[AW] CIRCUS CHILD ,

[Eik]

Eik leafs through his memories of Maxence carefully, and together they seem like a dream come and gone- dark water, dancing a silver dance with the moon. What was it Vadim had said? Ah yes, His choices will echo through history for generations.   There are many ways to measure a man while he's alive, but once he's gone all you're left with is memories.

So what is the point of it all anyway, if in the end we're just memories-- and even those fade. Nothing truly lasts; stories fade, culture evolves, the earth keeps turning, oblivious to the struggle and strife of those who call it home.

And yet certain things- like a beautiful woman- they matter. He tries his hardest to not be swayed by it, but time and time again he is drawn in, moth to flame. And so he can't help but hang off every word Rhoswen says. If he could he would drown himself in them, it would be a lovely way to die. She calls Maxence a fool and he unconsciously flicks an ear at her response, curious but not wanting to pry. Eik thinks they're all fools, himself included. No better than chickens, mindlessly strutting about. When she turns her attention to him he burns

my god, you're a forest fire aren't you? Why aren't I afraid?

and it takes him a moment to reply. His eyes rest on the sea as he thinks, feeling once again how the waves somehow straighten him out. He chooses his words carefully- he always does, but especially so now.  "The sun." He says finally, after some deliberation. Not Solis but the sun, the heat of the desert. "I never wanted to be cold again." Of course, now he craves snow and the old-lichen smell of the tundra and the way the cold presses to your skin like a knife. The grass is always greener, etc.

"And I was told that is where warriors go." He gives his feelings away grudgingly (because what is the point of feeling at all) so there is an odd tone in his voice, something like regret. There is perhaps a third reason, something hard to describe and so he does not try to, at least not out loud. He is not gifted with words like others he knows. We can only sum it up as magnetism, a sense of rightness if not belonging.

"To be honest, I don't understand it all. How everyone here is divided." He looks to her in earnest, hoping for an explanation that makes sense (and yet not expecting one). There is a pause, and after- "Do you worship Solis?" His gaze has mostly rested on the sea, and that faraway place, but he peers at her now in curiosity--

It pleases and intrigues him how many layers there are to every living being.

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@Rhoswen :')