As much as he could be stubborn, she was firm in her beliefs. She let it slip without thinking, a soft fire entering her blue eyes. "What if I don't want others?" A few seconds after, Willoughby blinked and looked away hastily. As if realizing what she had said. Oh, gods above... they were merely strangers. She shouldn't say such things. He was here, at this creek and... this creek... making her think things. It must be some sort of trick. Some magic.
But there was no denying when she looked at him, it was soft. It was kind. True, a kindness she would give anyone but... He was here, with her and she could also not deny a subtle attraction. The man speaks of the past briefly, proclaiming he had done bad things. She hums softly, looking back at him with no pity. "Nobody is perfect, Galileo" she says bluntly but kindly "I don't care you've done bad things. I don't even care if you want redemption for them or not."
She chuckles again, shaking her head. "It does not change anything" Willoughby lets that rest in the air, a weighed opinion that meant more than she let on. The man stumbles forward in his own awkwardness, one that she is beginning to find endearing. He says that wandering is good, that he hasn't a chance to talk for a long time. To find someone, a friend, to listen to him... "do you have a reason now?" she asks, knowing he is tethered to the Day Court.
"I should hope for my friend... that he has a reason to fight now. Opposed to the past, wherein he felt he had to." she chirps.
When she spoke, he stumbled over what she said with wide eyes and a quickly sucked in breath, of which he nearly chokes on. A beautiful dream (for surely, it was a dream, them standing in this place together) though it was a shame that at the root of it was Galileo and not some young, dashing man who had light, honeyed words that would slither into Willoughby's ears.
"I-" he begins, unsure how to proceed, not because he is embarrassed by what she has to say, but because no woman had ever said anything remotely similar. She quickly turned away, and he wondered if he had reacted wrongly. Faltering over his words, he tries to compose himself. Instead of speaking, he allows her to fill the gaps.
With a warm smile, he accepts her words thankfully. "How is it someone so young is so wizened about the world?" He questions, taking a step towards her and touching his nose to her leg, the only affection the awkward stallion can manage to muster.
With little context, the stallion muses out loud. "Bad things happen to good people." The look in his eyes slightly sad and distant. Perhaps he is thinking of the past, or maybe of the fears he has that this innocent woman's mind will be tainted by the sadness and anger the future surely brings.
When she questions if he has a reason to stick around now, he considers it for a moment. She mentions fighting, and there is a slight ache in his bones that says, you miss it, Galileo. And perhaps that is true, he misses the purpose, the glory, the rush.
"I've changed a lot, but I have no allegiance pledged at the minute. That could change, of course." Pausing, he glanced at the sky, as if the gods would appear to him in that moment. "It'd be nice to find something to believe in again."
"I think I am an old soul" the maiden chuckles to her friend, neither denying her wisdom nor accepting it as fact. She may be vain sometimes, but she has no ego attached. Willoughby believes the world lacks kindness. She tries her best to make up for this, being kind to anyone she meets. Galileo is no different than those she has met. She accepts him for who he is, not who he tries to be.
"But yes" she agrees, watching him as he comes closer. Just a bit. A smudge. He reaches for her and brushes her leg - and even if she was in the mindset to take things forward... She understands that is enough for him. For now. "bad things happen to good people" the maiden breathes a sigh as he looks away, up at the sky. "even if I don't want it to, it happens."
Too many met in Novus suggest a weighed heart in the chest of many. Some kind, smiling through their sadness. Some cruel and throwing words to mask their pain. She sees enough pain to be aware of it. Even Willoughby can't ignore that. "I think we're all seeking such a thing" she moves to stand beside him, leaning to the side to brush her shoulder against his own. "perhaps that's why I haven't joined a court yet."
She smiles forlornly. "As much as I am friendly, as you say, I wouldn't want to rush into anything."
An old soul in a young body, that was the dream, he was sure of it. Her acceptance was gladly taken and welcomed with open arms, for he had tried to achieve it from so many people for so long, and never succeeded. Though she may see the world as hopeful and changeable, he believes that the weight of the Earth was too hard to shift, too heavy a burden for one. Why even try, when you could go with the flow of life? It was a negative mindset, and one he wasn't proud of -- he would much rather feel as she did -- but, alas, that was the thoughts of a warrior who had been in the bloodiest battles and had watched his friends die around him.
She does, however, agree with him on one thing. The best of men were the ones who had the most difficult pasts. Perhaps, because of the obstacles they had encountered, they had become better equines through their trials and tribulations? He was unsure if he fell into this category, or if he was simply numb.
"You will find a court that suits you, and a home along with. And plenty of friends. I can feel it in my bones." Pausing, he nods knowingly, understanding what she means. "But you're right, there's no rush. The world will still be here tomorrow."
"How long can you stay?" He says, suddenly. Moving to the edge of the water once again, he dipped his hoof in carefully. "We should take a dip... I used to swim in the oasis at my old home in Elysium. " Though not one for spontaneity, something about Willoughby made him want to live in the now instead of reminiscing of his past.
"I wouldn't want to have too many friends" Willoughby says as she too approaches the water. Glancing down at it, she sees her reflection staring back at her. Then she sees Galileo off to the side, staring as well. "I wouldn't want anyone to feel left out. I don't think I can handle more than five at once." Her eyes glance to him, grinning with amusement.
But a home. It was a fleeting thing. Would a court only weigh her down? Would it rise her up, allow her to reach her potential? There was so much she could do. So much she could see. But her wanderings... The lust of it never ceased. She was fleeting, flickering to the next best thing. "Hehe, I wonder what sort of magical properties this creek has?" she giggles, looking back to the water.
