Post by Captain Americat on Sept 2, 2022 20:48:06 GMT -5
Here is my submission for prompt #1 of Brownie's Monday Vibes' WFF challenge. I hope you enjoy!
~
I Love You Like Moments Before the Rain
“You know that moment… that moment right before it rains?”
Minnowmist purrs, her entire face aglow, as she prances on her toes around Hayden. She kicks up sand and giggles. The hazy sun is setting over the misty beach; Minnowmist is giddy as she stares at Hayden’s silhouette against the sand. She can feel him staring back at her, and her fur grows hot.
“What are you talking about?” he asks with a chuckle. He flicks her cheek with the white tip of his smooth, black tail. “Is this another one of your late-night thoughts?”
Her fluffy grey tail gives him a flirtatious whap back in the muzzle, and he spits out her fur with a grin. “No, I’m quite sure of this one. It’s not just a thought. It’s a fact.”
Hayden smirks. “Oh, do tell me more.” He stops Minnowmist from prancing around him by wrapping his tail around her body. He pulls her close as she continues to purr, and they fall to the ground in a spray of damp sand and laughter.
Minnowmist nuzzles him. Her starry blue eyes meet his for just a moment before she shies away and stares out into the dying flame of the orange water that is gently lapping at the shore. The sun sets deeper, and the water grows darker by the second. But there is a strange glow in the sky, a glow not from the sun but rather from the rainclouds collecting just beyond it.
“This,” she tells him with a dreamy sigh.
“This?” he asks. “You and I?”
Minnowmist turns back to him for just a second to press her nose to his cheek. “We are a fact,” she decides. “And you and I are perfect. But… not exactly what I was talking about. Close, though," she says with a wink.
“Minnowmist, you do love to talk. But I fear our whiskers will be dripping shortly if we stay here any longer—” A faraway rumble of thunder breaks the silent air, and Minnowmist gives a purr of delight as Hayden shoots up from the ground and looks around with alarm. He stares fearfully at the trees beyond the lake. A silent plea to leave before the storm.
But Minnowmist pulls him back down to the sand, and she points her tail towards the water, the water that is still so calm. The thunder continues to rumble softly in the distance, and every so often comes the cackle of lightning, far enough away to be harmless but close enough to provide a show.
“Watch… listen,” Minnowmist says, her eyes glowing and her smile wide.
The sun has set, but the dark sky still has its glow, like a navy blue dotted with spurts and puffs of white air. Everything is quiet; even the water lapping at the shore seems to have frozen. It is so quiet that, aside from the distant rumbling and the intermittent tweets of the birds in the forest behind them, the entire world seems to have stopped in sync with the movement of the water.
Minnowmist relishes in it, in the beauty of the silence and the stillness. She can feel the humidity in the air warning of the oncoming storm, but it’s not suffocating because of the underlying breeze pushing back her long fur. She closes her eyes against the cool air— and then she hears a chuckle. She opens her left eye to peep at Hayden.
“What?” she asks.
“You,” Hayden says simply, gazing at her with stars in his yellow eyes. “You’re beautiful when you stare out into the storm.”
“Am I beautiful on every other day as well?” Minnowmist jokingly asks, opening both eyes wide to take him in.
“Darling, you are beautiful every second, every minute, and every day of every moon,” he tells her. “But you are especially beautiful when you look at the things that you love.”
“Oh,” Minnowmist purrs, lifting the corner of her lip to a smirk. “Then I must be radiant when I look at you.”
“Oh, yes,” Hayden agrees, nodding enthusiastically and theatrically. “So radiant that it’s blinding. Beholding you is almost an impossibility.”
“I do love you,” she tells him in all seriousness. Minnowmist presses herself closer to the tom, and she rests her head upon his shoulder as she looks out into the beach. A calm reassurance fills her body at the closeness of their fur, at knowing that he’s right beside her and that, like a constant, he’ll always be there. “I love you… I love you like moments before the rain.”
Hayden shifts his head to look at her, and she peers up into his eyes. “I love it when you speak in riddles.”
