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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]  gentle is the night
    #1

    it's a guarantee that he won't forget me.
    my body little, my soul heavy.

    It seems that no matter where she wonders, she finds herself outside of the arms of Nerine. The cliffside land may be where she mutters when someone asks where she is from, but that is more to keep diplomats off of her back when she wishes to be left alone.

    The nereid is a fierce creature: scowling gracefully when angry, watching curiously when calm. She has grown into her own, quite the lithe and long-legged creature. A perfect mixture of her mother and father, that is what she is - carrying the slender length of her mother’s body while controlling the dense muscle of her father. To the casual onlooker, she is quiet and reserved. Those that venture closer, though, find a bitter fire hot enough to singe even dragon’s skin within her eyes.

    Grass grows longer and leaner around her hooves when they land upon the earth. She is a truly mythical creature, the subject of wild envy and almost frightening to watch. The look in her steely brown gaze dares wayward suiters to wander closer. She halts, sending stalks of grass upward (they tickle her hocks). The whooshing sound of the river a short distance away sends a shiver down her spine: Naia’s scales replace her fur in a rapid wave. Suddenly, she looks so much colder than she already is, the instinct to protect a sisterhood freezing her veins.

    The sound of a twig snapping in the distance lifts her delicate head to attention. She scans her surroundings, then murmurs, “Show your face.”

    Naia

    @[Velkan]
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    #2










    Did someone just ask me to show my face? I honestly don’t think anyone has ever said that to me in the history of forever. No one wants to see my face! I don’t even want to see my face which is why I always close my eyes whenever I’m drinking out of a river. I’ve been scared by myself one too many times and there’s no point in doing that if I can just close those black eyes of mine.

    Fortunately for me, I don’t really need to stay alert while I’m drinking water because most animals give me a pretty wide berth out of instinct.

    Anyway, I’m feeling a little embarrassed that my twig snap seemed to have startled someone so I follow the murmur and find the coolest looking girl I’ve ever seen. She’s GOLD. She’s got black too but the gold of her makes her look alive and shiny and like the afternoon sun has been caught in her hair and in spots all over her body. And are those scales?? She’s just casually out here looking like a mermaid on land and I’ve the gall to disrupt her.

    But like, I can’t not go over and say hello now. My head pops out first, emerging from some shrubs and around a tree to look right at her. “Oh hey! Sorry about that.” I step forward to move into the open space but my large antlers get tangled in the foliage while I do so and I meet some resistance. But, not one to let a little branch get in my way, I throw my weight into moving forward. There’s a tearing voice as the new, tender branches give way and, when I fully emerge from the shelter of the shrubs, I have an extra horn on my head all tangled around the other ones.

    But I can’t see it so it’s fine.

    “What’s up?”


    photo from unsplash


    @[naia]
    Reply
    #3

    it's a guarantee that he won't forget me.
    my body little, my soul heavy.

    The silly creature that stumbles from brush is not at all what Naia expects, but she cannot say she is displeased. The twisting black of his hide, while frightening, sparks excited curiosity in the nereid’s usually harsh gaze. He is cute, thrashing through the tangled wood as if the barrier is not there at all. A hesitant smile purses her lips: she cannot help but find amusement in the clumsy nature of such a terrifying creature.

    When he does fully struggle through the branches, one tangles in his antlers just enough to create an entire horn. Naia peers at it for a moment, attempting to control the bubbling laughter that rises in her throat. She is able to remain quiet for a moment, but the innocence of his face is too much, and she giggles like she did when she was a child. The noise surprises her, so she cuts it off quick with a tight closing of her lips.

    What’s up?

    His upbeat voice and casual greeting feels so ridiculous in comparison to his appearance; once again, Naia loses control. This time she splutters out a vibrant laugh, louder and more genuine than the giggle from before. Her pale brown eyes twinkle when she peers up at him through long lashes, amused smile so sweet on her maw.

    “I don’t think anyone has made me laugh like that, ever,” she murmurs, voice silky and womanly in a way only a nereid can muster. Naia brings her carefully sculpted Arabian head to its full height and is pleased to find he is just a bit taller than her. “I’m Naia,” she adds after a moment of flicking her eyes down his frame.

    “I like your antlers.”

    Naia

    @[Velkan] i cannot believe how cute he is
    Reply
    #4










    Far from feeling embarrassed or saddened in any shape by the laughter that bubbles and then bursts out of the golden-haired mare, it brightens my own smile considerably. I love that sound! All laughter is music to my ears, whether it’s gentle giggling or unrestrained, but I have to admit I love the freedom in uncontrolled laughter.

    And the warm, sweet feeling that I’m the reason for the laughter. It doesn’t really matter if she’s laughing at me - although I haven’t yet figured out that I’m sporting a third antler in the form of a branch at the moment. I’m just delighted that she’s laughing!

