Lion Head Mesa oxidize

will tag gucci after a bit!

@Nala's days were filled with tasks and work tavina had not even know existed in the palace. her beloved was beneath even the young servants. the sesh thought it particularly unfair, especially for such a kind soul. such was the edict of pharaoh.

it was why she doted upon her love when she was close. her own quarters had become theirs, but was small for the two of them. still she decorated and encouraged nala to do the same. 

tonight she'd asked for a meal to be brought to their rooms. and while it was prepared, she took the woman to the wellspring where lotus petals floated atop the warm water. "come on," she urged, stepping into it with a grin.

nala had found herself with something akin to culture shock.

there was a sharpness to her body that had come with a stint as a loner, sharpened further by the constant work of akashingo she now endured.

she found herself tending to anything and everything. she had even fallen into a place almost befitting of a servant to servants.

yet in the evenings she was reminded it was all worth it. doted upon in the dark corners of akashingo when the worst of her day was done. it was increasingly difficult to not fall asleep the moment she found tavina's arms, but tonight they were going somewhere. and while nala found an inkling of reluctance to leave their cozy abode, she followed with stars in her eyes all the same.

the water was gorgeous, beautiful. plants floated atop it and nala suddenly felt horribly out of place. caked in her day's work. once pretty, feathery fur tangled with her toiling.

reluctance showed first on her face, before her voice peeped out, soft but sincere.

are you sure?

"yes."

tavina moved back in the wellspring, and when nala at last joined her, she kissed the dusty cheek. "you have been working very hard. harder than i would have wanted you to work."

there was an edge to her voice at the last that soon smoothed. "tonight i invited neb gucci for dinner. i — i hope you don't mind."

she moved behind nala, dripping water over the tension in her lover's right shoulder.

she followed now.

soft in every action, even at returning the kiss given to her. the base dust washed off in a soft cloud under the water. clay still clumped some parts.

maybe it will be good for me. maybe i'll learn a skill to come out of sanpin with.

maybe she could become a fisher like teya had been. a doctor like her lover. religious like the priests?

she leaned into tavina, even as her body stiffened some at the announcement of a neb for dinner! a rank well beyond nala. almost as far removed as the pharaoh!

o-oh! no, no i don't but...will he mind?

it seemed the bath was having the opposite effect.

"he isn't like that," she assured, sprinkling crushed soapwort into nala's fur. "he is my friend. and he's —"

"do you remember the children i told you about? the ones who lost maegi as their mother." she used her muzzle to rinse nala's pelt there until the whiteness of her multi-hued fur returned.

"he is their father. i told him about you before i went to bring you out of brecheliant. about us."

oh.

oh.

suddenly, grief sat in her heart where embarrassed anxiety once laid. she was meeting with the man who had lost so much, it seemed. she wondered what kind of mind he was.

clearly one good in the eyes of tavina.

what does he...think? about me, us...the children.

she licked her lips, and brushed herself along the shoulder of her love. freeing some more dirt.

"he called you my ladypal." tavina smiled against the curve of nala's neck, moving to massage the other shoulder.

the feel of the woman against her, the gentle lapping of the water around them; it was starting to distract the sesh in a particular way. 

"i said we could help him, as if we were a pair of parents alongside him. he seemed quite taken with the idea." she kissed nala's ear.

ladypal.

she laughed, muted and soft. genuine in its warmth, though.

is that what i am? she wondered if he did not know the feelings that washed over them. warm and lapping like the spring water.

she gazed upon tavina for a long moment.

the man was taken with them as parents alongside him.

she did not look any deeper.

he should be. not everyone gets to have two fine ladypals to help.

humor peeked around her exhaustion. she pressed a kiss to tavina's cheek.

"he should be indeed!"

the sesh kissed the soft cheeks, then the gentle mouth. she moved around, beginning a soapy preen of nala's breastbone.

