Where do you think we would end up if we all made peace with ourselves, spoke our secrets, resolved our pasts, and stood before one another in a show of solidarity and strength?
Raglan supposed that the world would be a kinder place, no doubt, and there wouldn’t be so many made-up walls standing between creatures living fully with those they loved. For once, the stallion was considering these unattainable things without despair — indeed, he found himself joyful and almost content in the bright light of dawn. Shadows stretched long fingers over the garden district of the Terrastellan capitol, taking vines and summer blooms and reworking them into caricatures of themselves over the cobbles.
A lone tomcat lounged in the pathway, his great fuzzy bulk taking up the better half of the middle. Slowing to a stop, enjoying the pleasant warmth of the dawntide sun across his back, Raglan watched the feline with a friendly disinterest. At the sound of the pegasus’ approach, the striped cat cracked open a pair of bottle green eyes and assessed the lanky male lazily. ”Greetings, cat,” Smiled the Crow, ”In another life, if I went by the same form as I do title, you would make a meal of me.”
And yet, judging by the way the tomcat yawned and licked his chops, Raglan wondered if the feline might be considering taking a bite regardless. Quirking an ear toward his newest adversary, the stallion flared his wings slightly and arched his neck in jest, silvery eyes watching the cat in the same manner it watched him. ”I am terribly gamey and most likely sour, I assure you,”He implored with a dramatic flair, folding black tipped wings back to mahogany sides.
”But if that is the price of my passage, oh, Mighty Sphinx,” A pause here for the theatrics of it all, listing to the side as if mortally wounded, ”Then chomp as you will, but please, leave my beautiful face.”
For the first time, Liam found himself standing upon the lands of the citadel that housed the Dusk Court. Standing before the immense building, the copper-burnished stallion craned his neck back to stare up at the tower, amazed by the architecture, finding it simply amazing that such a building could exist. Steeling himself, the stallion entered into the tower, his footfalls echoing off the stone walls surrounding him. It was rare that he was taken aback, and he found himself just gazing at the walls that surrounded him as he began to walk through the massive hallways.
In fact, only once had Liam been in such a large place, and it was one where he'd been interrupted by someone who wasn't worth the air he breathed. Regretfully, Liam had watched as the other stallion walked out of his halls that day instead of throwing him into a prison cell that was inescapable. It would be a mistake that Liam would never make again.
Flicking his audits back and forth, the stallion gazed around at his surroundings as he continued to walk the halls. Shadows began to grow long and cool, the early fall heat dissipating quickly, despite Liam's bitter distaste for the cooler weather. Flattening his audits against his skull, the flame-licked stallion shook out his mane and continued down the hallways, lingering in what remaining sunlight he could find. There was a flicker of amusement as he thought back to how Bucky would call him a cat after the dark, broody stallion would come to find his husband in the long sunbeams in their home.
As he walked along the hallways, exploring, Liam stumbled upon another at the end of the hallway he was in, talking to — ironically — a cat. The tomcat looked up as the other stallion approached him, a lazy expression on his face. At the other stallion's words, Liam canted his skull in such a way that conveyed confusion and lack of understanding. What title did the other stallion have? Squinting at the other man, Liam flared his nostrils as he mentally worked hard to understand what was going on, but nothing came up. Truthfully, he could not understand what was going on, and why the unknown stallion told the cat that it would be able to eat him.
With an air of amusement, Liam leaned against the nearest wall, watching as the unknown stallion flared his wings dramatically, the arch in his neck interesting. The stallion was challenging the cat to a fight, one of which the feline would most certainly lose. Stepping forward, his hoofbeats were slightly muffled by the carpet that ran down the middle of the length of the hallway, those azure chasms of the stallion gleaming in silent amusement. "I'm sure that he likes gamey and sour creatures. After all, they eat rats and the like, don't they?"
The dramatics, the theatrics all brought amusement to the copper-burnished stallion, and as he came to a stop approximately ten feet away from the other stallion and the feline adversary, Liam allowed a taunting grin to grace his lips. "Your beautiful face, hmm? M'sure that it would break a mirror upon being looked in," he teased, giving another taunting grin.
"Liam Speaks."
Notes;; I'm so sorry for the wait!! I suck so badly D:
Tag;; @Raglan
Voice claim;; Chris Evans
Words;; 537
The cat had continued to stare lazily at Raglan, those pale emerald eyes full of a characteristically feline disinterest. Raglan, muscles along his rump and shoulders tensing in preparation for his tragic ‘death’ at the hands - paws? - of his grand foe, parted his lips and sucked in a breath for his final deathcry. He was, however, mercifully interrupted from his spectacle by a stranger’s approach. Brows raising a bit as his copper ears twisted back toward the newcomer, the Crow offered a laugh in greeting, though his eyes remained upon the feline.
