"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
html code by Toli, design idea based on "Dovev" by Laura
Like a flower waiting to bloom.
Turns out it was a light touch that pulled him back to earth and she smiles as their gazes meet. The little twinkle in her eyes is playful, slightly amused too, and she wonders where his thoughts had strayed too. ”Welcome back” she teases, playfully nipping at shoulder before backing away far enough to stay at out his reach. Ivar would have to work for payback.
Her teasing doesn’t stop once they reach the water. Ivar’s surprised yell makes her grin, a clear sign that she had successfully landed the splash of water. She cannot blame him for the yelp though, the water is still a bit chilly and Kylin was quite sure she didn’t really want to be in his place. Standing in it was one thing, getting soaked in the cold water something entirely else.
She’s not so lucky though. A yelp escapes past her lips as the arch that Ivar sends her way hits. Kylin is laughing though, shivering, but laughing nonetheless. ”You got me” she grins at him, gladly settling against his side to share his warmth. It does not once occur to her that it might be a bit too close, but honestly, Kylin was used to this close proximity. And they were friends, right?
Her head tilts a little to look at Ivar when he asks her a question. It wasn’t something she had really given a thought before, but she had always assumed she would. ”I don’t know..” Kylin answers him honestly, gaze turning back to the sea and in the direction of Ischia. ”Lately my family has been gone more often than they have been around..” This time the lavender mare avoids to look at the stallion at her side. ”I haven’t seen my twin brother in a year...”
And Kylin had a hard time dealing with that.
With a shake of the head she tries to get the thought out of her head, forcing a smile on her lips. "You? Will you stay in Sylva?" She's honestly curious to it - he still had to give her a tour - but she also wanted to know where she could find him. She would want to visit her friend, but for that she would have to know where he lived.
I V A R i'll use you as a makeshift gauge of how much to give and how much to take
“I’ve not been to Sylva in ages,” he admits, acutely aware of her warm presence at his side. They stand together against the cold of the spring night, and he chatters aloud to keep his mind from wandering. “Not since last spring.” He had bid farewell to his mother on a day not so different from this one, a whole year ago. It seems strange that the time has passed so quickly; it’s easy to forget that they are no longer carefree children when he is with Kylin. “I’ve been living in Loess for a while now, since the Taiga fell.”
He doesn’t speak of that time often or in detail, and this is no exception.
“I bet I’ve got siblings in Sylva by now,” he adds with a wry laugh. His parents had never been the most affectionate type, but it had always been clear there was something between them. Ivar never had a name for it, but it had resulted in him, so he expects that he might have a younger brother or sister living in the autumn woods. Perhaps it’s time that he visits.
Pressed against Kylin, the water does not seem so cold.
There are plentiful springs in Loess: some fresh, some salt, but none the perfect brackish blend. They are shallow too, all the springs that he has found. None were even deep enough to submerge himself in. He’s not been in this much water in almost six months, and he’d forgotten how wonderful it felt. Tentatively, Ivar lowers his head to the water. He ducks his head under only a second letter, tossing up his neck in an arc and sending a line of water down the legnth of his back. The sensation causes him to shiver uncontrollably, but he’s laughing as he does, and he bumps against Kylin’s purple and white shoulder affectionately.
He had called her a friend, and he means to continue to do so. It doesn’t matter that the moon overhead, the press of the water, and the soft chatter of her heartbeat against the crash of the waves.
(It’d be easier to hear it underwater,)
Ivar muses, and the thought seems a logical one. She wouldn’t like that though.
(Make her like it.)
But he’d just promised to never use his hyponotism against her. He can’t break that promise so soon, he decides, steeling himself against those wayward and inappropriate thoughts. They are friends, after all. The torrent of thoughts tasks only an instant, the space between one blink and the next.
“Kharon, right? Do you know where he went? Is he with the rest of your family, do you think?”
html code by Toli, design idea based on "Dovev" by Laura
Like a flower waiting to bloom.
First she’s surprised, then soon followed by disappointment. After all his stories about Sylva, and how he would give her a tour when she would come to visit him, she had been eager to see it with her own eyes. A new land to explore, to be guided through, shown the most beautiful spots. But now he doesn’t live there anymore. ”Why did you leave Sylva? I thought you liked your home?” she asks, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice.
But, now he mentioned Loess, well, she would really love to hear more about that place too. Besides Ischia Kylin didn’t really know the other lands. ”What is Loess like?” Slowly her excitement grows, like always when she was around Ivar. Compared to her, he had seen so much, visited so many places. And through his stories, it almost felt like she had been there with him herself.
The lavender tobiano girl is glad with his company, and the fact that he doesn’t push her away. All what he misses is a set of wings, so he can wrap one around her body to pull her in close. Strange pair they made. One missing her siblings, the other not even sure he had them. But this talk about them, it only made Kylin miss hers even more. Which made her even more grateful for Ivar’s presence. ”Have you ever thought of visiting them?” she asks softly, her voice barely more than a murmur.
”Hey!” she exclaims suddenly, pulled out of her thoughts due to the cold droplets landing on her coat. It send a shiver down her back, which has her pushing closer against Ivar. Her body shakes a little due to his laugher and the sensation has Kylin joining in, giggling softly as she shakes her head. She gently nips at his neck in return, affectionately.
During his inner tumult, she’s gazing over the sea. Watching the waves, feeling the water move against their legs. It’s peaceful, his presence providing her with comfort, but her heart still cries. ”I don’t know..” she answers him softly, now using the sea as an excuse to not have to look at Ivar. ”They are just.. gone..”
A longing rises, the sudden need to check Ischia, to see if he had come home. Slowly her ears turn, now pointed forward. ”I… I should go see if.. if they are back. They’d expect me to welcome them back home.” Her mind is set and for the first time since a while she smiles, while thinking about her family. With that smile on her lips Kylin turns to look at Ivar, brushing her muzzle across his neck. ”Thank you, for this wonderful trip. Next time I’ll come to visit your home” she promises. With a playful tug on his mane she’s gone, now trotting over the sea on her way home to Ischia.