“Not riddles,” Minnowmist corrects. “Truth.” She lets out a content sigh, and she dips her head back into the crease of his neck. Her eyes find the glow of the rainless sky, and her voice is like a song against the drumming of the thunder, coming closer and closer but still far enough that it only sounds like an echo, outside of their bubble of safety and stillness.
“You know that moment,” she repeats, “that moment right before it rains? When the sky turns blue and black and white all at once, and you just wonder… how something so perfect can exist in nature?”
“And, then you get that feeling of butterflies in your stomach because you don’t know what the storm will bring but you’re so ready for it, so ready for feeling the rain falling down around you and watching every unique drop… But, along with the excitement, there’s also an equal bit of calm... The entire world freezes and everything is held in a state of suspension, a state of exhale, a state of waiting for the inhale— It’s like, it’s like— before the storm, you’re just sitting in the eye of the storm.”
“You can see everything around you just--just… stop, and it’s like StarClan is giving you a single moment before the flood to take in the beauty of all that They’ve created. And—and, bonus points if the sun is setting. Because then you’ve got so many more colors—!”
Minnowmist exhales, and Hayden stares at her with amusement as she catches her breath. “You think I’m crazy,” she says with a frown, falling from her high.
“I think you’re the only cat that I’ve ever met who speaks so passionately about the rain, and I love you for it—”
“Hayden— you are my rain and my moments before the rain. That’s what it feels like being in love with you.” Minnowmist pulls herself free from where she’s nestled in Hayden’s neck, and they pull apart so they are now muzzle to muzzle, eye to eye. “The first time I fell in love with you, it was a day like this,” she tells him. “When your body was outlined by the mist of the coming rain. And I fall in love with you over and over again every single day, but—”
“But—?” Hayden prompts, giving her muzzle a small lick with his raspy tongue.
“But, more so now,” she continues. “Moments like this, just before the rain, when I see you before me like I did back when we were young. When the world stops, and it’s just you—”
Small pitter-patters begin to fall from the sky. One drop, then another, and then another against their fur. “I can’t… I can’t explain it any other way,” she tells him, gazing into his eyes. “You are and always have been my moments before the rain.”
The rain falls steadily down, and Minnowmist lifts her head to embrace it.
You are — and always have been — my moments before the rain.
~
I Love You Like Moments Before the Rain
“You know that moment… that moment right before it rains?”
Minnowmist purrs, her entire face aglow, as she prances on her toes around Hayden. She kicks up sand and giggles. The hazy sun is setting over the misty beach; Minnowmist is giddy as she stares at Hayden’s silhouette against the sand. She can feel him staring back at her, and her fur grows hot.
“What are you talking about?” he asks with a chuckle. He flicks her cheek with the white tip of his smooth, black tail. “Is this another one of your late-night thoughts?”
Her fluffy grey tail gives him a flirtatious whap back in the muzzle, and he spits out her fur with a grin. “No, I’m quite sure of this one. It’s not just a thought. It’s a fact.”
Hayden smirks. “Oh, do tell me more.” He stops Minnowmist from prancing around him by wrapping his tail around her body. He pulls her close as she continues to purr, and they fall to the ground in a spray of damp sand and laughter.
Minnowmist nuzzles him. Her starry blue eyes meet his for just a moment before she shies away and stares out into the dying flame of the orange water that is gently lapping at the shore. The sun sets deeper, and the water grows darker by the second. But there is a strange glow in the sky, a glow not from the sun but rather from the rainclouds collecting just beyond it.
“This,” she tells him with a dreamy sigh.
“This?” he asks. “You and I?”
Minnowmist turns back to him for just a second to press her nose to his cheek. “We are a fact,” she decides. “And you and I are perfect. But… not exactly what I was talking about. Close, though," she says with a wink.
“Minnowmist, you do love to talk. But I fear our whiskers will be dripping shortly if we stay here any longer—” A faraway rumble of thunder breaks the silent air, and Minnowmist gives a purr of delight as Hayden shoots up from the ground and looks around with alarm. He stares fearfully at the trees beyond the lake. A silent plea to leave before the storm.
But Minnowmist pulls him back down to the sand, and she points her tail towards the water, the water that is still so calm. The thunder continues to rumble softly in the distance, and every so often comes the cackle of lightning, far enough away to be harmless but close enough to provide a show.
