"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
Some things have not changed about Laurelin since he was a gangly (but cute) foal - he still likes to be near water, still prefers the darkness. And his reasons for preferring both of these things are still rooted in how they both enhance his beauty. He knows he’s pretty because his mom told him - and it’s not like she had any reason to be biased or lie about that. So it must be true!
Today, the sun is setting when Laurelin stands near the bank of the river, debating whether to go in or not.
It is almost warm enough for a proper swim, but not quite. The cold water is something he’s grown less tolerant of, the older he gets. Particularly once it passes his legs. He almost always regrets it when he swims in snow-melt water, which this will surely still be, even though he enjoys the way his dark tail will fan out behind him or how he’ll gleam whenever he emerges.
He’s a grown stallion now, but there’s still plenty of the ridiculous colt in his actions. In the light of his blue glow, his coat glitters when he moves - very gingerly placing one of his forelegs into the river before recoiling quickly. Nope. Too cold. Not worth it. A snort escapes him, frustrated for only a moment before his eyes turn away from the river and towards the sunset. He’s a big fan of cooler colours, since they compliment him a little better, but even he has to admit that the vibrant reds and oranges that paint the sky with the last light aren’t bad either.
The wonders of nature are good for distracting him, but only for a time. Already forgetting his frustration, Laurelin looks back at the river and wonders if - maybe now, the water is a little warmer. And he stretches out the other foreleg to try.
LAURELIN
@[chasmata] here have an absolutely RIDICULOUS starter
It had been a double-edged sword, the sun’s return.
On the one hand, it had been nice that she had never had to worry about finding someplace to hide from its light. On the other hand, it had never truly been night, which meant that her vision never truly sharpened. She had existed in a perpetual state of half-blindness for years in the darkness, vulnerable.
(Not to mention that the sun had returned so suddenly that she’d been caught out and unawares, blinded completely and unable to find shelter until nightfall. She had been convinced then that if she’d had to wait even a couple hours longer, it could have killed her.)
But she has eased herself back into the routine she’d established in her youth. She tucks herself away in caves during the daylight hours, hidden safely away from the light, and emerges again around sunset.
And she wanders without any real direction, sticking mostly to the common lands because she knows her way around. Because she knows her way back to the cave that shields her from the light. Because she knows that she is safe here. Because this is where she weathered the darkness and she is not certain if her parents made it through or if they still call the Cove home. Even more than that, she’s not sure she wants to know.
So, she ventures down to the river and cannot stop the grin that creeps across her face at the sight of a familiar blue spark. (Though those sparks had burned her once.)
“I should have known I’d find you by the water,” she calls as she approaches, smiling still. It is not lost on him how hesitantly he reaches toward the water and she jerks her nose in the direction of those blue sparks. “Can’t you just heat up the water with those?” she asks in a teasing tone.
the moonlight, baby, shows you what’s real
but there ain’t language for the things i feel
Laurelin likely would have stood there long into the night, testing the water every time he forgot whether or not it was cold the last time he had tried it. Fortunately, someone interrupts him. And it’s a wonderful interruption. The smile that brightens Laurelin’s blue eyes is completely genuine when the voice he hears is one he recognizes. It is the voice of a girl who had the misfortune of not being able to see him on their first meeting, but who had much better luck on their second. And, it would seem, on their third as well.
His smile is mostly because it is good to see Chasmata again but a little part of it is that he is glad that she can see him. And both of those reasons are a good excuse to smile, he thinks.
“I like being easy to find for my friends.” He tells her with a bright laugh that returns again at the teasing words that follow her greeting. His eyes dance, tracing the upwards movements of a few sparks from his mane as he shifts his stance so he is facing her and turning a chilly shoulder to the cold water that had been mistreating him before her arrival. “Maybe, though it would take a long time to heat the water with them.”
The sparks are awfully small, after all.
His laughter fades then, but his frown is one born of concentration. “I can heat the air around me but for some reason, it doesn't work in water.” And that was the extent of Laurelin's capability to puzzle out the mystery that was his power, so his easy smile returns. He doesn't think to tell her how nice it is to see her again, though of course it is.
How long has it been since she last heard laughter, she wonders.
The last laugh she heard must have been his.
Long has she wandered since the last time their paths crossed, but she has scarcely found company that made her linger for longer than a few moments. Were she to hazard a guess, she would think that perhaps he is her only friend in all the world. Other than the shadows and all the things that lurk there. The dark things, she thinks, the things with a similar taste for blood. The things with sharp teeth.
She hadn’t put a lot of thought into her remark about using his sparks to warm the water, that much is evident in the heat of the embarrassment that pools in her cheeks as he points out how long it would take them to change the temperature. She rolls her shoulders, as if to play off her suggestion. Of course it had only been a joke, she hadn’t really meant it. It would be a fool’s errand! There is a certain sheepish quality to her smile as she glances between him and all that water -- of course it would take forever.
This is not her first taste of embarrassment in his company, but this is the first time it does not send her skittering back the direction from which she’d come. She is grown now, old enough to swallow up her emotions. At least she hadn’t run headlong into him. “I guess you’ll just have to wait until true summer to bless the sea creatures with your beauty then,” she muses, the embarrassment draining out of her smile.
“Were you really trying to go for a swim or were you just admiring your reflection?” she asks with a light laugh.
the moonlight, baby, shows you what’s real
but there ain’t language for the things i feel
Laurelin, lost as he is in his own thoughts (as few as they are) does not notice Chasmata’s embarrassment - he doesn’t even think there is anything to be embarrassed about. If he had, he might have attempted to ease it a little. Perhaps with a joke or a touch, likely fumbling each since comforting others is not one of the skills Laurelin has picked up while admiring himself.
He cares though, which should count for something.
Her comment about the sea creatures earns another bright laugh from him. “Their loss is your gain, then.” He tells her smoothly, eyes dancing as he does - thinking too that standing on the shore talking to his dear friend is a much better way to spend the day than risking freezing any vital parts off.
Another blazing grin at her question, this time accompanied by a softer chuckle and he answers honestly. “A little of both, but mostly trying to swim.” This time, he wasn’t even getting distracted by his reflection - though that is certainly something that has happened to him before.
He doesn’t mind one bit that she knows him so well.
And then, finally, Laurelin stops thinking about himself and because he finds he genuinely wants to know, his eyes dance over his pretty friend and he asks her “How’ve you been, Chasmata?”
