mona knew; presently, the girl looked toward her falcon, eyes glowing with a fond gratitude.

The ex-soldier did not know the word she had spoken, but through the journey had mulled it and concluded it was, perhaps, a nickname of his own. He did not mind the idea; perhaps he even liked it.
The thoughts were banished when he caught Mona's expression at his offerings. Her laugh, the tears beginning to track down her face-- these things pushed him into action. Before he could stop himself, he leaned in and pressed his muzzle against the top of her head. After a few beats, he started preening the velvety scarlet fur between her ears.
Nathaniel found himself content with this, with the silence and contact between them. He was relieved-- overjoyed, even, that his surprise had inspired such a reaction in her. The ex-soldier suddenly wished this moment could last much, much longer than it realistically could. Not forever, though, he thought. For the first time in a long time, Nathaniel found himself hopeful for the future. It was only a little-- only because Mona had so stubbornly inserted herself into his life. He had never appreciated an intrusion more than this one.

nathaniel drew closer, his touches soft, his grooming of her careful; mona blossomed in his embrace, turning her small head to and fro, so that the rochester could reach the places she was not able. the fragrance of the flowers rose around them from a petal crushed here and there, bringing another smile to the mayfair's crimson features, her eyes shutting in enjoyment of her pelt finally being righted after so many days of unkempt existence.
more than that, mona, beneath nathaniel's satisfied, slow persual of her velveteen ears, felt the rush of blood to her head, and the familar tightening in her abdomen for which she still had no name. awash in the security felt at the falcon's nearness, the witchspawn dared to lift her head under his ministrations and dart her tongue against his lips, just once. the burn of it scorched mona immediately, but she forced herself not to pull away, to keep her eyes on the rochester with a sudden delicious thrum of apprehension at how her boldness would be taken.

His firebird's receptiveness never failed to surprise Nathaniel. The care he took with her was almost foreign, but even his mind's suppression could not deceive his heart. He had felt this before-- the violet-and-scarlet feeling blooming in his chest. The memory ached, but not enough to discourage him. The ex-soldier didn't expect more from the interaction, but as always, Mona sought to give him more than he bargained for.
The brief touch stilled him instantly. Nathaniel's cracked-ice gaze found his firebird's murky green, and he only stared for a few moments. A million thoughts raced through his head, but none were clear. His instincts told him to turn away, to throw some biting words at her, and he tensed. The words raced up his throat like bile, like venom, but stopped behind his tongue.
"Be gentle." A whisper; a voice from the past. The words were sharp and violent in his mind, not his own, and they wreaked havoc for the briefest moment. Was this his own mind, seeking to excuse him? Or was it really her-- would she urge him on so?
He didn't know, but suddenly he knew he didn't want to let this pass. Nathaniel brought his face close to his firebird's, drawing his nose slowly down the length of her muzzle. His head lowered fractionally, then, to pepper her chin with soft, brief kisses before he drew back a few inches, gaze still fixed on her.

mona had possessed the half-formed expectancy that nathaniel would not press forward; that he would, in his wisdom far beyond her own, quell her with a kiss and a change of subject. 
he did not.
mona could scarcely have imagined the man's next gestures; the elegant surety of his movements fascinated her. she was but a eggshell in his embrace; nathaniel could end her life in a moment, and yet the mayfair trusted him above all others, lifting her face for the brush of his broad muzzle, the touch of his lips. the flowers were not forgotten; the little red creature curled her toes against their velveteen stems and arched herself catlike into the rochester's caress.
her body was atremble before mona was aware; she did not care! their gazes came together in another clash of ice and everglade, and mona finally remembered what had been taught to her long ago: love, and what came of it. and despite the fact the girl had always been more of a hoyden than anything, her mind tasted now the edges of her power, and it was not the expression of a child that settled onto her delicate features, but something that held kindling to the cinders the rochester had caused to glow again.

