12-06-2020, 03:48 PM
They are an odd pair in every form but one, in every shape but the matching skeletons they become at night when the sun dips beneath the horizon, spilling like melted gold across the distance of the ocean. They are almost impossible to tell apart, except that his bones are longer and larger, and his antlers remain like a ghastly crown atop his skull. Her head is bare, her bones delicate.
But it is day, and the morning finds them on the beach where the sun warms their merle bodies, and the ocean water laps at Splendora’s legs. Sorren stays higher on the beach, close enough to get to his sister, but very carefully out of reach of the waves that come crashing irregularly against the shore. He has never been a fan of the water, too wet. But Splendora is enchanted by it as she is with most things, and her little blind face lifts first to the warmth of the sun, and then drops to the motion of the water beneath her. Sorren can tell she is listening to it again by the way those delicate red ears flick silently back and forth. Then she turns her face in his direction - she’s off by a few feet but it doesn’t make a difference. “What does the ocean look like?” She wonders, and he sighs so quietly because it is a conversation they have almost daily.
“It’s wet, and you would hate it if you could see it.” He’s only half-serious, but the frown in his voice makes her smile and then laugh. “Sorren!” Her gentleness softens him, and the sound of her laughing voice tugs the frowning corners of his mouth so subtly upwards. He sighs again, but he’s smiling now too, quiet and crooked and in an expression he reserves only for her, for the match to his soul who knows him so well. Ironic, since she is the only one who can’t see it.
She wades towards the shore, heading in the direction his voice had come from, and he moves to meet her at the edge of the water. He stops her with a gentle touch to her neck and she returns the gesture, stilling beside him to wait for the words she already knows he’s working on in his head. “Well, it’s really big.” And she doesn’t laugh or interrupt him, because she understands how special his words are when he does finally decide to share them. “If you’re facing it, it’s all you can see until it meets the sky, and then that’s all you can see. It’s dark and creepy, and you can’t see whatever is out there hiding,” a shiver grips him as he blinks and frowns, “but somehow it’s bright too. And maybe it’s pretty I guess. But only because the sun lights it up.”
He’s quiet again, and she leans into the smell of flowers that comes from his hair, a scent that is so completely familiar and so endlessly comforting. It is the trait she most wishes she shared with the rest of their family. “What does the sky look like today?” He frowns again, looking down at his twin and wondering at the unfairness of why someone so curious had been born without one of her senses. “It’s bright blue today, the same blue as the flowers in my mane. And I can’t see a single cloud anywhere.” She smiles and sighs, and the sound is so unlike the resigned way he does it. On her lips it is wistful and dreamy, a sound as soft as the shade of green that spills like molten emeralds over her irises. “We could go explore the mountain caves again if you want?” He knows it is her favorite, the damp smells and echoing sounds, the way the wind breathes secrets through the stone. But she is quiet still when she shakes her head at him, and he wonders at the new sadness he sees in those beautiful, unseeing eyes.
But it is day, and the morning finds them on the beach where the sun warms their merle bodies, and the ocean water laps at Splendora’s legs. Sorren stays higher on the beach, close enough to get to his sister, but very carefully out of reach of the waves that come crashing irregularly against the shore. He has never been a fan of the water, too wet. But Splendora is enchanted by it as she is with most things, and her little blind face lifts first to the warmth of the sun, and then drops to the motion of the water beneath her. Sorren can tell she is listening to it again by the way those delicate red ears flick silently back and forth. Then she turns her face in his direction - she’s off by a few feet but it doesn’t make a difference. “What does the ocean look like?” She wonders, and he sighs so quietly because it is a conversation they have almost daily.
“It’s wet, and you would hate it if you could see it.” He’s only half-serious, but the frown in his voice makes her smile and then laugh. “Sorren!” Her gentleness softens him, and the sound of her laughing voice tugs the frowning corners of his mouth so subtly upwards. He sighs again, but he’s smiling now too, quiet and crooked and in an expression he reserves only for her, for the match to his soul who knows him so well. Ironic, since she is the only one who can’t see it.
She wades towards the shore, heading in the direction his voice had come from, and he moves to meet her at the edge of the water. He stops her with a gentle touch to her neck and she returns the gesture, stilling beside him to wait for the words she already knows he’s working on in his head. “Well, it’s really big.” And she doesn’t laugh or interrupt him, because she understands how special his words are when he does finally decide to share them. “If you’re facing it, it’s all you can see until it meets the sky, and then that’s all you can see. It’s dark and creepy, and you can’t see whatever is out there hiding,” a shiver grips him as he blinks and frowns, “but somehow it’s bright too. And maybe it’s pretty I guess. But only because the sun lights it up.”
He’s quiet again, and she leans into the smell of flowers that comes from his hair, a scent that is so completely familiar and so endlessly comforting. It is the trait she most wishes she shared with the rest of their family. “What does the sky look like today?” He frowns again, looking down at his twin and wondering at the unfairness of why someone so curious had been born without one of her senses. “It’s bright blue today, the same blue as the flowers in my mane. And I can’t see a single cloud anywhere.” She smiles and sighs, and the sound is so unlike the resigned way he does it. On her lips it is wistful and dreamy, a sound as soft as the shade of green that spills like molten emeralds over her irises. “We could go explore the mountain caves again if you want?” He knows it is her favorite, the damp smells and echoing sounds, the way the wind breathes secrets through the stone. But she is quiet still when she shakes her head at him, and he wonders at the new sadness he sees in those beautiful, unseeing eyes.
sorren & splendora
i'll take my heart clean apart if it helps yours beat