This poorly concocted ploy to have a little adult fun isn't working for one of us. My gorgeous partner appears less than excited by harmless flirtation. Eh, which isn't so surprising. Though, it was a shock that Ranjiri hadn't run off yet. Smoothly I brush off her casual (awkward) politeness with enough fake ego to fill the silence between us. Here we are...still standing in my self proclaimed section of ocean. Amusement bounces across the rippling surface to follow her ruby eyes across the way. Two sets of orbs land with very different reactions toward what stood on the nearby shore. Almost instantly I feel the coltish grin on my face stiffen to stone, these creamy ears run a race in reverse and the amber tendrils swaying beneath the salty waves curl their path around my right leg.

For a single heartbeat I'm fooled into rational thinking -- the hard lines of my face momentarily soften, "Must have been some driftwood...that somehow was set aflame." But its not JUST fire. That semitransparent sunburst was in the shape of a large cat. One who stood just beyond certain death and our salvation. Its smothering look might have been nonthreatening, even friendly; but to a gypsy soul who came to this desolate place to sink teeth into something normal. Those depthless eyes slice and dice my false security. With considerable effort and nothing short of a fucking miracle my attention returns to the gilden filly and her polite (unconcerned remarks.) What stuck my nerve was how unattached she sounded -- as if a tiny, insignificant crab had just scuttled across the beach. Instead of a huge FIRE cat!

Where we not seeing the same thing??

A moment ago (when it was just us) these chilled lips might have parted with an amused remark to her hesitation, "Maybe later then," or, " ;) "

Nope.

Instead my tone softens into one that passes as only heavily distracted, "I don't know." Brows narrow, "Don't know the name of that place or this," one eye jerks to the shore to see if the feline was still there. Ranjiri's beauty has already lost appeal; I willingly take a step back -- relishing not the pleasure of her company but the cool pressure of an undertow and its comforting fire destroying presence."Guess it doesn't matter really," memories take a sharp turn to my first unusual occurrence, the weird little vixen who made bat lizards out of earth and water...the girl had also had legs coated in dirt and vines. "Do you see that?" Please say yes. Please say no. Muzzle gestures to the shore, my gems return to the blood freshly stung, which made them appear all the more jerky.