you set my soul alight

[Kirke]

peel away the layers till you're nothing and no one

The boy denies it, and Kirke immediately snorts in disbelief. She’s not stupid - she saw the bird’s broken wing and she saw it fly away, uninjured. He did something to it, whether he admits it or not. “Don’t lie to me! I saw it! The bird was hurt and then you fixed it!” Some sort of healing ability is her best guess. She can definitely see why her aunt and uncle would have chosen to take him from the Gates. A healer would be very useful to Khaos’ children.

His mismatched eyes are now lingering on her wings and in spite of her curiosity, she can’t help but take the moment to preen. She stretches out her big purple wings, unfurling them so that the boy can get a better look. She flaps them dramatically a few times for his benefit, before tucking them back into her sides. It’s a little nice to have the attention, to be eyed as if she’s something special. Here in the Cove she is perhaps more special than many of her siblings (like Apothyx, Halocyn and Medic), but she will never be as special as Potion.

That said, if this boy is indeed a healer, she will never be as special as him either.

Jealousy rears its ugly head and her eyes narrow at him again. She takes a step closer, ignoring personal space. “Anyway, how did you do it? Did you have to touch it? Did you put energy into it?” She barely leaves time to breath, let alone give the boy time to answer. “Can you only fix animals? Or can you fix horses too?”

If only she could learn an ability like that. Then she could gain favour in father's eyes.

kirke