    She’s got a smooth, melodic voice too that’s just as enchanting as her laughter. Anyone with a little bit more sense than I do definitely would feel embarrassed by the entranced I made while greeting this mare but I just don’t feel embarrassment ever.

    Maybe I should? Could that be some of ye ol’ foalhood trauma affecting me?

    That can’t be right. I mean, it’s only like one mother tried to eat me on a few occasions and the other tried to torture the sweetness right out of me. That’s not the sort of thing that leaves lasting psychological trauma in someone. I’m totally over it.

    “Oh yeah? Thanks! I’ve never seen them.” I try to look up, for the thousandth time in my life, to get a look at my antlers but all I can see is a little bit of black, and… maybe a little bit of green? Weird. I’m always a little disappointed that I can see them. But it’s cool that she likes them so they must be cool.

    “I like your hair!” I kinda shout back, because it’s really what I wanted to say when I first burst into this clearing. “I didn’t know hair could be so shiny!” Or so colourful! It’s still surprising me when I meet others that aren’t just all black and grey since that’s my whole family. There’s very little diversity. “Oh, and I’m Velkan! It’s super cool to meet you, Naia.”


    photo from unsplash


    @[naia] <33333
    this post brought to you by Abba and S Club 7
    Reply
    #5

    it's a guarantee that he won't forget me.
    my body little, my soul heavy.

    Naia normally sits in some level of discomfort. Mostly it is the exhausting feeling of knowing she does not possess beauty to be exact, but some supernatural draw that most cannot resist. She sighs into the sensation most days; some days, she rages against her own skin, hides from the scales that itch when she draws too close to water. Right now, though, she does not notice her skin as it ripples. It is not Velkan, or any comfort she has found within herself, but the pleasurable feeling of meeting one that does not leave a bitter taste in her mouth.

    When the wendigo attempts to look at his antlers, Naia laughs again. This time, she feels embarrassment and worry as she hopes he does not think she is picking on him. Though, a joyous bubbling in the pit of her chest tells her he will not mind at all. 

    The nereid blinks once, then twice, when Velkan expels a compliment about her hair. The smile she holds from laughing slowly droops into a subtle, bashful curve of her lips. Shocking as it may be, the woman finds pleasure blossoming in the middle of her stomach. She wonders if she should interact with others more often, if she will continue to find a similar joy in their company; alas, she remembers every negative reaction, remembers how most are not nearly as bubbly as the bony man before her.

    There is a bit of genuine confusion in the nereid’s eyes when she flips her mane over to one side. She’s never quite seen it, outside of her reflection when she dips into water, so to hear it is shiny is a new detail. “Is it shiny?” she asks, gently mimicking the tone Velkan took when he asked about his antlers. Naia crosses her eyes to look up at the tendrils that tangle between her ears. Her shy smile is now the tiniest bit of teasing.

    “Nice to meet you, Velkan,” she murmurs, straightening herself back into the regal stance she usually possesses. “Do you want me to describe your antlers to you?” The branch still hangs above his head. She lifts her muzzle in its direction, wondering if she might be able to lift it from its place.

    Naia


    @[Velkan]
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    #6










    Naia’s teasing goes over my head, goes over my antlers and the new branch-antler I’ve collected even, and when she asks about whether her hair is shiny I just nod enthusiastically – my smile earnest and vibrant as I take the excuse to look her over once again. “The shiniest.” Which is, without a doubt, very true. I genuinely cannot even think of anything to compare her hair to because it is the shiniest thing I have ever seen. The sun maybe? But the sun doesn’t so much as shine as it does blast you with its light and heat and the glitter of Naia’s mane is so much nicer than that.

    I don’t say all of that out loud, of course, because I’m pretty sure it would sound pretty dumb and I don’t want her to laugh at me. Not that I don’t like her laugh, because it’s extremely pretty, but there’s a difference between her laughing because I’m silly and adorable and laughing because I’m a dumbass.

    We’ll delay the reveal of how dumb I can be until later on in the friendship, I think.

    My eyes can’t help but briefly flick upwards again when she offers to describe my antlers and my smile brightens at the idea. “YEAH!” I lower my head a little and take a small step forward, so she can get a better look. and my black eyes watch this new friend I’ve made with a shining, innocent curiosity. “That’d be great if you could. I’ve always wondered.”

    I know what I imagine and what I hope (that somehow, somehow those antlers I can't see are a colour other than the shadowy black that makes up everything from my teeth to the blood in my veins). For reasons, I’ve never been overly fond of watching myself in reflections so this is going to be as close as I get to finding out what they're like.

    I'm quite fond of the idea of them being pink.



    photo from unsplash


    @[naia]
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