"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
Following his conversation with Lucrezia and Magnus, Dahmer had excused himself so that he may consider his options in solitude. He had no doubts about remaining within Tephra, and suspected that he would do so long-term, but what did he want to contribute? His thoughts had been tugged back to the Subway, to Azza, and the black beast had spent his evening in warm nostalgia.
Today, he has come to his decision, and finds that he is much more at ease. Instead of immediately seeking out Magnus, however, Dahmer is searching for his beautiful new peafowl friend.
He finds her closer to the volcano than he has yet to venture. It's warmer here, though not uncomfortable, and Lucrezia's scent hangs pleasantly in the air. Dahmer grins lopsidedly at the painted mare and greets her warmly, blue eyes leveling on her face. "There you are," he murmurs, amusement playing on his face, "I've been searching night and day for you." Feigning fatigue, his ears droop and his head hangs low.
Only able to hold the expression for a few moments, Dahmer chuckles and raises his head back up, his blue eyes finding Lucrezia's.
"You've missed me in these last twenty-four hours, I hope?"
Dahmer shifts his weight comfortably, blue eyes taking a second to appreciate the volcano that rises high into the blue sky behind his companion.
Here it comes with no warning; capsize, i'm first in the water
After the conversation with Dahmer and Magnus, Lucrezia had slipped away as well. She had found herself absentmindedly wandering across Tephra for a while. It was not until the late hours of the night did she slumber off into a peaceful night of sleep.
Her night of slumber had been quiet—a dream that could not be coaxed up by her memory after she awoken that morning. However, Lucrezia had found that she wanted to take another close look at the volcano today. The conversation with Dahmer about the volcano had brought another tug of curiosity on her mind.
When she hears the approaching of footsteps, she smiles at the new stranger. “Dahmer,” she greets with a pleasant greeting to him. Her nutmeg gaze lights up as she reads the amusement playing on his features. She watches as the feigning of fatigue act is played. “I am not a fool to your games,” she teases back once he lets his head back up and laughs.
“Miss you?” she says turning her eyes away from him, considering his question for a few moments. Lucrezia lets a frown touch her lips before returning her gaze back to him. A smirk rises up quickly on her face. “Don’t think such highly of yourself, sir. It will take much more than that for me to miss you.” Her head tilts as her sarcastic words comes out.
Dahmer takes a second to appreciate the smile that blossoms on her lips as she turns to face him. There's a certain level of pride that the black beast feels whenever he can produce a smile on another's face... though, the same can be said about his knack for getting under someone's flesh, so I wouldn't quite consider the hobby noble.
His name drops from Lucrezia's lips and the black stallion bows his head to her in return. She laughs at his faux fatigue, the sound echoing warmly in the dense air of Tephra, before teasing him in return. Dahmer shrugs sheepishly, though the amusement is still evident on his handsome face. "Perhaps, one day." The statement is accompanied by a wink, before Dahmer turns his blue eyes to casually scan the area once more.
There is something calming about the presence of the volcano, as if it is there to protect the residents of Tephra. The thoroughbred is starting to understand Lucrezia's interest in the foreboding landmark.
His gaze is tugged back to the peafowl mare as her expression turns sour, and Dahmer is almost convinced that she is actually bothered by something, but her lips nestle into a warm smile once again, before he can ask. He cocks his black head to the side playfully and his ears flick towards the mare, "I suppose I should get started now, then," he says with a note of mischief.
He takes a step closer to the volcano, making sure to step over a small stream of lava, before turning his blue eyes to Lucrezia once again. "C'mon, you're supposed to protect me, remember?"
Here it comes with no warning; capsize, i'm first in the water
There was something calming being in the black stallion’s presence so far. It was something she did not really realize at first, but she cannot help but wonder what will come in the future. Lucrezia does not think much of love for several reasons that involve her family and once breaking the heart of Kreios. Her mind is often distracted by her own self needs right now, and rightfully so she feels she must attend to make things right from her past.
So, she simply leaves the thought at that and smiles at Dahmer. Lucrezia watches as Dahmer scans the area around them. She has seen this part of the land a couple of times. Her curiosity is simply in the interest of this newcomer that now calls Tephra his home. Lucrezia has always had an interest for others and how their part is played in the world she lives in.
When Dahmer turns his gaze back to her, he does not leave one beat without humor. She laughs again at his mischief. It felt good to be able to laugh, she admits, and wonders when the last time she had felt so free to do so. Lucrezia has lived her life lately in the dark shadows of self-doubt and grief. Being able to relax and fall back to old habits felt new and exciting to her.
Dahmer steps towards the volcano. She smiles at his words and quickly prances to his side—also stepping over the small stream of lava. “I suppose if I must,” she says rather disappointed playfully.” Lucrezia then turns towards the volcano and dashes forward at a trot. “Let’s go!” She says back at him. Her heart beats quickly as excitement for exploring the volcano—an adventure is what she needed most.
take my head & kick it in break some bread for all my sins
Her laughter is contagious and it crinkles Dahmer's eyes with laugh lines. Her willingness to tolerate, even encourage, his banter was something that he did not happen upon often, and he instantly wants to see how far he can push the limits. Ever the instigator, he is.
