He seems harmless, and she relaxes in his presence. She had almost forgotten what it was like to have a casual conversation with someone kind and easy, letting herself slip into the warm water of company. For so long, she has found herself drawn into the tsunami of emotions—letting the darkness of others rise above her and drag her down. She reveled in it, which was a strange reaction from someone so soft and kind, but she couldn’t pretend like she wasn’t drawn to it, the gravity of them pulling her down.
But, still, she finds that this interaction is lighter—nearly bubbly in comparison, and it is a relief.
At his disbelief, confusion clearly clouds her features, and she tilts her head to the side, a smile beginning to curve the edges of her lips, but her clearly not understanding where the humor came from. Was her name humorous? She never thought that it was, but perhaps, given his reaction, it was.
The confusion remains until he gives her his name in return.
Her eyes pop a little, mouth dropping into a larger smile. “Leilan?” she repeats it, letting it roll across her tongue and finding it familiar, the shapes of it nearly identical to her own. “Well, what a handsome name.” Her features warm with humor, instantly more relaxed. At his question, she just shakes her head. “I have actually never been to Nerine, sadly. I grew up in Tephra, but I mostly live in Loess nowadays.”
Not that she was an active member of the kingdom, but her heart lived there—the beautifully dangerous snake stallion and their joyful snake girl—and she couldn’t exactly live apart from her heart, could she?
but there you go again, turning golden, right there in front of me
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