There was a small, serene clearing amidst the forest that Rivka had claimed to herself. It was much like Whitemoon Glen (except it was a glade) where the court and royal family stayed, but this one was a bit harder to access given that it was on the edge of Talon territory and so there were scouts keeping people away. "If you want someplace nice to relax," they said, "go to Whitemoon Glen". But this place was smaller, she liked smaller, and of it lacked all those stuffy fuddy duddies (she REALLY liked that) that liked to think themselves higher up and in charge of the rest of them. Her mother and father weren't in the court, and they WERE better than just about everyone, so why should she listen to them? So she didn't. So she took roundabout routes around the scout paths to get to the clearing full of sweetgrass and wildflowers where she could be alone with her thoughts or freely release any and all pent up emotions or energy. Today? Today was a day she wanted to release some energy. As she made her way into the clearing she did a quick look back and around to make sure she wasn't followed and then pranced happily into a patch of wildflowers, sending the group of butterflies nesting there into a confused frenzy. Rivka laughed, a full, bubbly sound as she pronked amidst the cloud of butterflies without a care in her mind...well, except for maybe the mild concern that she might squish one. But really nothing IMPORTANT was in her head. And it felt good, so good.
--
This tracking-Rivka business was really starting to become a bit much.
He had been wandering when he picked up her scent, as he was often wont to do. He had no interest in staking out a place of his own (and neither did any of his family members, it seemed). It lead to a great deal of moving from place to place, and he was fond of it. Despite it, though, he always made a habit of never straying too far from where he knew the pale purple doe would be. He hadn't seen her in some days, now, and concern was welling in his chest. After a brief vertical leap of relief (and joy) upon discovering her trail, he hastened to follow it, slowing when he knew she was near. She may have been busy talking to another; he knew that she was more than a social butterfly and regularly talked to other Herla. He wasn't certain why. He didn't really care. His eyes widened ever so slightly when they finally caught sight of the doe.
It had been a while since he had seen her this way. As she grew older, she seemed to have much less interest in simple things. He respected this. He respected whatever decision she made. But to see her frolicking as though she was as young as the fawns back in the thickets made a curious feeling stir in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to greet her. He intended to! But, instead, he found himself all but rooted to the ground beside the little patch of blueberry bushes, only vaguely hidden (especially with the sun glinting off of his armor), quiet and awed and spellbound.
--
After enough pronking to leave her out of breath, the hind collapsed happily amongst the flowers, sighing in content as the sun peeked out from behind a cloud to shine its warm rays down on her. After several moments of being still the butterflies calmed down and returned to their previous places, some on flowers and some on her. One rather large orange one landed right on her nose and she opened her eyes to stare at it cross-eyed, giggling a bit as it wandered around and tickled her nose. She would've continued to watch it but...something in the distance glinted curiously. Rivka stood up slowly and stared right at Hellion's breast plate, trying to make out just what that was and whether it was worth a) investigating or b) running away from.
--
That funny feeling did not seem interested in going away. Hellion had never truly grown up; it was the gospel truth. Despite it, though, he was no stranger to adult emotions. He had been feeling them since his fawn days, even if he didn't know how to handle or express them. He found himself unable to look away from the female lying in the grass. The butterflies swirled around her as though she was nothing but another flower, and as he realized that she was, in that moment, the most beautiful thing he had yet to lay eyes on, he wondered if this was that love that everyone seemed so eager to talk about.
He didn't have long to dwell on it, though. Only a few seconds passed before she lifted her head, pricked her ears, and stared. She wasn't looking at him, though. Not entirely. He glanced behind him for a moment, unsure of what had her looking so wary. Nothing there. Maybe she couldn't recognize him with the distance between them? She looked unnerved, though, and he hastened to ease her anxiety by stepping out into the openness of the thicket. He was too far to call out to her, but his head lowered in an almost child-like expressoin of apology, despite his eagerly flicking stub of a tail.
--
"Hellion?" she whispered the question, unsure if her eyes were playing tricks on her or not. Was it really him? And if it was...how did he find this place? Was he looking for it or for...her? When she saw the eagerly wagging tail she knew it was the hart from her childhood. "H-Hellion!" She smiled brightly and pranced over to him, her emotions honest and true for once rather than a subconscious manipulative facade. Rivka sweetly nuzzled her head under his. “What are you doing here?”
As of late she found herself enjoying Hellion's company more and more. That isn't to say that when they were yearlings they didn't have fun together. No, she had the most fun with Hellion than with anyone, and she wouldn't deny that, but there had always been an agenda behind it (not that that was his fault) and there was always the issue that Hellion thought her a perfect and pristine princess (which, as far as she was concerned, she was) but he also thought her innocent...which she most certainly was not. And while being duplicitous had been great fun as a child, as an adult it was getting to be...tiring. At least around Hellion. Around anyone else she had no issue manipulating their feelings, she didn't give a snort about any of them...but around Hellion she always got tired. It took her awhile to realize that the reason was that she cared about him, deep down in that dark, selfish little heart of hers.
Furthermore, she knew Hellion felt something for her...something romantic. And while she adored the attention she had never even considered his feelings as something that Could Be. He was too immature. He would never Get It. And besides, how could she return them? No, it wasn't because she was with Lucio (though that did factor in), but it was because he was in love with a lie...and despite wanting to keep him all to herself she knew Hellion deserved something real (though she’d be damned if she ever allowed anyone else near him). And so she shied away from him, for his own good, and maybe a bit of her own.
