Blackbeak Bluff lluvia

the swim across had nearly killed belen. she lay gasping like a small beached seal. eventually the girl lifted her head. no scent of the islands clung to her sodden pelt, and she scarcely recognized this shore. the acolyte gathered her paws beneath her. to practice pleasure-magick elsewhere was integral to her rise. and so she set off, stiffly at first, then more relaxed as she dried, thankful for the steady mainland beneath her paws.

from atop a cliff he first saw the seathing, crawling out the ocean as if just born of it. 

his curiosity held him in place; he watched them first lay as if dead, eventually rediscover the function of their limbs, then purposefully head inland.

slavuj's interest was piqued, to say the least.
 
the gull beneath his paw made another dying caw, and the dog shushed it with a clamp of jaws.

-

it wasn't explicit want to see the little seacreature up close that had him wandering around the area, moreso the search for a good, covered spot to enjoy and store his meal.

and yet there they were, a slim one of stone grey and sandy brown - so deceivingly canine! - and he simply couldn't resist.

from a raise of land he directed at them a bark, muffled by a maw filled with feathers he'd forgot occupied it. his tail waved like a white flag.

belen was not quite sure what she was looking at. she squeezed her eyes shut. perhaps she had swallowed too much salt-water, or perhaps she'd hit her head or been sunbaked. but when she opened her gaze again, the odd figure was still there. feathers poured out of its mouth. its pelt was a morass of long, strange coils. the thing was dirty white. but the bark was recognizable as canine to wolfen ears. she opened her mouth and barked back, curious despite her wary gaze.

he took the reply as permission to approach, and came down the rise on long legs still carrying him lightly despite the weight of coat.

in his excitement he ended up having to skid to a halt a few leaps away from the seathing, and as the motion swept back his bangs the smile in his eyes could be clearly seen.

"fhoh!" he said, then realised he said nothing, and let the gull drop at his feet. 

"hello!" he tried again, just as enthusiastic. "parjon mai inchrushion, bat ai mast aesk tchu; are yeau ae mermaid?" his head inquisitively tilted to one side, smile long and eager.

belen learned several things about the figure. the first was that he was a man. the second was that his eyes were kind. the third was his thick, almost unparseable speech. and the fourth was that she did hear the last word, which meant to be a compliment. "yes," she answered him with a practiced, gleaming smile. "i have just washed ashore and i am so hungry. i am looking for the prince of this land, si? is it you?"

slavuj laughed, glad to finally have one so eagerly join his game.

"unforchunately, ai aem merely ai humble baerd aend songster, miss mermaid." he gave a joking bow, flourish added by the flow of his tassels. "aend ai haeve neither cook nor servant in mai service, sou yeau might need tchu fast... bat oh!" he made a face as if he just now saw the gull at his feet. 

"wouldju looek at jat, mader nachure loves her vagrant son aefter aell!" with a smile he pushed the bird her way.

she herself had not even seen the gull. "oh, gracias," she breathed out, wet ears cupping forward in a genuine show of pleasure. she fell upon the bird and tried to take dainty bites once she had plucked it to nothing. the acolyte consumed a good deal of it, and when she was finished she covered a burp with her small forepaw and set about grooming her chestfur. "what is your name, prince?" she asked at last, smiling toward the wolf? with his odd coiled pelting.

he laid down, crossed his forelegs. he was hungry, yes, but to sate himself, he took in the big and small of her features.

eyes like cracked glass buried among shoreline pebbles; finely shaped and expressive. fur, as he'd seen, stone and sand, but now could appreciate how sparse it was. light jacket to the bulky coats of others. build so delicate, but gently curved. he dreamily wondered if his embrace could fully engulf her.

ears shapely and cute, muzzle narrow and smooth, whiskers pristine, the bits of cream above her eyes giving her crescent moon brows, tail so very--

her little burp bounced his chin off his paws to which it had, mind deep in dreamland, sunk. he chuckled.

"ai aem славуј." the bard spoke crisply in his mother tongue, then leaned forward and gently repeated in their shared dialect. "slah - vooy."

"aend yeaurs? or vill ai haev tchu guess, seachild?"

belen had felt his soft eyes on her while she ate. she lived a transactional life: he had fed her and so she expected that he would want more from her. he lapsed momentarily into his odd tongue and she looked at him in interest. slavuj. she would not try to say it aloud. "i am — zaira," she said. she was told to wash all trace of blackwater from herself; it stood to reason a name would follow suit. she drew closer, sniffing delicately toward his pelt. he smelled of many things and she found herself fascinated by the way the hairs of his pelt locked together into the long ropes. the long lashes blinked; she lifted her eyes slowly to his, attempting a take upon kasmut's charming expressions.

"zaira." he breathed back, as if the shape of the sounds in his mouth could be tasted.

"ai kh-nou that naem." his lips curved. "flauer." 

her curiosity was observed. the flutter of her lashes - so very enchanting!

"tchell mi, sweet seaflauer..."

the komondor lowered his head.

"... joo yeau kh-nou songs?"

flower. her ears swept forward in true, real surprise. her mouth formed into a small moue. she could not hide her interest. how had he known? the man called her seaflower and belen's cheeks heated. "i know a few. but i would rather hear you sing, señor." again the smile which lit her face. it was the most fun she had experienced since leaving akashingo, and for now belen only answered to herself.

"ouh, bat ai woulj laik tchu hear yeaur singing voice, госпођице." he grinned, but did not push.

the dogman shook out his corded bangs and beard, took a deep breath, and straightened his posture the way a wolf would for a howl.

he first hummed, head lightly swaying, eyes gently closed.

then sang;

"there's ae calm surrender,

tchu th' rush ouf day,

vhen th' heat ouf ae roll-ing wind,

can be tchurned ah-waaay~

aen enchanted moment,

aend it sees mi trough,

it's enough for dis reschless warrior,"

his eyes opened, and his head tilted away from the sky, to look at the girl.

"juest tchu be vith yeau." 

soft, blending with the light touch of wind.

was he serenading her? belen found herself quite transfixed with heart pounding; she watched in wide glassblue as he sang and sundered her ships upon the careering romantic spearpoint of his singing. never had she experienced such the flush which seemed to run all sides and shades of herself. belen was drymouthed and captivated, recovering too belatedly to sit and clap her paws and laugh aloud, delighted and astounded. "a prince and a bard," she joked. "if you have no company for tonight, perhaps you will consider a mermaid spat out by the sea?" her eyes were gilded with intrigue, and belen thought he would not push away her offer.

slavuj gave an exaggerated bow as she clapped, flow of tassels adding flourish.

her offer - he was bold enough to assume she'd give companionship of a specific kind. it elated him, but he knew best his own tastes, and that there was something very specific that would most please him.

for a moment the komondor sat, straight, inspecting her trough one crack-opened eye, miming cold scrutiny.

next he closed both and shrugged. "fine wi' me."

then dropped down in a playpose, smile and tailwags, boyish excitement unbidden. "bat. deal: ief ai make this mermaid wish tchu forgo th' sea, she'll tchell mi ouf herself."

his glimmering gaze said; truth, lie, tale, the story matters less than the storyteller.

slavuj observed her. belen preened beneath his roving eye. she matched him as he fell into an affable pose. "it is a deal," she answered at once with a sly lift of her brow. "do you know what a palace is?" it was where she expected to return, after all. she was to be married by the blackwater wolves but belen defied that notion. she had just come into her life. belen did not want that marred by the endless mewling and suckling of children. she arched along his shoulder, headed back the way he had come, looking back over one slim shoulder at her suitor-to-be.