While the mare seemed incapable of being calm, she did have a part of her that was willing to channel such energy. A part of her that called her to be calm. A part of her that was forever attached to Ciro even though he was gone. Gone and she couldn't do anything about it. So she allowed the delicate and intricate dance to blossom between her and the brute before her. He has provided no reason to be scared of him other than his sheer appearance which is what worries her the most. So she continued this game of one step forward, one step back. Lean in, lean out. Breath in, breath out. Sway left, sway right. It was simple. It was calming. It was slowly lulling her nerves down to a manageable level. It was then he leaned forward, stretching his nape out before retracting it. And she wanted to let him know she was fine. That it was fine. So she produced the only response she knew that would convey such measures without her voice betraying her. A gentle tap of her muzzle against his. Something which she had done multitudes of times with Ciro. After she was injured and getting better. They hadn't needed to speak. The simple touch was enough.

But the scent that wafted off of his pelt was different than Ciro's. The feel of his maw was different than Ciro's. Even the feeling of his breath as it flooded her nostrils was different than Ciro's. And that was all it took for her mind to ricochet her back into memories she would prefer not to see. Her eyes flinging open to see his face before her, no longer the face of Quil. No it bore resemblance to Ciro. A face that was somehow drenched in blood. Her nostrils flared. She stumbled backwards. His whole frame now soaked in trails of blood with gashes upon them. Panic in her orbs which had started to glaze over at the sight of her dead mate before her eyes. This wasn't supposed to happen! She wasn't supposed to see her dead mate living and breathing in front of her in this pasture. Her breathing falling shallow as she squeezed her eyes shut as the tears threatened to well over the dams that were her eyelids. "Lady Resplendence," a voice came. A voice that deep in her head she recognized. But a voice that in her haze sounded like someone who might be a threat. And the sound of the grass shuffling against a body as it bolted closer to her only had her jumping closer toward the form that wasn't her dead mate but the one who hadn't sworn to not hurt her. "Look at me, please?" the voice that had originally sounded as a threat breaking through her nightmares. Breaking through the memory that was playing out before her again. Her mind pulling at the sound of the yearning that told her she needed to listen. Her eyes flickered open, batting away the tears so they couldn't fall. Ciro wouldn't want me to cry... She took in a short breath before glancing up at the stag before her. The blood no longer upon his painted form, her gaze lingering on the wings as they had done many a time before. A deep breath in. A deep breath out. "I promised you once, and I'll do it again. I won't hurt you, and I won't let anything bad happen to you. I swear it." He spoke and she only managed to bob her head, one word slipping from her maw, "Quil,"

It was with that word she seemed to place herself again in time to see that the sound of the wolf coming toward her had only been a rabbit hopping through the grasses. Breathe in. Breathe out. Step forward. No step back. But she wouldn't cry. She wouldn't fall apart more than what she just had. Lean in. Lean out. A gentle flick of her ear as she listened to the sound of the flowers brushing up against each other. She was safe. She just needed that to get stuck in her head. Breathe in. Breathe out. "I'm sorry about that..." she choked out, the pain she had tried to rid herself of catching her voice and trying to reel it back into the confines of her throat, though the words seemed to play a better game of tug-of-war as they still emerged, just in more shambles than originally intended. "I didn't mean for..." She stopped and shook her head at herself. Stupid. Idiotic. Mare. You can't do anything right... she thought to herself. Breathe in. Breathe out. For the world could be a good place. Just breathe in. And breathe out.

you seem lost, your back against the wall~

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