01-09-2020, 11:04 PM
Apologies and hesitation ripple over him so strongly that she can see them on his skin, in the way he draws himself inward, assuming that he has made a mistake, but she knows that the blind do not make mistakes so lightly. Traveling alone in unknown territory is no small feat when you cannot see the strange places you are going, and something more than the usual wanderlust is needed to draw someone so impaired out from the comfort of familiar country. She wonders if he can see another way, another magic way, but his answer to her question ends that line of thinking abruptly. Yes, the wind does change at the precipice, the sound and feel of it like an invisible wall, but she tilts her head at his manner of speaking, and finds herself doubting him just the same.
"Well, come along, then."
She nods, though he cannot see it, and she wonders, installing herself to his right without a word, knowing he will - by scent and sound and by the air on his skin as it flutters between them - cede space to her as naturally as breathing when she presses into it, pushing him subtly away from the cliff edges far ahead. It will not be apparent from the outside what she is doing, appearing for all the world to simply be walking beside him, but it is possible he will find her a bit rude and bullish for so frequently forcing him to adjust his path.
Well, he wouldn't be wrong to think those things, so no opportunity lost there.
They walk in relative silence for a short time, though she knows he has returned her question with one of his own. He must know already that Taiga has dropped behind them, and she suspects that it was his intention all along, though he acts as though it was quite accidental. The only pinewood scent that lingers in the air is the one that comes from his dark skin, the redwoods do not color the air much in Nerine where the sea salt winds scour everything clean and clear. Perhaps he does not know what direction he is heading, that is something that Neverwhere herself never struggled with - but then, her eyesight never wholly left her and she could find direction on all but the cloudiest days and even most nights. It had rarely mattered, though, she had been aimless, too.
"What do you think?" The air around them smells of salt and sea and chalk cliffs, of the golden grasses sleeping beneath the snow. "Does it smell like Taiga?"
"Well, come along, then."
She nods, though he cannot see it, and she wonders, installing herself to his right without a word, knowing he will - by scent and sound and by the air on his skin as it flutters between them - cede space to her as naturally as breathing when she presses into it, pushing him subtly away from the cliff edges far ahead. It will not be apparent from the outside what she is doing, appearing for all the world to simply be walking beside him, but it is possible he will find her a bit rude and bullish for so frequently forcing him to adjust his path.
Well, he wouldn't be wrong to think those things, so no opportunity lost there.
They walk in relative silence for a short time, though she knows he has returned her question with one of his own. He must know already that Taiga has dropped behind them, and she suspects that it was his intention all along, though he acts as though it was quite accidental. The only pinewood scent that lingers in the air is the one that comes from his dark skin, the redwoods do not color the air much in Nerine where the sea salt winds scour everything clean and clear. Perhaps he does not know what direction he is heading, that is something that Neverwhere herself never struggled with - but then, her eyesight never wholly left her and she could find direction on all but the cloudiest days and even most nights. It had rarely mattered, though, she had been aimless, too.
"What do you think?" The air around them smells of salt and sea and chalk cliffs, of the golden grasses sleeping beneath the snow. "Does it smell like Taiga?"
Neverwhere
...
@[Tyr]
