03-21-2020, 05:49 PM
No name, even. Neverwhere sighs and clouded eyes roll, unaware of how easily the filly reads her even when she is more careful about hiding her emotions. She has never had to name something before, never wanted or tried to name something before, and her lips twist together defiantly at the idea of doing so now, as if naming her is too much like claiming the filly as her own. Despite the hesitation, and despite the surprisingly accurate understanding of the reclusive mare's feelings, the child half steps, half tumbles forward against her chest and with an audible 'oh', Neverwhere stiffens noticeably against the pressure of that small body. The muscles of her neck and haunches tense and her teeth clench, but, unmoving, she simply draws a long breath then drops her head to rest the flat of her muzzle against the soft curve of the child's near-black back. Warm, grass scented breath spills out from her nostrils, tousling downy curls.
"Okay. We'll find you a name, too."
Surely somewhere between here and Nerine there would be something that she could call the child other than The Child - as tempting as it is to simply refer to her as that forever. Easier, she thinks, So much easier. But she is already shaking her head and casting around as if anything in the secluded nesting site will give her ideas, but she can't call the filly Rock or Grass or Fairy any more than she can call her The Child, and so she simply sighs and the scowl on her lips deepens.
"Food. Then a name." Neverwhere takes a step to the side, and another forward, neatly disentangling herself and drawing Northward, but she pauses to turn back, to see if the girl will follow, blinking away the dizziness she feels looking into the foundling's strange eyes, "Then I'll show you the ocean and Lilli can tell you about the wind."
"Okay. We'll find you a name, too."
Surely somewhere between here and Nerine there would be something that she could call the child other than The Child - as tempting as it is to simply refer to her as that forever. Easier, she thinks, So much easier. But she is already shaking her head and casting around as if anything in the secluded nesting site will give her ideas, but she can't call the filly Rock or Grass or Fairy any more than she can call her The Child, and so she simply sighs and the scowl on her lips deepens.
"Food. Then a name." Neverwhere takes a step to the side, and another forward, neatly disentangling herself and drawing Northward, but she pauses to turn back, to see if the girl will follow, blinking away the dizziness she feels looking into the foundling's strange eyes, "Then I'll show you the ocean and Lilli can tell you about the wind."
Neverwhere
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