how come I never got used to the feeling of sleeping in a cage?
too long driving, too damn hungry; a tied-up hound but nothing stays
Ruinam confesses that he’s an outsider, his blood borne from a world beyond Beqanna’s influence. ”That’s already interesting,” she croons with narrowed eyes, inching a step closer to him as though expecting telltale signs of his alienism to this land. Nothing stands out, of course, not even a scar that would elicit questioning. Like many others, Ruinam fits within a normal spectrum. Actually, his uniqueness stems from the plainness of his face and body. Her family has wings, scales, and teeth. She, herself, has frost that beautifully catches and reflects the sunlight, wings, and metallic locks that ripple when she moves. As of late, she has discovered, claws occasionally take the place of her hooves. An oddity, really, and not yet one she is comfortable to admit.
But it doesn’t deter her, his normalcy. In fact, it lures her deeper into the pools of his eyes as they look down at his companion, then the trees, then her. His descriptions and confessions spark a deep intrigue that resonates through her core. His openness soothes her previous worries that he may turn on her. Ruinam unfolds in front of her in a way her own twin hadn’t. It gives birth to something in her chest, a comfort and realization that keeps her rooted in his company and not wander.
”Not weird at all,” she murmurs beneath the sunlight dappling through the trees, her eyes steadily on him, softening. ”I won’t leave you.” The words fall like water past her tongue, unable to be held back, but as peculiar as it is, Valdis doesn’t regret what she said. The reassurance dwells in the small space between them. She does still consider what she said, wondering if somehow the world will rip them apart and leave her reassurance bleeding and worthless. And so she doesn’t make it a promise, leaving it as a hope that life will keep them harbored at each other’s side as both friends and family in Sylva’s overshadowing embrace.
For a long moment, Valdis broods on his rebuttal. It had been so easy to ask him, but with the focus returned on her, she hesitates. Ideas slither across her mind as she makes desperate attempts to grope the most appropriate. Alas, she suddenly realizes how uncertain she actually is.
Swallowing past her bewilderment, answers finally trickle to her lips, tickling them in reservation as she weighs them first before speaking. ”To step out of my mother’s shadow,” she admits, almost with a grimace furrowing her brow. ”She’s done a lot in her life already, and continues to do so. I don’t want to be just her daughter. I want my own name to have a meaning, a reputation.” Solace, she doesn’t add, is the mother that comes to mind, not Kagerus. To step out from beneath the Caretaker would be a highlight in her life, but she is still so young with so much time ahead of her. ”But I feel failure in the process.” Is that cliché for a nightmare? Is that an expected answer? She supposes everyone is afraid of it, but they still take leaps of faith. She, on the other hand, keeps alternative options on hand in case her primary plan falls apart. That can almost be perceived as cowardice, but she doesn’t mention that to him, not yet.
Valdis
@[Ruinam]