She snorts softly in reply to his question, her brows rising with slight incredulity. “Oh no,” comes the gentle sound of her voice, a semblance of a laugh interlaced with the sound of regret (something Nashua may or may not recognize). “I haven’t been anywhere much at all, actually.” She frowns, turning her thin and slender face away from him almost bashfully. “I guess that’s why I love stories so much.” She’s done nothing with her life - not even seen the other side of the clouds - while it seems her new companion is riddled with fascinating stories from his own experiences. That difference between them does not provide any lackluster to her dark eyes when she turns back to him, all wide-eyed and curious as each explanation falls from his lips.
Olena knows that the tales he weaves are those passed down from his own family - much like the dreams she had experienced in her quiet childhood thanks to her mother, Kagerus. She had been sent on many adventures in their dream world, but it did not change the fact that when they awoke, the dream had only been a dream. And maybe that is why her heart aches so much - she had a taste of what is out there but has yet to see it in reality. Here, with Nashua, she could taste a little more and her dreams seem all the more real. She smiles when he smiles, especially when he tells her about the brothers. She thinks of Oberyn and her cousins, all brute strength and energy, and she could easily see how fights would break out in the clouds.
When he begins the tale of the pegasi, her shyness has begun to melt away. It’s the story she had been wanting to hear the most and as he offers her space beneath his wing, she eagerly takes it. She looks up at him with the largeness of her dark eyes framed by those expressive indigo markings. He has her full attention, enraptured her in the weavings of his tales, each word burning into her memory. She’d tell Oberyn this story, she thinks to herself, so she must remember each part.
A dreamer.
I’m a dreamer, she doesn’t say, but the thought is accompanied by the touch of her dark muzzle against his neck, wishing she could tell him how meaningful his story is to her. She’ll fly one day - she was meant to.
She smiles into his skin, unashamed of her gesture now that she has grown more comfortable. “We must never stop being dreamers, then.” There is a hint of laughter in her voice as she turns her head to glance up at him, wrinkling her nose slightly. When he asks her for a story, she is quick to duck her head with a soft snort. “Oh, I don’t know,” she muses at him quietly, casting her gaze towards him from beneath a furrowed brow, “I’m not sure any of mine will sound as nice as yours did, coming from me.”
When he asks her about her spots there is hesitation, but that tiny smile never fades from her obsidian lips. She remembers her mother’s dream world, where leopards prowled between them with such prowess and strength, and how she longed to be like them. They were fierce and brave, Kagerus had told her - warriors that faced everything head-on but also knew the importance of patience in the hunt. “Their spots on our bodies show our true courage and that, even if we don’t feel like it, we have a lion-strength in our hearts. Our spots are on the outside so that we remember what’s on the inside.” Olena hadn’t realized she had begun speaking and as her voice fades out, she glances up at Nashua in surprise. She smiles at him faintly, slightly embarrassed but feeling a bit more alive now that she had shared her own story.
“See,” she says with a shrug of one of her gold and blue-spotted shoulders, “not as good as yours.” There is a playfulness in her voice that is new and wistful as she lips gingerly at the flaxen tips of his mane.
OLENA
& all the stars go dark
i turn the light on in my soul
@[Nashua]
i ain't even sorry for the novel