“Watch… listen,” Minnowmist says, her eyes glowing and her smile wide.
The sun has set, but the dark sky still has its glow, like a navy blue dotted with spurts and puffs of white air. Everything is quiet; even the water lapping at the shore seems to have frozen. It is so quiet that, aside from the distant rumbling and the intermittent tweets of the birds in the forest behind them, the entire world seems to have stopped in sync with the movement of the water.
Minnowmist relishes in it, in the beauty of the silence and the stillness. She can feel the humidity in the air warning of the oncoming storm, but it’s not suffocating because of the underlying breeze pushing back her long fur. She closes her eyes against the cool air— and then she hears a chuckle. She opens her left eye to peep at Hayden.
“What?” she asks.
“You,” Hayden says simply, gazing at her with stars in his yellow eyes. “You’re beautiful when you stare out into the storm.”
“Am I beautiful on every other day as well?” Minnowmist jokingly asks, opening both eyes wide to take him in.
“Darling, you are beautiful every second, every minute, and every day of every moon,” he tells her. “But you are especially beautiful when you look at the things that you love.”
“Oh,” Minnowmist purrs, lifting the corner of her lip to a smirk. “Then I must be radiant when I look at you.”
“Oh, yes,” Hayden agrees, nodding enthusiastically and theatrically. “So radiant that it’s blinding. Beholding you is almost an impossibility.”
“I do love you,” she tells him in all seriousness. Minnowmist presses herself closer to the tom, and she rests her head upon his shoulder as she looks out into the beach. A calm reassurance fills her body at the closeness of their fur, at knowing that he’s right beside her and that, like a constant, he’ll always be there. “I love you… I love you like moments before the rain.”
Hayden shifts his head to look at her, and she peers up into his eyes. “I love it when you speak in riddles.”
“Not riddles,” Minnowmist corrects. “Truth.” She lets out a content sigh, and she dips her head back into the crease of his neck. Her eyes find the glow of the rainless sky, and her voice is like a song against the drumming of the thunder, coming closer and closer but still far enough that it only sounds like an echo, outside of their bubble of safety and stillness.
“You know that moment,” she repeats, “that moment right before it rains? When the sky turns blue and black and white all at once, and you just wonder… how something so perfect can exist in nature?”
“And, then you get that feeling of butterflies in your stomach because you don’t know what the storm will bring but you’re so ready for it, so ready for feeling the rain falling down around you and watching every unique drop… But, along with the excitement, there’s also an equal bit of calm... The entire world freezes and everything is held in a state of suspension, a state of exhale, a state of waiting for the inhale— It’s like, it’s like— before the storm, you’re just sitting in the eye of the storm.”
“You can see everything around you just--just… stop, and it’s like StarClan is giving you a single moment before the flood to take in the beauty of all that They’ve created. And—and, bonus points if the sun is setting. Because then you’ve got so many more colors—!”
Minnowmist exhales, and Hayden stares at her with amusement as she catches her breath. “You think I’m crazy,” she says with a frown, falling from her high.
“I think you’re the only cat that I’ve ever met who speaks so passionately about the rain, and I love you for it—”
“Hayden— you are my rain and my moments before the rain. That’s what it feels like being in love with you.” Minnowmist pulls herself free from where she’s nestled in Hayden’s neck, and they pull apart so they are now muzzle to muzzle, eye to eye. “The first time I fell in love with you, it was a day like this,” she tells him. “When your body was outlined by the mist of the coming rain. And I fall in love with you over and over again every single day, but—”
“But—?” Hayden prompts, giving her muzzle a small lick with his raspy tongue.
“But, more so now,” she continues. “Moments like this, just before the rain, when I see you before me like I did back when we were young. When the world stops, and it’s just you—”
Small pitter-patters begin to fall from the sky. One drop, then another, and then another against their fur. “I can’t… I can’t explain it any other way,” she tells him, gazing into his eyes. “You are and always have been my moments before the rain.”
The rain falls steadily down, and Minnowmist lifts her head to embrace it.
You are — and always have been — my moments before the rain.