"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
12-27-2018, 01:58 AM (This post was last modified: 12-27-2018, 01:58 AM by Fox.)
My heart saw the things my eyes couldn't see
He had never thought he might be so happy in one place for so long. But watching his daughter grow, gently teasing Lynx and teaching her how to love, such positively domestic things, had satisfied him far more than he had thought possible. But even so, Tephra never gets larger, and he had long ago become familiar with each crack and crevice of the kingdom.
So when he had chanced upon an old friend, when during the course of conversation an idea had surfaced, he had jumped on it. It had taken very little for Luster to convince him to lend his aid in creating a magical winter wonderland for the residents of Beqanna to enjoy in peace. And in a time when they could so desperately use some his particular brand of Christmas cheer too.
Of course, hiding such plans from Lynx and Persea would have been impossible, so he had insisted they join him. No refusals allowed. Persea had been more than happy to escape Tephra, her youthful mind and curious soul ready for the adventure such an outing could bring. Truth be told, they had been perhaps a bit too watchful of the girl. But with the plague running rampant and cruelty too free in the world, it had been far too easy to become overly protective of their sweet daughter.
Still, he doesn’t need to be able to read minds to know that Persea is more than ready to escape Tephra and investigate Island Resort. Fortunately it is an easy swim from the Tephran mainland to the smaller island that had risen from the sea when the plague had struck.
He’d left Lynx and Persea to entertain themselves for a time while he worked on the decor for the festive gathering. When finally he had finished, he’d been rather weary. Of course, anyone who knows him knows he could never do anything by half measures. And, true to form, he’d gone all out, so perhaps it’s not that surprising.
With a happy little smile, he leans idly against a tree, regaining his energy as he admires his handiwork. After a moment, he glances lazily around, think her should perhaps find Lynx. The evening is far too magical to waste, and there is no one he’d rather share it with than her. Likely she is still a little on the sour side after he’d strong armed her into coming here, but that was half the fun. He’s not quite certain why he so enjoys her irritable moods. The charm and the challenge, he supposes, but he finds it much too enjoyable teaching her just how incredible life could be.
She didn’t dare show Fox just how much she looked forward to the idea of coming to the island. How much she looked for the release, for the idea of having an escape from a home that too often felt like a prison. She had spent hours trailing the borders, wondering just how far the kingdom’s protection stretched.
Would she endanger her family with one foot outside? Would it take two? Would she need to take a longer trek before it really mattered? She didn’t know, and she wasn’t proud of how often she had considered it—how long she had really thought about it—and how hard she had to try to keep such wandering thoughts from her daughter. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her family (she did, more than she cared to let on), but she hated the idea of a cage, and she had long since felt like her wings were clipped.
But that didn’t matter now because she was free, at least for a while.
She had been glad to make the swim with Fox and Persea, arriving to the island before the bridge had been made, and her daughter and her went adventuring as the team worked. Everywhere she looked, she could feel the press of thoughts on her. Most of them joyful, some of them a little heavier than the others, and some angry—but always there. By the time that the festivities were truly under way, the lights twinkling softly around the island, the ground coated with snow she knew could only be Fox’s handiwork, she could feel the beginning of a headache pressing into her temples, the tension building up her spine.
Persea could barely contain herself, especially when a group of children began to run around, and so Lynx let her go. With a press of lips to her forehead, and a quick smile, she watched as her daughter bounded off. For a second, she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath of the now icy air, feeling some of the tension begin to release. When she opened her eyes, she caught sight of Fox leaning against the trees, looking like his usual disheveled self, handsome and mussed with that proud light in his eyes as he looked around him.
Something squeezed in her chest, a sharp pang, and she almost turned away.
It would be easier than confronting the emotions that flooded her.
Instead, she felt herself drawn to him, turning toward where he rest and taking step by step. When she reached him, she sniffed a little, wanting to settle into his side but finding herself unwilling to make it that easy. “You never do anything halfway,” she finally said, looking around, hiding the wonder in her eyes.
and all of us, we’re meant for the fire, but we keep rising up and walking the wires
Only a fool wouldn’t notice how much she had longed for freedom. And Fox, for all appearances, is no fool. Perhaps this was not the type of freedom she had envisioned, but it is not Tephra. And even if a party was not necessarily her idea of a good time, there is only so much pacing of a kingdom’s borders one can stomach.
Truth be told, for all it’s size, Tephra had begun to feel slightly claustrophobic. For a man who had been as used to wandering as he, it had been a rather large change to stay rooted so strongly in one kingdom. But for his daughter’s safety, he would gladly do so. He never thought he’d find himself so devoted, but there you have it.
Life does play some rather funny jokes sometimes, doesn’t it?
But this day and this time are not meant for maudlin considerations and impossible worries. No, it is meant for companionship and joy and laughter. All of the things he has always been very good at. All of the things Lynx has always avoided. Perhaps he could finally show her what he found so delightful about it.
As though his very thoughts had summoned her, he turns his gaze to find her making her way towards him. Perhaps they had summoned her, hard to say. But he’s delighted nonetheless. A slightly crooked grin quirks his lips as he tilts head, warm gaze settling on her lovely black and white features. A stray strand of coppery hair falls across his eyes, but he ignores it. Instead he straightens from his casual stance and slips alongside her, nose trailing lightly along her shoulder and neck until he turns his gaze to survey his handiwork once again. He’s never been shy about what he wants, and certainly never too ashamed to pursue, no matter how stubborn her token resistance. But then, she always rewards him so well for it, doesn’t she?
A teasing glow in his amber eyes, he turns his gaze back to her, tugging lightly at a strand of her dark hair. “You would know,” he teases, his voice low and amused. “Besides, wouldn’t want you thinking I’m not up to snuff.”
Pressing a light kiss to her jawline, he steps back, his features now beckoning, eyes alight. “Care for a tour? I have a few places I wanted to show you.” A few things he’d made just for her.
He softens her, and the realization is terrifying.
Despite his command of the cold, he warms the most frozen parts of her, melting away her resistant and leaving her soft and pliable beneath his hands. He must know, she thinks, studying his handsome face more closely. He must know the effect his roguish grin has on her, his easy manner and relaxed smile leaving her unable to do anything but eventually comply with whatever he asks of her, even if all she wants to do is resist. Her spine straightens as she thinks on it, as she looks on him, as she nearly shudders.
“You know exactly what I think of you,” she says, her voice a little cold, sharper than even she intended. She wants to shove him away, wants to turn on her heel and run, that familiar fear fluttering in her chest, but she doesn’t, and that is even more terrifying. Instead, she remains rooted to the spot, her dual-colored eyes studying his face, remaining quiet even as he beckons her forth, crooking a finger at her.
She loathes the weakness in her when she complies.
She nearly growls with fury when she steps forward.
Instead, she just closes that small distance between them, her slender body coming alongside his own, wondering at the way the touch feels like a relief and a failure all at once. “Okay,” she breathes, and the word nearly gets tangled in her throat, on her tongue. “I can’t imagine there’s that much to see,” she adds with a sniff, as if the contempt and the cold words could mask the butterflies that flutter in her belly.
As if she can shield herself from the want that spreads in her veins by rebuffing him immediately.
But she knows better, somehow she knows better, and she walks forward with him all the same.
and all of us, we’re meant for the fire, but we keep rising up and walking the wires
