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This "Three Word Prompt" commission was written for Magnus. Their three words were "Northern, Forest, Summer." and the story contains relaxing slice of life romance between consenting adults. <3

Summer Amidst the Pines

Hand in hand Julius and Marta padded through the pine forest, drinking in the scents, the sounds, and most of all the warmth of the sun shining down through the conifers rising high all around them. Summer was here. The last spring frosts had passed, and now every morning the wildflowers planted around their log cabin home were laden with glistening dew upon their leaves and petals alike. With their boots shifting through the carpet of pine needles, the pair said little as they strolled onward with no particular destination in mind, just the intention to spend a quiet, peaceful day together. Occasionally they would pause to admire a plant, an insect, a recently fledged bird flitting through the trees in search of the aforementioned critters for its lunch. A murmured word would direct their attention from one beautiful sight to another, and they smiled, hands squeezing at one another in gratitude for simply being there to share the experience.

After a while, they came upon a somewhat broader, slow flowing section of the stream which passed not too far away from their cabin. Giggling, Marta pulled her hand from Julius' own and ran over to the bank, sitting down upon the grassy rushes and the soft, moist soil to begin rolling up the legs of her trousers, and pulling off her boots. The vixen's bare feet wiggled in the open air for a moment, toes flexing after their confinement, and she scooted and wiggled her way over without standing to the very edge of the stream, dipping her feet in with a soft, lingering growl of satisfaction.

The lynx moved to join his wife, mirroring her actions as he sat, slipped off his boots, rolled his trouser-legs up to his calves, and shuffled over not to sit alongside the female fox at first, but to kneel behind her. His arms encircled her shoulders, and gently, adoringly he kissed his mate before whispering to her in the most tender purr.

"How angry would you be if I pushed you in, dear heart."

He felt her tense, felt the vixen's eyes widen, and swiftly, playfully grabbed at her shoulders with a jolt. She squealed, but her surprise turned to laughter as almost immediately Julius let go again, with no intention whatsoever of following through on his actions. He scooted around and sat beside her, and as the woman's head tilted to rest on his shoulder, her left hand sought out his right once more, fingers lacing together as they watched their toes splash in the cool meandering water.

More than a minute passed before Marta spoke, and even then she just uttered a single word, turning her head ever so slightly to kiss her husband's shoulder.

"Extremely."

He chuckled, but nodded in understanding. Silence fell again without any more needing to be said on the matter, and for the best part of half an hour, or as close as the pair could guess by the vague motion of the sun alone, they just sat there paddling their feet, wiggling their toes at the occasional passing minnow in a playful greeting, and sharing the occasional moment of footsie as toes brushed against toes with the threat, but never the follow through of actually trying to tickle their partner's paws.

When they departed the river, Marta being the one to take the lead again as she raised her head, stretched, and lifted her footpaws to first let them drip dry, then flicking any excess water out across the stream. She rose to her feet with Julius following in her wake, and though she picked up her boots she made no effort to put them back on quite yet. The pair began to walk once again, but followed the stream's edge as they did so to enjoy the softer earth and grasses underfoot as opposed to sharp, piercing pine needles. The stream turned north a while later, so north they headed at its behest. At one point the water grew so shallow and the channel of the stream so broad that it actually grew rather loud thanks to the constant motion of the water through pebbles that its gentle flow could not keep suspended in the water column. This time it was Julius who led the way as he found a spot on the bank less steep than the rest, the water level generally low and leaving at minimum a good few inches of slippery, near vertical earthen bank protruding upward in the wake of the spring rainfall. He stepped down into the spring's flow, reaching out a hand to guide Marta down after him, and together they walked out into the very centre of the stream.

They didn't need to speak a word, the silence between them as meaningful as it always was as the lynx turned towards his lover and took the other hand she offered him. They stepped closer. First enough only for the tips of their toes to touch, and their noses to bump gently against one another. A little closer, and they kissed. A soft, gentle but still lengthy kiss, free of tongue and lacking any urgency but still filled with intimate purpose. Finally they stepped closer one more time, and embraced. Arms wrapped tight around warm bodies as the sun shone down upon them and glittering water, no pines reaching out far enough over the stream to hide away their love for one another in the shade. Heads bowed forward and rested side by side, cheek to cheek.

The pair stood there until the dull drumming of a woodpecker's bill against a tree nearby caused two pairs of ears to twitch in unison, and with their meditative moment at an end, neither knowing nor caring whether it had lasted a minute or an hour, their heads rose and turned in search of the sound. A flash of green and red met their eyes as the bird sailed from one tree to another, landed, and began its rapid knocking once again. Vixen and lynx beamed, and after watching the bird until it fluttered out of sight either in search of better pickings or to carry its current bounty back to a late nest of chicks, they made their way slowly and calmly back to the bank.

Slipping boots back on, husband and wife said farewell to the stream and turned their course south-east. For an hour they walked without a word, no longer hand in hand, sometimes Marta moving ahead until she came across some small creature to admire, allowing Julius to catch up or even overtake her if he didn't feel the need to stop and see what Marta had found. Eventually though they reached a spot in the forest that they recognised, and Julius gave an audible sigh as he turned to his wife.

"I know when winter comes I'll be telling a very different tale, but... I wish my body could walk as long as the summer sun shone. I wish we could have just kept walking all day and all through the night in one direction, rather than returning to the familiar. To the path home. I... I feel so alive when the sun shines upon me. But, more so when I see it illuminating your sweet face. Your eyes, shining like the blue skies above. When I think of returning home, of dinner, of bed eventually to follow it... my feet itch."

Marta nodded, but smiled wryly to her husband.

"Are you sure you didn't simply step in some nettles?"

Julius chuckled, and gave a more soothed, grateful sigh as Marta stepped forward and wrapped him up in her arms, a gentle kiss planting itself on his forehead.

"On days like today, sleep feels like the world stealing time I could be spending with you. Walking. Laughing. Letting our eyes light up, and our hearts soar like we're children again as we explore every sense the earth provides for us."

He murmured once more, before his wife tilted his chin up with a single fingertip, and quieted him with another tender peck.

"And yet, when sleep does come for us as it always does, we enter it as we do so many things. Together, Julius. We lie in the bed we built together, on the mattress we hunted duck nests and stuffed together. Beneath sheets I sewed, under log beams you cut. Even in sleep, everything around us stands as a reminder of our union. Plus... I would not be so quick to dismiss sleep if I were you. For on either side of sleep, there come rewards that would perhaps be hard to justify at other times of day, but seem so natural when the bedroom beckons."

Julius grinned, and bowed his head in agreement, resting his forehead against his wife's own.

"True enough."

He chuckled, their heads rising just enough for noses to touch, and lips to brush once again.

"Without sleep, I would miss our late sunset suppers... and the scent of fresh eggs and cured ham over the stove in the morning."

Marta snorted with laughter, and shook her head as she looked at her husband in playful wonder, then tugged gently on the hand still holding his while she began to lead him back home once more.

"Come on..."

The vixen murmured, still grinning and giggling as her husband followed along behind her, eyes twinkling playfully.

"...I need to put the stock on for dinner's broth, and if we make it home in good time, we might even be able to fit in a quick extra helping of the supper we both enjoy so much before the afternoon is at an end."

By Jeeves

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