Feathered ears rolled forward in a single rotation while her tail danced playfully as she watched, waited for Kongen to follow suit. She was interested to see if he would partake in what others may have considered a rather childish game of chase and tag. Glacial painted nose twitched as an impish, wry grin tugged along the corners of her lips watching as dirt was tossed up into the air. A little more, she told herself. Just a little closer.

The moment he was nearly a breath away did she immediately skirt backwards. Girlish laughter vibrating from her throat as she bounced around him in playful demeanor. Bluish tongue rolled from her jowls and let out a jovial yip as she teased him. Tethys was all too familiar with the game as it had been one she would have participated in with her brother in their youth. How long had it been?

“Catch me if you can!” she taunted with mirth before turning and sauntering off.

!

"When's the last time you loosened up, Kongie?" Her question had caught him off guard and his body - influenced by emotion - stiffened in retaliation. Why did she always have to pry? She felt the budding tension beneath her palm while dainty fingers pushed against his shoulders, their caress followed by the soft, enticing brush of her feathered kiss. An attempt to lure him into the widow's web. "Let's have some fun." That purr still haunted him, the phantom of her memory like gossamer threads weaving across his body.

No matter how hard the fly struggled, it could not escape the spider's hunger.

Tethys wasn't like her. She was weird and pretty and kind. Even if they'd known each other for such a short time, Kongen could sense that she was far from the same entity that encapsulated his nightmare. This woman laughed with genuine glee. She ran with a reckless abandon that Kongen couldn't help but quietly admire. He surrendered those feelings of distance and ire, relenting them to feelings of ease and tenacity.

Space and time felt like a fantasy as they dipped and weaved through the trees and boughs. When she wasn't looking he'd dash out of sight, blending into the wilds around them, the untamed flare of brush and flower, of wild grasses growing tall in the height of their primaeval cycle. His body lowered towards the ground, adopting the nature of his predator, those hawk-like eyes preening her every move waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

He was patient. Eyes shifting with her every move, his breath baited right before the lunge that would attempt to 'tag' - if not tackle - her.

She couldn’t remember the last time she was able to lose herself in this simple little leisure and as some may say child-like play. Not that she even cared what others may have thought of her. It wouldn’t have been the first time and well enough never the last.

She teased Kongen with her playful yips. Fluffed chocolate mottled tail swaying behind her amicably while bounding through tall grasses, weaving in between tree to tree. Minutes quickly turned to hours though she’d hardly noticed the time while briefly turning to look over her shoulder to see the absence of the maned wolf. Feathered ears twisted in a rolling rotate as her gait slowed then coming to a steady halt. Jaws were parted as she panted from her run, her tail still dancing behind her occasionally.

Tethys didn’t consider the idea that he could have just had enough of her and just abandoned the game all together – no his scent still tangled in the air but… where was he? blue nose brushed along the grasses sniffling around her little circumference, ears alert as paws moved a few steps onward.

Just as she lifted her head from the soils, no sooner was she tackled to the ground, caught by surprise. It took Tethys a moment to collect her bearings before realizing what just happened. Laughter heaved from her lungs as she simply just flopped. “Ah, man you caught me!”


!