[P] a pause unlike no other pause

[Mesnyi]

She has wandered out to the meadow now, the green expanse of speckled flowers budding and maybe sometimes blooming in the youth of spring, the occasional drift of warm air through the lingering winter cold is so welcoming to all the little lives, new and old. Mesnyi likes that it is beautiful here, that is why she chose to stay, and looking upon the meadow in spring she has no regrets. Regret is not Mesnyi’s way; it is better to move on, always, to leave it behind and be free of the unfortunate things. “That is the key to my happiness,” she’ll say, but how long can you be on the run? She does not consider herself as “being on the run.” So she says.

There are some clouds streaking the sky, bright and white like angel wings, and the sun is warm on her back and the winds not too strong, but enough to cool her flesh where it grows warm and sometimes give her a little shiver. She likes this in-between weather, but she itches in the grave silence of the natural world and wishes, just a little, that she had someone to talk to. The city can be so overwhelming, as can the quiet.

@Acton  Onomatomania

[Acton]

 
He supposed it was a good sign for the state of things that he was starting to get the familiar itch to do. Once, that had meant finding a few good marks to relieve of their valuables or a rival group to remind just who ran the darker corners of Denocte - but with Isra in charge and the rest of the Crows vanished to smoke and memory, Acton found himself with idle hands.

It was a sign of his growth (he thought) that he chose to walk the long road to the Dawn Court instead of finding mischief closer to home. Besides, it had been too long since he’d seen Pavetta, and he owed her a sober conversation at least once in the course of their friendship.

But his anticipation turned to something else as he traveled through the rolling countryside of Novus - most notably as he passed through the burned-out sections of some parts of the forest. With the snow in Solterra and flooding in Denocte and Delumine, Acton hadn’t even given thought to how the Dawn Court had fared.

About as well as the rest of them, apparently.

Which is why he angled toward the first figure he saw, never mind that they were a stranger (though at first he thought it was Pavetta, and started before realizing his mistake). The buckskin did not worry about startling her; with his stark coat and languid way of moving, he never snuck up on anyone unless he meant to.

“Last time I was here there was a hell of a party going on,” he said once he was near enough in lieu of greeting, and his gaze flicked quick as a flame between the quiet fields, humming with spring bees, and the girl, who looked as delicate as one of the newborn flowers below their feet. “I suppose this is closer to the usual excitement level in Delumine. Shame.” It was close enough to a question, he hoped, to prompt some sort of response. If not, maybe his grin would be, all blackpowder and promise.



@Mesnyi

whatever you feed me I'll feed you right back

[Mesnyi]

She sees him long before he is close enough to speak, yellow and black and white. Her skin shivers as an unusually chilling breeze slithers across her back, and she wonders, for a moment, if winter comes back early in this place. How could it?

”Last time I was here there was a hell of a party going on.” She smiles softly, but catches his roots in his voice and thinks it would be a shame for him to love her, when he can offer so little. ”I suppose this is closer to the usual excitement level in Delumine. Shame.” Yes, shame. She tilts her head slightly, the silken hair of her tail whispering across the grass as it sways back and forth slowly, thoughtfully. She says, ”Do you think so? Whenever we visit, we make a party.” If he is not permitted to love her, she supposes she will show her roots, too. It is hardly the way of most places to celebrate from morning to morning every day, but a day with her people is always a celebration.

@Acton

[Acton]

 

She watched him approach, and he watched her watch him, and the way she smiled and tilted her head made him think she isn’t like me at all. The way she moved and looked was not quite like a deer, and not quite like a fox. Maybe it could belong only to a unicorn, but he only knew a few of those.

But then she spoke, in that meadow dappled with springtime, and his ears flicked forward to catch her voice, and one of his brows arched in surprise.

“Hey,” he said, though there was no offense in his voice, and only dry amusement. “That’s my motto.” Acton considered her more seriously then, all lilac with her twisting horn, her pale cloud of hair, her blue eyes like winter baubles.

No - he had never seen her before. He would remember in an instant if he had, no matter how distracted at the time. She was that kind of girl.

“Who’s we, anyway?” he asked her then, because of course they were alone.


@Mesnyi I don't do short nearly so gracefully as you do, but I Try

whatever you feed me I'll feed you right back