Golden Glade if you take my advice you're bound to be damned

@Fire

He had woke up a bit too early, the sun had just barely hid behind the horizon. Colors of bruised fire still kissed the skies. It was an unusual sight for Behemoth and while some might have found it pretty, well, he hated it. He laid still under a maple tree that was trying to mimic the colors of fire. Soon enough this whole place would look ablaze before dying. The ebony beast wasn't planning on sticking around long enough to see it.

With that thought in mind, he stood up and shook out his coat of loose leaves and twigs. He had a long journey to nowhere in particular ahead of him.

Twilight drew her from the Redhawks again, though after everything that had happened with Bruges she was careful not to let herself be so vulnerable.  She'd quit the apples (for the most part) and was dealing the withdrawals.  Thankfully she hadn't been doing them very long, otherwise she figured it might be a lot worse.  

As she moved through the glade in the dying of the light, she caught sight of a shadow.  Her heart leapt to her throat.  She thought for a second it might've been Bruges, or perhaps even that man she'd seen digging, but it was neither.

She announces herself with a chuff and slows to a stop.

His luck was thin today, wasn't it?

He could not be left alone by the locals it seemed. While this scent was not the same as the one the masked female had worn, it was rather close. Too close. Alas it wasn't her and so perhaps for that reason his interest dipped down a bit. Even when a chuff reached his ears.

Behemoth positioned himself to see her a bit better. She was as fiery as the sky was and his pale yellow eyes could only drink so much in. He had never enjoyed bright colors but it wasn't like he had any mud to throw on her to darken things. A dark brow raised as he stared at her with an expectant gaze.

Well?

Oh um.  Hmm.  Well that was, uh, a response.  She wasn't intimidated (yet) but she didn't quite know how to take it; all of a sudden this guy reminded her of Quixote and by the way, shouldn't she be getting back home?

No?

Okay.  She cleared her throat as she puffed out her chest. Uh, hey.

He smirked softly. Hello. He cooed back as he puffed out his own chest. His tail lazily flicked behind him as he examined gunmetal eyes. She was the opposite of the masked female he had met earlier. It was an insignificant thing to notice but he noticed it nonetheless.

And who might you be? He took a slow step forward but like usual remained aware of her personal space. Behemoth was not in the mood to get his nose bit off.

Her confidence deflated as the beast acknowledged her, but her posture remained unscathed.  He was a large, black creature with bright yellow eyes like some fairy tale given life.  Her ears wavered to the side then pushed back as she said, Ceara Blackthorn, as if her name had any significance outside of the Plateau.  And you?

Ceara. He murmured back softly, tasting her name on his tongue. It was interesting. Not too heavy but not too smooth. The name was turned back on him and he rolled his shoulders slowly. He was not used to doing introductions so he always kept them plain and to the point. Just like she had done. Behemoth. His tones fell flat, not even interested by himself.

Anything I can help you with?

His name drew a small smile from her.  Behemoth.  It was ironic, really, because he looked like a behemoth, too.  

Um, maybe.  I'm lookin' around for somewhere not too far from here, hopefully.  Winter's coming and where I live is really open.  I was hoping to find a suitable territory before I bring it up to leadership.

He smiled back at her, something almost too soft and genuine for a man like himself. He couldn't help it. Soon enough it would be washed away though. Behemoth could never look positive for too long. It was rather taxing on him.

If you want more shelter there's a copse northeast and a cedar forest down southeast. He mused aloud, eyes roaming over her and the area around her. But you probably already know that, huh? Sense you seem like a local and all.

His smile seems.. misplaced.  She doesn't doubt that it is genuine, but it does not seem to suit his presence.  He is an irrevocable force, earthquakes and thunderheads.  To see him wear such a gentle look was surprising.  But that's what she gets for judging him by his cover, right?  Perhaps this iniquitous world has just jaded him.

She offers him a curt nod as she mulls over the information he provides.  I do, she says plainly, but I still appreciate it.  But wait — Last time I had been to the cedar forest, there was a pack trying to form there.  Did they disperse?

A brow arched as a soft hum briefly slipped past him. Well no one was up my ass telling me to leave. Nor did I smell any markers. If they were still there they were perhaps one of the dullest packs he had come across in his short life. So I suppose they must be gone.

He shifted his weight as his posture seemed to relax. Better take it before they change their minds. He cooed as his yellow eyes sought out her silver ones.

Good to know.  The last time she'd been there, she'd been accosted almost immediately.  If Behemoth hadn't been bothered, they were undoubtedly dispersed.  She wanted to feel sympathetic for them, but she didn't have it in her anymore.

His last comment draws a smirk from her.  The bright golden bite of his gaze meets her dancing silver.  There's a twinkle where it doesn't belong, but she can't help but be charmed by someone that reminds her so much... of herself.  

I haven't talked to leadership yet, she supplies, so I wouldn't count on seeing us there just yet.  They had chosen to live on a Plateau; maybe they already had a plan for wintertime and she'd just look stupid when she brought it up.

But I'll be quick to move on it.  Thanks.

He didn't plan on sticking in the area. Not just yet at least. Granted he didn't feel compelled to say that out loud. Behemoth didn't have to share his own plans just because she wanted to share her own.

Her thanks was met with a more fitting smirk from the swarthy male. You're welcome. It's not often I get to do good deeds. It was never really. This was probably the first ever truly good deed he had done. It felt stranger but it was a feeling he might hold onto.

Until he got restless.

There was that part of her again that came uneasy and nervous.  She squirmed beneath his molten gaze, skin crawling as he admitted that it wasn't often he did good things.

