"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
It's raining, and for once, it's not because of him.
The droplets are more like sharp pebbles as they slam down into the two stallions making their way towards the mountains. Drenched as they are, both of their coats appear nearly black, the only distinguishing feature the blue tones of Nuage's limbs and nose, and the ivory white of Nihlus' legs. But in the dark, and in the storm, there truly isn't anyone around to care just what they look like.
Well, almost no one.
There is magic here... The spirit of Beqanna. That which the faeries are devoted to - that which they seek out now. Together. As one.
It is a perilous journey, and one which has barely begun, never mind reached its fruition, that being arriving to the peak of the Mountain and asking for a blessing upon them.
He's cursing under his breath, ears pinned against the onslaught. But when his glowing eyes flash to Nuage, the obscenities slow, and he reaches out to push a strand of sopping wet forelock out of the stallion's eyes. "I'm sorry we couldn't have picked a better day, my love," he smiles in a way that isn't his usual, with feeling, genuine and raw. "But... Nothing in the world could make me wait for this." He presses a kiss to his lover's jaw again, and then turns to focus on the dangerous journey ahead.
It had been Nihlus’ idea, but who was Nuage to tell him no? The dark bay stallion would never force such thing upon him – and Nu is pretty sure that Beqanna’s deities wouldn’t approve either – but he naturally followed Nih’s lead. Not blinded by love, but blindly trusting instead.
Even if that lead to them facing the mountain during the worst time ever. His soaked blue manes cling to his neck and forehead, effectively blocking the glow coming from the star in the center of his forehead. Around Nihlus he had gotten accustomed to the rain, in fact, Nu occasionally enjoyed getting soaked on a hot summer day. But it was no summer, and the higher they would travel up the mountain, the colder it would get. But then again, Nuage would do anything for Nihlus.
Damn you, Nihlus. It doesn’t stop him from cursing the dark bay male silently in his head. The gentle cares has him fluttering his eyes closed, ghosting after the touch ones Nih pulls back. Their gazes meet for a short second, Nuage breaking the contact as he glances away flustered. ”You’re being too sappy, Nih” he half-heartedly grumbles under his breath, both knowing damn well how much he is loving it. It shows in the way he leans in too, his own sky blue muzzle lightly ghosting across Nihlus’ cheek. Nuage, too, wouldn’t have liked to wait.
He doesn’t complain, following Nihlus’ footsteps as the older stallion leads them up the mountain. There is no need to walk beside his lover, and Nu is perfectly content as it is. He knows Nih would always make sure he is not falling behind, watching out for both of them. And that’s exactly one of the many things Nuage loved about him.
It is a truly disgusting day, though the weather does not touch her. The rain seems to part around the leaves and flowers that make up her mane and tail, seems to simply roll away from any part of her white and untarnished skin. Magic surrounds her, as it does all the faeries, and the weather only touches them when they so choose. There are perks to being her, after all, but the perks do not outweigh the cost of caring for a land for all eternity.
The horses that come into Beqanna go before Wysteria has ever bothered to learn who they are. A few make an impact, but even those names fade and blur eventually. She has to remind herself when they come that they think of their lives as more than insignificant little blurs, and it helps to soften her just a bit. But she is nothing like her exterior on the inside. Her exterior is beautiful and memorable and even in Beqanna it stands out, something otherworldly to her. The interior though has lost all its shine, has turned far colder and harder than she looks.
Too many years will do that to anyone, she supposes.
These two, at least, come for love. They don't come for power or things, simply love. She knows their thoughts, of course, though she doesn't let on. Instead she's simply waiting for them at the top of the mountain when they arrive, clearly aware they've been trekking up the mountain and doing nothing to help them. Helping them would defeat the purpose of the mountain though. They had to earn what they were here to ask for.
