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    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura


    [private]  Try me. [arrya]
    #11
    She looked at him suspiciously as he raised from his little head-bow, which then turned into slight confusion. Ah, maybe he'd actually soaked in some of that useless princely manners and stunned her just a bit. Reflecting on it, he believed it may have actually been the first time he'd done it for anyone in this new land. How odd.

    Well, she shrugged it off and he did too. Moment over.

    Her face changed at the subject of family, softening and nearly glowing. She looked so happy, so complete. Would he ever have that? Oh, no of course not. He hadn't been made for that life. He was built for skirmishes and protection, had been his only purpose until his untimely release from it. Perhaps if he found something, a new use for his skills, he'd feel less drifting-in-the-wind. A mercenary perhaps, or bodyguard. Did anyone even need those things here? It was so damn quiet and peaceful compared to the nearly daily battles at home.

    Her gaze found him again, all the warm fuzzies still in her deep eyes. His face softened in response. She probably had no idea how beautiful she was when she was so blissfully happy. In more words than that, she said she was pregnant. He felt like he wanted her to always look like that, just how she did now. Peaceful. Contented.

    And then it was gone, and she looked stricken. She'd mentioned twins and somehow that triggered this almost fearful look. His brows tugged together, but her moment doesn't last and she brushes it off like it never happened. Damn, she really was like a warrior. She set aside her emotions so easily when they didn't suit her, just as he'd been taught to do.

    She didn't know where her daughters were, but said her little family now lived in a forest. She seemed pretty pleased with the place, somewhere named Sylva. A good place for children to grow up in, she'd said. His thoughts immediately turn to Josie, and the child she carried. He knew the dark mare still hadn't found a home, perhaps he could lead her there. Quiet and peaceful, and damned trees didn't suit him, used to the wide open view of a hard-packed desert, but Josie would probably feel more comfortable there.

    Where does he call home? He was a drifter without a purpose. He was afraid nowhere would ever be home again. So he just smiled and lied, I think I might have to call this Sylva of yours home. If you think you could bear to have such a beautiful princess so close by, that is. He waggled his eyebrows at her and tossed his mane with a grand flair like the best of them.

    I know someone who would appreciate a place to raise a child.
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    #12
    You've got a heart as loud as lions, so why let your voice be tamed?
    Princess gets a quiet, thoughtful look on his face as I go on and on about my shiny new home and how it seems like a nice, safe place to raise a kid. I tilt my head, curious, but it’s still a bit of a surprise when he pretty much volunteers to move in, and to bring someone along for the ride. And presumably a kid, from the way he phrases it.

    I’m curious, but I don’t ask too many questions just yet. He didn’t mention a special someone, but he wouldn’t be the first person to have a kid with someone who wasn’t exactly a significant other. Or maybe he just happens to know someone with a kid on the way, who’s in need of a place to stay.

    A day or two ago that could just as easily have been me, and him passing along the information to a friend in need. He’ll tell me if he wants to, and if he doesn’t, well. None of my business, right? He grins and jokes, and I’ve got an inkling it’s to deflect again, but who am I to stop him from keeping the mood light, or to hold him in a deeper moment than he’s quite prepared to handle with a relative stranger? So I grin right back and play along.

    “I don’t know, sweetheart, princesses come in handy now and again. They tend to be on the slow, lazy side, you know, and I’ve heard tell from a dragon or two that makes the meat much more tender. It never hurts to have a tastier snack on hand if a dragon comes sniffing around for her dinner.” This world has been pretty dragon-free so far, and one corner of my mouth twists downward at the thought.

    I may have lost Gendry for some unknown reason (and if the world hadn’t changed so drastically, maybe I’d even head for the Chamber now that I’ve got some distance from the pain of losing him. Would talking make a damn bit of difference? Is there even any point anymore? It feels incomplete, leaving so much unspoken between us, but maybe it was for the best. He left, and he moved on. What more is there to say?) but it fucking sucks that I lost his family over it too. Including his fantastic dragon of a mother. And his dumbass annoying wonderful stupid little brother.

