Though she has no talent beyond the wings folded loosely at her sides, even she can feel the tension drawn tight between them. The hatred and the anger. It is so thick a part of her is almost surprised they do not choke on it. And in that moment, she is all too aware that the buffer she has provided is the only reason this visit had not escalated into something far more dangerous.
A faint shiver crawls down her spine as she glances at Nashua.
As Bolder tries to explain to his father, his words ringing hollowly in Nash’s ears, Noel brushes her muzzle along her son’s short mane tenderly, letting him know without words that she would always be here to support him. Perhaps not physically, but in all the ways that matter. She had never been prone to hovering, nor the overprotective streak that runs so strongly through Nashua. She had always let her children learn as they would, but she had always made sure to leave with the knowledge that she would be there if they truly needed her.
That is what she gives Bolder now.
He says he wants to stay, and Noel says nothing. As though the words had broken the cord strung far too tightly, Gale reacts, spitting out words of banishment. She bristles, but remains quiet. It had already been apparent that they did not recognize her, nor did they appear to realize they already harbor her ‘kind’ in their land.
Then Mazikeen speaks, retracting the blanket statement by giving her the option of visiting. She nods once, sharply before dropping her attention to her son. She pulls him quickly into a brief embrace, her words a whisper against him. “I love you Bolder. You know you are welcome home any time you wish.”
As she withdraws, returning to Nashua, the venom Mazikeen throws at him makes her hackles rise. She refuses to look at the other woman rather than risk saying something unwise. Instead she quickly spreads her wings, curling them around Nash’s shoulders and blocking him from their sight and them from his. The words they’d spat had been designed to draw his ire, and she desperately needs him to remain calm now. Pressing her lips against the hollow above his mouth, she murmurs urgently, “I know you don’t trust them, but please trust me.” Her dark eyes rise to his, the plea in them only for him. Her next request would be the hardest one for him to do. “And please, trust our son.”
- noel
@Nashua