"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
Okay, so Anuya and her sister might have slipped into oblivion for a few years but they were still around! Still kicking! She honestly didn’t even know how long it had been since their attempt to join Tephra - years were so hard to keep track of after a certain point and that point was at least 15 years ago - but here she was, wandering around on her own again. Sidhra was off sulking, or semi-sulking - at the very least she was bound to be pouting somewhere or wearing a disapproving frown.
But Anuya! Well Anuya had decided to try again. And by try we mean she has decided not to “accidentally” move into the shadows whenever someone walked by because she didn’t feel like talking to any of these horses.
She’s even out of the forest and into the relatively open space around the river! She never did get the hang of where the territories are in this place but she is pretty sure she’s not just wandering through someone’s home as she follows the bank, her long ears twitching with the sounds of the spring-flush water and cool blue eyes search for signs of fish or otters swimming along in the late afternoon sunshine.
Aesthetically, she looked best at night, but compared to all the dirt-coloured horses around these parts Anuya was pretty sure she was still pretty. Some of them had brown markings that were lined with gold, but that hardly helped.
This was something she was going to have to get over, she knew, but she had never been good at chastising herself - that’s what her elder sister was for! Anuya just wanted to have fun, and sometimes fun meant making fun of others. That’s not really so bad, is it?
oh, I see stars rushing through my mind, colours have no time to fade
oh, I found out there's another side where the sea and sky collide
oh, these wings, they flicker and my feathers stir 'til I'm an ancient soul in a cascade world
The years had not softened Aureus. Had not warmed him to the appeal of strangers. He had never been truly able to wield the easy way with which his fathers both conversed with others so he had instead retreated. Continued to retreat. Folded in on himself and rejected companionship until it was just him and Astrum, sleeping during the day and finding poetry in the night sky, in the shadows of midnight.
He does his best to forget Basilica. To forget Hourglass.
To forget those who would ease him into their friendship and chooses the life of solitude.
Just him and the star that prefers it this way, humming contentedly at having his undivided attention.
It is like this that they wander that evening, his pale glow all the brighter with the small sliver of moon that hangs in the sky. When he catches sight of the fae, he nearly continues on—nearly cuts a wider berth around her—but he feels the tug of Astrum. Perhaps the first time that she has ever drawn him toward another, but it is perhaps not that surprising that the star would be so attracted to one of her kind.
So he abides by her request.
Angles himself through the riverbank until he is close enough to the star-coated girl that she would hear him when he spoke, quiet as his voice usually is. “Hello there,” he says with a small smile, his shyness disappearing into the studious, stern lines of his face. The star hums near him and then spins near to Anuya, spinning a circle around her barrel before coming to rest above his right shoulder again.
“I’m Aureus,” he offers before he nods, “and this is Astrum.”
and I'm quick with the bullet when it comes undone I got a head like a turret with a mouth for a gun
12-09-2020, 04:52 PM (This post was last modified: 12-09-2020, 09:13 PM by Anuya.)
There is no shortage of relief that the one that Anuya is approached by on this night is not one of the ugliest ones she’s seen. His short ears still make her a little uncomfortable, how can they possibly hear anything with them? But overall he isn’t the worst.
Her long ears flick at his words but her turquoise eyes catch on what looks very much like a small star that comes floating through the air and spins around her. A delighted laugh escapes Anuya - not the first one she’s let loose since she arrived in Beqanna but the first one that’s pure and warm.
Whatever Astrum is, Anuya wants one.
She supposes she needs to reply to the introduction, though, and she does so with a grin - finding it rather delightful that all their names start with such similar sounds. Her ears flop a little as she tilts her head, regarding the glowing pair before her. When she speaks, her voice is just louder than necessary to be noticeable - although she has (successfully) had conversations with horses before, she's convinced that their hearing must be worse. “I’m Anuya.” She doesn’t say it’s nice to meet them - she’s never understood why that is said so early in an acquaintance and sometimes lying makes her tongue fall heavy.
Thus far, though, it has not proven to be awful to meet him. Which is something.
Her gaze pulls away from him with ease - but only because he was standing with a star and she looks at Astrum as she asks this question (still speaking loudly). Though she supposes Aureus is more likely to be the one to reply. “Is Astrum a star? How did you get... uh... them? her? it?” What pronouns do you use for a star?
oh, I see stars rushing through my mind, colours have no time to fade
oh, I found out there's another side where the sea and sky collide
oh, these wings, they flicker and my feathers stir 'til I'm an ancient soul in a cascade world
If he wonders why she speaks so loudly, he doesn’t let it show. After all, there’s clearly something slightly…other about her, and he knows it’s not polite to ask. Perhaps it has something to do with the length of her ears or perhaps she was just simple—it wasn’t really for him to decide. Instead he just focuses on how happy Astrum looks as she spins around them, practically radiating her joy.
