Stitch by stitch I tear apart.
If brokenness is a form of art,
I must be a poster child prodigy.
If brokenness is a form of art,
I must be a poster child prodigy.
There is the sudden sound of brittle tree limbs and branches snapping and breaking nearby that ruin the peaceful tranquility of the swamp, a crash of limbs that fall from the sky in a tangled, heaping mess of thin legs, pale bodies, and furled wings. Two voices shout as one when they crash into the water, creating a wave of swamp water and peat moss that soak anything within a radius of five, unfortunate feet.
As one, the two bodies emerge from the pool of churning water, spluttering and trying to catch their breath. One is laughing, his head thrown back as taupe waves and curlicues stick to his face and down the expanse of his sodden neck, the sheer length of his hair practically drowning him from any surely bewildered onlookers. There is a broad, toothy grin on his face despite the fact that his hair is covering his eyes, obscuring his view, but he’s still laughing, his chest heaving from exhilaration, from joy, from passion, from elation, head swiveling about above the water to where he knows his brother is floundering and probably brooding.
“That was fun!” Erd bellowed on a chortle, his raucous laughter echoing through the still, silent bog around. A warm touch caresses his cheek, gentle, affirmative, loving, and suddenly the hair in front of his eyes is being brushed away with a tender touch and his unveiled eyes meet the identical, concerned stare of his twin brother. No words need to be said between them, for Erd can read his brother easily without them.
Erd’s laughter fades into the evening air, sobered slightly by the concern that pinches Ard’s brow. He reaches out and presses a chaste kiss to his brother’s cheek, a gentle act of affirmation that he’s well, that he’s unharmed, that their little stunt was just as exciting and crazy as he had been hoping it was and just maybe he wants to try it again. A second look from Ard has his excited expression faltering just a little bit more, this one stern..
“Okay, okay. Maybe it wasn’t perfectly executed but hey, we almost made it. A little more practice and we’ll get that dive-bomb technique mastered. Right? Imagine how impressed Mari and Theo will be.”
Ard’s ears pin back and he grimaces with a raspy comment of his own and Erd immediately feels apologetic as his water-logged ears absorb what his twin said. “I know, I’m sorry. Next time we’ll just be more careful, okay?”
Maybe it was best if they held off on the dive-bomb techniques. Finally tearing his eyes away from Ard, Erd glanced around, wide turquoise eyes trying to place just where they had fallen. It wouldn’t take too long to get back to the capitol, and while sore and battered he physically felt fine enough to maybe attempt flying home. Hopefully his twin wouldn’t tell Marisol, or else they’d never hear the end of it, and-
“Oh.”
Erd’s turquoise eyes, bright and joyful, crossed over someone who stood nearby. They weren’t too close, not close enough to have been a casualty of their clumsy mixup mid-air, but surely they had heard the sound of their collision and subsequent fall through the canopy?
Wading in the water as she was, the petite warlock couldn’t see very much of her, but what he could see was striking. A pelt of sleek ebony mottled with stars, long tresses of ivory that floated in the water around her, and piercing eyes of moonlight. Realizing that they may have startled her, the ivory warlock offered the stranger a sheepish, apologetic grin, very aware of the way that Ard waded through the water to press himself up completely against Erd’s side and glare beneath his lashes at the star-strewn stranger.
“Hi! Um. Wow, sorry if we scared you! And… You know. Splashed you.” Never mind the fact that she was already wading in a nearby pool. Laughing a little awkwardly, Erd did his best to ignore the embarrassed flush resting high on his cheeks and waited to see if she would grant them an answer.
