our hometown's in the dark; erinys

[M + S + S + W]

They’ve been in the spotlight before, but not in the way you would imagine. It hasn’t ever been on purpose (none of them are pretty or perfect enough for a starring role) and they plan on keeping it that way. They’ve been the commotion that turns the spotlight away from the leading actor. They’ve been the disruption (whether it be a drunken, yelling man or a sobbing, broken wife or a screaming, loud child) that has put the play on hold. They’ve been the incident that brought security guards out of their shadowy posts to bring the issue out of the spotlight.

They can imagine what she might feel like (how the brightness of their eyes warms her skin, how they pay attention with sharp clarity, how the listen as though her voice is an orchestra). Skid feels sympathy, Smear feels interest, Wound feels exhaustion, and Malfunction feels hope. They might breathe and love and plan as one, but they certainly don’t feel as one.

Erinys admits her own uniqueness, how she’s never found another similar to her (they are all different, yet they are similar in their difference from the rest of normality), and Malfunction’s lips tip into a small smile. Smear’s mouth also quips into a lopsided grin and Skid frowns, upset that there are not others and yet content that they have found one. The black mare seems pleased to have found them; and they are pleased to have found her.

She asks where they come from and there is a moment of silence. Truthfully, they have no home to call their own. They roam without a place to rest their heads (although each other’s shoulders have been suiting them fine so far) or a kingdom to work with. Perhaps the only true answer they could give is their parentage. Skid shifts uneasily, ears flicking in a moment of hesitance. Normally Malfunction would speak for them, being the only one truly capable of normalcy and words able to understand.

But the eldest is staring off in the distance, lost in thought (about their parents, about their unfortunate circumstances, about their lack of shelter, about their wandering and tired feet) and doesn’t seem suited to reply. A strike of fear rips through Smear’s chest. It would be awful for Malfunction to lose himself in a seizure in front of their new friend. The mute roughly shoulders his big brother, hoping to startle him out of the stupor before it got any worse.

As Malfunction blinks back to reality, Skid answers in a slippery voice. “No home.” They are simple words, two wet syllables to encompass everything they have survived. And, really, it’s the only thing they can say.

MALFUNCTION, SKID, SMEAR, & WOUND
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