"It'd be funny" she goes on "if the gods of Novus placed it here for any reason. But I think it's just a regular creek with regular water... It'd be unkind to walk into it in the midst of a romantic evening, and suddenly sprout... whiskers? Imagine explaining that to your beloved when you come back to them." She shakes her head, chuckling further.
"But" she wanders closer, eyeballing a particularly deep spot. Without another word to Galileo she more or less flops into the water. "the first jump is always hardest!"
Too many friends, he thinks to himself. Wouldn't it be nice to have such a problem.
But no, he knows he too would hate it, the loner that he is. A most solitary creature, Galileo would much rather spend a day in his own mind than participating in real life with someone else.
His ears prick at the possibility of "magical properties". Many did not know it about him, but he had once possessed magic himself -- though he had not much cared for it. It had came to him suddenly, bestowed upon him likely by Vega as he certainly had not been aware of it growing up. Sand manipulation, it had been. Regardless, the magic had stayed within the confines of Elysium, and he found himself without (and part of him felt like he was missing).
He hadn't realised how much he'd missed his magic until now. He'd always been one for fighting, not spells.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he shook his head a little. Charging in behind her, he kicks water up with his legs. At its deepest, the liquid is like silk against his dappled flank, and he lets himself be carried by the water instead of fighting against it.
"No doubt the gods would love to play such a prank on unsuspecting wanderers! They are not as benevolent as they seem; I believe they enjoy messing with us mortals!" His tail floated out behind him, hair spreading as it did so. The red of the desert floated off him, the creek giving him a bath he had desperately needed.
"So how are you finding it here, in these lands?" He questioned, playfully flicking water at her with his muzzle.
Willoughby hadn't realized yet that she would meet one of the gods that roamed Novus. Her time as a potential Sovereign was as fleeting as a home would be. Caligo would come before her, but to what end? She daren't hold onto it for long, for she was already moving past it. "Ah!" the maiden states simply at first, craning her neck to look behind her as Galileo joins "then they are no better than mortals! I'd love to play a prank on someone unsuspecting... but more along 'good fun' than 'life changing and horrific'!"
She giggles mostly to herself, wondering what sort of benevolently devious things to do. She often wondered why gods were gods. What did they do to make themselves elevated above the mortal realm and its people? "I think my only goal in Novus is" she frowns, shuffling her body around to face her friend, as she thinks "maybe not achieve any sort of power but more... achieve some notoriety?" He flicks water at her, and she responds in kind.
Flapping her head gracelessly onto the surface, she sprays him. Huffing triumph, she raises it back up. A grin is flashed his way. "I'd like to be known to be kind, do kind things" Willoughby says "or just be known. In some way. To some people. Novus is so large, so full of potential for anyone. I like it here. It gives people a fresh start." Meddling gods aside, she did enjoy it here. She enjoyed the people she had met so far. She reaches out across the water, her nose lightly smacks into the side of Galileo's face.
"You don't have to tell me though" she adds to him quietly as she recoils backward "about your past. Just... try to focus on the future."
Galileo hopes the prank she decides to play is not on him. He cannot stand surprises of any kind, be they good or bad, so he prays that she takes her mischievous ways elsewhere. "Maybe you should prank the gods themselves," he jokes, only half serious. "I'd like to see them squirm instead of the other way round for once, wouldn't you?" He too was yet to meet a Novus dwelling god. Maybe they were more benign than the ones he'd known previously, maybe they were not. He did not care to find out just yet.
As she splashes him back, he snorts jokily. It had been a long time since he had felt content in the company of anyone, and he was glad they could laugh around and have some innocent fun. He was used to being caught up in the politics of land and sea and everything in between, and he no longer cares for it.
"I hope not a bad sort of notoriety!" He laughs, flicking his ears. "But I know what you mean. Well, I cannot say I feel the same, but I do understand. I have been around many like you, who belong... no, deserve to be in positions of power. You are a leader, Willoughby, you have all the makings of one."
Except, he supposes, someone to lead.
"As much as I'd like to stay here with you forever," his honeyed words fell into the world sweetly, his deep voice singing between the trees. "There are things I must do, as I'm sure is the same for you. The world awaits." He nods in the direction of the exit, but does not yet move, allowing time for the woman to ask any final questions of the stallion.
"I think they wouldn't like that!" she protested with a soft giggle. Shaking her wet mane, the maiden resisted pointing out it sounded fun though. She would not be so bold to prank someone she barely knew, let alone divine beings that could change her happy little life dramatically at whim.
"You are a leader..."
She stopped laughing, turning her head to focus on the man. It was her turn to feel flustered, having nobody before tell her she was capable of more than what she knew. Sitting around looking pretty, or dancing and singing was something she knew she was good at. Being a leader of people was something she'd like to do, in her own time perhaps...
But she appreciated his point. Dipping her head thankfully to Galileo, she watched as he wrapped up their meeting. He said he had stuff to do, and that she did too but... She could stand to stay here a bit longer. Except that wouldn't be proper now that he was leaving. She had nobody around to help if she got into a bad situation.
"I'll walk with you to the exit" she offers, getting up and shaking stray water from her coat.
"Too right they wouldn't!" He concludes, laughing along with her sweet-as-honey giggle. It fills the darkened forest with warmth and lightness, whereas his own rumbling, husky voice adds undertones of shadow and whiskey.
And then she takes it away, leaving the world hollow again. He thinks he's offended her, pushed her away, turned her against him... the sombre moment lingers in the air. He means every word he has said to her, and he hopes she believes in herself the way he believes in her.
Thankfully, she dips her head and continues regardless.
"I'd like that," he agrees, moving heavily through the water to climb out, his limbs reaching long strides. "I hope this isn't our last meeting, little Bee." With a smile, he sets out towards the exit, excited for their next encounter.
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