you touch the bump I punch your throat

A lazy smile played on Aresenn's lips as he watched Absinth's retreating figure, her words drifting back to him on a gust of icy wind. "Bored? You give yourself too much credit," he scoffed, levity infusing his gruff tone despite the biting cold. His tail swished behind him as he broke into a brisk trot, kicking up a spray of powdery snow in his wake. But his smirk widened as he met her gaze, a glint of mischief dancing across his amber gaze. “But you're right, I wouldn't know what to do if I didn’t have you around to make sure I wasn’t too productive.” Aresenn shot back, his voice a rumbling grow layered in his dry humor. He couldn’t help himself as reached out to nip her in the flank. Gods it made him weak to watch her run.

But as Absinth darted forward, her body disappearing into the snowy underbrush. His gaze lingered on the spot where she had been standing, even as her words echoed in his head. "Family," he muttered, the word so foreign to his tongue. He had a few relatives that he had encountered, none that had really ever been close to besides maybe his sister. But Absinth's words had stirred something within him, something he couldn't quite put a finger on. "I think it’s just as simple for me," he called out after her, his voice barely audible above the howling wind. "To forget...to move on." Without realizing it, he had started moving again, his pawsteps crunching rhythmically on the freshly fallen snow. His gaze followed her figure as she disappeared and reappeared between the trees, a ghost in the winter wilderness.

The thrill of the hunt filled the silence that had come over them, the taste of anticipation hanging heavy in the air. The brutal cold was forgotten as Aresenn's heart pounded in his chest, a steady drumbeat that matched his stride. The smell of coyotes was stronger, their tracks weaving a clear path through the undergrowth. As Absinth's figure grew distant, he quickened his pace, shaking off his introspection to focus on the present.

Aresenn watched as Absinth moved with lethal grace, her lithe body an elegant yet deadly force of nature, and he right behind her. The larger brute was quick to find his own target, barging through the dense undergrowth and pouncing on a startled coyote that had been too slow to react. He was a whirlwind of fur and fangs, no less brutal than Absinth, as he delivered the fatal blow. The taste of blood was sharp in his mouth, mingling with the icy air and overpowering the lingering taste of fear and adrenaline. Aresenn shook off the blood and remnants of his prey, his chest heaving with exertion. His gaze wandered to Absinth, her own kill lying lifeless beneath her. He admired the fierce glow in her eyes, tainted with a hint of exhaustion. Aresenn gave a low growl of approval, his tail sweeping side-to-side in a rare show of satisfaction.

"Aresenn Praetor"