can't look in on one way eyes

Overhead, the dark form of a raven swooped through the evening sky, following the movement of the cat down below as it departed from its master's side. Nocturne dove down to intercept Erik's cat, communicating to the animal with low croaks and caws. The message was relayed, and the corvid took the message back to his master in turn. Meanwhile, soft notes and chords of piano music flowed through the halls of Hearthstone. Seated at the bench, the Carpathian princess quietly danced her paws across the keys, creating a light and mellifluous song that flowed into the approaching summer night. Mid-melody, Ember heard the flutter of wings as her raven came to alight on the piano bench beside her. She glanced down at her companion, paws still tickling the ivories uninterrupted.

"Erik Archer is here to see you, Lady Ember."

Ember nodded her head to the raven, letting her song drift off to an end before sliding off the bench to her paws and making her way out of the castle. Dusk had fully claimed the land by now, the last fading remnants of sunlight sinking below the western sea with golden rays of orange light splaying out in all directions. Overhead, stars and the auroras began to take shape in the darkening sky. It was shaping up to be another warm and muggy evening, but the cool coastal breeze helped alleviate some of the humidity. Still, she could feel the stickiness clinging to her fur as she crossed the plains to find her tall friend waiting for her, his dark form almost blending into the evening. Ordinarily, Ember would've rushed to greet him, but the princess was feeling a little bit scorned by the bastard prince who hadn't shown his face around for half a year. She wasn't truly mad at him, but she was definitely going to make him squirm a bit.

Nearing the brute, the first thing Ember noticed was how much bigger he had gotten. At his full height and filled out with rippling muscles, Erik very much looked adult and manly. She had grown up as well now, no longer just a lanky thing, but a blossoming young woman, her body a combination of lithe planes of muscle beneath silky smooth fur, supple curves developing in all the womanly places, and her tail done up in a neat braid. She eyed her friend over, blue eyes alight as they held his smoldering orange gaze. "I thought maybe you'd died when you stopped coming around. It was a more bearable thought than believing you were avoiding me," she teased Erik, even her voice much more refined and mellifluous, just like the rest of her. "Hello, Erik."

"Ember Carpathius"