Bug collector

chapter 8

Swiriya leaned into Ma'ru as he whined at the heavy prey caught on his back, a few viperwolves tied in place to transport the other hunters, among them Tarsem also carrying victims of their hunt for food, they landed in the cave, mothers and women swarming them to grab the food they want and know how to make, never grabbing everything, as some has to be left for the entire clan to share.

Swiriya huffs as she hauls the body of a weirdly large viperwolf, sweat clinging to her body, making her muscles shine as she leaned back to breathe in deeply, feeling eyes cling onto her.

It was no secret people were trying to warm up to her, she was the Olo'eyktan, single, and very attractive, her tall but muscled figure standing tall above most others.

Swiriya could practically feel the eyes on her back, and every part of her body, a need to smirk and bask in slight glory at this shunned back into the back of her head along with unwanted emotions and memories and dreams from the other night.

She surveyed the crowd that was watching her, her eye's suddenly meeting one familiar pair of greens and yellow's, Ewkiro.

Their eyes met for a second before both looked away, one more awkward than the other. Swiriya looked at the gravel in sudden interest, the chilling body on her shoulders feeling lighter than ever as she lead the hunters to the area where food preparations happen, throwing the viperwolf off of her shoulders, signing i see you to the women waiting for the food to clean it, closing her eyes, letting her eyebrows fall slack as she dragged her hand from the top of her forehead to the start of her nose, turning around and walking away.

As she left the kitchens she heard voices discussing, some more frantic than others.

Swiriya wiped her hands on her thighs, whistling a tune, watching as Ma'ru, far away took the sign and flew off. She was surprisingly relatively free until dinner, walking off to a small stream, sad looking, as they were in a cave, and crouched down to the water, not letting it touch her hands with all her might, the feeling of water trickling over her palms still fresh in her head. She sat on a smoother rock, grown with odd plants, admiring the power of nature, she didn't notice a second set of knees hitting the rock on the left of her.

"How did the hunt go?" Asked Ewkiro, making Swiriya jump ever so slightly, making Ewkiro chuckle, covering her mouth with her hand. Swiriya smiled at her.

"It went good"

"Are you ok?" Ewkiro asked, making Swiriya looked down, not at the stream, but at her hands, which trembled slightly, the bottled up emotion bubbling up within her body, close to overflowing.
"What? Yeah i'm fine" She shrugged, Ewkiro frowned, stretching her own, four fingered hand to Swiriya's five fingered one, grabbing her palm with both hands, spreading out her fingers, Swiriya looked at her, confused.

"I've noticed, when you're nervous you look at your hands" Ewkiro muttered, Swiriya not sure if she was meant to hear it fully.

"Yeah, i guess i do that" She used her free hand to scratch at the nape of her neck.

"Your hands are beautiful" Ewkiro mumbled, it even quieter than before.\

Noone had ever said that to her, sure, they said her hard and calloused hands looked unwomanly, and too manly, but she had never heard beautiful, not just about her hands, people always used different words to describe her, calling her 'Strong' and 'Amazing' but never such a feminised word, the way it came out of the smaller girls mouth making the tips of Swriya's ears redden.

"Noone's ever said that before" Swiriya whispered to herself.

"I guess i should say it more often then" Ewkiro pulled a dopey, lopsided smile that made Swiriya let out an uncharacteristic bout of giggles, the smile itself made her heart warm, a feeling she had never previously felt for someone so easily.

"You are amazing, kiro"

"Could say the same about you." they both turned to each other, smiling so easily it confused them but warmed them from the inside at the same time, Ewkiro released Swiriya's hand, but Swiriya didn't take it back, putting it on Ewkiro's soft cheek, the contrast amazing, Ewkiro's eyes softened more than she thought they ever could, and Swiriya looked at Ewkiro's own hands, her smile dropping as she spotted a ring on one of the girls fingers, making scenes flash in her mind, dropping her hand from the girls cheek.
"Im sorry- i have to go" she tried composing herself, standing up quickly, leaving a confused Ewkiro still kneeling on the ground, the girl now looking sad.

...

The next time Swiriya saw Ewkiro was at dinner, the girl opting to sit near Swirya to talk to her while they ate.

Swiriya nodded to acknowledge her, chewing on the soft meat from the same animals she had hunted prior.

"Are you okay?"

Asked Ewkiro.

"Yeah- im- yeah im fine" Swiriya uttered out, not sounding as ok as she tried making it look, noone there knew that after that moment she went back to her hut, curling up into corner, staring into dark woven material as the time till dinner, and her now rare alone time passed by, trying to make sense of reality.

"Are you sure riya? Kause you looked kinda freaked out-"

"Yes, im fine- you havent seen me freaked out"

"I mean i kinda just did-"

"For fucks sake- ok look, im fine yeah? Lets stop being angry at one another"

"Alright, uhm, wanna meet at the same place tomorrow?"

"I might be busy i don't know"

"Thats fine" Ewkiro's smile felt comforting, homely, as if she had known her for

decades

"Yeah?" Asked Swiriya

"Ofcourse, beautiful"

Swiriya stopped in her tracks, her hands in which she still held food lowered, internally Swiriya was freaking out, externally, she just reddened, the quiet and shock coming off of her declared this conversation over, making Ewkiro chuckle.

God that chuckle.

I just wanna say smth, for Ewkiro's voice, imagine Diane from bojack horseman, i took the "thats fine" directly from view from halfway down and i love her and for Swiriya just imagine a slightly deeper grainier voice idk