[It feels strange to her, too. That his fingers on the small of her back don't stroke soothingly over the dark strip of vestigial mane that traced her spine over where dun-coat hide became more human-like skin. That she has toes and not hooves, feet that roll upwards to close the new gap in their heights.
But his kiss feels the same. Warm. Familiar. A little playful, in how she just knows that he is going to tease her because she can feel the corners of his mouth curling upwards against hers. Even though she wants to believe that the last trial being broadcast was the work of the Harbinger Oracle's nature and not something that would repeat itself, that surely she could expect privacy and did not need to worry for being seen... even if it wasn't...
So be it. She kisses him anyway. And just as predictably... she blushes deeper when he speaks, (she wasn't thinking about it the whole time!!!), muttering her paltry reply of,]
Just because I remember the promises I make...
[But he's right. They have a lot of ground to cover. There are other wings of the palace, so many rooms, following the vague sense of growing warmer and warmer as they seek out the shard of his world to keep it safe from harm throughout the trial. Along the way, Hayame admits that Yuri and Liem had helped her practice things as she demonstrates her acquired skill in walking. She grumbles about how soft and weak the bottoms of human feet are. He mentions his family, and she... she thinks of how she will attempt to excuse herself after the necessary bows and names. (She doesn't... she doesn't know to meet someone's parents, how to be a woman introduced to parents, even false visions of them.) It's good they have the shard to focus on--
And then they find it. It's safe, there is relief-
Oh. Except now... now she has to fulfill that promise about flying. Which is how they end up in a stable full of mounts, both wyverns and...]
- What are those things, anyway?
[The weird... lanky horses with sheep faces and hunchbacks?]
no subject
But his kiss feels the same. Warm. Familiar. A little playful, in how she just knows that he is going to tease her because she can feel the corners of his mouth curling upwards against hers. Even though she wants to believe that the last trial being broadcast was the work of the Harbinger Oracle's nature and not something that would repeat itself, that surely she could expect privacy and did not need to worry for being seen... even if it wasn't...
So be it. She kisses him anyway. And just as predictably... she blushes deeper when he speaks, (she wasn't thinking about it the whole time!!!), muttering her paltry reply of,]
Just because I remember the promises I make...
[But he's right. They have a lot of ground to cover. There are other wings of the palace, so many rooms, following the vague sense of growing warmer and warmer as they seek out the shard of his world to keep it safe from harm throughout the trial. Along the way, Hayame admits that Yuri and Liem had helped her practice things as she demonstrates her acquired skill in walking. She grumbles about how soft and weak the bottoms of human feet are. He mentions his family, and she... she thinks of how she will attempt to excuse herself after the necessary bows and names. (She doesn't... she doesn't know to meet someone's parents, how to be a woman introduced to parents, even false visions of them.) It's good they have the shard to focus on--
And then they find it. It's safe, there is relief-
Oh. Except now... now she has to fulfill that promise about flying. Which is how they end up in a stable full of mounts, both wyverns and...]
- What are those things, anyway?
[The weird... lanky horses with sheep faces and hunchbacks?]