hircine
((hircine – do you prefer to chase, or to be chased?))
That depends on whether the chase is metaphorical or literal.
The metaphoric, first. Many a suitor thinks themselves a dashing rogue such as one might find in trashy romance novels. There is nothing more tedious. There is an art to courtship, and most think themselves more talented than they truly are. The whole affair is as charming as nettlerash. I prefer to seek affection rather than have it thrust against me (a choice of wording that was occasionally, drunkenly, far more apt than you’d like to imagine).
As for being hunted in the bloodier, more traditional sense, there is only pleasure to be had in evading a dim-witted adversary; there is nothing charming about being pursued with poor intent or poor execution, although both at once is a vindictive sort of entertainment. Being chased by an intellectual is never short of terrifying, especially one with knowledge of your methods and patterns of thought. A friend who chooses to betray you creates the most chilling of vulnerable moments, leaves wounds in your emotions that yield ugly and lasting scars.
Being the hunter, on the other hand… I have practice with this. Watching your prey turn mindless with primal dread, hearing the roar of blood in your veins, feeling the aching jolt of wild ecstasy when you finally run them to the ground, the sensuous yielding of flesh to the thrust of the slickened blade, the dance of seizing nerves and arcing blood and panting, climactic triumph. There is so much joy to be had, so very much…
