[AW] you cured my january blues ,

[Eik]

E I K
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He walks to clear his mind but the thoughts only grow louder. In the silence of the desert they buzz like river animals, whir like treetops, nearly indiscernible from the whisper of the wind over the sand. He is not lost but thinks he might like to be. It would be something to do. But if he were lost here he would certainly die, and while there is some appeal to that (silence at last, long and dark and deep as the night sky) he knows it is not yet his time. So he walks, charting his path in his mind, trying to decipher the desert tricks as if there were some pattern to them, the mirages that shift on the far edge of the world. The way they dance on the horizon reminds him of the way reality feels sometimes, as if there is something there always out of reach, on the other side of the veil. It makes him feel a bit insane. It is not an unfamiliar feeling.

It is during his wandering that she appears before Eik like the most delectable of mirages, shimmering like dragonfly wings as she emerges above the dune before him. He squints at her, waiting for the mirage to dissolve. It does not. And so he approaches, almost certain she is another apparition-- almost. He stops halfway up the dune, pleasantly surprised when she does not melt away like so many other desert tricks.

He takes a closer look at her-- conversation with Eik is never rushed. She is delicate and long-legged, built for the desert. He is stocky and strong, built for mountains and long winters. He sweats buckets in this heat, sand clumping up to his knees as though the desert wants to claim him for its own(-- but he will always belong to himself).

He cocks his head, unsure how to read the expressions on the stranger's face. "Are you All Right?" He asks finally, seriously. Slowly, as if fitting the words together one by one. (trying to speak like they do, sounding more different the harder he tries.) He does not sound concerned but not particularly unconcerned either. Curious more than anything. It is the only time he has spoken today and to his ears the sound is unnatural and out of place in this lifeless land. He ventures a small, fleeting smile, as though trying to soothe a wild animal. It somehow seems sad.

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@rhoswen