"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
09-28-2018, 07:38 AM (This post was last modified: 09-28-2018, 08:06 AM by Leilan.)
Leilan
a dragon who couldn't be hurt on the outside could have so many ragged holes inside
There's never a dull moment, he supposes. He's gone from silly to stupid on so many levels, then dying and miserable, then back to silly, and there's so many wrongs in his life it's about time that something would be right from now on. But he supposes - if Roseen can find some peace - that there will be a way in which all will be worked out. Even if she keeps on hating him, like she probably should. He's determined to not let him be cut out of Thorgal's life for ever, and so, like today, he usually finds a high spot to graze, and overlook the kingdom.
He still hasn't met everybody in it, but it will come with time. Ard didn't really take that much of a liking to him at first, thinking perhaps he was a threat. But the bay roan has that skill of getting under people's skin, he supposes. With time, they'll all love him. Or hate him. Ugh, it's such a mess. Family was all one big mess.
His eyes settle on someone he hasn't personally met yet, and for a moment he debates if he should let her just graze in peace - but then he's bored and besides, she has a familiarity to her shape. So, let's see, he shrugs, and dallies off his edge towards the figure down below.
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@[Heartfire] I'm just kinda assuming she lives in Nerine or has a valid reason to visit -shrug-
@[Dovev] Wanna play also? I figured it'd be two in one go since I want them to meet but have so many threads already xD
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
The lips of his skin around the edges of his bone plates were puckered and pink, soggy from his little trip through the river. At first, he'd been livid with her. He had always been completely, all-consumingly, one-track minded - as he was trained to be - and she put herself in danger by attacking him. She was then the sole obstacle in his path to his target's immediate death. The only thing standing between him and the one thing left on earth that existed to him, protecting Leliana.
There was no way in hell he was going to just stand aside, let the man pass, let him get anywhere fucking near Leliana.
Heartfire knew this about him.
And he knew that's why she'd done it. Why she'd thrown him into the raging river to be swept away so violently. Because there was no other way. He was unstoppable. And she had to. The man would have died swiftly at Dov's hands and Dovev would wake from it to realize what he'd done. How he would've managed to destroy his Leliana yet again. That's who Dovev was. Act now, think later. Destroy those closest to him.
Kill now, regret later.
He would always have a regretful life.
Heartfire rescued a man, and spared Dovev more regret all in one go. She was a busy woman.
The currents forced him down river, further and further away, as she knew it would. The further he got, the less likely he'd be able to follow through in his mission, his one reason for breathing, in a timely fashion. As she knew it would. The further he got, the more he woke from the immediacy of it, the stone-solid urgency. As she knew he would.
So he was silent beside her. And she knew the sniffle in his nose wasn't entirely from sucking in water and choking. And the red in his eyes, the wetness on his cheeks, were not only from the river either. The weariness in his step wasn't from physical exhaustion. He was so damn solid outside, so protected.
And so raw, and bare, and shredded inside.
His lack of fight was his thanks. She probably knew that too. Probably knew that when he dragged himself out of the water, and could only look the way they came with haunted, longing eyes, that he was done. He was so done. And he had her to thank for it. So he went with her willingly, turned back towards Nerine without a word. Took up his place at her side just as he had been on their long trip far away to "find something". Right at her side where she could hate him and distrust him and wake to find him still there anyway.
His manner didn't change until someone came for her. His eyes, though certainly duller, brightened again with renewed fight, the bladed sharpness returning in an instant. He scowled beneath his bone mask and pressed closer to her, possessively, staring the strange-looking man down. She wouldn't even want him to be this way, but he was so good at pissing her off, as they well knew. So he was plenty prepared for rebuke from her, and didn't care if he got it.
She hadn’t laughed. She had promised him she’d laugh as she threw him into the river, but she hadn’t. She should have. But the moment had not been a proud one for her. The moment had shown too clearly how much (too damned much) she had cared. And regardless of what else she might be, she couldn’t bring herself to laugh at his pain. She couldn’t even bring herself to be angry anymore.
Instead, as they travel towards Nerine, there is only tired resignation. She had tried to let go and failed. He had tried to leave and failed. It seems, regardless of the anger and tension she had fostered between them so long, they are destined to keep each other’s company at least a while longer. Or perhaps it had been a choice. But if it was, she doesn’t want to dwell on it, as unwise a choice as it would no doubt prove.
Just as he had given up his fight, she too had given up her anger. It has gotten her nowhere anyway. He refused to reciprocate, and she is not built for seige.
She does her best to ignore him as they arrive in the coastal kingdom, him still wet from his unexpected dip, her dry as a bone and appearing entirely unruffled. Her only intention upon arriving in the kingdom is to deposit him in a safe corner and find somewhere she might regain her own calm and equilibrium in peace. She has spent too much time these last several days hijacked by the force of her own emotions.