"Nihlus and Nuage," she says in a slow, deep voice. Her voice sounds so much like it belongs to the tree she was modeled after, something earthy and ancient. They may all be insignificant to her, but still, she knows their names and their minds and their hearts. When they are standing before her, it's easy to pick them out from the noise of Beqanna. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
The pair had been trekking up the mountain for what seemed like an eternity (long enough to get them wet to the bone, anyway), and when Nihlus stumbles on a loose rock he hadn't been careful enough to notice, he almost wants to turn back and tell Nu that they should come back another day. Not because of the blood streaming down his knees now, but because of the potential blood that could be spilt on the part of his lover. His safety is Nih's primary concern.
But suddenly, the top of the mountain becomes visible, and with some encouraging words and an almost constant stream of under-his-breath burs and wickers, Nihlus leads them both to the peak. His knees ache and his chest heaves from exertion, steam rising off of his body even as rain bombards it. But they've made it; and as Nuage comes to stand by his side, they both take in the sight of She who they came for today.
Nihlus doesn't know her name, but as he looks at her (beautiful and white, faintly glowing and with a voice far wiser than he could ever hope to become), he knows her. She is the feeling in the pit of his stomach when he looks at Nuage; she is the warmth the blankets them when they lay pressed together on cool nights; and she is the force that guided them up the mountain today.
The tall stallion presses close to Nu, taking in what the fairy has to say with rapt ears. It doesn't surprise him that she knows their names, but he stutters nonetheless when he speaks up for the pair of them. "I - we -" He grins foolhardily, flashing his eyes to Nuage's for a moment and then back to the fair. "We want to get pregnant." With these words, the fair is forgotten, and he has only eyes for the beautiful boy who managed to capture the heart of a man who once thought he did not have one.
His voice, at next sounding, is barely a whisper. "To start a family."
so come on, let it go. just let it be.
why don't you be you and i'll be me?
Many times they had played around with Nihlus’ ability to make it rain whenever and wherever. From storms that haunted Nuage wherever he went, to playful soft drizzles that never made him really wet. But this autumn storm is completely out of Nihlus’ control and the bay and sky blue male does not enjoy a single second of it.
But for Nihlus he would endure it, and Nuage was not even able to call it a hardship.
That does not go for watching Nihlus get hurt. It is a hardship he does not want to endure, but it is not his call. Neither does Nuage want to ruin the effort his lover is putting into this, why was he to deny that what Nihlus was willing to give? It only shows how much the dark bay male actually cares about him, and how much he is into this. And through him, Nuage too.
By the time they reach their destination, he is out of breath. His sides rise and fall rapidly, and his legs tremble with exhaustion. Naturally he settles at Nihlus’ side, leaning against the taller stallion, but his eyes are locked on her. She isn’t like anything he had ever seen, and Nuage cannot help but to feel honered to be allowed in her presence. He glances up at her through his lashes, but is unable to hold her gaze for long.
A good thing that Nihlus is the one speaking for them. Not I, but we. His blue muzzle is pressed up against the corner of Nih’s mouth for a short moment, his own lips supporting a shy smile. ”A family” he murmurs agreeing, glancing up at Nihlus with adoration in his eyes.
It is not the type of request she normally gets, but of course, she knew what they would ask before they ever said a word. Still, she wants them to ask it allowed, wants them to live it, wants it to become real for them. Without that, they don’t ever really know what they are asking for. In truth, they don’t ever know anyway what it is like to raise such a malleable life as a child until they begin to do so. At least though, when formed into words, the idea begins to take shape.
She laughs lightly though, not at them, but simply vaguely amused. “That is much easier when one of you has a womb,” she says, though not unkindly. “No child will simply pop out of the ground,” she adds, though they all know that it could. In Beqanna, anything is entirely possible. What she means though is she will not grant them that ease. If they want this, truly want this, they will experience it as everyone else does. “Who will carry the child?”
so come on, let it go. just let it be.
why don't you be you and i'll be me?