He’s never seen her quite this happy before, and he’s not certain he trusts it.
Still, she looks kind enough and so he is not entirely unhappy to have been dragged into this conversation. He shakes out his mane a little and settles, watching as the star moves away from him to circle around the pair of them, greeting the fae with tiny dips and swirls, flirtatious arcs and then friendly spins.
“She is,” he answers, wondering if perhaps she wishes that she could answer for herself. He’s never thought about it before—mostly because she was so content with just the two of them and speaking was not necessary in their dynamic. This was the first time that she had ever wanted to interact with someone else before—and now she was completely reliant on him to pass along her messages to someone else.
He shrugs a little. “Her,” a shy smile that quickly disappears. “And I’ve always had her.”
A pause as he thinks on the words a little.
“Or, rather, we had each other. I don’t think she’s mine any more than I am hers.”
In response, the star glows a little smugly, content with his answer.
and I'm quick with the bullet when it comes undone I got a head like a turret with a mouth for a gun
It’s difficult to focus on Aureus even when he replies to her questions. Anuya’s gaze is fixed on Astrum and her light fills her eyes. She’s pretty sure she could stare at the pretty companion all night, given the chance. It’d be very easy for her space out - time was already very slippery for her, the fae did not age the same way and every day, season, or year had the tendency to blend together.
She admires the connection the pair before her have - and there’s a small prickle of jealousy in her heart. It’s a relationship she has never experienced with anyone else. Companions were very rare where she came from - though now she thinks the night court of her family certainly should have figured out how to get stars as companions if nothing else. Come on.
When she speaks again, she forgets that she’d meant to speak louder than normal. She’s too interested to remember that little thing. “I think I would’ve liked to have had a star with me when I grew up instead of half of my siblings.” There’s a beat where she considers this before amending it slightly as a grin grows in her pale turquoise eyes - the type of grin that animates everything about the one wearing it and even her ears twitch a little with amusement. “Well… I would have preferred a rock to at least three of them. And not even a shiny rock. Just any ol’ grey rock.”
It’s not a joke but the thought of those three siblings turning into a rock is absolutely delightful and Anuya chuckles a little. It’s not a particularly soft sound - she’s not a particularly soft mare - but it’s warm and comfortable.
Anuya focuses on Aureus more this time when she asks “Do you have siblings?”
oh, I see stars rushing through my mind, colours have no time to fade
oh, I found out there's another side where the sea and sky collide
oh, these wings, they flicker and my feathers stir 'til I'm an ancient soul in a cascade world
Aureus is not surprised that her attention is caught by the star between them.
Whenever he does engage in conversation with someone else, it’s usually the same. Why would someone choose to talk to him when the very constellations fill the space between them? Why choose the studious young stallion when they could instead pick the star that dances around them, sparkling like galaxies?
He knows what he would pick.
What he often did pick.
So he does not begrudge them their choice.
Instead he studies her, his dark purple eyes intense beneath the swath of his pale forelock. She is different than anyone that he has ever seen before, and he wonders exactly what it is about her. It’s not just the ears, although those are the most obvious difference, and it’s not just the color of her coat—because he has seen plenty of others with a more fantastical coat and colors covering them in the night.
It’s something else entirely—and he can’t quite say exactly what.
Still, her question surprises a soft laugh out of him. “I have a twin sister and a younger sister,” he says, speaking only of his full siblings. It felt odd to loop in the others who are only partially related. “They are both wonderful—bright and beautiful and at ease in the world in a way that I could never be.”
The truth comes out quickly. Quicker than he expected and he struggles to not dip his head in a sudden burst of shyness, ashamed at being so vulnerable with a stranger. “What made yours inferior to a rock?”
and I'm quick with the bullet when it comes undone I got a head like a turret with a mouth for a gun
It feels good to make someone laugh, and Anuya brightens a little at the sound of the soft noise. She listens, curious, as he gives a small but praising description of his two sisters. She notes the comment about how he was not at ease in the world, though she doesn’t comment on it. She has two eyes that work relatively well and two ears that work very, after all, and there is a softness to him that she imagines would be at odds in any world.
She never knew anyone gentle growing up. Her home did not allow for an abundance of softness to grow. Just glimpses of it here and there.
“You’re lucky. I’m one of nine.” All of Anuya’s siblings were beautiful, of course, but that’s where her admiration of most of them ended. Sidhra was kind to her, they wouldn’t have stuck together this long and through this many lands otherwise, but it often felt like having a parent around rather than a sibling.
