They brush through the crowd like dancers; feather-light, fluid, weaving. Some of the equines chance a second look their way, mostly the ones who have never seen them before. Or the ones who have seen them a lot. They’re young but not unfamiliar with the court and its citizens, being one themselves since birth.
Ia press forward like a current, steps certain and movements easy. Olympia carries her head high, gilded eyes bright and clear in the early spring sunshine. The markets are busy, and the brush of bodies feels like a performance. Harmonia is humming something beneath her breath. She is almost always singing, or humming. It is the one thing she can enjoy doing without fear of being stared at.
When they had been younger, Olympia had been terribly jealous of it. Now, she has so many other attributes that it doesn’t bother her anymore.
They pause for a moment at a stand of apples, glancing over the options. There aren’t many, and they’ve no doubt been imported from some place other than Novus, but the girls are craving something crunchy and juicy. “G’morning, Ia,” greets the merchant, a gentlemanly fellow old enough to be their father. Looks kind of like him, too.
“Morning,” Ia lilt in response, Olympia too busy looking over the options to pay him much attention. Harmonia offers an apologetic smile to the man, waiting for her sister to make her decision. She lifts a nice, vibrant green apple into the air. Tart, just the way Olympia likes it. “Sister, you know that is not my taste,” Harmonia says gently.
It comes out more like a suggestion. Olympia turns back to the apples with a sharper gaze. It would be simpler for them to share a single apple, but her sister likes them sweeter. “We’ll be getting two, today,” she says finally, also pulling a plump red/yellow one from the displays and handing over a few coins to the merchant. He waves them off with a big smile and a hearty chuckle.
Definitely too much like their father.
They glide back into the flow of moving bodies, making their way out of the market. It’s almost time for Ia’s first performance of the day, and they like to get to the venue early to prepare.
That’s when they bump shoulders with someone, pushing almost roughly through the street. Olympia drops her apple and watches it bounce away, undoubtedly about to be crushed under someone’s hoof. “Excuse you,” she says sharply, the sisters turning toward the intruder upon their perfectly pleasant afternoon.
It seems all Morrighan ever does anymore is sulk. She's gotten quite good at it, one could say, and as her emotions continue to fester, her fire seems more wild than ever. She can feel it wanting out so badly, one of these days it may just erupt and the entire Court will be in flames.
Maybe it'd be worth it.
She knows she shouldn't take it all out on Denocte when it's mainly select individuals causing her pain. Isra for leaving her and their people, and Al'Zahra for igniting a different kind of fire within her and otherwise making her feel things she can't make sense of. Maybe she never will, but it's all just lingering. She doesn't know how to handle it.
Apparently the Warden has become so deep in thought that she's not even paying attention to where she's going. Her steps have been on autopilot, but not doing a very good job as she bumps into another. The impact is a lot stronger than she expects and she is slightly knocked aside. "Excuse you," she hears the other woman snap. Flames shoot up from her feet as she turns to see who this person thinks they are.
When Morrighan looks over, she blinks a couple times. At first, she only sees the one head with the golden eyes and she's kind of pretty. This makes Morr feel slightly bad for bumping into her, but then the other head comes into view looking similar to the other and it's very confusing. She's probably been staring for way too long trying to process all of this. There's definitely two heads but only one body and it's not like anything she's ever seen before. All she can think now is 'what's wrong with them?'
Then she notices something rolling away and realizes it's an apple. Morr quickly grabs it and brings it back to the woman… thing and inspects the fruit. Her stomach has been gurgling and she has half a mind to take a bite out of spite.
"Might not be a good idea to bump into the Warden," she says with a brow raised as she twirls the apple in the air. Her eyes continue to rest on it before she ultimately decides not to steal this creature's food. For now though, she keeps it in her grasp. "Who are you? What are you?" Morrighan is clearly suspicious and doesn't care if she's offended them. If they knew what's good for them though, they'd explain themselves, especially since the fire at the Warden's hooves continue to burn.
The equine who bumped into Ia stops and turns, and for a long moment does nothing but stare at them. Olympia's lips twitch upwards into a smirk, one brow raising slightly. Harmonia is about to ask if they are alright but then the painted woman scoops up Olympia's wayward apple from the street, and speaks.
"Warden?" Olympia's eyes brighten, lips curling delightfully. Her lashes flutter in the spring sunshine as Ia take a step closer. "My, you are as… fiery as everyone says you are," she remarks, glancing down at the flames sprouting from the other woman's hooves. Her golden eyes travel, slowly, back up to Morrighan's face, landing upon her own mismatched eyes.
Harmonia clears her throat, a soft, unassuming sound, and glances between the two mares, "Sister, are we going to introduce ourselves or simply have a staring contest?" Olympia signs, as if dearly losing out on a fun game. "If you insist, darling sister," though it is clear she would much rather play a little bit of cat and mouse.
