Making Moves

Artorias had always enjoyed every moment he got to spend with Bowen. From the sway of her hips she put on to tease him with to the way she leaned her lighter frame into his side, every second he spent with her made his heart feel lighter than air, hotter than fire, and skip beats like a stone on the water. Bowen didn't like killing for sport, and Artorias could respect that. If a predator happened upon Hallows land, then he'd made sure she got a fine pelt to keep them warm whenever they snuggled. The little cream and caramel woman repeated that she didn't mind not having things, and while he knew that was just a part of who she was, that didn't stop Artorias from wanting to give his love everything she deserved. It was more than just because she was a Carpathius, or because she was his sister. It was because he loved her and he wanted to give her nice things because she was worth them and much, much more to him. The Aegis was already surreptitiously working on ideas of what to give her. Little did she know, he already had made something for her...

While they cuddled together in the quiet of the empty room, Artorias frowned to hear Bowen dejectedly admit that she didn't believe her heart was reliable. She explained how a part of her would always love Haiku, and that she couldn't be what he, or anyone else, needed. Then she groaned and flopped face down into the mattress, coaxing a deep chuckle from the dark-furred brute. "Your heart is far more reliable than you think... It guided you back home to us..." He slowly slid a massive paw to take one of hers in his grasp, sliding it across the bed until he could trail a few gentle kisses across the back of her paw. Fire-blazoned eyes never left Bowen, even if she didn't lift her head to look back up at him yet. "...It led you back to me." Artorias lifted and draped a foreleg across Bowen's back, wrapping around her slender sides to keep her held close. He wished he knew some magic words to say to make everything better. But life wasn't a fairy tale like that. Life was messy and chaotic and unpredictable.

For a long moment, Artorias was quiet while he held Bowen, content to just stay with her here for all time. He alternated between kissing her paw to brushing his muzzle along the back and side of her neck, up behind an ear, and over her crown, showing her little affections while he tried to comfort her. "I know it hurts. Loving someone is the greatest and sweetest pain I’ve known. But just because you and Haiku weren’t a perfect match doesn’t mean you aren’t ever what someone needs," he said after a moment, his voice a low, husky murmur, speaking almost secretively to her as if the world would try to pry into their lives otherwise. His words were for her only. "I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. My Bowen... Kind, beautiful, smart, loving Bowen... " Artorias punctuated his gentle words with a slow, lingering kiss just behind her ear closest to him, whispering just for her with his lips brushing the delicate appendage. "You're everything I need. I just hope I'm worthy of you. I love you so much." Shifting his head, Artorias laid with his cheek against the mattress so he could continue to watch his sister, the young brute drinking her in with a wistful smile on his obsidian lips. "You wanna tell me what's on your mind?" Art might not have been able to do much in the moment for her, but if Bowen wanted to vent or purge the negative emotions plaguing her, he would listen and do whatever he could for her. That's what lovers did for one another. They supported each other, lifted each other up. That's what he'd seen their mothers do, at least, and it was what he wanted to be for her.

"Bowen & Artorias"