Gale
this is going to break me clean in two --
this is going to bring me close to you
Her reaction to his teeth is not what he had expected (Mazikeen is always amused at his displays of bravado), and when Gale closes his mouth it contains herbivorous enamel only. Ciri doesn’t seem fearful, only surprised, but Gale reminds himself to be more cautious going forward. Though he knows that he is not the most socially adept creature, that has not been much of a concern lately.
Why is that?
He can’t seem to remember, so he brushes it away with a friendly smile as they move down toward the lake.
The sun is still rising over the eastern peaks, turning the still surface of the lake into canvas of palest pink and blue. Gale smiles, taking it in, and turns to Ciri to ask her something. Only instead he looks past her eyes and into the visions (does she know she holds them so openly, dangling them in the open air where anyone with Sight might so easily touch them?).
He thinks of the story she’s told him, of the Underneath, but these visions are another story entirely, but one that seems no less painful. Her voice is as tight as her posture, and Gale forgets that he should be more cautious.
The brindle stallion leans toward her, bumping his shoulder against her as if to shake her from her own memories.
“Pretty sure I wasn’t here last time,” he says mildly, raising his brows and looking out with obviously false nonchalance at the rising sun. Gale always forgets that not everyone looks so casually at the sun.
“Maybe you should make new memories,” he suggests. “Mazikeen says there’s a sea monster in the lake these days. She likes shiny things.” A glance at Ciri’s whole self clearly indicates that she is a shiny thing herself, and so of course the fish in the lake will appreciate meeting her.
Mazikeen had suggested Gale bring something shiny when meeting Sabal, and a star seems a good choice.
@[Ciri]
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