Lilliana tries to attune her senses to the beach, the sound of a wave as it crashes against the shore, the salt that flavors the air around them, the ice in the spring breeze as it comes rolling in from places unknown. She tries to use these things to ground her and yet her gaze still drops to where the tips of his wings graze against her skin featherlight, languidly. They brush against her flank and Lilliana wonders if he knows the line of fire that he draws against her skin, the stark white of his feathers contrasting against the firegold of her coat.
What had she been so afraid of?
His eyes smile at her, something that borders between an understanding and a joke. In return, she offers the beginning of an appreciative smile. The last of her apprehension fades into the haze of the fog and Lilliana turns her attention back on Neverwhere. She remembers their first meeting, the way it had taken Lilli (what felt like) endless coaxing to draw the mare out of her shell. And so Lilliana assumes that this is what this is - Neverwhere being suspicious of what she doesn't know. She can't expect her to warm immediately to the Commandant. Lilliana attributes it to Neverwhere's shadows, to the places where the light should have been and wasn't. If she was perpetually left in the dark, how was she supposed to know who to trust other than herself?
The pegasus offers an invitation over his striped golden shoulder and Lilli looks to Neverwhere first, trying to find a way to smooth the way forward. The dappled mare gestures her nose to the shore, stepping forward before she even has a glance to see the raised wing. The chestnut mare hesitates and loses her chance before she knew it was even offered. A question lingers behind her eyes but when has Lilli ever refused what was asked of her?
As Neverwhere moves forward, it takes her only a moment to realize what was happening. Lilli has been here before. The scene starts to play out before her eyes and she warms to Nev, understanding what it is her friend is trying to do. She seeks to protect her from whatever threat she has deemed him and the chestnut mare, while touched, wishes that she could convey that Wolfbane has never been anything but kind.
"I don't mind." If this is what it takes to put Neverwhere at ease then she will do it.
Lilliana settles into her place against the phantom beach and casts one steady ear towards the two horses on her right. The fine copper edge stands out against the mist that cycles in with each cresting wave. "Neverwhere was kind enough to keep me company during one of my first nights in Beqanna," she offers by way of explanation to Wolfbane's speculation. For all of her bristled exterior, Lilliana is intent on making it known that she is indebted to Never.
But it's his next words that send a ripple of warmth through her and she finds herself hoping that the fog might shield the soft smile she is unable to hide.
Lilli thinks at last that there might be some ceasefire offered, some peace to found as they walk down this deserted beach.
Neverwhere, calculated and precise in her rebuke, pierces the brief lull that had been found. She might have aimed for Wolfbane but she strikes Lilliana instead. Something in her stiffens, freezes before it burns to anger. All the chestnut hears is the reprimand, that she should know better. The blue in her eyes chills as she looks to Neverwhere with a smile that does nothing to warm her gaze, "I didn't know you followed politics, Neverwhere."
She looks away as she blazes within. As if the words are an afterthought she adds, "Funny you never mentioned anything earlier."
Still tempered by fire, Lilliana manages to glance over the silver shoulder to the golden one that strides alongside Neverwhere. The logical side of Lilliana has always urged caution when it has come to him; the side overruled by the heady sense of desire finds she no longer cares.
@[Wolfbane] @[neverwhere]