"we'll go back for a bit and i'll invite him after a while," she said in a voice strained by control.

tension slipped away like a robe.

she heard the words, but with the knowledge that the neb did not immediately await them? well, she felt nearly floating. somewhere in her exhaustion and her love.

no one had ever tended to her in the way tavina had.

she wished to hold onto that feeling for as long as she could.

all she offered was a throaty hum, acknowledge and approval.

tavina supported nala as they moved back to their quarters, a trail of wet pawmarks in their wake.

and when she eased the sanpin down into the bed they shared, it was not to rise for some time.

***

tavina gestured to the meal that had been laid out, covered with soft skins for now. she rose decisively. "come sit and then we will call him." ignoring that nala might by now be quite unfit for company!

nala slipped somewhere comfortable, between sleep and waking. she had listened to the rhythm of tavina's heart for some time.

then the doctor was stirring, all at once.

finally prepared to bring the man into their corridor.

she practically fumbled over herself, attempting to sit upright alongside tavina. she preened the out of place tufts on her sides and chest.

call him, call him. she encouraged, half asleep still but attempting to hold herself awake long enough.

do I look okay?

asked before he may come into their home.

lets do one last post from nala and then urs, bees!

nala's fur was tousled and now only the tiniest bit damp. tavina returned to help with grooming the long strands of black and white.

"you look radiant." indeed nala glowed with their efforts and the sweet effects of the bath. 

presently, tavina sent a word to @Gucci, that the sesh wanted him to join her and her ladypal for a late dinner.

this was as well groomed and composed as she'd likely ever be for the next three months.

and it was to meet such an important man!

she smiled warmly at tavina, eyes full of adoration. but soon her gaze would turn to catch the approach of their guest.

tags r for reference! tell me if ur not ok w/ em! <3 

first, hours after the new sanpin was appointed, gucci came running and panting to tavina, to beg forgiveness for not being present to sway the pharaoh into letting the former saint in with more pleasant rank. but the kids, they were now his focal point, and sounds don't carry well to the catacombs, and he was so engrossed in coaxing a sensible sentence out of little @Medusa...

aaa ebony tell me if this assumption is ok w/ u!!

so as to compensate, the neb called to young @Nazli and asked for aid in getting himself prim and proper. washed and dried earlier in the day, crushed spotted bee balm petals rubbed into fur, and coat with teeth and claws combed to perfect fluffiness - he almost felt as if he were back in his showdog days.

still, he was nervous when another fellahin came to inform him he was finally summoned. while coming, the man had to pause to fix his breathing.

neb georgia honeys veni vidi gucci walked into the room in his most poised gait, head held high, dogtag shiny clean, expression carefully neutral, tail resting against lower back...

...and seconds later went slack-jawed, looking at the wonderfully bred australian shepherd mix seated besides tavina.

mouth still open, he slowly turned his head towards the sesh.

"...tavinAH!" he nearly screeched. "you didn't tell me!"

his previously so carefully set tail now wagged wildly.

perfectly fine! :D

tavina had swept the coverings off to reveal three kinds of meat: quail, rabbit, and fish, with mounds of fresh fruit and carefully cupped honey besides. and as always, a heap of the dark red fermented berries. 

gucci's dog-tag announced him. the sesh thought he looked quite splendid: buffed, polished, coiffed, and shimmering.

but it was his delight which brought her eyes alive.  they danced with purple glow. "the best for last," she told him, unable to stop from grinning. "gucci thought you were a wolf," tavina explained to nala. "he is charmed to find you are not."

a...clinking.

she had heard that before. so long ago but! for a moment, everything was forgotten save for the sound. it grew louder and louder until eventually —

"...tavinAH!"

tall, wispy ears flickered for a moment. like radar dishes attempting to align once again.

but her mismatched eyes already soaked in the scene. a tiny little beast! she fawned over him at once. oh, neb! her neck leaned forward, away from her lover who she sat so close to.

well consider me charmed too!

sleep finally loosened its last few grips on her.

all poise, all restrain forgotten, remembering only to pick up his jaw off the floor, gucci padded over to seat himself.

"nawt half as enchanted as ah m!" with a grin he extended his forelegs towards the she-dog. 

if she remembered the human gesture, or the command every pup learns, and gave him her paw, gucci would take it into his own two tiny ones, one on top and one on the pawpad, and delight at the contact.

if not, he would remain like it for a moment, before realizing she wouldn't reciprocate, and set his paws down again - but neither his smile nor his enthusiasm would be quelled.