From Nihlus his gaze moves to the pale white and purple and glittering lavender fairy. When his gaze meets hers, it is not hard to imagine how she sees him. Probably like a love struck fool without a backbone. This has Nuage inwardly groaning and cursing himself. She must think me crazy. He bitterly muses to himself, his expression faltering. Shifting his weight a little, in an attempt to settle his nerves, he drops his eyes, before looking back at Nihlus. The sight of his lover has Nu smiling like a fool again. Can’t blame her for it either.
Her laugh is contagious, and it makes Nuage curious enough to glance up at her again. The corners of his pale lips twitch. There is no denying in that. But as they were both males, neither Nihlus or Nuage has a womb to offer. They wouldn’t have had to come and see her if that was the case.
It is he question that makes him look up, and meet her gaze for the first time. He does not look away, except for a quick sideward glance at Nihlus. They hadn’t discussed this – nor any other detail of their upcoming family life – but the matter does not need discussion. His pale blue muzzle touches Nihlus’ for a short second, then Nuage steps forward. “I will.”If you grand this to us. Nuage does not waver, does not look away, and finds himself sturdier on his legs. "I want to."
He does not want their child to pop out of the ground, nor would he ask Nihlus to carry the ‘burden’. Nuage is just as much into this as his lover. He knows that others might think otherwise, with Nihlus being the more dominant of the two. But this, this request, this petition, is something they decided on together.
The fairy spoke once more, her words accompanied with a laugh that Nihlus could only ponder at. She spoke of wombs and carrying children, thoughts that hadn't even occurred to the darker stallion; as the rain poured over the trio (with one magically remaining dry), Nihlus scrambled to find an answer for the fairy, not wanting to pressure Nuage into anything, but also knowing that it wasn't his place to be their future child's mother.
But where Nihlus fumbled and stuttered, his lover smiled and laughed, serenity shielding the sky-dipped man from either fear or confusion. The smile on his blue lips left Nih quiet and eager, glowing blue eyes now stuck to Nuage instead of the fairy. When the other stallion looked up determinedly and threw a quick glance to him, an uncanny sense of what was to occur next came over Nihlus; and it was as if he watched and listened to the next interaction from outside of his own body, dissociated but at the same time completely present.
I will. I want to.
A grin of colossal proportions split Nihlus' dark lips, and before he could speak further, he was pressing his muzzle into Nuage's sopping mane, breathing in the scent of the man who would come to birth the life that represented their undying love for one another. If, that is...
He peeled his eyes away from Nuage to gaze reverently at the Wysteria Fairy. She was the decider of their fates and lives - the one whose power he so desperately longed for and respected.
"Please, your grace..." He smiled again, looked to Nuage, felt inside of him the tremendous love that fueled their every word and action. "A family."
Truth is, she thinks very little of them outside of the intentions of what they ask for. Too many come here with greed and lust and desire for things they have no right to. What does she care how Nuage and Nihilus behave outside of that? She pays them all so little mind on that personal level – they are never around long enough for her to really spend the time. These two are earnest and genuine though, something she rarely finds on top of the mountain. She already knows what her answer will be, though yes, she is making them work for it just a little.
“Then it shall be your burden to bear,” she says, nodding slightly. Purple tendrils of magic seep from the ground, wrapping themselves around the lovers, crawling up legs and over Nuage’s belly. She has always been a fan of slightly dramatic magic, even though there’s hardly a need for it. Magic simply works, and it’s magic in and of itself to make a show of it. But still, everyone loves a show.
Another tendril of magic swirls in front of the pair, and when all the magic is gone, there’s a small tree at their feet. “Take this tree with you, find a place to plant it, and care for it as you would a child. It will grow as your child grows, and the health of your tree will reflect the health of your child until he or she reaches the age of two. Take care.” And with that, she disappears, leaving them in the rain with a tree and the promise of a family.
![[Image: Nuage.png]](http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u310/goldielover170/Pixels/Nuage.png)
