Teal stood alone in a huge grassfield. The tall grass moved gently around her legs, brushing against her and tickle her sometimes a little. The sky above was turning deeper and deeper blue, the color of her own fur in some place. Shadows stretched longer and the first little stars came out one after another. She didnt move for a long time, she just enjoyed the wind that played with the fur on her neck and back. Her thoughts drifted standing there.

As the light dimmed, she noticed a shape in the distance. Something soft and still in the tall grass, barely moving. At first she thought it was just a tree stump or a shadow, but then it tilted its head to look at the sky. Curious she stepped closer, careful not to make too much sound. As she got nearer, she saw it was a dark brown buck. His ears.. she couldnt stop looking at his ears.. They looked so soft. Fluffy like clouds.

She didnt want to scare him, so she stopped a little away and waited. Then slowly took another step. "Hey.. I am Teal", she said and blinked slowly and warmly. Her eyes moved to the sky, then back to him. His face looked peaceful, but there was something in his eyes too, something thoughtful. She liked that.

"Do you ever think the stars are just.. dreams we forgot?' she asked, her voice still soft.

holus wrote:

The voice reached him gently, like a breeze catching his ears between breaths. He turned his head, unhurried, and let his gaze fall upon the figure that had joined him. She stood there, poised but unassuming, blue as the coming night. Her presence didn’t disturb the stillness. if anything, it deepened it.

„Teal“ he repeated quietly, the name settling somewhere between his breath and thought. „I like that name.“ He followed her gaze to the sky, where the stars had begun to shine. „I think“ he began, his voice low but steady, „that the stars might be fragments of memory that drifted too far from where they began. Not quite dreams, but not quite real anymore either. Something inbetween.“

A pause.

„My name is Gentle Grace.“

His ears twitched, almost involuntarily, catching a rustle somewhere behind them, just wind. He shifted slightly, but not from discomfort, just a need to place his words with care. „I usually tend to watch. Listen. But there’s something in the way you speak.“ His eyes moved across the sky, then returned to her. „Places like this: open, quiet, endless in their own way, they have a way of collecting what we carry. Sometimes I think the land holds our silence better than we do.“

Another pause.

„What made you stop here tonight, in the middle of all this? Was it the stars? Or something else you were trying to find?“

Teal blinked slowly, her head tilting a little while she listened. His words felt calm and soothing.

She didnt speak right away. She liked the way silence had space between them. "I think I stopped because the grass was taller here", she said slowly, like she was still figuring it out while speaking. "It brushes my belly when I walk through. Feels nice." She looked up at the sky again. "And maybe because I felt something in the air. Like.. like something was waiting here. I think it was you."

Then she added, "I like how you talk. It is like watching a leaf fall. Not fast, but it makes you stop and look." She smiled a little.

"I dont think I look for something big when I come here. Just a place where the stars dont feel so far." Her eyes wandered, then back to him. "Your name is soft too. Gentle Grace. It feels like lying down in moss." She let out a small breath, like a laugh but without sound.

She stepped one hoof closer, but didnt say more. She liked when the words could rest a bit.

Holus wrote: