This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Wolven91 on 2025-12-10 23:14:47+00:00.

Fince walked through the open area as a bundle of nerves, her eyes flicking from each of the other occupants of the square, to the next, dismissing those with horns and trying to study the ones that remained. Were they who she was looking for? Why were the veils so cursedly popular at the moment?!

It was rare for her to feel this way. Oh sure, she got nervous on the first day on the job. She got nervous when her team went through to the finals of the LM tournament. But this was different. She felt hot, yet cold, itchy and uncomfortable. Her palms were sweating until she had to quietly wipe them against the rear of her pants as she approached the very middle.

She glanced down at herself, tilting her head to cast a critical eye over the smartest shirt she now owned. She'd never used an iron before, but the real, naturally grown material she now wore marked her as someone of at least some note and required it to be crease free. It had cost her the vast majority of her last pay packet, but even she, a luddite in the ways of finery, felt like she belonged while wearing it.

At least a little bit.

She was here because supposedly, a human lived in one of the buildings that overlooked the square Fince was now standing in the very centre of. There was at least one human on this planet that Fince knew for certain and with the rarity that was humanity, the idea that another human might be here was simply too far-fetched.

The taurian looked for the blue outfit the human had worn the night before, the distinctive wide brimmed hat that had concealed his face. At the memory of the human's face, Fince's heart stuttered, and her breath became shaky. Would he wear the same thing? It looked expensive, so he might not be able to afford...? No. As a human, money would be easy for him to get a hold of, he wouldn't be in the same outfit. Don't be stupid. 

Her shoulders heaved as she sighed in frustration. Why was she so obsessed?

Last night, the opening night of the solstice, had been incredible, but when the ending bells rang out for the first night, the human male's protector had materialised, given Fince a strange look and whisked him away, out of each other's arms and around a corner. 'The look' hadn't been disapproving, the elder male hadn't given her a dismissive snort, nor had the elder lifted his snout to indicate Fince was not worthy...

But...

What did a steady gaze mean? He neither ignored, nor shunned her? The loudest part of her mind gave any number of excuses while a tiny voice suggested it meant something positive. The taurian had resolved to ask her brother, next time he called. He knew all about the subtle things in high society unlike her. 

She and the alien male had danced well into the night and even she had to admit that they had danced so well together. The solstice dances had 'official' steps nowadays, yet when the pair had simply let their bodies move, away from the dance floor near the refreshments… oh how they had flowed.

Fince wasn't a poet, or anything fancy like that, but there was no other word to describe it. The human had surprised her with his own moves, made by an alien world far from here, and yet? Fince had reacted with her own movements, merely reacting, not thinking. It was as if the human had blown away cobwebs and smoke that cluttered Fince's mind and they had just... clicked.

Now though? Like an addict waiting for her next fix, Fince was left desperate to just see him once more. That's all she wanted, to see him. By her mother's horns, why was she so itchy!?

The horned taurian ran a smoothing hand along the length of her face, over the top of her head and scratched an itch at the back of her skull, before realising her mistake and quickly rubbing the fur across her muzzle back down flat. Worrying that she had messed up her appearance, her hooves 'clopped' against the marble tiles of the square as she raced towards the reflecting pond to review how she'd messed up her hair style.

She'd spent at least an hour going over every inch of her fur to try and get it as best she could so if she ran into him again, she'd look a sight better than work overalls. She'd even approached one of the male taurians who lived in the same complex to ask for help. At first, he'd quite rightly assumed she was there to ask after him, but had immediately perked up when Fince had explained she wanted tips on how to impress a man.

The rippling reflection looked back up at Fince, the waters mutating her into something any male would be embarrassed to stand beside. She closed her eyes, turned around and sat on the concrete bench that ringed the pond. Opening them, she looked again at the various visitors.

A well-dressed couple walked by, a resplendent male with his face exposed. Not who Fince was looking for, dismissing the objectively handsome male in an instant. A group of three taurians, all facing away, distance made them possibly short enough but horns were visible. Certainly not. Next, a veiled figure in pink satin drew Fince's eye, before she saw a hoof beneath the dress as the male ascended the nearby stairs and lifted the material to prevent him from stepping on the hem.

Curse it!

Fince felt a wave of defeat wash over her. This was foolish. It was the action of a young girl, besotted with the first male she encountered. With a self-admonishing snort, she accused herself that she was about one mental step away from declaring she would marry him as the young often did before they discovered their place in the world. Her shoulders slouched as her place in the world was once more settled across her back like a lead cloak and reminded her of what came from dreaming too big.

There was no reason Fince thought the human would be here today. To be in the same park this morning, after a late night of dancing. Males were more delicate than them, they needed more time to recover. Maybe she should stay here until the evening, so in case he appeared throughout the day and-

No!

She snorted again, balling her fists. This was madness! She didn't even know his name and he never learnt hers, so why would he even remember her? There was nothing other than one mumbled rumour the human even lived nearby! To say he was even within a physical mile of where she was sat was at best a wild guess. He could be busy, he could be-

"May I sit down?" Asked a gentle voice, if not slightly out of breath, the clicking of their approaching hooves on marble ensured Fince this newcomer was too, not who she wished to see.

"Oh course, please excuse me." Fince replied, standing with a flinch and starting a bow at the shrouded individual.

"Oh please don't leave, do you know how hard it is to run in heels? Now *that's* something I never thought I'd say." Came the voice of the concealed taurian, small discs of silver catching the light and flashing Fince. The taurian looked up at the voice, frozen in a half-bow as the speaker gripped his dress, and displayed an intricately woven shoe that raised the wearer up on a single column, mimicking a taurian hoof, despite the alien foot held within the footwear.

No taurian would lift his skirt to a random stranger...

Fince pulled a muscle in her neck with the sheer speed and force of her looking up at the still concealed face. The gloved hand that reached up, delicately pulled the material to one side and the human's grinning face was revealed for her and her alone. He gave her a wink that immediately caused the inside of her ears to burn a deep, deep red as the material was let drop back down, the tiny disks tinkling as it concealed the human's face once more.

"Would you sit with me please? I've been reading etiquette books all morning and apparently a male sat alone is a male with undefended honour. Would you defend me for a bit?" Asked the man, who sat on the concrete bench before gently patting the space directly beside him.

Speechless, Fince sat as requested, giving the male respectful space, yet the human immediately shuffled closer, breaching an unknown number of protocols and social rules.

"I spent all morning watching the people tidy up after last night out here." Explained the male as if discussing the weather. "A few hours later, I look up from a stuffy tomb about which leg of a krad to eat first during a meal and who do I see in my tiny world?" He asked, the hidden face turning to peer at Fince. Even hidden, she could feel his eyes watching hers, freezing her in place.

She wanted this! She'd have given her left horn to have sat down and talked with him. Ask him a hundred questions and tell him everything he made her feel just by being there.

Yet, now he was there, like a dream or fevered hallucination? Her throat had become dry, and she felt a stutter on her lips, waiting for her to speak so it could make a fool of her. She pulled her lips tight and cleared her throat.

"Uh, who?" She asked, voice strained. The veiled male gently bumped her arm and gave a warm, bubbling laugh that felt like wriggling, clawless fingers in her stomach.

"You! I'd recognise your horns anywhere. I still struggle with faces, but the horns help massively."

Fince raised a fist to her mouth and quietly coughed into it. It was all she could do to stop herself from practically leaping off the bench and bellowing to the sparse crowds that the human male recognised *her*, he recognised *her* by ***her horns***!! She wanted to punch the air, but instead settled for quietly vibrating, not to mention trying and fail...

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1pjhr4p/veiled_heart_chapter_2/