and i wanted to change the world
He nods his head along to her words, but his eyes are turned to the sand before them. It’s strewn with seashells, bright specks of color against a bone-white shoreline. It seems sacrilegious to walk over them or to crush them beneath his hooves, so he’s picking his path carefully. It’s therapeutic, and her voice is strangely soothing, and although he knows he’ll be back on his hunt soon, for now he’s content to walk slowly beside her.
He can still feel that anger, the ire that should be foreign but felt alarmingly familiar, hiding just beneath the surface of his skin. But it’s tempered now, in Katniss’ presence; and for that, he was subconsciously thankful. Ipomoea had yet to learn that anger was a disease, a fire that would only burn and consume until there was no fuel remaining. That secret part of him, the part even he did not yet understand, was thrilled at the prospect; and he did not know enough to be afraid of it.
But for now, it’s nice to simply live and let live, here on this island of relics and magic and monsters.
Ipomoea even allows himself a bit of laughter when she compares him to her mother, and the act lifts a knot of tension from his chest. “Seems your mother was quite wise,” he said, flashing a smile in her direction. “Was she a scholar?”
But her next words have a way of sobering him up, and he can feel the smile fading away. “That it can be,” he says, and they begin to walk again, leaving the overturned shell behind them. “But nothing ventured, nothing gained. Comfort is not an excuse for ignorance.” For a while he had thought it was only the scholars from Dawn who were able to caution learning so naturally; it was refreshing in a way, to find a Denoctean who spoke the same.
“I would love it if you would visit,” he says sincerely, and doesn’t hesitate to nuzzle her shoulder. “Anything you’d like to read, I’m sure you can find it there.” He had heard that the library contained every scroll and book imaginable - when he had first been raised to Emissary, he had spent quite a bit of time in the forest’s halls, reading all he could about Novus and the four Courts. It had always amazed him how large the library truly was (he had lost himself several times down obscure hallways and hidden paths), but had always wondered just how much it truly contained.
Since his duties had started in earnest, he had spent less and less time studying. One day, perhaps, he tells himself. One day I’ll have time to read again. But for now…
He turns again to look at Katniss. “But for now, I believe we have a relic to be looking for, yes?” And then he smiles again, and this time when he turns he lifts his legs into a trot, gesturing for her to follow.
Perhaps having a companion to explore the beach with was exactly what he needed to keep the anger at bay.
@Katniss | "speaks" | notes: i thought we could begin closing it out, maybe? <3
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