Nothing existed so brightly as his firebird did in that moment. The world had been grey and dull for the ex-soldier for too long. So long that the color Mona breathed into everything she touched had hurt him to look at in the beginning. Now he couldn't take his eyes away from her.
If Nathaniel had been thinking clearly, he might have stopped things there. He wasn't thinking at all, though-- he was only feeling, and slowly he grew bolder in his affections. The ex-soldier resumed preening his firebird, this time along the soft fur of her neck. He was still mindful of her comfort, keeping his progression slow-- and if she expressed any discomfort, he would pull away immediately. That was the extent of the Rochester's thoughtfulness, now; any ideas of taking things slow were entirely lost on him now, as Nathaniel was not, without great effort, a creature of thought.

for each step taken gingerly, over a boundary-line both invisible and sewn with the simple apprehension of not knowing, mona was pleasantly surprised. at the end of this path was what she had set as her determination despite no thorough understanding of its nature.
of course she had been told; of course she had grown up watching casmir and rowan gently touch one another, communicate with the tongue of looks and glances and soft laughter, but until this particular moment in time, mona had not even been able to decipher a single meaning.
her heartbeat was singing a croon in her ears as the rochester took charge, a coup without resistance. his touch had changed, she sensed; gone was the almost chaste manner in which he’d made contact before. maybe he too sensed the fertile green glow mona imagined, ever fantastical even in such moments, the blurred emerald light thrumming just below her surface.
the mayfair felt nerves drumming along her spine, but steeled her resolve for a third and final excursion over the last of her falcon’s resistance — he was more of an eagle, wasn’t he? much bigger than a falcon. and more dangerous. 
mona huffed inwardly at her own inability to focus, returning to herself and the slow manner in which nathaniel was preening the sensitive region of her throat, and steadied herself on the roar of the waterfalls.
curiosity was not something the budding witch had ever been able to control; it was curiosity, ultimately, remembering snippets from a life gone by, hidden things that she was perhaps supposed to remember right now; curiosity which brought mona to rise and turn her hips in his direction. an experiment, one final push to force nathaniel into delivering that event on the horizon she couldn’t quite envision.
in spite of herself and the wild pounding of her heart, her resolve to be this new strange half-woman she’d discovered beneath her fur, mona glanced back along one sharp little shoulder and searched for the eyes of her eagle, wanting to see what he made of her, and suddenly burning with timidity over it.

bit of PP here, let me know if I need to change it <3

So many thoughts slipped Nathaniel's mind now; countless reasons to stop. Of course he was aware that Mona was young-- she was not a child, but perhaps she would regret this later. Youth inspired many bad decisions, and if he had spared a moment for any thought, the ex-soldier would have put an end to the encounter right then. There were things he hoped for his future with the girl (as her friend and protector, he had assumed), and becoming a bad decision of hers had never been on the list. Whether for better or worse, none of these thoughts reached him now; they simmered in the background, waiting to strike him another time.
He was silent as his firebird turned, his expression one of conflict. He hadn't known that she wanted this-- that she wanted him before this, and now he could not avoid the fact. It struck him as unlikely, ill-advised. The thoughts were fleeting; rainforest eyes called him from his thoughts and his rationality. Mona's eagle moved to brush alongside her, gently herding her further into the den. His preening began again as they moved, this time starting behind her ears.
When the two stilled again, concealed from the outside world, Nathaniel's attentions continued down the back of his firebird's neck. He did not rush, nor did he speak yet. His grooming continued down past her shoulder blades, after a time punctuated with soft, brief nips along her spine. He shifted position as he progressed, slowing his preening now-- just past her hips, he ceased entirely.
Is this what you want? The question came as a low, earnest rumble. He didn't move, and he would not unless she said yes. The moment she did, though, he would not hesitate.

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a long moment passed; mona felt it took a century for nathaniel's eyes to meet her own, for him to realize her desire. however, the boldness of the gesture proved effective; mona let out her tense breath in a sigh that unfurled from her throat. the man with his soldierly bearing was beside her now; the mayfair let her wary-weakened limbs follow at his direction, her sensitive ears hot with beating blood beneath his lips.
as the darkness of the cave engulfed the pair, the nuro swallowed past the leather edges of the collar and let her eyes adjust to the dimmer light. nathaniel's presence filled the den; his scent surrounded her with its soothing tendrils of earth and stone. slowly, slowly, mona's gaze shut. fear had begun to encircle her belly; the firebird quaked somewhat as her eagle moved his ministrations along the proud pathway of her spine, waking the small muscles there, the little nerves that bloomed hot beneath her skin.
mona had no concept of belonging to anything beyond this moment; her breath had quickened with no small amount of trepidation, but it was the thrice-damned curiosity that spurred her on, coupled with the care nathaniel took in his touches, in the way he halted their silent communication altogether to gain consent from her own throat.
here a pause; here mona collected what words she wished to say from where they had tumbled, but over and over again she dropped them, until in the starlit dusk of the cave's darkness, the firebird looked to the rochester and gave him a timid half-smile. "yes." and perhaps she could not fully understand the gravity of what she had given, but mona was not foolish, and in all things she trusted nathaniel implicitly. this would be no different.

