TORIELLE
It's only me who wants to wrap around your dreams
The sudden and complete acceptance of the offer was a bit startling- but why should it be? Veil was her friend, after all, and it was a very friendly thing to do, to braid each other’s hair. The doe looked back to the vendor who nodded in approval, not at all concerned with the two women standing about her tent, instead turning to another set of tittering mares admiring her wares.
Torielle returned her attention to the star woman as she revealed more of her curling locks. The dappled woman’s heartbeat stuttered as she realized she’d never touched Veil’s hair before. When she had done the braiding for Lorelei, she had come to know her hair over the years and was able to gauge by eye exactly how much she would need to pull away. The celestial strands were new- what thickness were they? How soft and silky were the strands? Would she need more or less in each weft to create a masterpiece? Telekinesis was grand and all, but it did not allow for her to gauge effectively the quality of a mane and how best to treat it.
Slowly, almost too slowly, it seemed, she reached for the crest of her friend’s neck, chest full of hummingbirds once again. She swallowed once. Twice. No use, they were there to stay, at least for now. As her muzzle parted the waves of deep purple, Veil’s scent rocked through her straight to the core and nearly swept her off her feet.
In their friendly conversation and casual touches she had known the woman smelled of newness, of purity and frost, of juniper, but these were only the beginning. This close to the skin, protected by thick curls that somehow felt like sifting through air, lay the scent of the universe; a heady perfume of florals, spring rain, the turn of fall leaves, new babes of all kinds and the wisdom of crones. Torielle leaned into the smell, nuzzling the woman gently, trying to identify each of the flowers that made up her scent only to lose them just before the knowledge presented itself. She nearly forgot that she was supposed to be parting the woman’s mane to braid her hair, enthralled by the sensation of soft hairs tickling her nares, the heat more than the average equine, but not unpleasant in the least.
It took a moment for the mare to collect her thoughts enough to pursue the task at hand, carefully separating out a sizeable chunk of the woman’s hair close to the crest behind her ears. As Torielle tested the weight of each strand, carefully sorting them into one weft or the other, Veil spoke about finding scarves and shawls and she nodded in agreement.
“I think that would be an excellent idea,” she said. The steadiness with which she spoke surprised her, considering the fact her hummingbirds had doubled in pace, joined by excited butterflies in her stomach. The fact that the woman could remain standing at all was a miracle, really.
Her touch was gentle as she braided Veil’s mane, twisting the strands together in several ways to lock them together before swirling them to create the image of a rose. This took her several tries before she was satisfied with the results, taking the crystal hair piece that had sparked this little event and carefully pinning and weaving it into the styled locks until they looked like morning dew against the star woman’s mane.
Torielle stepped back, but only just, careful not to step into another patron or any of the tables full of beautiful wares. She nodded to one of the nearby mirrors strewn about the tent for customers to use. “Well? What do you think?” Her lyrics were a bit sheepish, hoping that her friend would think had done a good job. A smaller, secret part of her hoped that Veil would want something adjusted, just so she could drown in her once more.
art by the-day-of-shadow character by scapeh table by sunny
