CODE © SKELLE 2021
"Speech!"

Once the mushrooms and the ooze faded away, Belladonna wanted nothing more than to get out of her den and off of the island for a breath of fresh air. While she had been spoiled briefly, filling her den with comforts had been nice but she wanted to be off of the island that she felt trapped on, especially recently being so sick and the literal orders to stay on the island. It was nice stretching her legs somewhere new, and today that was a place filled with delicious berries and the looming, dangerous scent of a nearby bear. Bella did believe the scent to be somewhat old, but present regardless. She would have to be careful and never let her guard down. Alone, she wouldn't be able to handle a bear especially fresh out of hibernation with the end of spring upon them.

Living in the thrill of the fear, Bella laid out in the middle of the clearing among the flowers with her rear limbs stretched out behind her in the ever so flattering sploot. Her forelimbs were holding her front up on her elbows, but she was simply doing nothing. Just enjoying the late spring afternoon by basking in the sun.

hey, miss murder,

The world was everything that it was supposed to be once more and Hemlock wouldn't dream of wasting it. He had no ties. No family to speak of. All he had was himself and the responsibility of his own happiness. Easy, right? Why, yes. It was! There was nothing easier. Hunt, eat, find a cozy place to sleep. Wander a bit. See new sights.... that was Hemlock.

Today the brutes smokey paws led him to a massive display of berries. The rich tang of them filled the air and his pumpkin eyes drifted closed at the pleasure of the smell. A happy rumble left his throat as he approached one bush and popped a few random berries in his mouth. Breakfast of champions.

What he hadn't seen initially was the woman sprawled out in a patch of sun. When he came around the bush and saw her laying there as though just for him....

The dark man cleared his throat, alerting her of his presence. "I didn't mean to disturb you, " he admitted truthfully, though his tones were playful. "Part of me is very glad that I did, however."

Belladonna was peacefully minding her warm afternoon sun by herself, laying about in the flowers as if we were waiting for the bear to come by and make a meal out of her. It wasn't the bear that found her however, but instead the sound of a man clearing their throat before speaking in playful tones from behind. She craned her head around to look at him with her matching bicolored eyes before tucking her rear limbs in to pivot onto her hip and into a more natural laying position instead of a flexible one.

Her eyes scanned over his features, though found herself with a lot to look at and not in a bad way. "Oh, you're not disturbing me at all." She said quietly with a sweet smile. "But shhh... if you're too loud, the bear will hear us!" She teased barely above a whisper, hardly concerned about the obvious threat

"Speech."

Hemlock couldn't fight the grin that pulled back obsidian lips from pearly white teeth. The woman shifted and began to give him a bit of banter which he thoroughly appreciated. He'd always enjoyed a bit of back and forth. The brute's pumpkin flame eyes widened in mock horror. "A bear, lady? Oh, well we'd best be quiet then, eh?" A soft chuckle left him as his haunches folded. She seemed pleasant company and didn't look uncomfortable with his presence, so he sat to converse.

"Hemlock Foxglove," the striped beast introduced himself with a bow of his head. "Do you live in this place?" His blocky skull gave a little tilt as he questioned the monochromatic woman. While he waited he really drank in the sight of her. She was quite stunning and he found it more than a little humorous that they both had asymmetrical markings on their faces. Funny how the world worked.


Words

She would be kidding herself if she didn't find the man attractive, but she tried her best to keep her thoughts at bay. There were few, if any, attractive men on this island that she'd seen so far and much couldn't be said about the men on the mainland either. The striking markings across his face were difficult to look away from, causing the young woman to stare a bit longer than what one may consider polite before she realized and attempted to hide her obvious curiosity and interest by casting her gaze into the surrounding trees for a moment while he spoke, bantering back about being quiet.

Smirking, Bella glanced back at him. Although she didn't want the bear to return, she couldn't help but wonder what this man would do if it had. Would he run, leaving her to fend for herself? She was curious, though kept her thoughts to herself until he spoke, introducing himself and pulling her attention away from her thoughts. "Belladonna Klein, pleasure to meet you." she replied, pausing a moment before answering his following question. "Not here, unfortunately. You?"

"Speech."

The man noticed the sidelong looks that the woman gave and that was just fine by him. He was looking too. It wasn't a big deal to him, but he noticed how she tried to hide it. It was... cute. He pretended not to notice the looking and scanned the area around them instead.

Unfortunately she didn't live here, this Belladonna Klein. "Well, why not?" He asked, his head giving a tilt. "The world is wide open. You can live wherever you please." He was digging a bit with the question. If she didn't live here and she used the word "unfortunately," then she must live somewhere where she had ties.

Dark ears flicked forward as the lowing groan of a bear could be heard far off. "I wonder if that's your bear friend leaving or if he's called for reinforcements." He would rather spend time with the woman than get bloodied up in a fight, so Hem gave a pull of his head, motioning for the grey fae to follow him. "Let's go for a walk, shall we? You can tell me all about the place that isn't this place."

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