Location: Whistling Willows

Duchess had just come out of the dark with the temporary blindness that she was certain would have been for the rest of her life. And while she was relieved it was over, it hadn't changed her over all out look on life. She was still burdened by what she had done to the band and Indigo, and she still walked through life just the same as she had before the firefly entity had taken her sight as some sort of punishment.

The moon was still waning over the horizon, but she never paid much mind to what the world was today. She didn't care much at least. As she walked under the willows, she looked up and silently admired the weeping tree vines. They brushed along her back as she walked by, having no real destination in mind. She was back to her duties for the band. But she wasn't out hunting right now.

Her paws made their way to the lake in the center of the willows, she had never been here before so she wasn't expecting the water here though she assumed it made sense before the more western lands. She didn't stop as she approached, her front paws stepping into the chill of the water. The lily pads around the bank moved with the ripples and she looked down at her own waved reflection. Her body laid down on the bank as she relaxed, lost in her own thoughts.

"Duchess"

Duchess is an !M rated! character for themes of Depression. Please Discord me if you have concerns.

Bored paws had led the sharklike brute all over Boreas and Auster. With his fun had on the Carpathian front, he'd meandered away from the Hollows a bit. Sniffing out other avenues of fun and release. Anything to chase off the boredom. The long night didn't bother him at all. In fact, he rather liked it. Nice pick of shadows to hide in with the world so flickery, glowy and dim. If it never went back to the way it was, Oxx would be just fine with that. Traipsing through a willowy wood, The brute's dark grey eyes landed upon a plum colored beauty. As he drew nearer, he was surprised that he actually recognized her. His maw split in a grin as he came up beside the slender fae. She looked much better now that she wasn't fat with pups. Her expression was still somewhat sour, but perhaps that was just her natural disposition. No matter. "Well, well..." He spoke in his low, volcanic baritones while drawing up beside her. "A second meeting in a world so large. Is it fate that brings us together this day?" A soft chuckle pulled from him before he unceremoniously slid his giant body onto the ground and began to roll about in the soft grass beneath the willow boughs. Seemed like he was feeling playful today. Lucky girl. "Speech"

When the less than familiar voice rose up from behind her, she had not even moved a muscle. Her head turned slightly to barely recognize the brute that she had met only once when she was heavy yet still trying to provide for the band. She can't say she was ever expecting to meet him again though their one encounter was not very notable honestly. She was... perhaps in the same sour mindset only this time she had been filled with loss instead of pups. And it wasn't the only thing she hoping to be filled with.

As he continued speaking, her gaze moved back out to the pond of the willows, a very faint grin on the corners of her maw. She couldn't say just from those first few words alone she wasn't hoping he was more suggestive than she could have assumed. Duchess had found ways to make her feel better though not entirely and she chose to ignore what she needed more. What she had recently sought outside the band was really only a glimmer of a life she wanted whole. With Indigo? Maybe, but she didn't think there was anything she could do to make things right or understand that what she had with with him wasn't what she wanted for herself. She was only digging herself a bigger hole because of it.

"Fate to bring us together before I bathe?" She nearly teased him before stepping out into the slight chill of the western water, the lily pads rippled along the water from her disturbing the surface. Her paws carefully pulled water up he legs, and she had actually paid little mind to the brute who had actually made himself vulnerable to her before she left his side. Not that she really stood a chance against him, vulnerable or not.

"Duchess"

Duchess is an !M rated! character for themes of Depression. Please Discord me if you have concerns.

