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 Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:03 pm
Without Tujil-dasu around, Tendaji distracted himself by spending time with Esen. A lot of time. He even broke his no touching rule, waking up after the first night to find that he had rolled over in his sleep and curled up in a ball by Esen’s side. He stiffened and pulled away. Esen’s regular breathing reassured him that she was still asleep. He watched her sleep, trying to decide how he felt about the event. It had felt… nice… somehow, to lie against her side. Comforting. Was Esen like Tujil-dasu – a safe female to be around? She didn’t scare him. He didn’t mention the event, but when he woke up in the same position the next day, he remained where he was, trying to decide how he felt about it. Not worth worrying about, he decided as he got up for a morning hunt.
But he did worry about it.
It was a real shame that Tendaji was so shy. Had any other male settled against her like that (especially a cutie like Tendaji) then Esen would have been quick to turn the situation to her advantage. But not so with Tendaji; all she could do was keep her breathing steady and pretend she was still asleep. Pretend she wasn’t aware of the curve of his body against hers. Waiting for him to come to her wasn’t natural – a flick of her tail or a quick brush of her shoulder against his, a suggestive smile… yes, that was much more her line. Or even more direct: Hey there Hottie McHotness, you have nice eyes, come sleep with me.
Tendaji liked Esen. He liked her a whole lot, and not in the same way he liked Tujil-dasu. He liked her, well… he blushed. Quite frankly, he liked her in a way that frightened him. It frightened both the part of him that was still the naïve adolescent in search of true love and the part of him that had never left the den his mistress kept him in. Love was bad – dangerous. She’d laugh at him, hurt him somehow.
And yet… Tujil-dasu had told him over and over that Esen wouldn’t hurt him and he trusted Tujil-dasu. He was even coming to trust his own judgment and the things he had learned since his disastrous encounter with his mistress. Esen was straightforward, honest. Half the time she called him golden eyes and half the time she called him booger brain – but she meant both. There was no hint of madness or guile in her eyes; he didn’t love her enough to be blind to any faults she had. And she did have faults, but sadism wasn’t one of them.
On the third night, Esen lay awake watching Tendaji sleep. He had lain down right next to her, not touching, but no sooner had he fallen asleep than he rolled over and rested his side against hers. He didn’t curl up in a ball this time, but lay stretched out with his back against her belly. She liked the heat of his body against hers and had to resist the urge to nuzzle his head. He was different when he was awake, more distant. “What’s going on in that fool head of yours?” she whispered softly.
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Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:05 pm
Tujil-dasu had brought Esen to him because he asked her for a lady leopard who would love him. He blushed at the memory. Well – here was Esen. She had come, she called him golden eyes. But if she was to like him, if they were to be together… he would have to court her.
Tendaji didn’t trust his own tongue, not when it came to women. He could tell fantastic stories well enough, tales of magic feathers and giant butterflies, but smooth talk a lady? No, he didn’t have the knack. Instead he gathered flowers and shiny stones. Nice things. He didn’t know if Esen would like them or not – it was as much a gesture as anything else. “This is how much I like you,” that kind of thing.
Esen stared at the flowers, unsure what to say. Normally she didn’t care for flowers, much less for shiny stones, but they had been so delicately arranged, each flower and pebble placed just so. They formed a pleasing enough pattern in a great big circle, although the wind had blown some away and it was a very amateur effort. No, it wasn’t the flowers she cared for – it was the effort it must have taken Tendaji to gather them all and arrange them.
“It’s beautiful,” she said and Tendaji’s beaming smile let her know that she’d said exactly the right thing.
Tendaji spent several days courting Esen. He brought her flowers and feathers and wove them into clumsy crowns. He spent most of his time by her side, letting his eyes say all the things he didn’t have the words for. He even tried his hand at some poetry, saying a lot of nonsense about the sun shining brighter when she was near. He would gladly have courted her much longer, but Esen didn’t have the patience. “Silly boy!” she said, brushing her shoulder against his. “There’s no need to dance in circles.”
So although it frightened him more than he cared to say, he stopped dancing in circles.
Esen purred, remembering the previous night. Tendaji had been… hesitant… but it had still been nice and she was quite certain that he would gain confidence quickly and future tries would go better. They slept in a tangle, his head against her chest and one of her forearms draped across him, and although it was uncomfortable, she made no move to disentangle herself. Let this moment last. Her little Tendaji had finally opened up enough to let her in; there was no more need to hold back. She could smile now, she could flick her tail against his side. It was just a summer fling, but she was quite glad that Tujil-dasu had talked her into meeting Tendaji.
Esen was a quick and able teacher, quite unlike his previous mistress. She was patient and never, ever hurt him while they made love. Tujil-dasu was right – his previous relationship hadn’t been normal. He enjoyed being with Esen in a way he’d never enjoyed being with his mistress, sometimes he even felt like he could fly or just float away. He still brought her flowers, but he’d started to find his tongue and tell her just how beautiful she was. Elegant, graceful, strong. They started to joke together and talked about all kinds of things. She told him about her pride and all the scholars that lived there, he told her about all the traveling he’d done with Kamau and Izin.
Esen was wonderful. He truly loved her.
Word count: 1,138 words
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