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She has been watching them for some time now.
There is something so peculiar about the way they sit side by side, the way the woman dotes over the boy that doesn’t seem to be much older than she is. Meulin doesn’t understand why, but she finds the boy fascinating. With the untimely death of her lusus, she has been bound to hunting on her own. She has not since known the company of another troll, and the concept baffles her. It’s a long time that she watches them, gaze glued from within the bushes. Sometimes, the boy meets her gaze, and she swears he can see her. When his attention shifts, she realizes she is misled.
It is the temptingly delicious smells from cooked meat that first bring her here, and it’s what helps her locate the pair again and again. She watches from behind leaves as the boy lays out a plate unattended. Once, she starts toward it, only to be startled when she hears them coming back. While she can hunt her own food and enjoy her meals raw, it begins to become less about the smell than it is about him and the woman. She watches them laugh, converse, and play together, and there is a hole in her heart that she soon becomes attuned to. She, too, desires company and companionship, and she pretends like she has it when she watches them both.
After a month of internal debating, she slowly slides up to them as if it is as natural for her to do so as it is in her dreams. She asks for food, and it is given to her, and her nerves fade. The boy watches her in disbelief, her feral eating habits in full display in front of him. She is not used to being looked at, paid attention to, or spoken with, but the way the rest of the night goes, it makes her want to stay.
And she does.
It is the same boy she grows up with, wrestling and playing and loving. Her feelings grow only stronger, their chemistry so thick it’s nearly tangible. It has been this way for years, and she sees herself with no one else. She loves the boy with the messy hair and nubby horns, with the warm smile and unyielding compassion. In a rare moment the two of them have alone, she makes her feelings known in a kiss that starts off awkward and innocent.
She quickly gets used to it.