Will we ever be the same as we once were?

Kiyo watched as he clambered into the pool rather gracelessly, returning his sheepish smile with a gentle, non-judgemental one of her own. Though he lacked a limb, Kiyo didn’t think that it made the Armada wolf any lesser, neither in terms of admirability nor handsome appearance. She supposed she’d always liked the rugged ones, her ex-husband had been covered in a myriad of scares himself, after all. Perhaps that was part of her foolish mistakes, perhaps she should be running the other way, but she couldn’t deny that she was intrigued by the man in front of her and his story. Whether it was romantically or platonically, she didn’t yet know and it would take more than two meetings for her to know anyhow.

He introduced himself as Magnus, a fine, strong name, and she dipped her head formally in greeting. “Kiyo, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Then, his expression turned into a playful one of his own, accusing her of hiding her own malformations, and she scoffed. The Apothaker turned, pulling herself gracefully from the water and onto the pool’s edge. The water ran in rivulets from her long, downy, silver fur that clung to her sleek body, seeming as though molten silver itself fell from her and into the water below. She lifted her chin, though perhaps a bit quicker and harsher than she had intended to, used to the weight of her antlers atop her head. Then, she did a little turn, allowing him to see her at all sides. Better?” she asked, her own brows rising in question. A small shiver crossed over her spine, flinching her skin as a waft of cold air chilled her wet body. She lowered herself back in, resting on the submerged ledge she had found.

“How are you doing, with all of the oddity that surrounds us?” she asked, her tilting curiously. She wondered if he had been affected as personally as she had, if he was crumbling a little beneath the surface too.