Deity perked up in fascination at Dutch’s educated response. She knew so much for someone so young— Deity had no knowledge whatsoever of rocks or chemicals or reactants. It felt good. To learn. Sulfur can weaken rocks. She stored that information deep inside herself, knowing it likely wouldn’t come in handy in her lifetime, but it felt good to learn something new. While other wolves hoarded gems, or feathers, or flowers, Deity hoarded knowledge. Every observation and fact, from chemical reactivity to Dutch’s apparent dislike of the hot water, she kept in a deep part of her brain, and would keep for years.
The she-wolf pawed the stone closer to Deity, and to her great surprise, offered to let her help. Deity shuffled closer, wanting to feel out this new art for herself. She lowered her chest to the ground. Positioning the stone between her paws like a bone, she eyed the winking jewel. Deity thoughtfully quirked her mouth downward, realizing how clumsy her paws seemed compared to Dutch’s nimble dexterity. She took the second stone gingerly in her maw, feeling it grate against her milk-colored teeth. She clumsily raised and lowered her head, attempting to extract the jewel from the dark stone it was encased in. Miraculously, she didn’t damage the stone, but she didn’t really make any progress, either.
A little embarrassed, Deity nudged the rock back to Dutch. She looked up, realizing how close they were to each other. Though Dutch had shifted back some, Deity’s languid form, laying down now, had brought her only a couple tail-lengths from the she-wolf. The distance was not uncomfortable, nor was it intimate, but Deity hadn’t been so close to a stranger... ever, probably.
”You’re, uh, better at this than me,” Deity muttered. She had a bit of trouble admitting this sort of thing, but she needed words to fill the silence.
”Speech”
And so our haloes became collars and golden chains; our proud, shining divinity became the very thing that bound us.
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