[P] Endless Sky

[Eik]

Eik becomes achingly aware of the color of her eyes in the morning sun and the smell of her skin and how close she is, and how his body buzzes in response to all these things like so many of lady florentine's bees. He may or may not be sweating, just a little behind the ears... he shifts his weight uncomfortably and hopes she doesn't notice.

They go somewhere together, each in the other's thoughts, and maybe when they come back to the present they are both a little different for it.

Or maybe they are both exactly the same, just closer.

(explore enough maybes and surely you'll find a certainly)

"If you need help preparing it, send a bird to find me won't you?" He request is followed with a warm, gentle smile he returns with his own weak one. Send a bird? He'd just as soon go and find her himself, but he supposes that would be impractical...

And then the subject moves on to her painting and its delivery. Eik does not know what he would do with a painting of himself, but he does not want to offend Moira by asking. Unlike most Solterrans, he does not have his own private quarters in the day court- during the day he's writing or reading in a plain room decorated only with a table, and at night he sleeps in the canyons or near the oasis. Perhaps Seraphina or Bexley might have a better idea what to do with a painting of himself-- he makes a note to ask one of them, later.

"I live in Solterra, to the East." He briefly looks toward the land of the rising sun. "You must send a bird when you're on the way, so an escort can meet you at the edge of the desert." He says this with utter seriousness, afraid she may take his warning too lightly and decide to try crossing the Mors unguided... The journey would be simple enough by air, but by foot it is treacherous for newcomers and natives alike. "Please." Eik would be absolutely horrified if anything happened to her on route to the day court.

Much to his dismay, he hasn't seen much of Denocte other than the Arma Mountains. The tension between day and night has made him hesitant to go- not out of fear for his own safety or anything like that, he simply doesn't want to say or do anything to disturb the tense, delicate peace between two nations that share a dark history. "I've never been," he admits, enjoying the way she describes her home (how different from the way some Solterrans do, spitting each word between clenched teeth) so simple and true. "But I know it is that way," he gestures with his nose to where the Night kingdom lies, easy to recognize with the Arma Mountains rising almost as high as Veneror. He grins briefly, cheekily, and then is self conscious of the space between them once more.

And then she asks, with a certain feeling he can't pin down in words, "Will you remember me when we part, Eik?" The idea of forgetting her strikes him as amusing. Moira Tonnerre must not realize how special she is, which makes her all the more unique. How brilliantly out of place she would be among the violence and vanity of Solterra. "Yes, I so believe so," he humors himself with the understatement, and a small grin tugs at his lips.

He takes one last step forward and reaches out his muzzle to shyly brush her cheek in farewell. "It would be impossible to forget you, Moira Tonnerre." He is afraid to ask about himself, afraid to hear how forgettable he is, so he does not. It is hard to draw himself away from her, but he has a task to do and a kingdom to return to. "Safe travels until we meet again, be it Denocte or Solterra or in between," he says in parting, turning reluctantly to walk up the river in search of the plant that will bring him sleep. He wonders absently if sleep, when it comes, will bring him dreams of orange, red, white, and black.

-     -     -
There is no better way to know us
E I K
than as two wolves, come separately to a wood

@Moira no apologies needed! I could continue this thread FOREVER but I'm wrapping it up here so we can have another soon <3