06-05-2017, 10:17 PM
Recognition carefully lightened her face as she realized the cold was his, surrounded him. Surrounded her, too, now. "A man of the cold," she observed, staring at him. He could almost see her thinking, puzzling out the tangles of her mind. Her first time coming across a cryokinetic, maybe. An ice magician. He wasn't surprised, he supposed. He was the only one of his kind that he knew of thus far. His daughter's magic seemed more commonplace, and he wondered if this woman was yet another body warmed by supernatural heat.
Turned out, she wasn't.
She didn't smell of it, feel of it this close to him. The lack of burning retaliation was another confirmation, but the way the earth rumbled around him when she pelted his cheek with the soil solidified his assumptions.
His brows barely tightened, not quite a frown as he considered her without flinching. The wild in him understood her rebuke, captured that smile spreading her lips and committed it to memory. Were those as rare for her as they were for him? His mouth quirked in answer to her amusement though, feeling her chuckle flutter in his dark ears and melt the cold of his veins. "I can do more if you keep me trapped in your mini winter," she warned, or merely stated facts, but it was still amiable.
His eyes slowly trailed down her face, back to the part of her that was the closest to him at the tip of her velveteen nose. In a voice so low, unable to be heard were she not so near, his breath mingled with hers, "Then don't stand so close." There was a hidden smile in it, a quiet amusement as he let go of his magic, softly laughing eyes returning to hers. It snapped silently back in place around him. Though it slid away from the majority of her lean figure, it still covered most of her head, most likely, but it couldn't be helped. One day it would be contained within him again, but that day hadn't yet come to pass.
And he wasn't backing away from her.
Whatever mirth she'd had came to an end and she was solemn again, her gaze flitting momentarily away as she thought. When she spoke this time, her voice was hard again. "I take it you and your Queen don't have great communication."
His lips pressed to a thin line and his eyes cooled, but he let the comment pass. They didn't have any communication. There was no queen. There was no king. There was only him. But he didn't correct her.
"...or perhaps there are other reasons you would avoid a political meeting and not familiarize yourself with the other lands. I visited your forest years ago and spoke with Reagan. I'm Nayl, Queen of Nerine."
He heard the sharp barb in her words, but didn't feel it. All he felt was the raw, ravaging scrape of that name as it burned him from the inside, reminded again of the pain he'd come here to temporarily escape from. He didn't have to explain himself to her or anyone, and didn't care what she thought of him. He was who he was, and the rest of the world could either accept it or leave him the hell alone.
"Well met, Nayl, Queen of Nerine," he offered formally, though simply. She already knew him, so of course he didn't introduce himself. As for the rest of her speech, he gave a noncommittal shrug.
"She has been, and will always be, the better diplomat. I've never been well-versed in the tricks and wordplay of politics, and prefer to seek more honest company."
There was no judgement in it, only a statement of preferences. Diplomacy was not a skill he claimed. Unfortunately, honest company no longer included his wife, but he didn't mention it. He was a private man, and confided in no one. Blunt and direct, he strayed away from the meandering way diplomats seemed to speak, bouncing badminton phrases off each other. He was not one for shuttlecock small talk. Neither was he rude, though. Not intentionally, anyway.
"You're welcome to join me for another visit if you like. Things are very different from the last time you were in the Taiga." He didn't need to know how long ago her visit had been exactly. If she thought Reagan was still around, it had been long enough. But he didn't expound on that either.
"You can come now, if you're not busy," he suggested, bright, blue eyes firmly in the fire of hers. "We can talk on the way. Tell me about yourself and your Nerine? I need to get back to my child," he gave in explanation, hoping she would take him up on the offer. He was genuinely curious, had intended to familiarize himself with the other lands. He hadn't meant to cut their time short, though, but he'd been away longer than he'd meant to be and Jinju was probably waiting to be relieved of her new sister.
Turned out, she wasn't.
She didn't smell of it, feel of it this close to him. The lack of burning retaliation was another confirmation, but the way the earth rumbled around him when she pelted his cheek with the soil solidified his assumptions.
His brows barely tightened, not quite a frown as he considered her without flinching. The wild in him understood her rebuke, captured that smile spreading her lips and committed it to memory. Were those as rare for her as they were for him? His mouth quirked in answer to her amusement though, feeling her chuckle flutter in his dark ears and melt the cold of his veins. "I can do more if you keep me trapped in your mini winter," she warned, or merely stated facts, but it was still amiable.
His eyes slowly trailed down her face, back to the part of her that was the closest to him at the tip of her velveteen nose. In a voice so low, unable to be heard were she not so near, his breath mingled with hers, "Then don't stand so close." There was a hidden smile in it, a quiet amusement as he let go of his magic, softly laughing eyes returning to hers. It snapped silently back in place around him. Though it slid away from the majority of her lean figure, it still covered most of her head, most likely, but it couldn't be helped. One day it would be contained within him again, but that day hadn't yet come to pass.
And he wasn't backing away from her.
Whatever mirth she'd had came to an end and she was solemn again, her gaze flitting momentarily away as she thought. When she spoke this time, her voice was hard again. "I take it you and your Queen don't have great communication."
His lips pressed to a thin line and his eyes cooled, but he let the comment pass. They didn't have any communication. There was no queen. There was no king. There was only him. But he didn't correct her.
"...or perhaps there are other reasons you would avoid a political meeting and not familiarize yourself with the other lands. I visited your forest years ago and spoke with Reagan. I'm Nayl, Queen of Nerine."
He heard the sharp barb in her words, but didn't feel it. All he felt was the raw, ravaging scrape of that name as it burned him from the inside, reminded again of the pain he'd come here to temporarily escape from. He didn't have to explain himself to her or anyone, and didn't care what she thought of him. He was who he was, and the rest of the world could either accept it or leave him the hell alone.
"Well met, Nayl, Queen of Nerine," he offered formally, though simply. She already knew him, so of course he didn't introduce himself. As for the rest of her speech, he gave a noncommittal shrug.
"She has been, and will always be, the better diplomat. I've never been well-versed in the tricks and wordplay of politics, and prefer to seek more honest company."
There was no judgement in it, only a statement of preferences. Diplomacy was not a skill he claimed. Unfortunately, honest company no longer included his wife, but he didn't mention it. He was a private man, and confided in no one. Blunt and direct, he strayed away from the meandering way diplomats seemed to speak, bouncing badminton phrases off each other. He was not one for shuttlecock small talk. Neither was he rude, though. Not intentionally, anyway.
"You're welcome to join me for another visit if you like. Things are very different from the last time you were in the Taiga." He didn't need to know how long ago her visit had been exactly. If she thought Reagan was still around, it had been long enough. But he didn't expound on that either.
"You can come now, if you're not busy," he suggested, bright, blue eyes firmly in the fire of hers. "We can talk on the way. Tell me about yourself and your Nerine? I need to get back to my child," he gave in explanation, hoping she would take him up on the offer. He was genuinely curious, had intended to familiarize himself with the other lands. He hadn't meant to cut their time short, though, but he'd been away longer than he'd meant to be and Jinju was probably waiting to be relieved of her new sister.