Chapter Text
It's a weird thing to meet your god. There had always been a harshness to her statues, curves struggling to be contained by marble and the pressure at the bottom of the ocean. Now, Gura got to watch Fauna move; careful, methodical, a storm moving in an unstoppable fashion.
Gura looked closer. There was an iron underneath, a sharpness that maybe her statues did manage to convey; her eyes flinty and hard when she wanted them to be. Gura remembered looking up at the statues, kneeling in the shrines and muttering a little prayer and apology because she came by the shrine a week after she was supposed to. That Fauna stared up at the ceiling of the small, dark room, her face stony.
This Fauna smiled the first time she saw Gura and commented on the little prayer she made when she was younger.
"Why do you remember that?" Gura whined, dear gods above she was whining to a practical god, and said god was chuckling with a dainty hand pressed to her curving pink mouth.
"'cause it was cute." Fauna's eyes twinkled. "Like you."
Stay calm, Gura told herself, tail digging a furrow into the ground, tossing up some dirt. She hoped she wasn't ruining their flowers. Since Fauna had decided to start gardening with her, there had been a noticeable change in all the plants; the colors being more vibrant and the air smelling sweeter. More birds came by, chirping sweetly in the apple trees Fauna had planted.
"Why do you garden with me?" Gura blurted out, hands fumbling in the pocket of her overalls. Her hair fell to her shoulders, tickling her neck. It was getting rather long. Gura didn't know why she focused so much on that.
Fauna's smile was gentle, taking everything Gura had said in like a breath, her dress flowing at her ankles as she crossed over to Gura.
"Why not?" Fauna's head tilted a bit to the side, enigmatic as always. "I like gardening. I like watching you garden." She tilted her head back, eyes fluttering shut, holding a word in her mouth until the sky started to darken and rain started to patter down. Gura watched, marveling, a god having performed a miracle in front of her and she knew not what to do after. "Isn't that enough?"
"Oh," Gura shuffled her feet. "Yeah, I guess it is."
"You guess?"
Now Gura was sure she was teasing, sharp teeth already bared in a ferocious smile at Fauna, hair sticking to her neck. "We already watered the plants yesterday, you know. We can't over water them."
Fauna blinked, then giggled. The rain stopped as suddenly as it had started. "I had forgotten." She knelt on the wet grass, uncaring of the stains on her dress, wiping the water off of some of the plants' leaves. "Thank you Gura."
"Yeah." Gura sat down beside her, grimacing slightly at the feeling, tail curling up and away from the ground.
"I can cut your hair for you," Fauna offered, like she wasn't a god, like that was something normal for a god to do for a worshipper. Gura felt supplicant in the aftermath of the rain, already on her knees, even though Fauna was kneeling beside her.
"It's fine," Gura said.
"Mmm," Fauna tilted her head, the other side this time, Gura noticed. "I don't know..." She reached out to twine Gura's hair around her fingers, carefully, planting a seed of warmth in Gura's cheeks at the touch. "Do you want it to grow out?"
"Maybe," Gura's fingers brushed against Fauna's when she reached up to inspect the length of her hair as well. Fauna didn't move away. A star burst into life in the dark cavern of Gura's chest, ignited by a purr. "I think I'd like it long."
Gura didn't notice Fauna had fangs, reminiscent of a predator. Sometimes she forgot nature wasn't just love, it was also teeth and desperation. She had learned that already, long ago. Gura wondered when that lesson began to fade. There was still a softness to Fauna, in the way her nimble fingers took Gura's hand in her own, brushing dirt over their knuckles.
"I think it would look great on you." Fauna beamed.
When Fauna stood and turned away, moving to take the gardening tools to put them back in the shed, Gura whispered a little prayer, more of a thank you, more of a selfish indulgence to see the flowers in Fauna's hair grow a little bit, to watch a shiver waterfall down her spine.
Fauna turned back to Gura, smiling a secret smile. She never forgot Gura's prayers, Gura never forgot to pray. Gura settled her sacrifice into Fauna's loving hands, and set to work de-weeding the flowerbeds, her heart feeling red and hot even when it wasn't hers anymore.