How far we've come

There was no rush for Chimera to join her and she had no doubt that he would so she had no problem with waiting for her King to appear, relaxing across the soft furs with her head resting on her paws. Eventually his large form did come into view and she smiled as she lifted her head to greet him. Her tail wagged and her ears gave a shy flick when he addressed her as his queen. She was slowly adjusting to the new title, no doubt with Siren's help, but it was still a bit weird for her to hear him call her a Queen. It was a good kind of weird though—flattering in a way that made her heart skip. "My King," she replied softly as he walked into the gazebo toward her. She noticed his coat was a bit damp, clumped in places where it was drying, and she wondered to herself what she had pulled him away from.

Before he could ask though he came to stand in front of her, making her head tip back to look up at him while his paw lifted to touch the crystal growths along her crown. She knew this was his first time seeing them and she wasn't sure how he might react to them, but she supposed his paw stroking her cheek while expressing how glad he was that they weren't something worse was as good of a reaction as anything else. "Me too," she admitted with a relieved smile. She had been genuinely afraid for a short time after the crystals revealed themselves, remembering how deeply Viper's illness had run from the autopsy Aliana had done, but luckily the crystals reached a certain point and seemed to stop, creating a small row of horns in their wake. She hadn't had any other symptoms or illness and she was feeling fine now that the headaches and tenderness had gone.

"Will you join me?" she asked with a nod of her head toward the empty spot beside her. While he got settled she got to her paws so that she could retrieve the food and drink she had brought with her. She knew he didn't usually drink so she sat the bottle of fresh water in front of him and put the wine off to the side, thinking she might have some herself later. The food was just simple pieces of cooked meats, but she thought he might like something to eat after working through the day. She leaned in to kiss his cheek as she offered him the food, giving him a smile before she went over to the bag she had carried some of her supplies in. She had brought a towel with her just in case she needed to dry off the benches in the gazebo from the frequent rains they had been having, but since she hadn't needed to use it she could repurpose it for him.

She brought it over and sat along his side and started running the towel through his damp fur, wicking away most of the moisture from his pelt. Her paws worked steadily over his scruff, back, and sides, putting a bit of pressure into the motions as well so it could be a bit of a massage as she was drying him off as well. "What have you been working on?" she asked curiously, glancing up toward his face as she spoke. When he was about as dry as she was going to be able to get him she put the towel off to the side and came back to where she was laying before, settling down onto her stomach at his side with her shoulder leaning into his. She reached for one of his large, dark paws, taking it between her own and beginning to rub and massage his paw pads. She always marveled at just how much larger his paws were than hers, the black dipped toes dwarfing her pale, speckled ones. She smiled as she worked, happy and content while she spent time with him like this.

"Dalila Vista Rocha"