"I am Harmonia," says the blue-eyed one, clear as the sky, "And I am Olympia," says the one with eyes like the freshest of coying honey. "You can call us Ia," their voices weave and blend like a dance or a song, their heads resting gently together.
"We're conjoined twins, if you really are curious to have a word for it." Harmonia is always the one willing to play along, always the one willing to give others what they are looking for. "We're also twice the fun," Olympia quips, eyes glimmering, heart hungering. She is always the one to tease, to toy with. She is the one who always gets from others what she is looking for.
It should feel good to hear that her reputation has preceded her, but Morrighan just can't get past the two heads. They talk like individuals, but they're stuck in one body? It's too weird and confusing. She just keeps staring and blinking, trying to process what she should do about all this. They even have individual names, but call themselves one name- Ia. She has so many questions.
They go on to explain that they're conjoined twins. They are the very first of their kind that Morr has seen (or even really heard of, for that matter). It certainly makes them unique.
She's thrown off as soon as the one that called themselves Olympia suggests they're twice the fun. Morrighan chokes on her spit a little from surprise. Never would she ever be interested in doing anything with these two. Besides, she's not into having multiple partners at a time. She's too loyal for that.
"I'm taken, but thanks," she manages to say while clearing her throat. It takes a lot to make her feel uncomfortable, but she may have just reached that threshold. If they knew, they'd probably feel proud.
"I haven't seen you two here before. Where are you from?" It's a basic question, but despite their strange mutation, it doesn't change her suspicion of new people. Either way they're new to the Court and she'd like to know who she's up against. These days, it's hard to tell if newcomers are just simply passing through or if they've decided to call Denocte their home. Part of her hopes they're just visiting.
The twins don’t seem fazed by Morrighan’s staring, as rude or unsocially acceptable as it might be. They are used to being watched, looked at, double-taked. Harmonia has learned to tolerate the attention, while Olympia simply thrives off it. If she is a lamp, then the attention is her gasoline, fueling her flame.
“I’m taken, but thanks,” says the Warden, and Ia simply roll a shoulder and take a half step forward. “We don’t mind sharing, obviously,” Harmonia says, smile soft, a gentle laugh drifting past her parted lips.
They are not the jealous type.
Olympia raises a brow, ears catching on the sound of the other woman clearing her throat, “It’s okay, sister… I think she’s just scared.” There is a sinister, almost carnal gleam in her golden eyes as she looks at Morrighan. “Your loss, Warden,” Olympia purrs, tipping her head slightly as if considering, “I’m sure you of all equines know passion is a great way to ignite a flame.”
The next question that the Warden poses causes the twins to look at each other out of the corners of their eyes. Olympia begins to laugh—a clear, musical sound—and settles into a grin sharp and divine.
“My, my, are you losing your touch?” her eyes narrow oh so slightly, one brow raised, and oh she feels like a cat playing with a mouse. “We are born and raised Denoctian,” chimes in Harmonia, glancing between her sister and the Warden. Oh, she is enjoying this far too much.
To be sure, when they were young they spent much time at the seat of Dr. Marose’s desk, but once they were freed from his prying, Ia had become quite at home among the people. Though their particular talents were enjoyed by a wealthier and more exclusive type of customer, and not often done out on the street like other types of performers. “Perhaps you haven’t been looking close enough.”
Their response makes Morrighan cringe and it shows plainly on her face. Apparently she's made a mistake interacting with this one. They clearly don't understand when someone isn't interested in them. The Warden is considering leaving the conversation entirely and even starts to turn away, but then she catches the word "scared".
Morrighan is anything but scared. There is a gleam in one of the girl's eyes. If she were a canine, she would be snarling. Instead, her fire flares at her feet.
"I am not scared," she hisses. "I just have better taste." At this point, she could care less if her hot-headedness gets her in trouble. What did they know of passion? What her and Al'Zahra have is special and she wouldn't dare do anything to ruin it.
Then of course she only gets angrier at the twins' next comment. Losing her touch?
"Clearly you were never important enough for me to notice," she snaps, rolling her eyes. It's a wonder she never did actually run into these two, but Denocte can be a large bustling place most of the time. It had been a while until she really started to pay attention to the happenings and those within the borders. Still, she takes the comment as an insult, naturally.
"If I were you- either of you, I'd watch that tongue of yours," Morrighan threatens, the fire in between them growing larger. It begins to stretch a little further out towards the twins, wanting so badly to burn everything in its path. The Warden very much wants to let it, but she will give them one last chance. If they were smart, they would back off.
It seems all Morrighan ever does anymore is sulk. She's gotten quite good at it, one could say, and as her emotions continue to fester, her fire seems more wild than ever. She can feel it wanting out so badly, one of these days it may just erupt and the entire Court will be in flames.