The world stood still, and Aurelia was trapped in her own mind.
Spiraling. Spinning.
She'd already waited too long - now it was awkward - the crowd's raucous noise had begun to settle, and Aurelia was still standing on top of Solulfur, utterly motionless save for the heaving of her sides. The moment seemed to last an eternity, and she couldn't escape.
As Solulfur looked back with her liquid-gold gaze, the girl wondered (startlingly) if she even wanted to.
"I yield."
The world began to turn again. Aurelia felt herself blink for the first time in a year and returned to the present.
"I yield!"
She was waiting for her now, staring defiantly, breathlessly, excitedly from her position below, and Aurelia felt the faintest ghost of a smile etch itself at the corners of her lips. Even in defeat, the Black Sun had a commanding presence; how she admired the fight in her soul, the way she ceaselessly plunged forward into every next moment without fear or remorse.
Aurelia knelt closer and brought her maw to the soft space at the underside of Solulfur's neck, and then gently - but firmly - placed her jaws around it in symbolic victory.
It wasn't necessary, and it certainly wasn't for the crowd - it was for herself and for Solulfur, an exchange that demonstrated both vulnerability and trust.
It also rather mischievously displayed Aurelia's dominance over the situation, something she would smile about later.
She lingered for several moments this way, her breath heating the dark fur at Solulfur's neck - and gave her a coy look out of the corner of her eye, the closest thing to cheek Aurelia had yet displayed in her young life.
She was enjoying it.
And then she released her.
I know you'll thrash me next time,she said,
Best to get my win in while I can.
![[Image: AureliaSignature.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/AureliaSignature.gif)