"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
Beyza does not flinch when the corpse approaches - she does not do anything. She is utterly still - if she had eyebrows she might raise them but, since she does not, she is not prone to displaying any kind of reaction. No movement of her head, no shifting of her scarred legs, no smile or frown or blink. Nothing but the rising and falling of her sides give away that she is a living thing as her white eyes remain steady. This is her natural stance, not a byproduct of the situation.
Inside, there’s indignation - and annoyance. In theory she does not have any qualms about being close to someone but she’d prefer being a willing participant. When he closes his eyes to perform his parlour trick, she takes the opportunity to move. Not quite back, but just to the side - forming a more natural triangle with these two strangers. It gives her the chance to watch what occurs, the draining of life from one into the other.
The actual act inspires no reaction from her whatsoever but she has to actively suppress a sigh in the aftermath when the appaloosa takes a step forward instead of retreating. That, along with the youthful curiosity with which he had first spoken, made her feel as though she must be decades older than him (despite the reality that she may very well be the youngest of their trio). She cannot, would not, speak into someone else’s mind without their permission but she gently brushes up the appaloosa’s consciousness in a request and, if he allows her in, she offers - “Whatever he took from you, I can return.”
The other is speaking, assigning himself a name and a small assortment of titles that have very little standing in the world as it is today. Beyza, having possession of a functioning brain, had a certain amount of respect for Carnage but being his servant seemed like a bit much. And Protector of Pangea? An easy statement to make during such peaceful times. Beyza gazes at him in silence for a few heartbeats before remarking, in an extraordinarily neutral tone that suggests the opposite:
“How interesting.”
She does not answer the question posed - if she were here for business she would not be discussing it with this present company and if she were here for pleasure she hoped she would have the sense to be doing something that brought her a little more joy. The truth was a bit of a mess as it was, something she would have confessed to only a few.
Instead, she listens to Oaks’ answer about how he thought it would be nice to have some company and asks simply as she turns her unblinking gaze to him - “And do you still think that?”
Zain @