Her plans, unfortunately, are foiled by the approach of a speckled red stallion. She recognizes him immediately as her uncle, though they have never truly met. Regardless, she had made it a point of knowing all her relations. Dovev rouses immediately, pressing close in a protective manner. Unnecessary, but in the wake of her own turmoil, she cannot seem to find the will to push him away.
As it turns out, she isn’t entirely heartless.
“Leilan,” she greets evenly, pale blue eyes fixing on the roan stallion with an unsettling intensity. She says nothing further, instead waiting for him to steer the conversation.
a dragon who couldn't be hurt on the outside could have so many ragged holes inside
It takes a while to walk down the slope; when he turns to face the mare again, he spies a stallion close to her, and upon his approach the man immediately pushes himself into the mare as if to make a point to claiming her. Leilan, from a distance, raises a brow but does his best to smooth his face a little when he is in closer range.
Upon approaching, the blue roan sabino recognizes him. He breaks his head a moment, trying to decide which blue roan mare she is exactly - in the end it's the sabino spots that give her away. No-one has that in this family, except Shah's wife. She greets him with his name, and as he comes to a standstill, he stretches his nose to greet her.
But the icy blue has made way for emerald green when he speaks to her. "Heart, you lovely. How are you doing?" He smiles amusedly at the gentleman at her side, willingly upsetting him like he does with everybody. Teasing. Annoying. Just a little bit too much. "Who's your friend?"
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@[Dovev]@[Heartfire]
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
10-06-2018, 11:22 PM (This post was last modified: 10-06-2018, 11:23 PM by Dovev.)
dovev
Heartfire ignored him pressing in on her so possessively, and that was telling enough of how weary they were from their day. He was certain she'd normally lash out and push him off. But gift horses and such meant he wasn't going to question it.
The man, Leilan she called him, reached out to greet her with a nose far too close for Dovev's comfort. He pushed against her shoulder to knock her aside a step with a hard glare on him, out of reach of the man she seemed to know, not that Dov cared about that. The guy damn well wasn't going to touch her while he was here.
"Heart, you lovely. How are you doing?"
His black eyes narrowed on him. The guy was clearly amused with his behavior, and really, Dovev didn't give a damn. And he could make himself seem as familiar with Heartfire as he wanted. He knew which of them she'd be going to bed with at night. When she allowed him near her.
"Who's your friend?"
He didn't answer that either. Heartfire could speak for herself and he wasn't in the mood for a pissing contest, and likely she wasn't either. They'd had a damn hard day, especially him, and he just wanted to go back to one of the places they slept. Or he slept. Or she slept. He wasn't picky.
He turned to her. This guy wasn't a threat. Or if he was, Dovev didn't sense it, or have enough energy to care. "I'm going home." And with a last hard stare at the Leilan guy, a sharp look of warning, he turned to walk away. To find a place to lay and rest. For probably less than five minutes until he was up and throwing himself into danger to help him forget, help him stop thinking. Stop seeing her face. Put himself into another dark oblivion until it wasn't even possible to do anything but breathe anymore.
For a brief moment, Heartfire can see the gears turning in her uncle’s mind, attempting to place her. It’s true they haven’t met, but power of deduction is enough to place her in their sordid family tree. After all, that distinctive blue roan sabino seems to have quite well taken to only she and her siblings.
It seems though, that true to nature, he cannot resist poking the bear. If there is anything she had learned of Leilan in all her spying, it was that he has a penchant for drawing trouble along with him wherever he goes. And Dovev, for all his weariness, still reacts to his overly familiar greeting and taunting words.
And for all Heartfire had been willing to put up with his possessive behavior, she is still not willing to be shoved out of the way like a child. Scowling, she pins her ears and nips sharply at his neck, reminding him she is not a toy he can clutch his chest and proclaim ‘mine’ when others threaten interest. Nor would she ever pretend submission just to sooth his bruised ego.
I’m going home. She blinks then, surprise registering as her scowl slips. She had not heard him refer to home before, and that he would say it now causes a queer feeling to settle in her stomach. She stares at him, silent for a long moment, before simply stepping back, allowing him to pass.
After another heartbeat, her attention turns back Leilan, features smoothing as her customary calm settles over her once more. Her gaze chills as she considers him. Relation he might be, but she still does not appreciate the deliberacy of his actions. “If you only wish to tweak noses, go elsewhere, uncle,” she reprimands in a low tone, head tilting slightly. She is most certainly not in the mood for such antics. Not now.
a dragon who couldn't be hurt on the outside could have so many ragged holes inside
It’s a test, really, and the man fails it spectacularly. Jealousy befits no-one; especially not one that is supposedly Heartfire’s lover, but she already nips at him and that fact is enough satisfaction for the scaled stallion at this point. No-one messes with his family; but since she defends herself easily he is not needed.
He snorts at the quick departure that follows, though it’s only after he’s out of hearing range that he speaks again. ”Didn’t seem the type to leave at the first poke,” he says more to himself perhaps, staring after the man leaving, than that he’s talking to his niece.
