SOQ: Hot Summer Nights

[Talencia]

The sun was setting in a searing shimmer. The grasses has been burned to a boring yellow, an the trees and bushes lining the meadow seemed to wilt with the weight of the heat. The streams were dry and the rivers sluggish. The peak of summer was never a very enjoyable time.

As the sun painted the rainless clouds fantastic colors, a touch of purple, as if splashed down from the sky, appeared in the last of the sun's rays. Despite the sweltering heat, she appeared cool and comfortable. Luca had a way with things like that. She was always in supreme control of her own feelings and actions. This did not make her a distant and reserved mare, however. Quite the opposite.

Dry grasses crunched underhoof as she made her way across the meadow. When she came to the strip of dry and cracking mud that represented what used to be a stream, she lightly bounded over it, keeping herself away from the sucking mire that was all that was left of the moisture. The hot breeze ruffled her short and curled mane as she landed on the other side. To her delight, swarms of medium sized bugs boiled upwards from the dead grasses, and she kicked up her heels, scattering their well-collected grouping into wisps and swirls.

Luca could find fun anywhere.  

[Cajmera]

The heat had never been Guilian's friend. But this sort of heat, the dry, crackling heat of high summer, was infinitely preferable to the alternative: humidity. In humid weather, Guilian's mane lost its curl and stuck to his neck, his roses lost their luster...no, it was not an attractive thing that humidity did to his body, and heat or no, he'd take the dryness anyway. Though for his purposes, the sooner the rains came again the happier he would be.

For that reason, this late afternoon saw the red stallion winging his way through the air, taking advantage of the cooler breezes of the evening to make his journeying more pleasant. And journeying he was, although to where was a mystery.

Red wings extended and swooped as he flew along, idly eyeing the ground beneath him. Everything was dry, dead, and brown, brown as far as the eye could see...

Or was it?

Frowning slightly, Guilian tilted his head to see the source of what had seemed to be a flash of purple. Purple had never been a natural color, not even when things weren't dry, so his interest was meritted. And that interest only increased when he was able to identify the owner of the purple...and realized it was a mare.

Well, journeying could be done later. Smiling in a slightly predatorial fashion, he arrowed back his wings and dove downwards, alighting a few feet away from the mare with a rustle of grasses. "Good afternoon, Chica."  

[Talencia]

Luca stopped her capering when the noise of grass and feathers interrupted the fun of bug-swirling. That voice... she turned to regard a bright red stallion with fetching curls tipped in black. Her ears pricked forward and she stared at him for a moment with one big blue eye. The other was covered by her draping forelock, as it often was. In that still moment, she knowlingly portrayed something she was not. She kept her eyes wide, her expression innocent and in awe.

Well, she certainly felt awe. This boy was stunning. The grace with which he flipped back his wings, the toss of his head to settle those darling curls. It all made her smile with a warm feeling of desire. She supressed a shiver of anticipation that overcame her. Instead, she blinked very slowly, lowering her long lashes and then raising them to gaze at him again.

"Oh my. Hello there," she spoke softly, her low voice carrying easily on the hot, dry breeze. "This is quite a surprise." Now she allowed a bit of a smile to creep out, a coy expression of a pleasant experience.

How very interesting indeed!  

[Cajmera]

She was exquisite, this mare. As soon as Guilian had settled on the ground, he'd been struck by a vision of unsurpassed lovliness, a vision in purple. Her shimmery mane was tousled, the forelock covering half of her face and one eye; the other, intense and blue, stared out at him with amazement. Or at least, it did when it wasn't running over his body, a fact that hadn't escaped his notice and resulted in a somewhat smug smile. It never hurt to have a little appreciation, after all...

Her voice was far from unpleasant also, when she finally spoke. A bit lower than some, but with nice tone. Now, what on earth was she doing out here all alone? That was just unkind, to abandon a mare like this to her own devices. He'd have to so something about that.

That in mind, he walked over to the mare and flashed her a warm smile. "Indeed, Chica, it was a surprise for me as well. Imagine, flying along over a dead landscape and encountering something as exquistely lovely as you. Just being able to see you has made my day, Chica." Bending low, Guilian swept back his wings in a bow to the mare, kissing her hoof delicately. "And if I might be so bold, by what name does this vision go by?"  

[Talencia]

She warmed to him even more as he spoke and smiled. It was when he kissed her hoof that her belly fluttered, though. Ooooh, he was good!

She tucked her chin and arched her neck and fluttered her lashes, this time letting the shiver run through her hide after his intimate gesture. My my, but those wings were handsome on him! "Asking my name is bold of a stallion who offers homage at a mare's hooves?" Her sultry laugh crept out of its own, and she flicked her tail slowly, letting it slide across her hindquarters. She took a half-step towards him, neck still arched, and smiled at him through lowered lashes.

