.
Well, hello, chuffs the stranger, widening his nostrils at Lillia as though to swallow her essence whole. Lillia, for her part, just blinks at the man, a pleasant indifference at worst and curiosity at best colouring her expression: with time always within her arms' reach, she often finds no need for expressions much greater than these.
Something about the way he tilts his head, lowered to her level, causes her to reassess the situation; not much, but enough. She slows time. With a gentle swing of her head, the angel drops the stranger's intense gaze and gives his strong, scarred body a soft but thorough once-over with the crystal blue of her eyes -- like a woman washing an elder, with gentle strokes and an unworried care to find every part she must to ensure her patron's care.
In this way, Lillia notes his dissipated magic, the way his massive figure swells with a contorted essence of hope which, for all its contortions, she can barely discern and never mind label. And so, with the string of time wrapped about her fingers, Lillia allows them there to stand, awaiting her inspection's finale in the quiet timelessness of her own making.
At last, she releases time and brings her eyes to once again find his.
"Tell me," she breathes, her face neutral; "Are you kind?"
Something about the way he tilts his head, lowered to her level, causes her to reassess the situation; not much, but enough. She slows time. With a gentle swing of her head, the angel drops the stranger's intense gaze and gives his strong, scarred body a soft but thorough once-over with the crystal blue of her eyes -- like a woman washing an elder, with gentle strokes and an unworried care to find every part she must to ensure her patron's care.
In this way, Lillia notes his dissipated magic, the way his massive figure swells with a contorted essence of hope which, for all its contortions, she can barely discern and never mind label. And so, with the string of time wrapped about her fingers, Lillia allows them there to stand, awaiting her inspection's finale in the quiet timelessness of her own making.
At last, she releases time and brings her eyes to once again find his.
"Tell me," she breathes, her face neutral; "Are you kind?"
Lillia