Flower Boy

journal entry - 8.17.22 

The lake wasn’t the ocean, but Niamh could make do. She’d found a little cottage near it - someone’s old summer cottage, maybe, long forgotten and left to gather dust. She tidied it and made it into a little home for herself. Well, perhaps it would never be truly home, but it was comforting and safe. She could swim in the lake as well as she could the sea.

People hardly ever came to that part of the woods, so deep and dark it could be. Hunters came, sometimes, but she found they avoided her little home. Out of respect or out of fear, she wasn’t sure. She was glad for it either way. It meant she could go out and forage without worrying as much.

That was what she was doing when she spots the creature.

She hesitates, at first. He’s unlike anything she’s ever seen before - head and legs of a bull, body of a man - but he doesn’t look…frightening. Perhaps it because he seems afraid. Running from someone, maybe?

She goes to him, basket clutched in her hand. “You’re safe.” Those are the first words that slip out - she isn’t sure why. Yet when he finally looks at her and she sees how scared he is, she understands. Even on his knees he’s nearly taller than her. She should be afraid of him. Not the other way around.

“Yes,” she reassures him. “Hunters don’t come out this far. Or anyone else, really. I haven’t seen anyone here for a long while. Except you.”

Perhaps she should be more startled but she isn’t human, either. A shifter wearing a different skin. She doesn’t think he means her any harm. She hopes he doesn’t, at least.

Atticus breathes a little noisily, the air coming heavy from his large chest. Safe. He was safe, she said. By all means, she should have been the one afraid of him, and yet here he was... this massive creature, on his knees after stumbling in his anxious wandering; his cow like senses going wild at the thought of strangers finding him and hurting him like they did to monsters in the stories his mama used to tell him of. Don't leave the property, she'd always said... don't stray too far. But he had strayed too far. And in becoming spooked, he wandered even further still. He looked much less like a full grown man -- well, minotaur-- than he did a startled, lost little boy.

Silence hangs heavily between then for a long moment as his mind slowly comes back to himself. Fear melting to mere apprehension, and yet... even further still, perhaps, as he stares at the woman. She looked... soft. Small. His senses told him that she wasn't dangerous, like she said. He was safe.

The big guy swallows, exhaling with a little nod in response. His amber eyes flicker downward as he continues to sit on his haunches, slouched over a little as though instinctively trying to make himself look smaller.

"....you smell... sweet... and salty... like ocean soap..." He murmurs in that disarmingly deep voice, softened as to be quieter, an inherent desire not to be too loud and therefore.. scary. A threat.

–He's never smelled the real ocean before, but his mother used to buy soaps that she said smelled like it. This woman didn't smell like soap... no, something else. His large nostrils flare silently, eyes growing inquisitive, despite their worry.

Mineral Meadowcore

Watercolor On Cotton Paper

2023, 22"x 30"

Purple Poppies

╰   ––––––– ✧   @flowerbull :      asked      ❨        ❛ you deserve some good rest. ❜           ❩˙

[ win ]  –  for the sender’s muse to place a hand on the receiver’s neck and rest their forehead against the receiver’s own for a close congrats or excitement at something. [ brush ]  –  for the sender’s muse to give the receiver’s muse a passing touch along the shoulder’s / back as they walk by. [ hold ]  –  for the sender’s muse to hold the receiver’s muse by the face / neck gently and brush their thumbs along their cheeks to get them to focus on them. [ passing confidence ]  –  for the sender’s muse brush their finger’s against the receiver’s muse’s hand, too scared to hold their hand. [ intertwine ]  –  for the sender’s muse to intertwine their finger’s the receiver’s muse and kiss the back of their hand. [ intertwine & kiss ]  –  for the sender’s muse to intertwine their finger’s the receiver’s muse and kiss the back of their hand. [ intertwine & hold ]  –  for the sender’s muse to intertwine their finger’s the receiver’s muse and hold them during an emotional moment to reassure them. [ wrap ]  –  for the sender’s muse to casually wrap their arms around the receiver’s neck and lean on their shoulder from behind. [ palm kiss ]  –  for the sender’s muse to kiss the palm of receiver’s hand. [ hand kiss ]  –  for the sender’s muse to kiss the back of the receiver’s hand. [ lay ]  –  for the sender’s muse to lay next to the receiver and lay their hand in the receiver muses’ hand. [ reassure ]  –  for the sender’s muse to place their hand over the receiver’s in a moment of stress and squeeze reassuringly. [ squeeze ]  –  for the sender’s muse to place their hands on the receiver’s shoulders from behind, and offer a reassuring / affirming squeeze before moving on. [ pluck ]  –  for the sender to pluck a foreign object ( twig / leaf / etc. ) out of the receiver muses’ hair. [ play ]  –  for the sender’s muse to run their hand up the receiver’s shoulder and play with the hair at the base of their neck as a means of comfort. [ rub ]  –  for the sender muse to rub up and down the receiver’s back / shoulder as a means of comfort. [ shoulder ]  –  for the sender’s muse to place a hand on the receiver’s shoulder to comfort them, or stop them. [ hug ]  –  for the sender’s muse to drag the receiver’s muse into a tight hug by the back of the neck, and play with their hair at the base of their neck in order to comfort them. [ shock ]  –  for the sender to recoil a bit in shock at how quick the receiver latches onto them in a moment of high emotion, before returning the affections. [ cup ]  –  for the sender’s muse to cup the receiver’s face, and brush their thumb along the receiver’s cheek. [ hair ]  –  for the sender to brush a strand of hair out of the receiver’s face. [ hair & lean ]  –  for the sender to brush a strand of hair out of the face, and lean in slowly for a kiss. [ cup & kiss ]  –  for the sender’s muse to cup the receiver muses’ face during an incredibly passionate and long overdue kiss. [ what a rush ]  –  for the long long overdue kiss to end, only for the sender to rest their head on the receiver’s, and comment “do you know how long I’ve wanted to do that?” [ no tears ]  –  for the sender to cup the receiver’s face and brush away their tears with their thumbs. [ no tears & kiss ]  –  for the sender to cup the receiver’s face and brush away their tears with their thumbs & kiss the receiver’s forehead. [ stumble ]  –  for the sender’s muse to catch and help the receiver’s muse keep balance. [ shudder ]  –  for the sender to shudder a little at some gentle touch from the receiver. [ nononono! ]  –  for the sender to hold the receiver’s head / face while they’re injured, brush their thumb along their cheeks & refuse to accept that the receiver is dying. [ acceptance ]  –  for the sender & receiver to sit / lay somewhere in acceptance of their ends together. in a final act of closeness, the sender places their hand in the receiver’s own.

´ ･ .  ✶ ━━      this wasn’t the first time she had shifted in her sleep.  it wasn’t common but it was unusual.  her head killed and her back felt even worse  -  it took her a couple of seconds for her eyesight to focus  ,  noticing the bunch of hay surrounding her and the sudden smell of a barn.  it wasn’t until a voice startled her properly awake.  trying her best to sit up right (trying not to fall through the pile of hay)  ,  ellie spots the … bull just to her left.  her mouth dropped open but the splitting pain spliced across the front of her head and she groaned  ,  causing her to curl inward  ,  a hand pressing tightly against her forehead.  “  t-thanks.  ”  ellie stumbled over her word.  “  y-you didn’t have to do that.  ”

feel free to combine multiple prompts or add  “ + reverse ”  to switch roles !   for reference, the one sending in the prompt is the one committing the action.