11-06-2020, 05:46 PM
give my all just to watch you fall
Titanya notices the way they step back, even as her eyes are lightening from raw amber to luminous gold. As she sinks into the sinuous shape, she understands why they retreat. There is indomitable power in the form. There is primal courage in the beast she wears that blurs the line between it and her, bolstering her own uncaring boldness. She never forgets it herself, is never ungracious for the ability to become what has always lived formless within her. She only forgets the way it affects others when they stand in the presence of the tiger.
Seeing the reaction of the father and daughter in front of her would normally make her grin (in fact, she can’t help as one corner of her lips quirks just slightly upwards). But now that she’s trying to be more civilized, she takes a mirrored step backwards herself to give them some space for their possibly fragile sensibilities (pretending that she’s simply itching a spot just behind her shoulder blades and just happens to shift herself backwards simultaneously). She supposes she doesn’t really want to get tossed out of Ischia for terrorizing the fresh blood. Not yet, anyway.
“Halcyon?” His name is a pleasant purr in her throat, she realizes. Her ferocious predator’s gaze even softens unconsciously when she says it. There is something like relief in her voice, too, when they bring up a familiar topic. She’s not the best at casual conversation – or conversation at all, really, she’d rather be killing something.
“I know him,” she says simply, looking again into the jungle as if she might summon him by thought alone. Titanya realizes there is a frustrating anticipation that accompanies his name, especially when he’s not around. He understands her more than she thinks she’s ever been understood before. Finding him here on this island has meant finding a part of herself, in a way, through the critical lens of a stranger turned more. He hasn’t run from her, yet. Not far enough away that she can’t catch him and drag him back.
“Halcyon is a friend,” she expands on her earlier statement. My first, she adds silently, but even I know that sounds like some sad shit. She’s never been good at friends. “We hunt together. Fish, mostly,” she says quickly, smiling at Asena a little too brightly. “You should come with us once, the both of you. There is a secret grotto deep in the jungle. When the light hits the water pool just right, there are a hundred rainbows and a fish just as colorful to match every one.” Even she can appreciate it, this jewel of Ischia.
Seeing the reaction of the father and daughter in front of her would normally make her grin (in fact, she can’t help as one corner of her lips quirks just slightly upwards). But now that she’s trying to be more civilized, she takes a mirrored step backwards herself to give them some space for their possibly fragile sensibilities (pretending that she’s simply itching a spot just behind her shoulder blades and just happens to shift herself backwards simultaneously). She supposes she doesn’t really want to get tossed out of Ischia for terrorizing the fresh blood. Not yet, anyway.
“Halcyon?” His name is a pleasant purr in her throat, she realizes. Her ferocious predator’s gaze even softens unconsciously when she says it. There is something like relief in her voice, too, when they bring up a familiar topic. She’s not the best at casual conversation – or conversation at all, really, she’d rather be killing something.
“I know him,” she says simply, looking again into the jungle as if she might summon him by thought alone. Titanya realizes there is a frustrating anticipation that accompanies his name, especially when he’s not around. He understands her more than she thinks she’s ever been understood before. Finding him here on this island has meant finding a part of herself, in a way, through the critical lens of a stranger turned more. He hasn’t run from her, yet. Not far enough away that she can’t catch him and drag him back.
“Halcyon is a friend,” she expands on her earlier statement. My first, she adds silently, but even I know that sounds like some sad shit. She’s never been good at friends. “We hunt together. Fish, mostly,” she says quickly, smiling at Asena a little too brightly. “You should come with us once, the both of you. There is a secret grotto deep in the jungle. When the light hits the water pool just right, there are a hundred rainbows and a fish just as colorful to match every one.” Even she can appreciate it, this jewel of Ischia.
Titanya
@[Pteron]