She answers with more honesty than she should, probably, but honesty had always come easy to her - especially when asked a direct question. Even when she should just hold her tongue. “They’re either very snobby or very mean. I’m the youngest by a lot, and the most fun, and the ones inferior to a rock never fully appreciated either of those things.” Sure, maybe she used to toss glowing mushrooms at them as they slept or shift into a bird to tug at their ears. But none of them would ever play or laugh with her. It's an uncomfortable feeling, this sense of reflection - the memories of how she enjoyed playing her pranks but mostly she just wanted their attention in whatever way she could get it.
This part she leaves out. She's already answered the question - no point in being more honest than absolutely necessary.
oh, I see stars rushing through my mind, colours have no time to fade
oh, I found out there's another side where the sea and sky collide
oh, these wings, they flicker and my feathers stir 'til I'm an ancient soul in a cascade world
“Nine?” he echoes, not able to keep the note of incredulity out of his voice. He very much doubts that his fathers would hate to have that many children. Both of them were doting, involved parents and although it was not easy for them to bear children together, he knows that they have never once considered it not worth it. He and his sisters had been raised in as loving of a home that he could possibly imagine.
But to more than double the size of them?
It was difficult to imagine.
Still, her description does not paint a kind picture of that kind of arrangement. He frowns, his velvet mouth pulling in the corners, a wrinkle in his brow. “I fear I would be the most boring in the group of you,” he says, the self-deprecation a little too serious to be taken for humor. He was not snobby or mean, but he was also not particularly fun. “I would have very much appreciated your fun though.” He’s not certain whether that’s a lie or not, but knowing how much he loves his sister makes it feel like the truth.
A shrug and a roll of his shoulders, as though trying to rid himself of the self-doubt that plagues him. For a second, he casts his glance toward the star that has been bouncing around his shoulder, craning his neck just a little to get a better look at her. Astrum gloats a little at the attention before rising up, casting her light on them a little more strongly. It teases a smile out of Aureus’ serious lips and he looks to Anuya.
“She’s showing off for you,” he muses. “I’ve never seen her do that before.”
and I'm quick with the bullet when it comes undone I got a head like a turret with a mouth for a gun
“Oh, boring is fine. I could always find something to do with boredom.” She remarks, not noticing or caring about his self-deprecation. There needs to be some less-fun individuals in the world, Anuya wasn’t sure if she could take it if everyone was as fun as her. And she’d taking boring over mean any day.
Anuya assumes everyone has her same natural inclination to tell the truth so she takes his words about appreciating her fun at face value and does not question them. Some of her siblings had perfected the art of twisting the truth, giving pieces and riddles.
All of that just took too much energy for her, though, so Anuya kept it simple.
Her expression grows wistful as she thinks about the fun she used to have. “I wish I had my tricks here, I’d love to show you. I used to be able to shapeshift into a small bird and move things with my mind.” And she might have slipped into melancholy, wondering what kind of fae she was if she couldn’t do all the fun things associated with it, but Astrum moves and Anuya’s pale turquoise eyes follow the bouncing star. She’s smiling brightly when Aureus speaks again, commenting on his companion’s behaviour and her gaze flicks to him.
“Well, she has excellent taste.”
She punctuates this statement with a carefree wink before looking back to Astrum. Anuya wiggles her long ears at the ball of starlight and that bright smile softens. She didn't think it was possible, to feel this light here among another kind. And yet she's already so glad to have met this pair.
oh, I see stars rushing through my mind, colours have no time to fade
oh, I found out there's another side where the sea and sky collide
oh, these wings, they flicker and my feathers stir 'til I'm an ancient soul in a cascade world
He smiles at that, a little self-deprecation still showing in the tightness at the corner of his mouth, but his amusement at her otherwise completely lighthearted. She would like his sister, he decides, and not only because everyone liked his sister. (His sisters, he reminds himself now, always forgetting that it was no longer just him and Asena in this world—not now that Barley exists. His luck, the next would be a girl too and he would forever be the only boy in the brood of children. Just his luck indeed.)
His attention comes back to her though and his eyes widen just slightly. “Wow,” he breathes, wondering what it must be like to have gifts like that. “I don’t have any tricks at all,” his lip quirks. “Not unless you count glowing,” he shrugs, not minding his rather plain existence. If he could heal a little quicker from long journeys or if his skinned knees closed up faster than normal, he certainly had never noticed. “My fathers have all kinds of tricks though. One can paint illusions so real you would swear they were real.”
He is struck by a sudden pang of homesickness as he glances back to the star.
Astrum spins again, dipping down to nearly touch the fan’s nose before spiraling away.
It surprises a laugh out of Aureus, unused to watching his star companion be so playful, and he has to force himself to look away from her—to engage in the conversation, even when every introverted bone in his body struggled with it. “So what brought you here?” he questions, thinking back to if he had ever met someone who was not from Beqanna. “What even exists outside of Beqanna?”
and I'm quick with the bullet when it comes undone I got a head like a turret with a mouth for a gun
