what if the way we started made it something cursed from the start; vulgaris

[leliana]

I know what it is but I'm hoping that all is well
no harvest of green but it's still my heart to sell

She hears him coming but she doesn’t move. Not at first. Instead she closes her hazel eyes and breathes the starlight deep, taking them into her chest and letting the starfire fill her lungs to bursting. It feels like hope and possibility, cauterizing the edges of her wounds until she can almost pretend that they no longer exist. Until she can pretend that she’s whole again.

But she’s not entirely rude and she doesn’t ignore him for long.

She takes a steadying breath and drops her chin, slanting her head toward him as he approaches, the space between them taut. Her breath catches in her throat at the sight of his scales, at the way his body slithers beneath them—unnatural and yet perfectly formed. It is almost akin to the bones that had crept out and around him, almost like the hardened armor that had slowly taken over his body. It is close enough to cause a shiver to run up her spine.

Next to her, the dragon wings morph without conscious thought, turning emerald and oil to match the scales that cover his form. They press into her as a shadow of a smile sweeps across her delicate features. “Oh?” Her voice is honey in the air between them, soft and sweet, the syllables dripping from her mouth slowly. “What expression would suit my face better, Vulgaris?” She likes the way that his name sounds, her mouth finding the edges of it suitable.

She lets the silence sit a moment more between them before she gives a light laugh, the sound kind and gentle, bells on the wind. “My name is Leliana,” she offers, her eyes turning from him for a moment to find the night sky, tracing the constellations as they splatter along the horizon.

“I am glad you are here. It is too beautiful of a night to be alone.”

I put everything I had into something that didn't grow
like going on a wild hunt, shooting arrows without a bow

@[vulgaris]