11-20-2020, 12:00 AM
your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth
The land is full of odd things. Odd things, mad things, and everything in between. They hide amongst the normal with surprising ease, masking themselves in one way or another. For his part, he paid them little mind, though perhaps felt a certain degree of sympathy for them. He can, after all, hear the things they hide from the world, and even an experienced telepath such as himself has trouble making sense of their thoughts.
High above, the stars shine brightly. Normally, he pays them little mind. They are simply a part of the night, and he accepts them as such. But on this night, he finds himself regarding them carefully. It is hard for him to fathom how something so far away can burn so brightly. In the Valley, the stars were dimmer, somehow, and often times blocked by the mountain peaks that reached towards the sky. Here in the forest they seem to shine brighter, and they fill in the gaps in the tree canopy with their light.
He hears her thoughts long before he sees her. It takes no effort on his part, and he finds himself shocked by the things he hears. The underbrush rattles and a mare stumbles through, and he knows immediately this is the face in front of the mind. She is a pretty thing, but her thoughts are decidedly ugly. Regarding her carefully, he stands calmly as she regains her physical bearings. When she speaks, he raises a brow. ”So it would seem.” he replies, his voice pouring from his mouth like silk, smooth and cool.
Suddenly, though, her thoughts close in on them both, like a black cloud hanging between them. Though normally he listens to other from afar and does so unabashedly, he has enough manners to not pry unless invited. But her thoughts are practically spilling from her like poisonous water. He hears the way she thinks of him in the plural, and though he knows it is only the two of them, he squares his shoulders just in case. While others had more obvious, showy gifts, his were both something to be felt and not seen. His immediate concern, however, is her frantic mental state. Ignoring her question, he stares directly into her eyes. From there, he tries to open his own mind to hers. He could force it, of course, but he isn’t sure how she would react. He tries to send her his own thoughts, and the picture of just the two of them standing there, which is reality. With only the stars to witness, he tries to soothe her tumultous mind with a healing tonic of true, factual thoughts. ”Let me in and I’ll show you the truth.” is all he says, his dark blue eyes never leaving hers.
keel
@[Sabra]