race me! race me!

The two bothers couldn't have been any more different, one day and the other night.

For a moment she floundered, her ears flicking back in uncertainty as she couldn't decide on what approach to take. Of course, she had no intention of putting him up on a pedestal as she did with Azure, that was their thing and only acceptable when no prying eyes were in sight. But on the other paw she couldn't tell what Mortis wanted or expected from her. Azure, for all his faults, was very upfront about his wants and desires, it was easy to serve him when Hanako knew where she stood. But with Mortis it felt as though she was stuck in a grey area and she could hardly just up and ask 'hey, so what do you want from me?' As her heart slowed in her chest Hanako felt as though her previous words were impulsive and though at a glance he didn't seem to mind she couldn't help but feel as if she could've done better.  She hadn't outright slipped up, so at least there was that, but the potential for it was there.

And then he brushed her worries away. His wings were every bit as soft and as plush as she'd hoped and she found herself leaning gratefully into his touch, her eyes drifting closed in a slow blink. The brothers were different, in more ways than Hanako knew, but it couldn't be said than one was better than the other. They simply were two different sides of a coin: Azure wanted followers and Mortis wanted friends. She could see that clearly now and felt a little silly that she'd gotten all tangled up for no reason at all, but quickly chalked it up to the adrenaline coursing through her veins. The race had been fun for sure but it muddled her a little more than she would've expected.

The Fatalis boy settled comfortably on the sand and Hanako mimicked his posture, easy and relaxed.

"I'm Hanako. And I wouldn't worry, I'm only newish." She assured with a nonchalant wave of her paw. "To be honest I haven't really met many of the others, sort of got the feeling they like to keep to themselves." Which was a bit of a shame but she wasn't going to nip at their ankles till they gave her attention. "But I'm really glad you happened by, I haven't had that much fun in ages."