something in the wind has learned my name
and it keeps telling me that nothing is the same
Neverwhere smiles and something in Lilliana immediately bristles. Of all the reactions, of all the ways she had pictured this reunion playing out, a smile was not one of them.
Her friend is not unkind. Far from it, in fact. The chestnut has a memory of a night by the River, where Lilliana revealed what little she could of the life she had left behind. Neverwhere might scowl and grimace all she like but the chestnut who stands in front of her knows that she is capable of tenderness and compassion. The two of them form an unlikely friendship - Lilli with her easy smiles and her want to see the world a little brighter than it is, who would rather see what could be than rather than what stares so plainly back at her. Neverwhere will tell you the world exactly as it is.
What is staring back at her now though, causes that ready smile to falter and whatever humor she had used to mask her apprehension about being in Nerine, flees her completely. Faultlines break across that china doll mask that she has perfected in the last few months that she has spent on the rocky Taigan coast. That amiable demeanor is immediately replaced with a concerned step and then another, Eurwen and Brine forgotten in the way that Neverwhere no longer seems to see them - like she is staring through them. That unwanted feeling on the back of her neck bristles again (she can't know if its magic or just the unfamiliar expression that Neverwhere wears) and it makes that heart of hers leap towards the Nerinian mare. It's followed by another decisive step forward and concern writes a novel on every plane of her chiseled face.
It's the striking white of Eurwen that gives her pause and Lilliana swallows, trying to reign her emotions in. (They have gotten the best of her once and standing there with her insides writhing in panic, with her heart slamming and demanding its release, she is reminded of that.) The chestnut casts a fleeting glance back to Eurwen. Introductions haven't even been made yet between Neverwhere and Brine. She is failing as a Diplomat here and there is a moment of white panic, that remembers another attempt at introductions and then buries it. She pushes it forcefully from her mind and lets it slip away in an angry gust of salt air that tugs at her thick mane. The smile that emerges is a tight and worried one, not the unfailing and dazzling shield she normally guards herself with. An apology can be found there for Eurwen if she recognizes it. "Enjoy the views," the false Diplomat says.
That apology extends to Brine, too.
In her concern for Neverwhere, she hadn't seen the way that the roan mare has tried to detach herself away from the group. She had been so busy looking ahead that she hadn't thought to look behind her and when her gaze goes from Eurwen to Brine, those regretful cracks emerge again for just a moment. She hopes that she has done right by you, Brine. She sees the space that you have put between yourself and this group and Lilliana grimaces because she recognizes the want to be alone, the need to seek the solace of silence and the comfort of solitude away from the rest of the world. She hopes that whatever it is that you need, you might find it here and when she looks at Eurwen, there is a fair amount of trust that you could.
And then her attention goes back to Neverwhere who stands with sweat staining her neck, eyeing the way it seems to bleed dark colors against her silver coat the longer they stand there. The chestnut cranes her head towards the trail that her friend has come from, "Nev," she says quietly, "I think we're overdue for a walk."
Her friend is not unkind. Far from it, in fact. The chestnut has a memory of a night by the River, where Lilliana revealed what little she could of the life she had left behind. Neverwhere might scowl and grimace all she like but the chestnut who stands in front of her knows that she is capable of tenderness and compassion. The two of them form an unlikely friendship - Lilli with her easy smiles and her want to see the world a little brighter than it is, who would rather see what could be than rather than what stares so plainly back at her. Neverwhere will tell you the world exactly as it is.
What is staring back at her now though, causes that ready smile to falter and whatever humor she had used to mask her apprehension about being in Nerine, flees her completely. Faultlines break across that china doll mask that she has perfected in the last few months that she has spent on the rocky Taigan coast. That amiable demeanor is immediately replaced with a concerned step and then another, Eurwen and Brine forgotten in the way that Neverwhere no longer seems to see them - like she is staring through them. That unwanted feeling on the back of her neck bristles again (she can't know if its magic or just the unfamiliar expression that Neverwhere wears) and it makes that heart of hers leap towards the Nerinian mare. It's followed by another decisive step forward and concern writes a novel on every plane of her chiseled face.
It's the striking white of Eurwen that gives her pause and Lilliana swallows, trying to reign her emotions in. (They have gotten the best of her once and standing there with her insides writhing in panic, with her heart slamming and demanding its release, she is reminded of that.) The chestnut casts a fleeting glance back to Eurwen. Introductions haven't even been made yet between Neverwhere and Brine. She is failing as a Diplomat here and there is a moment of white panic, that remembers another attempt at introductions and then buries it. She pushes it forcefully from her mind and lets it slip away in an angry gust of salt air that tugs at her thick mane. The smile that emerges is a tight and worried one, not the unfailing and dazzling shield she normally guards herself with. An apology can be found there for Eurwen if she recognizes it. "Enjoy the views," the false Diplomat says.
That apology extends to Brine, too.
In her concern for Neverwhere, she hadn't seen the way that the roan mare has tried to detach herself away from the group. She had been so busy looking ahead that she hadn't thought to look behind her and when her gaze goes from Eurwen to Brine, those regretful cracks emerge again for just a moment. She hopes that she has done right by you, Brine. She sees the space that you have put between yourself and this group and Lilliana grimaces because she recognizes the want to be alone, the need to seek the solace of silence and the comfort of solitude away from the rest of the world. She hopes that whatever it is that you need, you might find it here and when she looks at Eurwen, there is a fair amount of trust that you could.
And then her attention goes back to Neverwhere who stands with sweat staining her neck, eyeing the way it seems to bleed dark colors against her silver coat the longer they stand there. The chestnut cranes her head towards the trail that her friend has come from, "Nev," she says quietly, "I think we're overdue for a walk."
LILLIANA
but it's all in the past, love
it's all gone with the wind