Who, by the way, seems to be in an equal bad mood, souring the golden-maned bay roan as well. ”I was going to see how my family is doing, as I think is normal for family living in the same kingdom, but I see I caught you on an impossibly bad day.” Not amused by the turn of events, he looks at her in a similar defiant way as she at him. ”If you two are only here to tweak noses, go elsewhere, niece.” There. See how she likes that for a return. He’d come with all the right intentions, and sure, when the stallion had reacted so possessively and jealous even, he just had to poke him to see what he was made of. Would she not have done the same, on any other day? Perhaps not - perhaps she was somehow, the type to get easily irritated, in which case they had too little in common to want to continue the conversation.
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@[Dovev] (just for info it seems, since he left)
@[Heartfire]
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
He had, as he so eloquently put it, caught her an an impossibly bad day. However, even had he not, she would still question his motives. To be fair, she might have been less irritated and far more subtle on any other day. But of course, that’s always a risk you take when you nip at a lion’s tail.
Her blue eyes are steady as she regards the roan stallion, expression inscrutable. She makes no response to his assertions that he had merely wanted to see how his family was doing. As he had had no clue who she was more than thirty seconds prior to their greeting, she doesn’t buy it. Leilan might use sarcasm and crude misdirection to dig his way out of many trenches, but he hadn’t met Heartfire before.
If he had, he would already know she does not disseminate. And she doubts Scorch would have informed him of her tendencies. Of course, grandmother and granddaughter are very similar in the that respect. One would have thought he’d have learned from Scorch.
At his last snarky quip, Heartfire arch’s one equine brow at him before tilting her head in wry acquiescence. “Sound advice, I think I will,” she challenges, tone cool despite the acknowledgement. She shifts, moving to follow Dovev before pausing a moment. Turning her head slightly, her icy gaze fixes on Leilan once more. “Unless you had something more to add?”
Her version of a second chance, slim as it may be. She is certainly not opposed to getting to know her relatives. Even so, she is not willing to be insulted in order to do so.
a dragon who couldn't be hurt on the outside could have so many ragged holes inside
His niece and he are clashing - not unlike he can do with his mother, at times. Too stubborn, and convinced of their own rightness. He wonders, then, if she ever talks to Scorch much, or if there had been some kind of falling-out between them. Like Scorch had had with Noori (something that had never gotten fixed as far as he knows).
He doesn't, actually, really, want that kind of strained relationship with Heartfire too. But she takes his sassy retort a bit too seriously, starting to leave, and he huffs to himself. He's not willing to give in to minor threats like that. She may have heard all kinds of stories but depending on who told them, they're probably not all that true.
After all, he doesn't do it on purpose.
Musing over his new insights on too-alike-family, he looks at her with a tilted head when she stops and turns. Has he got anything to add? He's not sure he does, even if he does recognize it as her way of giving in. It's quite possible she doesn't know how to deal with emotions just like he. So, he stares at her a little longer than would be normal if he'd had a ready answer, because the fact is that he doesn't have a quick retort like a moment before. "I don't know, Cuore di fuoco." He smiles a little - a tiny admittance. The simple fact is, they don't know one another well enough. She doesn't know his reasons for acting out, previously as well as now, and he doesn't know why she feels it's personal. "But let me know if you need someone to talk to about, well, whatever it was that makes you feel upset." A cheecky grin follows. "I know a few people who deal better with our kind, than we seem to do ourselves."
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@[Heartfire]
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
A familial trait it seems, their fearsome tempers. Before she had met her grandmother (before she had truly developed her unique ability to garner information), Heartfire had often wondered how her parents, both far more kind and patient than she could ever hope to be, had produced a child like herself. However, it seems her father is the outlier in this family, not herself, though he had shown surprising insight when he had chosen to name his first daughter in honor of his mother.
Surprisingly enough, Scorch and Heartfire have gotten on well, despite their strong personalities. But, to be fair, Scorch has had far longer to learn how handle too similar relatives than has her youngest son.
If she had been privy to his thoughts, she might have laughed. She would also have informed him she doesn’t deal in stories, but rather in facts. Vision does not lie in the same way that memories do. Memories can shift and alter over time, but the things one has actually seen always remains the same. A thing impossible to dispute.
Given that fact, and what she knows of her uncle, she doesn’t hold high hopes. He seems to have a habit of sticking his foot in his mouth. Perhaps another day, when her patience has not already been so sorely tested, she would find him and they could converse like normal adults. His words give her pause however. She hadn’t expected the faint admission from him, and her eyes linger on him in consideration. A pang touches her heart, and in her distraction, pain flashes briefly across her features before she regains control.
It is a kind offer, but this is not a pain she can discuss with others. The death of a son is not something one simply overcomes, and despite all her feigned indifference, she is well aware every bit of her recent turmoil stems from that loss. Besides, she’s not entirely certain anyone who tried to confront her grief would survive the attempt.
After a silence that lasts just a little too long, she answers him in a level tone, giving nothing of her thoughts away. “I appreciate the offer, but this is not something anyone else can help me with.”
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