I'm so tired I put this reply on our other thread wtf
Also
Sorry for the novel @_@

His firebird paused, and Nathaniel felt something catch in his throat; had he misunderstood her intentions? Or maybe she simply wasn't ready, and that was okay--
Yes. The single word cut through his thoughts effortlessly. She wanted this, then, and she wanted him. Despite his sharp edges, the sullen way he withdrew from all but her; Nathaniel had already been tempered by the fires of the world beyond, and he lacked the energy and enthusiasm of youth in his fresh beginning. He did not see why Mona stuck around.
Nathaniel was not poetic-- he wasn't even original, he knew, but he could not deny the feelings the girl inspired. She was the sunlight to him, warm and life-giving; she lit the air around him with sparks that burned and thrilled him at the same time. He let himself fall into her murkwater eyes, sharp with clarity yet soft with the emotion of the moment.
It struck him that he loved that about her-- she shone with intelligence through the shroud he knew surrounded her. The complicated unknown of her past, the almost magical aura that often surrounded her. Somehow, through it, he still saw her as being tangible; real, alive, present in ways no one else was to him. She was no illusion.
He reacted immediately to her words, but his movements were unhurried. Nathaniel resumed his preening and nipping, continuing down the soft back of one thigh before he moved to the next. The former soldier was careful, controlled; his actions now were only for her. This was all about her-- and he would not have it another way.
Briefly, he drew near to her center, testing the velvet of the surrounding fur with his muzzle. If she did not object, he would explore further; this time with soft kisses to the most sensitive part of her. Otherwise he would withdraw. Truthfully, he had never been mindful enough of any partner for such extended preparation-- but it came almost naturally. He had not entertained the idea of taking her unprepared.
He changed course then, his muzzle drawing back up through the fur along her spine. With this, he moved to mount her, mindful of his weight against the small girl. Nathaniel allowed her a few moments to adjust-- or to protest, if she had a change of heart. He adjusted his position after a few beats. If she did not protest, he would join them together with a gentle roll of his hips.

nbd! and i adore your long posts :D

the emerald glow had returned, chasing his touches along her scarlet limbs. mona made a quiet sound inside the thrumming halls of her throat, breath catching as the warmth from nathaniel's muzzle quizzed her with gently plying explorations. she had begun unsure; now the feeling turned to molten gold and caught her veins afire. perhaps as quickly as he had begun, mona swept her eyes upon to feel him shift behind her, and one crimson ear curved to listen.
a shiver spread through her hips when her eagle drew his muzzle along her spine — mona tensed once more as he positioned the two of them, her waist held by his steelboned wrists and his gentle fierceness surrounding her. trepidation beat its fast drum in her heart, but mona was determined, her precocity preeordained by dint of being a mayfair.
and now the fire-hued sylph moved beneath him, adjusting herself to his grip, his poised weight; her lips parted in shock, ears splaying tightly against her skull as they came together, in a moment both painful and pleasant in its very rightness; nathaniel had claimed his firebird, and mona trembled at the newness of being so possessed.
was this the curious thing that drove men and women together after the cover of nightfall? mona had suspected it was all rather delightful; she'd had no true idea of what it was to belong in such a way to someone, to the rochester she so loved with every fibre of her being. even despite the flames that licked within her, mona was curious what else this night might bring, and fit herself more securely in his embrace. 

concluding & fading <3

She burned brightly against him, bloomed into fiery hues and spread around him until there was nothing else in his world. Tenderly, but with the fierceness of passion, Nathaniel stoked and coaxed the flicker within his firebird, seeking to create a wildfire before the night's end. He was beyond thought. Mona dominated his senses, leaving no space in his mind for anything else. The encounter was beyond physical; without a doubt, he knew now that something existed between them. Something out of his control, unable to be tamed. Nathaniel gave in to it easily.
When the fire had burned through them entirely, he tended to her far more gently; the dark Rochester drew his tongue gently through her fur, grooming her until nature released its hold on them. Even freed, he sought the feel of her against him, embracing his firebird and seeking to settle with her for the night. He ignored the strangeness of the feeling; it was not in the former soldier's nature to spend the night, to press so close when the act was done. It was not in his nature, yet he found himself without regrets. Nathaniel felt only the warmth and life he had denied himself so wholly.