"oh we simply must prattle on n on 'bout all'a th' human n housepet thangs, but first-!" he turned to tavina. "where oh where didja find this bug's ear of a gal!"

"not far from here, actually." tavina was quite delighted she watched the pair of them take one another in. they were her favourites in the palace; it pleased her to see them get along. "we met, she told me stories. i wanted to invite her back to the palace but akashingo was in mourning. so off she went, after agreeing to meet me later in the year."

in the interim, tavina had discovered that she was a saint and made such arrangements to free her from the unknown shackles of the pack.

she chewed a piece of meat. "her time as sanpin is only three months. by winter you will be one of us, nala." her eyes were devoted.

paws!

he was asking for her to give paw. how funny that the simple action sparked something old in her brain. she gave him one of her much larger paws at once, her tail a wispy broom against the earth in how it swept.

human n housepet thangs!

she wondered how much he might very well unearth from her memory, things long discarded in favor of fitting in among the wild. she had not been prepared to see such a fancy little beast akin to her here.

what do you two think i will be when my time as sanpin is up? i mean, you are sesh and you are neb. her muzzle swept warmly in the direction of both of them at their appointed titles.

FORGIVE ME I AM A COLLEGE STUDENT NOW

HAVE APOLOGY ART 

gucci was deeply pleased.

he plucked a strip of meat off a long bone, and politely chewed while the women spoke.

he swallowed. "hm." a paw rose to his chin, in ponderment.

"ah don't believe ya'll be let inta nobility. ramesses saves that fer his favorites. fella-heen's possible, maybe even mass-oi, but..." one brow raised, he addressed tavina. "she could always be apprenticed to th' doctorly ways, hm?" 

back to nala, with a soft smile. "if that speak to ya's heart, 'fcourse."

AHHHHHHHHHHHH <3333333333

"not fellahin."

tavina's words were quick; her smile more a jerk than a gesture of goodwill. she would not put nala into ramesses' eye; it took one time of interest and he would order her to serve in that way.

the sesh cleared her throat and looked sweetly at her love, then mischievously at gucci. "perhaps if my herbal ways are not your own, love," she said into the gentle face of nala, "our vizier might see fit to have an assistant."

travel, intrigue, politics — a sudden door opened after these grueling months.

screaming and crying tysm bees ;;

not fellahin.

her hear settled uncomfortable between her breast and throat. she was below even them! she did the work beneath the fellahin, assisted them in all ways.

but she knew that it was better to grovel than to outright serve.

oh, but tavina — so quick and smart. easy to follow and easier to adore.

she felt hot under the sudden attention of her own future. even if she had been the one to invite it! i suppose i have plenty of time to decide, don't i?

she laughed, a bit awkward but warm. suddenly small beneath the warmth of kindness.

gucci nodded in agreement with tavina's correction. his understanding of the service roles was, to admit it, quite sheltered, but he did grasp why his friend might turn protective at the option.

vizier? the chihuahua chewed and swallowed.

then realized.

"ta-vi-nah!" he arranged himself into an offended pose, but smiled all the while. "hush, ya! ah merely keep mahself under th' king's belly, else he actually spot me." the "vizier" reached for a bone, rolling it over to himself. "if tha' means ah get sat upon now n then, so be it! 'fter all, some do say they bow t' th' throne." gucci grinned.

"as fer ya, miss," he stuck a rib between his foretoes and gestured with it at nala. "you's right 's rain. plenty a-time, which a hope ya'll use t' git this whole damn spire b'neath ya paw. here, knowing people wins ya half th' battle."

he sucked in the bone, and chewed on it like rolled-up tobacco. 

hurry this up to the finishline ^^ ?

gucci was charming and set tavina at ease as usual. she too chose to eat in that moment, and to lift a toast in celebration of their meeting.

"nala, you take all the time you need to decide. whatever you choose will be right. and gucci, thank you for your continued friendship to me."

and now, to us.

her smile was soft upon them both, for it felt as though she truly sat and supped with friend and lover in complete loyalty to one another.