    Shit, I miss having a family.

    Whatever, I was in the middle of a good sass. I take a deep breath, square my shoulders, and blow out a determined huff, sending the uncooperative bullshit emotions right along with that exhale. And I open my big dumb mouth again. “Besides, it would be nice to have a friend there. Even a frail princess such as yourself. I’m new, and I don’t know anybody, and as you might have noticed I’m not exactly sunshine and roses and rainbows or whatever. You seem to not be put off by my honey-sweet disposition, which is fucking weird of you but works nicely for me. So. Yeah. You and your someone plus child would be welcome.”

    I pause, and wrinkle my nose. “Well, you would be at least. I can’t speak for how I’ll get on with her, but there are a couple of other people living in Sylva who’d probably be better at the socializing with other females thing. I mean, they tolerate my presence, so they’ve got to be at least a little friendly, you know? So I’m sure she’d settle in nicely too. And so would the kid, I’d think. Hell, might even manage to find a playmate or two.”
    You've got the light to fight the shadows, so stop hiding it away.
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    #13
    She joked about dragons and he smiled easily. He didn't think she really believed in them, she didn't seem the gullible type. Living myths? Not likely.

    He watched her quietly as she paused and slipped into reflection, warm brown eyes tracing the lines of her face. It wasn't long before she returned to the present, throwing a few more of her barbs that were softened by an underhanded compliment. He smirked again; it was entertaining when she tried-to-not-try to praise him in little ways.

    His eyes narrowed in a flicker when she mentioned his someone with a kid, but he let it pass. She wasn't his, really. Minor detail in this conversation though, and not worth correcting her. It didn't bother him if she assumed he meant a mate, if that's even what she was thinking at all by the comment. Regardless, they'd be welcomed, she'd said.

    Amused, he listened as she continued, wondering silently if she was rambling or if she always talked this much. Most likely the former; he didn't think she'd be much of a socialite. Especially as her words confirmed that. His smile grew faintly as a stray thought slipped in: was he the cause of her rambling? Did he perhaps make her a little nervous? He wished it didn't please him to think so.

    He glanced down at her muzzle as she came to the end of her speech. Muzzle, not lips.

    Yes, he thought Josie would get on just fine with the others. She was a highly likable woman with kind eyes and a sweet smile. Fierce, too, when it was called for. Rich black like him, some Arabian blood like him. Grace, elegance. Beautiful. Yes, she'd fit in easily with just about anyone. He hadn't seemed to manage that so well since arriving, making enemies quicker than finding anything remotely similar to friendship. Such was his position once, bodyguard before brother.

    I don't have worries over it, he said dismissively, meeting her gaze once again.
    How would you like to do this? His lips quirked in quiet interest, though he purposefully shifted a step back. I have bodies to collect. Live ones, he added with a wink.

    Lead the way? I can retrieve them after I learn where it is.
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    #14
    You've got a heart as loud as lions, so why let your voice be tamed?
    Oh good. Princess isn’t worried about how his new recruit will do, so that means I don’t have to give it another thought either. Fuck, I wish I knew how people did that. Just...slipping in somewhere and getting along with everyone, making nice and making friends and shit? Not exactly my forte. I’m more the stomp around and stick a hoof or two in my mouth trying too hard or not hard enough or...whatever, I guess it’s not important. Point is, probably she’ll be fine, whoever she is.

    So I nod, dismissing the concern just as completely as he did, and smirk back at his quip about collecting bodies. “Good thing, too. Dead ones are a lot harder to collect. So uncooperative. They just go limp and make you do all the work. Which is no fun for anyone. Give me a live body any day.” Yep. Definitely smirk. Then I nod over my shoulder in invitation and beckon him to follow. “Home’s this way, Precious. I’ll show you the ropes and then you can go retrieve your bodies. I’ll be around, feel free to come find me when you settle in. You’re not so bad, for a frail, bird-legged waif of a princess and all.”

    And with one last little smirk, I lead my new maybe kind of friend or whatever home.
    You've got the light to fight the shadows, so stop hiding it away.
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