Unable to stop herself, her ears swept forward and she queried curiously, "What... do you normally do?"  There was something dark beneath the twinkle of her eye, but it was snuffed in an instant.

Oh you're smarter than that. He cooed with a devilish twinkle in his eyes. I'm sure you know what beasts like me do. She didn't think him to be some pure hearted stranger, did she? Behemoth would laugh if that was her thought. Although he had his hopes that she did indeed know better. There was something about her that he couldn't put his claw on.

The warmth that had settled within her body vanished, and her heart quickens.  "You're smarter than that."  She's reminded of 

(what did you bury)

and the poisons in the ground.  Her fur stands on end, broken out in gooseflesh when he addresses her again.  "You know what beasts like me do."

— me its me they do me they do me they hurt and hurt and hurt and hurt

Stop.  She feels front-heavy, like she's going to faint.  The stoic expression on her face has shifted into something spaniel-eyed, liquid and fearful.  I do.  Her voice is hushed when it comes, and more vulnerable than she likes.

She should head home.

He set off some sort of trigger. The fear in her eyes and vulnerable tone lights a fire in his belly. Yet he quickly smothered it. He had been having fun with her, enjoying her company. Behemoth had, for once, not meant to startle his company.

It’s okay. He murmured softly, daring to step a little closer as he lowered his position some. Even beasts like me have their limits sometimes. I stand to gain nothing from hurting a helpful face. For even the lone wolf needed an ally every now and then.

Even his kindness is sharp.  

She feels like talking to him is like walking a knife's edge and she is treading close enough to bleed.  She could see it in him, that ichor-dark want.  And she could imagine shining alabaster dripping with blood as he snapped her throat.

Oh, you're smarter than that.  She knows now there is a (sometimes thin) difference between being a monster and doing monstrous things.   

He steps closer and her breath catches.  It's okay, he assures her.  Still, part of her felt like she'd made a deal with the devil himself.  You're right, she says more calmly, trying to smooth her features into something kinder.  There is still a hint of mistrust in her eyes, but he's fooled her.

Someone else might've taken advantage of that.  Someone that was a monster instead of someone who did monstrous things.  She trusted him to be the latter.

I should get home.  Maybe we'll see each other again.

Of course he's right. Behemoth knows (thinks, really) he is rarely wrong. Especially when it comes to the darker aspects in life. He was born from them after all. He ought to have a firm grip on their workings. Yet he does not voice this, he lets her have her words.

I couldn't convince you to stay for a bit longer? His voice was soft and supple, yellow gaze seeming to melt as he admired her fiery form and those moon colored eyes. She was everything he was not.

He was a lonesome beast, even if he never openly admitted it.

The softness of his voice seems devoid of the predatory tone that it held before.  She looks at him for a long while, and she watches the way that he watches her.  The gleam in his eye stokes the flames of her ego higher.  There was something about him that bled her of her desire to be difficult and folded her into something more easily swallowed.  He'd like that, right?  To strip her down and swallow her whole.

She couldn't say no.  For some time, she couldn't say anything.  Then she stepped forward into the dusk, the stars illuminating the dancing twinkle in her eye.  I suppose you could.  As long as he maintained the facade that she was valuable to him.

Her answer stirred a different fire within him. A yearning fire, if he could call it such. He wanted to be close to her and so he'd attempt to do so. Behemoth would try to move by her side and lightly graze against her. Granted he was fully prepared for a nose snapping if she did not approve.

What is something you love to do but don't get to often? I want you to enjoy your time with me. He may have been a bit of a monster but he was no bad host.

It's a little akin to taming the beast.  She feels triumphant as he is confident enough to run their fur together.  Her chest puffs, and she playfully snaps her teeth in the air between them in both warning and invitation.

The first thing that comes to mind are the apples.  She might've mentioned them if she wasn't worried about what they might do to each other inebriated — that he'd let his darkest desires consume him and forget about his friendly face or that she'd misinterpret something and hurt him... it was out of the question.  That she'd be reminded of Bruges and what he did to her — no, what they had done together.

This isn't the first tall, dark, handsome man who has asked her to stay the night in the woods.  Only this time, she's not stupid enough to get played — she hopes.  I don't.. I don't get to do much at all.  I work.  Hard.  All the time.  What did she love to do?  Did she even know, anymore?  She didn't have her gardens out here, and this man was not Raven.  

I guess I.. don't ever get to just sit and look at the stars.  Lame.  Lame, that was lame.  She drew her gaze up, disappointed by the trees that covered the sky.  But.  I mean.  If that's dumb, she rolled her shoulders, as if to finish the sentence.

Her first words bored the beast but they were quickly forgiven as she moved on. It was perhaps not the most action filled idea or even the most desirable but Behemoth was not backing out. He wanted to make this night enjoyable for her. One selfless act before going back to his usual ways. She was a rarity and he would treasure that.

Not dumb at all. He cooed honestly as he rounded her, brushing against her other side as he came to stand by her. Large head tilted so yellow eyes could get a good look at her. Do you know of a place or shall we get looking? Don't want to miss the show. The male purred as he took a few steps forward. His tail flicked and his head turned to look at her. The question in his eyes was clear. Are you coming with?

Format later. <3 

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Um, she says, voice catching in her throat as he lets their fur mingle, Well, I haven't been out this way.  I don't know of anywhere.  Let's.. start looking.  Colt had told her (more or less) to sleep around and although that wasn't her intention, this was part of the process of moving on, right?  Just spending time with other people and seeing where it goes?  So, tell me about yourself.  What do you love to do, that you don't get to very often?