"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
She’s never met anyone like Gale before. It’s more than just his looks that makes her think of an oncoming storm. It’s the way he seems to thoughtfully consider her questions before answering them, the delight when he grins at her over something that must have been so traumatic. She gets the sense that Gale has an uncanny ability to detach himself from situations, as if he’s able to view past pain and trauma as an outsider looking in. She wonders how he does it and secretly wishes that she could do the same, it must make life easier.
His experience of death is said with such nonchalence that she wonders if it really wasn't the big deal everyone made out to be. Thinking of the Underneath, of the worlds she has traveled when she fell into the portal, the things she has seen... Maybe death wasn't the scariest or most painful part of living. Perhaps it was the living itself that should be feared and death was the reward for all that suffering at the end of the day. Gale has given her much to think about.
Ciri has gotten good at masking her past, shoving it deep within herself and avoiding the lack of closure she never got. However even the best of her masks slip and sometimes she doesn’t realize just how much she reveals in the depths of her swirling eyes and the subtle movements that scurry across her face. The memory of the bright purple blooms of wisteria are still burning in her mind, lingering even as he asks her where she lives. The dark scarred mare gives a little half smile and a small shrug of her clawed shoulder. “I don’t really live anywhere right now. I was a traveler for most of my life and it seems I’m a traveler once again.” She pauses, considering him beneath her raven forelock with the slow metallic swirls focused on him. “I guess I have been spending a lot of time here… Now that the lights back though, maybe that should change.”
all of time and space, everywhere and anywhere, every star that ever was
Gale this is going to break me clean in two -- this is going to bring me close to you
Her eyes shift in front of him, spiraling not unlike her galaxies. Curious, he steps closer, until his cheek is against hers if she doesn’t pull away. Not quite like the stars, the brindle decides, and steps back to look at those again as she speaks of being a traveller.
“Islandres is the most beautiful,” He tells her absently. “Calm and quiet, and Islay and Fenwe would love to have you.”
Gale knows better than to offer Ciri a place in Hyaline. There are many good reasons not to (he doesn’t know if he even should, doing so would place someone else in the blast radius of his Curse, she clearly has a history with the place, and so he doesn’t ask.
Or rather, he doesn’t mean to, and yet the words come out of his mouth anyway with the strangest sort of sensation.
“Though nowhere else has wisteria quite like Hyaline. Maybe you could come back sometime.” The words are true, but they have left an oily taste on Gale's tongue. He is grateful that his face is turned away from Ciri, though he shakes his head and displaces his white forelock while doing so. He does not usually remember when the Curse speaks. Is this a good sign? Or a bad one?
Her breath catches as Gale suddenly moves closer, peering deep into the silver spirals, not expecting the intensity of his gaze as he inspects her. It’s not a gasp of lust or passion, it had just been a long time since she had been so close to another or had someone look at her the way he does, like a puzzle he can’t quite figure out. She can’t help but grin at him. She had never met anyone like Gale before, even his mannerisms could be as intense as lighting storms he resembled. To someone else it perhaps was perturbing or invasive. To her, it was rather endearing and she didn’t mind being investigated for her mysteries.
He speaks of Islandres as he studies her and she can’t help the soft tinkle of laughter that escapes her as he mentions it’s tranquility. “I think I’ve had my fill of calm and quiet.” She admits with a slight roll of her shoulder. She was growing stagnant here in the Meadow and the thought had crossed her mind of seeking something more. There was some push within her that wanted purpose, perhaps even missed the sense of community she had once had back in the golden days of Hyaline.
As if reading her mind, he speaks of the lake and its wisteria and she cannot stop the spasm of sadness that ripples through her as memories flow unbidden. She is grateful that he cannot read the emotions on her face as he looks away, turning her own silver gaze back up towards the stars as she tries to gather back her emotions. She can’t help but think of her brief encounter with his Mazikeen either. The white horned mare had not been unkind but she had been escorted rather promptly out of the lake and there was no sense of an open invitation to stay, perhaps it had been the darkness from the Eclipse but the lake no longer seemed as friendly as it had once been. Plus, she wasn’t a shifter.
A slight frown finds her dark lips as she looks back to him. “There’s no place for me in Hyaline anymore.” She states quietly but pauses and gives him a half smile. “Perhaps I could visit you sometime if you would like.” As much as it might hurt to see the lake again, perhaps it won’t be so hard in the company of a friend.
all of time and space, everywhere and anywhere, every star that ever was
Gale