She feigns disappointment and furthers their game, pleasing the black beast to no end. After a moment, though, he can see where her genuine excitement is cracking through the mask of disappointment, but then she turns swiftly and is off without him. Laughing to himself, the black thoroughbred takes off after the peafowl mare in his own brisk trot.
Dahmer's blue eyes move almost continuously between Lucrezia and the earth beneath them, paying special mind to any other lava streams that decided to run out in front of them. He comes up the mare's left side and settles his gait so that they are moving comfortably side-by-side. The volcano looms before them, their sight of it obscured here and there by Tephra's trees.
"How close have you gotten to the top?"
He makes sure not to ask how long ago it had last erupted.
Their hooves beat dully against the soft earth at the base of the volcano, the slope of the hill just now increasing. A flying organism of some sort attempts to flap its way into one of the stallion's nostrils, making Dahmer toss his head and snort until it removed itself. He grumbles briefly, before flicking his blue eyes to Lucrezia, a grin playing on his lips.
"I'd still rather deal with the flying bugs than the snow."
Here it comes with no warning; capsize, i'm first in the water
Lucrezia truly only has eyes for the very top of the volcano. Her heart burns with excitement as she moves across the rocky earth with her new friend at her side. The amber champagne mare is not too focused on what lays ahead of both of them, so she does not miss stepping over the stream of lava that comes into their path.
She turns her gaze to Dahmer when he asks about how far she reached. “Honestly, I’ve never even attempted climbing the volcano.” Part of her thought such a journey was too dangerous, but when Dahmer had taken her up onto the challenge she could not resist it. “I guess I just needed you,” she says with a soft smirk and bats her eyes at him in a playful manner.
If the volcano had ever erupted, Lucrezia knows nothing about that. She only knows that this small volcano continues to leak lava, and her knowledge of volcanos are very small. Truly, she does not know anything or seen one before. It intrigues her to learn more and hopefully it does not erupt. But, for now, she does not let negative thoughts cloud her mind.
When the hill increases, she pushes a little harder. She had turned her head and attention away from him after her flirtiest comment but when he makes strange noises of discomfort she turns back. A concerned look crosses over her face. She laughs when Dahmer states it was a flying bug. “You must really hate the snow,” she pauses for a moment, “Why do you so much?” Lucrezia had only seen the snow once when the Tundra had existed. Now she isn’t even sure if there was any left in Beqanna.
take my head & kick it in break some bread for all my sins
It isn't long before the earth grows rocky and the air is tinged with sulfur. The scent is bitter and uncomfortable in Dahmer's flared nostrils, but it does not deter him. There is an unfamiliar excitement that swells in his muscled chest and whether it is caused by the heady sense of adventure or by the beast's beautiful companion, we cannot be sure. Little bit of column A, little bit of column B.
She turns to look back at him with bright eyes, readily answering his inquiry, and a small tugs at the corners of Dahmer's mouth. Lucrezia falls silent for a moment, but before the blue-eyed stallion is able to respond, she hits him with, I guess I just needed you. Dahmer tosses his head upward, a sort of thrilled surprise blatant upon his face. "You're not allowed to take that back now that you've said it out loud." The playful batting of her eyelashes pulls an amused chuckle from Dahmer and he speeds up his gait the smallest of bits to move closer to the peafowl mare.
He remains at her flank, allowing Lucrezia to lead the way so that he can take in the vast area that is Tephra - and she is the one who is supposed to be protecting him, after all. He's briefly distracted from the path before them following his assault-by-fly, but their conversation falls back into a comfortable rhythm just as if they had nearly always been friends.
Dahmer balks at Lucrezia's inquiry, letting silence settle between them. Their breathing, which was now bordering on heavy, was the only sound other than their hooves against the rocky loam. He debates whether or not he should give her a generic answer, a simple "I just don't like the cold," and he lets the words roll around on his tongue before he nearly spits them out.
Something stops him, though, and Dahmer sighs, "I lost my father in the winter," he pauses briefly to turn his blue eyes upward, gauging how far they were from the top of the volcano. They still had a good amount of warm, uneven ground to go. "He and my mother ruled the Subway, on the island Azza, where I was born. My father left safety in a blizzard to find a lost member of our herd and he never came back." It is the first time he has spoken about that winter to anyone other than his mother. Desole the Hellhound, Executioner's right-hand lady.
His mother had been devastated, and she had hardened because of it. He had not thought it possible.
The black beast clears his throat and offers a lopsided smile to Lucrezia. His nostrils flutter and Dahmer crinkles his nose at the sulfur that has become more and more evident. "As much as I love adventure, it's starting to smell like shit up here," laughter accompanies his statement and he nudges the feathered mare playfully. "The view is worth it, though." And he isn't referencing Tephra.