”After all, they eat rats and the like, don’t they?”
A smile blossomed over the pegasus’ face as he glanced over a winged shoulder and found a well-muscled male grinning back at him. The stranger’s following remark about Raglan’s face was softened with good humor, and the Silvertongue gave a wink to his feline adversary before pivoting on a beck hoof and turning to fully face the unnamed male. Dipping his horned head in a nod, feathered wings spreading ever so slightly to mimic a sort of curtsy, the Dusk courtier considered the ivory splashed stallion before drawling,
“Ah, but the rats here, my friend, are nearly fat as the tiny lion at our backs — I imagine supping on the royal leftovers would leave them as juicy and plump as any suckling pig.” Raglan practically glowed with good humor, his growing delight at having some new company paired with a friendly cat and some sunshine had wrapped the Crow in a robe of joviality. Affecting a mournful expression, Raglan stared wistfully out a nearby window — the very image of a lonely woman wondering when her lover is to return from war, “It is truly a tragedy, is it not?” He turned his puppydog eyes back upon his newest acquaintance, comically committed to his act, “To have beauty so splendid and overwhelming that mirrors shatter to behold it? A curse, it is, to lead my life with such a burden.”
Raglan could only hold it together for a few more faux-heartbroken moments before his expression cracked beneath the weight of his own grin. ”Hello, by the way. My name is Raglan and it seems you have stumbled upon me in a bit of a mood. How is the sunshine upon our lovely Terrastellan capitol treating you today?”
The other stallion seemed game enough for Raglan’s ridiculous notions, and that simple impression was enough to endear him to the Crow. The only thing left to cement their newly found friendship was a name to paste to the male’s face.
Characteristically, the cat just stared at the other stallion, disinterest and boredom splashed across its face. Liam was deeply amused, and he found this specific stallion to be wholly entertaining and just as wholesome as a foal would be. Mentally, Liam wondered if the other, unknown stallion had ever matured past foalhood, if he'd ever grown up. It was possible that he hadn't, but Liam couldn't judge; he'd known another horse that was much the same. Anthony had been frustrating, and while he and Liam didn't always see eye-to-eye, their bond was strong, especially after everything that had happened between them and the team that they both led in the military. It was strange, Liam thought, that he'd found someone who reminded him of the stallion he'd watch grow up.
The laugh that broke the silence in the air made him chuckle in return.
The face that greeted his own had a smile on it, and Liam simply beamed back. It was nice, this silent amusement that the two of them shared. The wings on the man that was colored the same as dried blood were impressive, something that Liam never got used to seeing. The horns on the man's forehead were just as impressive, if not imposing. The garnet that was inlaid on the stallion's forehead gleamed, and Liam found himself wondering what the purpose of the gem was. Slightly smaller than his own frame, the other stallion was tall and lanky, something that Liam had found even more familiar as it reminded him of Natalie, and her ferocious friendship that he found himself missing. The blood-colored stallion spoke, breaking Liam out of his reverie and he found himself grinning again.
"Ah, the rats I'm used to are just skinny things. Never threatening," he responds, brows quirking up at the thought of seeing a rat that big. He wasn't entirely sure what he'd do if he saw one. It was clear to the copper-wrapped stallion that the man in front of him truly was a child in a man's body, but that didn't deter his good mood, nor did it deter him from wanting to be friends with the other stallion. It was good to have humor in one's life. Curiosity cloaked his face as he watched the stallion stare wistfully out a nearby window, the very epitome of how a widow would stare out the window, waiting for her long-deceased lover to come home from the war. "Truly, it is. It's also a tragedy to think that you have beauty, only to find out that you never did. Or to have it, but to never find someone for who your beauty unfolds for," Liam replied, his voice sobering up from the amused tone it'd held previously. Part of him was serious; it was devastating to have the beauty but to live your life all alone.
For a few more faux-heartbroken moments, Liam stared at the stallion, only to grin when the other man did, his chortle filling their space warmly. "I'm Liam. It's nice to meet you, Raglan. The sunshine is nice; it'd be better if it was slightly warmer. I fear that the season's change is coming upon us," he commented, voice sobering up again as he regards the outside world with distaste. Liam loathed the cold; it wrapped its inky, frozen fingertips around him, threatening to take him under its icy surface at any given moment.
Hopefully Raglan wouldn't notice the way Liam's mood soured slightly, and would just chalk it up to shyness or the awkwardness that came with meeting new people.
"Liam Speaks."
Notes;; Again, I'm the world's worst person ever
Tag;; @Raglan
Voice claim;; Chris Evans
Words;; 597
