have you ever thought about what protects our hearts?
just a cage of rib bones and other various parts
Djinni is, as always, everything that he is not.
Her kind smile and reassuring touch eases the embarrassment that simmers beneath the surface, eases the discomfort that causes his spine to stiffen. He wills the discomfort from his limbs, the awkwardness from his expression, reminding himself, again, that this is just Djinni. This is not a stranger—this is not some random soul that he met while walking along that lonely path outside of Beqanna. She is family.
Or close enough.
So at her prodding, he simply rolls his shoulders and sighs audibly, giving into her. “I will stay,” he finally says in his gruff voice before reaching over and tugging her forelock in an uncharacteristic show of play. “If only to get you to hush up for but a moment.” But even then, the teasing in his gaze is clear.
The truth is that he would be thrilled to have a home again. For so long, he has been searching for some piece of honesty—something too ease his soul, reveal himself—but the journey was long and too often lonely. He longed to find a place to settle down, a place with paths he knew by heart, a place where the ground curved to his body at night, cradling his skull. He longed for stability, for comfort.
He can only hope that he will be able to find it here in Sylva.
Growing more at ease, the uncomfortable shell of newness fading, he cocks a back leg and settles into a more comfortable position. “So, tell me, Djinni,” he glances up at the foliage that decorates the land they have decided to call home—this land that was at once his family’s and alien to him. “What have you been up to lately?” Because he could not imagine the tricky little mare staying still for very long.
so it's fairly simple to cut right through the mess
and to stop the muscle that makes us confess