But then...then there was that day with that ugly, despicable doe. That day she let her true self slip. And for a moment, she had been worried...so worried about what Hellion would think of her. How he would react. It broke her heart to think of him looking at her in disgust...and yet...he didn't. He just smiled at her, that dopey, happy smile and looked at her with those adoring eyes. He loved her...despite the outburst. He might’ve even loved her more! This didn’t register until later on, after she had let out her rage amongst the flowers in the field and the trees around it (they still bore scratches from her armor and horns), but when it did her heart thudded painfully in her chest. The fact that she had cared...the fact that her chest swelled when she realized Hellion still looked at her with that perfect adoration despite the vile venom she had spewed...it all pointed to feelings beyond simple friendship. It pointed to...love. But she loved Lucio as well. Was it possible to love two harts like that? She didn’t know...not yet. But the more time she spent around Hellion (which was becoming a great deal the more Lucio was away), the more she was certain of that fearsome L word.
--
"Looking for you." Hellion never failed to be honest. In truth, the hart lacked tact; he saw no reason to change words or fluff meanings (and even if he did, he lacked the skill to do so). Still, the words held a sort of vulnerability that was something he did not frequently show. Her simple nuzzle made his knees ache for a moment, as though they were not certain they could hold the twitterpated stag up for much longer. His eyes closed as he leaned into her touch.
Touch was not something that Hellion had grown up with. His mother gave him obligatory nudges, but she was not an affectionate doe. He did not mind this, and he could never blame her for it. She had taken good care of him. That being said, affection was something of an anamole for him. He both craved it and was unnerved by it. In a bit, he would be startled at how comfortable he was with Rivka being so close to him. But for that moment, he could not think of anything else he would rather do or anywhere else he would rather be than with this doe. His doe? No. He couldn't claim her, nor did he have any real want to. But he would never object to being hers.
--
"L-looking for me?" Rivka took a half step back and turned her head to try and hide the blush that had come upon her face...though with her light colored skin and lack of thick fur it was very obvious. It bothered her that Hellion could always make her blush with his blunt words when she normally only did so for nefarious purposes. And yet...it felt so good. A warmth in her chest accompanied the one on her face, but this warmth put the sun's rays to shame. They might as well have been beams of ice coming down from the sky.
"Why were you looking for me? Is...everything alright?” She nuzzled Hellion again, this time in worry. For some reason, being honest about her feelings made her ignorant to things that would have been obvious otherwise. Such was the price to pay for being a schemer, a manipulator. She had ignored her own subconscious for so long that when it reared its ugly head it took every bit of her brain to handle it. So while “normal” Rivka would have not needed time to answer that question, she honestly could not fathom the reason as to why Hellion would be looking for her.
It was strange...she had never had that issue with Lucio. She had read him like a book. She STILL read him like a book. She knew Lucio like her own reflection, and he was the first to know the real her, she had a connection with the other hart that she never thought was possible...it was definitely love...so why was she pining for Hellion like this? Perhaps it was because she could never pin a label on him, could never read him like the others. Hellion gave her a rush, a sense of pure, unadulterated freedom. She had become a manipulator to put herself above the rest of the inferior herla, to play the world in a way that would amuse her so that she would be free of the social constructs that suffocated all who were in it.
...and yet it was hardly half of the feeling of freedom that being with Hellion gave her. Hellion made her feel alive. And wasn’t that love...too?
--
Hellion's ears drooped as though he had been reprimanded. There was little more that bothered him than seeing Rivka upset (or worried, or scared, or angry, or anything but happy). It didn't matter if she was faking it, as she often did. A pity to any that caused it; those who did quickly found themselves on the list of Herla that Hellion was all too eager to harm. When it was his doing, though, it made guilt churn around in his chest. Such was the case now. He dipped his head in apology, closing the space between them and gently nosing where her jaw line met her neck.
"I just wanted to see you," he hastily reassured. It was truth. He had. True, he could not see himself returning to the same patch of grass day after day. He would not, however, be terribly disappointed in always finding Rivka waiting for him whenver he returned from wherever he went. He imagined it sometimes, finding somewhere to nestle himself down after a long night. He would smile to an invisible doe, drop gifts of daisies to her invisible feet, then curl up and sleep by her invisible side. It sufficed, for now - particularly when he could have moments like this. The stag licked the base of the doe's ear before he asked in an almost coy tone, "Is that alright?"
--
Rivka leaned into that gentle nuzzle, totally unconscious of the slight movement until she felt his unusually warm skin against her typically cold skin. She laughed, a small, dainty sound to help calm her rattled nerves. She wasn't used to anyone pulling strings except her, and she certainly wasn't used to anyone pulling so hard on her strings. With Lucio she had wanted it. She wanted the bad boy that no one liked, the outcast, the epitome of how she felt inside (the rage, the stubbornness, the hate of the other herds), only on the outside. Hellion had blind-sided her. "Well you must have really wanted to see me then," she said with a very much coy tone and licked his nose in reply to the little one he gave to her ear. "This place is very difficult to get to." Rivka turned around and slowly moved into the glade, her tail curling under Hellion's chin in a sort-of "come hither" motion. "There are scouts around, they told me this is on the edge of Talon territory. That this area is forbidden for anyone but warriors...but I couldn't stay away...this place...it's the acme of peace." Rivka stared up at the sky, her eyes glazed over slightly as she stared beyond it and into the realm of thought.