Here it comes with no warning; capsize, i'm first in the water
After her playful comment to Dahmer, he pulls closer to her. Lucrezia smile draws across wider on her cream lips as she looks at the black stallion. A playful look dances in her nutmeg eyes as she looks into his blue eyes. She is not afraid to say what she wants or to be what she wants—in these moments she has come to feel no reserve not to. “I never said I would take it back,” she replies back to him, “And even so why would I?” She laughs before he can even answer, and turns her focus back onto the rocky path ahead of her.
The smell of sulfur and earthy elements fill her nostrils. There is something refreshing about it, something unknown. A deeper part of her seeks out such indefinite things and beings, only wanting to know more, craving to know everything about it. However, their adventure halts for a moment due to the assault by a small bug.
Her inquiry of why he hates the snow is something more than she had thought. There was a deeper memory, something dark and hidden. Lucrezia could feel it on the edge, carefully as she watched him decide.
When Dahmer decides to tell the sad tale, Lucrezia eyes become softer. Her cheerful expression from earlier fades away into something more concerning. Personally, she does not know anything of loss due to a loved one dying. She only knows loss of loved ones that lied and gave false promises to her. This was much different than what Dahmer was telling her.
She days not say anything for the longest time. The silence grows between them, but her gaze does not shift away from the black stallion. Lucrezia pushes aside his switch of topic about adventure just for a moment. “I’m sorry, Dahmer,” she says softly, but a genuine feeling is held and hopefully heard in her words. “Your father was fearless, and a selfless person to make such a decision to save another.” It was all she said on the matter. She does not want to press for anything anymore; opening up to another was never easier.
Lucrezia then adds a lopsided smile, now addressing his words of adventure and the view of Tephra before. “No one said it would be easy, Dahmer.” She chuckles softly at him. “I am also not a fan of the smell too.” She crinkles her nose as well. Lucrezia then turns to take a look at the view of their home from where they stand on the volcano. “It is quite beautiful up here.” A view that was worth all of the sacrifices and hardships she had to face. It was beautiful in the very end, so far the masterpiece of her life was turning into.
take my head & kick it in break some bread for all my sins
Dahmer doesn't answer Lucrezia's question about taking her statement back, opting to remain silent so that he can hear her laughter until it echoes into nonexistence. His ears prick forward and his steps are light despite the trek they've made so far, his motivation fueled by good spirits and good company.
Hopping nimbly over a stream of roiling lava, the black beast follows in the peafowl mare's wake, before hoping to escape her gaze when the conversation turns to his father. The story feels uncomfortable on Dahmer's tongue, as if he had dreamed the whole thing, and a tiny sliver of him worries momentarily that Lucrezia won't believe him. His blue eyes chance a look at the mare and are greeted by a look of compassion. Finding that he can't hold her gaze, the thoroughbred averts his eyes and turns the topic of conversation to the sulfur surrounding them.
She wasn't having it. Dahmer's ear twitches as she speaks again, this time softer than before, praising a stallion she never knew by just one glimpse at who he had been. He glances at her from the corner of his eye, a genuine smile finding its way back onto his dark lips. "You're a good soul, Lucrezia."
They pause to admire the view, joking about the smell for a moment, and Dahmer takes the chance to nudge Lucrezia's neck gently in appreciation of her company. "We're almost there, I think." He pivots on the warm earth before tossing his head and sending his mane flying. "After you, my fearless leader."
Here it comes with no warning; capsize, i'm first in the water
“You’re a good soul, Lucrezia,” the black stallion tells her. He praises her for being someone that has compassion but some days has a heart of stone. Lucrezia only smiles and nods at his words. She does not say anything on the matter but surely does not miss on showing her appreciation for such a compliment.
However, her mind plays the simple praise over and over. She tastes the sound of it said out loud in her head. It feels right, perfectly fitting her, but for some reason it does not feel right too. Lucrezia cannot help but think she does not deserve to. If anything though she does deserve to feel good about herself and to be known for having a good soul. Sometimes it was hard for her to accept these words from others; especially lately since she was trying her best to be the person she has always wanted to be.
It was not going to be easy, she knew that. Lucrezia this time was willing to put a fight for what she wanted. She was always fearless to do so when she made the choice to. This time her choice was to be more fearless in being who she was meant to be. It was not just for herself, but also for everyone she cared for and her new home in Tephra.
Dahmer breaks away her quite moment of silence with a nudge gently on her neck. Lucrezia instantly smiles at him and his eagerness to continue the journey towards the top of the volcano. Her eyes quickly look towards the crater of the volcano. “I think we are almost too,” she says in agreement with him. The larger amount of flowing lava streams also gives her an indication they are closer to the top.
Lucrezia laughs when he calls her a fearless leader. “You should be careful. My head is about to explode with all these compliments, Dahmer!” She tells him with a playful tug of his mane and picks up where she left off on the trail towards the top.
