[P] A drowsy sweetness

[Eik]

"In my time here, and it seems before my time as well," He hesitates to analyze the past, feeling unworthy of it- yet that is one of his duties now. Maybe an outsider's perspective is actually needed in this very much divided kingdom, or maybe not. He continues, finally: "Secrets have only hurt us."

(For a split second he feels the pain of Solterra as intimately as if it were his own bloodstained past. The weight of a hundred years of violence and injustice almost rip the breath from his lungs.)

Eik's homeland was no stranger violence, but there was something oddly comfortable about it. Maybe the comfort came from its predictability-- you sort of resigned yourself and accepted it the same way you do the cycle of the seasons, as just the way it is.

(And he learned that if you did not accept the way things are, if you dared to question the plans and motives of the gods, you would be punished cruelly and without explanation.)

Solterra is different. The violence here is... tumultuous. Here when the possibility of peace begins to blossom, when you finally start to hope, to dream, the streets are washed anew in blood.

Tenderness is in short supply here-- even the healers work with a rough hand-- and so it is a wonder that Eik does not flinch at her gentle touch. He even leans gently into her for a moment, wishing he could know what wordless secrets their skins exchange. And then she laughs, and the shadows around them seem to waver uncertainly. Surely these grim streets have not heard such laughter for generations but for a moment Eik pictures a Solterra of the past, gleaming and new and full of laughter and music, and dares to hope it might someday be that way again.

His bewilderment is quickly replaced with fascination as she briefly speaks of her history, and Asterion's. He wonders just how many worlds are there, and marvels at how far the two of them have come to be walking together through the long shadows of Solterra's abandoned quarters.

"What is the Rift like?" He asks, heartbeat quickening, remembering the portals that opened in the sky not long after his own arrival and spat out disoriented horses into the sandy dunes of the Mors. It must be one hell of a place, to pluck horses from one world to another, and to carve someone like Flora.

Emboldened by her own keen gaze that roams over every dapple and scar, he takes a closer look at the woman before him. She is woven with gold and honey and almost looks Solterran except for all those flowers, fragrant and delicate and out of place in this harsh landscape. There is no lack of flowers in Solterra (the cacti dream up blooms in most every color imaginable and wear them like odd hats) but none are as verdant and bountiful as those in her mane.

“Then may I teach you one day and show you all the ways it is not a waste of time?" Her words ring with mirth in a way he finds enviable- expression was never his strength, mostly because he never quite understands what exactly he is feeling at any given moment. He is never anything so simple as happy or sad but always a flush of many different feelings, many of them contradictory. He snorts skeptically at her request, but is not in the habit of declining a lady. "If you wish to try," he says, and offers a small, wry grin that suggests a number of things: amusement, doubt, and resignation, to name just a few.

He continues to lead the way, and they now begin to wrap toward the newer, more populated area of the court. It begins to grow louder around them with the buzz of society. Quiet conversations can be heard and there are now others who pass them in the street. Eik is sometimes recognized and so is Flora- the commonfolk and wealthy alike feed on rumors. He steps closer to her in places where the crowd thickens, slightly concerned that her foreign-ness could make her a target for the few who spew hate and fear because they don’t know better. “What do you know of Solterra, Flora?” This can't be the only court that gorges itself on rumors. As they walk his eyes roam over the strangers and shadows they pass and rest on her from time to time, like a butterfly, before flying away once more.

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

@Florentine sorry for the wait <3