"I'll tell you mine if you'll tell me yours." Her voice was layered with suggestion, insinuations left unsaid. Her slow smile promised him that those insinusations were quite intenitonal. She took another half-step and feigned surprise, as if just noticing something. "Why, are those roses in your mane?" With a slow uncurling of muscle, she reached her muzzle and breathed deeply of one of the flowers in his curling mane. "Lovely." Who knew so much could be implied in a single word? The quirk in her smile at him as she drew back again was playfully teasing.

Was he the sort to play her game?  

[Cajmera]

Fair enough. "Well, you had but to ask, Chica. My name is Guilian, to friend, foe, and lover alike . I much prefer to hear it on the lips of a lover, however...it adds to the mood."

Guilian was making a bit of a stretch with that last comment; after all, while it was no secret that he loved the mares and did his utmost to seduce those that caught his attention, he always acted with appropriate care. No reason to scare off those that weren't used to this sort of attention, after all. But in this case...

Maybe it was that trick of hers of staring at him through lowered eyelashes; maybe it was the way she seductively caressed her legs with her tail. Maybe it was her boldness, approaching and scenting his roses, or that low and husky laugh of hers that promised loving her would be far from silent. But whatever it was...he felt that this was a mare who viewed life with the same priorities he did. Either that, or she was too forward by half...but he had a hunch it was the first one.

Either way, he was most pleased. As the mare sniffed at his roses, he flicked one ear, loosening the rose tucked there so that it fell when he tossed his head, the rose floating down to land on one outspread wingtip. "Lovely indeed, Chica, but lovelies are meant to grace other lovelies, wouldn't you say?" Taking the rose in his mouth, he stepped towards the mare, then gently but deliberately tucked it into her mane, allowing his muzzle to linger for a moment before drawing back.  

[Talencia]

Another throaty chuckle met the red stallion's statement about his name spoken by a lover, and it was not the nervous titter of an inexperienced filly. She shifted position, the paler purple stripes on her legs flickering in the last of the light from the sky, and the faint spots of sliver blinked like stars fallen to nestle on her hide.

It was with a bright eye that she watched his trick of flipping the delicate flower from his own mane to his wing. She stood still and let him come close to place it into her own curling locks. Softly she whickered deep in her chest to him as he lingered close, his hot breath making the skin on her neck tingle. Lightly she nibbled at the wisps of his mane where it met his back, then pulled back to pout prettily at him.

"I get one for my mane, but what about my tail?" Again her legs flashed in lavendar ripples as she turned and arched her neck to gaze back at him over one shoulder, chin tucking over her thick mane. "Doesn't my tail deserve some attention too?" Her tone carried mock innocence, though her eyes spoke in a much different tone. She again swished her tail, slowly side to side, just barely brushing her hocks with the tips of the curls.  

[Cajmera]

He DEFINITELY liked this mare. Guilian couldn't remember the last time that he hadn't had to use at least a LITTLE finesse in getting a mare to see things his way, but he'd eat his hooves if this mare weren't as eager as he was. He couldn't help the smug smile that had crossed his muzzle, not with her so close, so tantalizing...and so available.

So it was with a husky whisper, right against her ear, that he answered her question. "Your tail is a special case, Chica, but as luck would have it, I have just the perfect thing to deal with your tail...and I think that you AND your tail will be adoring that attention."

~~~~Fade to black~~~  

[Talencia]

As the sun touched the sky with color, and the air warmed again, rising to soon become unbearable, its first rays touched the couple. Luca was grazing on the half-dead grasses where they had retreated the night before. Such exertion always made her hungry, and the cooler temperatures of the night still clung to the foliage, so it tasted delicious.

Raising her head, she regarded the red stallion with a rather smug smile touching her lovely face behind the fall of curls. With a last swallow, the made her way to him with a slow sashay. "Well big boy, it's been fun," she murmured with a nuzzle under his chin and a light n** at his throatlatch. "I'll be around, if you ever want to... help me with my tail again." She gave him a rumpled and very intimate smile and swished her curled tail. "For now, parting is such very sweet and contented sorrow." Her soft laugh denied the sorrow of her words.

"Take care of yourself. Wouldn't want such exquisite studliness to be damanged, now would we?" With a last amused snort over her shoulder at him, she trotted off to the east, basking in the glory of it's glow.

Ah, life could be good, even at the height of such miserable heat.  

[Cajmera]

Guilian, like Luca, had been grazing on the chilled grasses, but that had been more of a pretense on his part, an excuse to keep watching her as she moved about. Just because he'd been with many didn't mean he didn't appreciate the beauty of one, and this one was more beautiful than most, as well as more passionate. He couldn't recall the last time he'd just settled down to pleasure and enjoyed it so much, indeed he couldn't. But that didn't mean that he couldn't let go.

As Luca had nuzzled and nipped at him, he had nibbled at her ears, a smug smile of his own firmly in place. "Chica, your tail will never be free of my assistance should we encounter each other again, and on that you may have my word. Remember me the next time you're thinking about a little 'exercise', and who knows...maybe I'll show up."

A parting laugh on his part, and he was watching her make her way off across the dry grass. All good things must come to an end, obivously...