there's a devil in my brain with a pitchfork and a flame

[elio]

elio

some say I should learn to cry but I only learned how to fight
and I know everything must die but nothing fades like the light

"You're just as brave," Elio responds, lifting his mouth in a quick, secret smile. He'd like to believe he is brave, but something in his gut tells him his future will be more reckless than confident. A swift frown replaces the secret smile, though Elio wipes it away before Little Feather can notice.

Lio listens as Nashua talks about his brother and their home. During his childhood in Taiga, he rarely crossed into Nerine. He remembers Lepis telling him to be careful. Remember names like Heartfire and Neverwhere. He rarely had the urge to disobey his mother, as young children so often do, so he kept his distance. In fact, his trip to find Djinni is the longest he had spent in the kingdom. Elio wonders what it must be like to play on Nerine's craggy cliffs.

"A twin? Wow. My mother had triplets once," Lio replies, eyes glowing with boyish curiosity. He ponders if his childhood would have been more lighthearted spent with a sibling his age. "I have three brothers and two sisters, all older than me. We left Taiga . . . um, I'm not sure, actually. A while ago." He misses Celina, mentioning her reminds him of that gnawing feeling. It bites harder when he thinks of Gale, but Lio doesn't mention one of his brother's is dead. The idea of souring Nashua's mood is too depressing. "I just came from Nerine," he says instead.

Elio tilts his head, drawing up memories of his time spent lounging in a vine-protected den. He can practically feel the leaves tickling his back as he pushed the heavy, swinging vines to the side. It was his favorite place. Dragging Celina there was particularly fun.

"It was a hollow in a giant boulder, by the river where Taiga meets Hyaline. There were vines that covered the entrance. I would drag moss in to build a nest," Elio says, wondering if it still looks the same, "and on hot summer days, I'd nap there for hours." He still naps, now. A habit he can't seem to kick. "I can't wait to see yours," he adds, grinning.

@[Nashua]