[open] lost in the woods; any

[Lepis]

again you’re gone, off on a different path than mine i'm left behind wondering if i should follow Wolfbane, somewhere deep inside the creature, knows how Lepis has worked to develop this ability to seem so casual with a near-stranger. Not just to feel relaxed, but to truly experience it. For nearly a year she’d lived on edge, and the habits borne from times like those die extremely hard. For years after that, she’d flinched at unexpected sounds in the night, finding comfort in the warmth of a body at her side. Those habits haven’t had time to die yet. Sometimes she still finds herself reaching for him in the darkness, in that half-world where past and present combine. Lepis does not really trust the grey unicorn, but she doesn’t think of him as a threat. The suspicion does fade from her brow (where she has consciously allowed it to show). Lepis reveals a great deal of emotion, in truth, she always has. The dun mare is easy to read, hardly making an effort to hide behind silvered diplomacy. Or so it seems. Her former spouse is not the only one with the ability to project a false self, after all. Tipper shifts to a more general sense of flattery, speaking well of mares, then of the differences between them. They’ve lived differently, the grey man says, and the smile that she gives in reply is only a little introspective. They certainly have lived differently. The part that he plays is convincing, and Lepis’s mind reaches to thoughts not so far in line from his own. What could’ve been? What might have changed if things had happened differently? A folly, she finds, and her blue-ringed ears flick toward him after he breaks the brief silence. He speaks of coming to Loess after years alone, of becoming more than who he was. Lepis, who has rarely ever paused in her pursuit of an ever-higher perch, smiles. She has always wanted more, even before she understood what that truly entailed. “Trapped by my duty?” Lepis repeats, the words said aloud but meant for herself while the navy-haired mare considers what he has asked. It takes her a long moment to answer, during which she looks out at the distant valley where the nearest kingdom resident wander. “Yes.” Lepis admits. The rewards are worth it though, she nearly continues. That would be untrue though, and she has no need to lie to Tipper. “I would like sometimes to not be recognized,” She tells the valley and the stallion beside her. “Or maybe to be someone else. But I’ve done too much, I think.” The curve of her mouth where the smile had been remains, but there is a stillness to the rest of her expression when she looks back at the stallion whose has claimed allegiance to Loess. “I think you could be more than just Tipp.” Lepis says. Her mind has turned to the task set her recently. “But only if you’re willing to accept the trap of duty” She smiles at her own jest, and glances up at him from beneath dark lashes. LEPIS i’m the one who sees you home-- but now i’m lost in the woods and i don’t know what path you are on

@[Wolfbane]