[open] I feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe

[Luvi]

I stare into the water until my eyes start to hurt, but I see nothing more than the waxing moon reflected in the still water. Beside me, Ruhr is speaking so softly I cannot hear, his eyes intent on the pool. He falls quiet, and nods, then speaks again in a whisper that even my straining ears cannot pick up. I catch only the final words, a ritual farewell, and react immediately. Rather than make it obvious that I’ve seen and heard nothing, I instead turn my gaze back to the water and nod faintly, shaking my head as if recovering from a daze.

Peeking sideways, I see that Ruhr hasn’t noticed anything amiss, and I let go of a quiet breath I’d been holding.

I don’t know why listening to the Moon is so important, but it makes Ruhr happy enough that I’ve never minded pretending. Ravin had always been less patient, and Ruhr says that’s because there’s too much Beqanna in him. There’s just as much in me, but I never remind Ruhr of that.

He has to go, he says; there is something he must see to.
I cannot come, and he does not have time to take me home before he must leave.
I take this all in with nothing more than silent nods.
He does not notice that my eyes grow ever wider at the realization that I will be left alone.

I am still grappling with it as he takes off into the sky, and I swallow hard as I return my gaze to the wide meadow around me. I could have sworn I’d seen a black and white winged lion earlier, and I swallow back the quiet sound of despair at the thought of it finding me.

Ruhr will come back, I remind myself as I try to slow my breathing and slow the building panic; he couldn’t forget me.

Not again.

[Valoel]

The sun, the moon, the stars, his family, and half of Beqanna all seem to share the ability to glow - and he wonders if it drives any of them as crazy as it does him. If Valoel could, he thinks he’d strip himself of the glowing markings that line his face - just to give himself some relief. Since peeling off his own flesh has proven harder than originally thought (and the permanence of that solution is only tempting some days) he is currently covered in mud. Or what had once been mud and is now drying and making his skin twitch. However, he had managed to get enough on his face that the markings are not currently blinding him as much as they usually do.

Which is how he is able to spot the young mare standing by herself.

There’s something… well, a little off about the way she is standing. Like she’s lost, or waiting. He’s become a little prone to making assumptions like this - it’s easy enough to do. Anyone standing on their own must be lonely, and that gives him the perfect excuse to go say hi should he feel so inclined.

And, despite his dirt-caked appearance, that inclination is exactly what drives him. It feels good, you know, to save someone. Even if it’s only from loneliness. So he walks over there, a mix-match of white opal, obsidian horns, and drying mud. “Hi.” Well, that’s not enough. Let's add some more. “Are you alright?”

VALOEL

@ Luvi

[Luvi]

I take a deep breath in, focusing on the winter chill of the air and the way my golden chest expands as I inhale. I exhale, trying to force the panic out alongside the now-warmed air. Repeat. Repeat again.

It might have been working, but the next deep breath brings with it the unmistakable scent of someone nearby. My eyes fly open at the very same instant that my entire self becomes invisible.

“Oh!“ I exclaim, realizing immediately that the someone is not a winged lion poised to eat me, but rather a shimmering young stallion. Well, mostly shimmering; his head is much darker. Referring to my change, I say quickly: “Sorry bout this. Habit.“

I become visible, both because I’d only done so accidentally, and because the world feels more real when I can be seen. Everything is faintly blurred and muted when I am invisible, a side effect of the magic. “Yes, I’m –“I blink a few times to adjust to sharper sight, then a few more to process that his face is darker than the rest of him because it is absolutely filthy.

The embarrassment I feel for having disappeared on him is swallowed by bewilderment as I ask with baffled concern: “Are you okay? Did you fall?“

@Valoel