The woman's thoughts, had he heard them, would have tickled Oxx to the core. He was never vulnerable. Not even when he appeared to be. It was all part of his game. Right now he was a stretchy, sleepy, handsome puppy. With a few shifts of paw and a twist of body, he could have just as easily snapped the woman's lavender neck right where she stood. Ah, but he was in too good a mood for that. Besides, it appeared that she was going to be putting on a show for her. Her words held mirth and Oxx grinned, giving a little shrug as he settled on his side in the soft grass. No doubt she was much softer and he very well may have been already thinking about settling in her later, but he was here to play the game. "I imagine that part is just my own good luck, lady." A chuckle pulled from him and he settled in to watch the fae bathe. If she didn't like it, she could say something, but since she'd gone ahead anyway, he didn't think she minded much. Had his mood been different, he may have been a little pushy; offered his help. As it was, he was content to watch the cool water sluice down her slender frame. She didn't immediately throw him into a lustful state, but he could appreciate what she was all about. If things continued on this easy path, he would probably show her what he was all about in turn. "Speech"

Duchess would have seemingly been taking her time and while it may have appeared she hadn't cared much for the near stranger, his presence was actually the first thing on her mind. She turned to face him, carefully wading through the water as she drew closer to him, "I don't suppose you were considering another hunt to occupy our time." Her front paws rose up on the bank beside him, her chin resting along them as well as she looked toward him with really a less than enthused glaze over her face though she couldn't help the smallest grin on the corners of her maw. It may have been fake, but it wasn't forced. It could have hinted a number of things to the brute.

Being with others outside the band made her feel different, just their presence alone was like everything she had lived and felt over the past few months hadn't even happened. Like looking at a stranger, whether it was for a chat, a hunt, or other things it made her forget what happened and made her focus more on the wonder of what the other's life was like. She certainly had more hidden, harsh feelings under what she was showing the large brute. He may have known her when she was well pregnant, but he couldn't know that the pups were dead or if they were being cared for somewhere else. He didn't ask, and as it was in this moment, Duchess wasn't thinking of them, or Indigo, or the band. She wondered what could happen between her and the slate, grinning shark man that may have been a stranger but that didn't make her feel any less comfortable being around him.

"Duchess"

Duchess is an !M rated! character for themes of Depression. Please Discord me if you have concerns.

She came and he watched with half lidded eyes. There was no doubt that she was toying with other ideas, though she suggested a hunt. "We could hunt or we could cut to the chase," he rumbled with amusement. He knew what he wanted. It seemed that she wanted the same simply by the way that she displayed herself for him. "There are many ways to occupy our time, as you so delightfully put it." He could think of a few positions at least. Rolling onto his belly, the gargantuan brute stretched, digging his claws into the soft earth with the movement to rip of furrows of sod. Rising, he strode to the plum colored fae and unceremoniously stood over her. Without asking, his teeth pulled through the damp fur at the back of her neck, careful not to pull too much. Yet. "Tell me what you want, woman." His tones were low and powerful, yet came out in a sweet purr. He was in an amicable mood and would put in the work to make her happy this once. It wasn't an offer that was always on the table when it came to Oxx. It had been such a long time since he'd lain with a woman, however and he was feeling... generous. "Speech"

The brute was certainly right, there were many other ways to occupy their time. Ways that Duchess had so seemingly put out in her more than obviously fake intentions.

She watched as his claws dug into the earth, her eyes travelled up his legs and chest as she almost seemed to admire him without words. He stood over her as she looked up, a face more lustful or honestly maybe even dead before he reached down to touch her. She didn’t flinch, closing her eyes slowly as he pulled at her thin mane. Her paws carefully pushed under her as she stood on the bank still half way in the water with her hind legs. "I want what you want." She nearly spoke in an exhale as she had left herself for his own command, keeping a distance so close that they weren’t touching unless he touched her. She felt wobbled being so close to him, mentally feeling a push and pull like a wave into him though she would really never know or care if he felt the same way. "For someone so strong and confident, I won’t believe I meet your standards." Duchess had found her way to subside the feelings of the loss of her children, the hurtful feelings she felt for Indigo, the paranoia of how the rest of the band saw her. Under someone else, anyone but Indigo, she could forget. Forgetting in those moments was even more desirable than filling the emptiness afterwards, which Indigo was keen to smother it for her. It wasn’t easy to find that in the strangers she sought the most from.

"Duchess"

Duchess is an !M rated! character for themes of Depression. Please Discord me if you have concerns.