[open] I could make it better for you

[Tamlin]

Tamlin doesn’t really know what to say to the filly’s whines about how he wasn’t supposed to say no, he just gives a little shrug of his bony wings. The ‘they always come home with me’ is a bit concerning, and maybe that’s what puts him off from trying to smooth things over. The mare seems to handle the situation well enough, though perhaps without much kindness. Tamlin smiles in what would be a kind way… if his smile could be seen. At the question of whether he hunts with the wolves, Tamlin’s skull moves side to side. “Sometimes I run with them while they hunt for the thrill of it, but I learned through experience that my stomach is unfortunately not built to digest meat and the results of attempting to are… not fun.” Tamlin says this casually, that easy laughter lacing his words once again. It had been very disgusting but it was funny to think about now - and having grown up with wolves, for all his opal hooves and easy smiles he does not find their nature unnerving. His skull tilts to the side as he regards the dark and mysterious fourth member of their party and the fanged mare as something passes between them. He’s powerfully curious about it, especially the bitter question, but Tamlin holds his tongue. For once. Or… for now, anyway. Their spooky friend responds to the filly’s greeting and Tamlin thinks nothing of the wolfish smile - just another predator in their group, which meant this winged skeleton was utterly at ease. He turns to the mare, and had he skin and eyebrows they would most certainly be raised. Somehow the vacant, lack-of-expression expression does the trick, he thinks. Hopes. t a m l i n

artwork by space1993

@[Calavera]

[Calavera]

My eyes roll at the lady's words, and a snap of bitterness rises in my throat. Manners are something my mother only teaches selectively, and they are mostly concerned with not pissing her off. Considering that it's almost impossible to guess what seemingly-innocent phrase or behavior will set her off on a given day, I've taken to just avoiding her whenever possible. 

This lady, though. My half-grown tail whips irritatedly. "Were you born this snobby, or is that what a lifetime of disappointment gets you?" I ask, not looking back from my position on the edge of their meeting. I'm the little nuisance, again. Too young to have a voice in their grown up talks. Too young to matter at all. 

The thought makes my eyes burn unexpectedly, and I hate the lady for making me feel so small. She's like my mother, maybe. Soft, sweet words that you think should be comforting, and only cut you instead. So maybe I am being sullen, out here in the dark. My adventure is turning into more of whati thought I'd be leaving at home, and I'm suddenly homesick for my snug den. I miss my friends and their clattering whispers. 

The dark man is on the edge too, and he's quieter. The bone man won't be my friend, so I've lost interest in him. Let the snooty lady talk his leg off about wolves and hunting. I shiver, and lean subconsciously into the touch he places against my neck. It makes my heart beat a bit harder. I don't get touched very much, and hardly ever so gently. What's the catch, I wonder vaguely. 

His question should set off warning bells in my head. Should, but doesn't. "I'm always alone," I answer instead, a small shrug rolling across my thin shoulders. "It would take a week for my mother to notice I was gone." There's more than a drop of bitterness in my voice at this. It might not be true. It might take her a month, if she's going through another spell where she forgets I exist again. The skeleton man is looking at us, I think. It's kind of hard to tell, though, him being bone and all. 

@[Livinia]

[Livinia]

l i v i n i a such is life, such is death. She watches Niklas curiously - watches the familiar curl of shadows as they wrap around him. Aside from her twin and her parents, Livinia has had little relationship with others in her family though she knew that many lurked in Beqanna’s shadows. The tiniest of thrills runs though her her at this discovery.  “Of course she does,” she replies - her voice just as cold as their mother’s.  But there is so much more life in Livinia’s eyes. And something burns in her crimson gaze.  But her unbeating heart twists in her chest. That want for maternal affection. For respect. She burned with it, knowing that she would likely ever be in the shadow of her twin. But she was determined to carve out her place at Jamie’s side, small as it may be. She wasn’t sure the shadowmare was even capable of true affection, but that didn’t quell her want.  Isn’t that what every child wanted, deep down? That unconditional love and acceptance?  Isn’t that what Livinia was too terrified to admit that she craved - be it from her mother or someone else who would offer it to her. Her attention is diverted by the child, seemingly unhappy at how the conversation has unfolded. Liv says nothing. She simply laughs - a hollow, lilting sound. She can’t help but laugh at the sheer absurdity of the tiny temper tantrum.  Oh, to be young and naive.  Livinia never had the luxury of pouting when she didn’t get what she wanted - that wasn’t the type of childhood she had lived.  And she doubted this child could comprehend the world that the woman of smoke and shadow had been born into.  She wasn’t here to babysit, so she said nothing. Livinia had thicker skin than to be ruffled by a pouty child. That didn’t make the situation any less amusing. She steers the conversation back towards the wolves - towards the hunt.  Though she leaves out how much she wants to run with his Wolfpack. She’s hunted as a feline but never as a pack, and she’s intrigued with the concept.  It stirs something in her - something she normally fights to keep hidden.  Another smile pulls at her lips at his aversion to meat. Livinia, too, has never found it palatable.  Blood is the only thing that sustains her. Not flesh. Not water. Not flora. Only blood. “I imagine hunting with a pack is quite something,” she says, and the mirth again flickers in her crimson eyes, “You’ll have to show me sometime.”

Drawing Credit


@[Niklas]