10-18-2020, 04:01 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-18-2020, 04:02 PM by mako.)
 DON'T KNOW HOW TO KEEP LOVING YOU
NOW THAT I KNOW YOU SO WELL Sometime over this summer season, Mako's fluttering little companion began to change.
Salem went from the delicate feather-white of a twittering dove to the oil-slick white of a glittering dragon. The changes came in short bursts: first a patch of scales where feathers once were, then leathery dragon wings, then the tiniest puff of smoke. One day, Mako awoke to the chittering excitement of a little dragon. Salem had hopped from one clawed foot to the other, proud of her new, fierce, little form. That was a morning of grins and giggles, with Salem capturing little mice and grinning to show off blood-soaked fangs. Mako won't soon forget this strange gift from the fairies, nor the rose-colored memories that followed.
But she was lonely, despite the renewed energy of her companion. Salem is often great company but when she is the only company the pair have, the conversation grows stale. After a few months of lonely wandering, the dragon drifted from Mako to find the feral reptiles rumored to be hidden in the highest mountains of Hyaline. The trips started as only a couple of days long, with Salem returning excited about the caves and brimstone and fierce predators. Soon, though, time stretched and--at least a week passed before Mako saw her friend again. Salem was remorseful, but the periwinkle mare couldn't resent the dragon for what only came naturally to her.
Just keep coming back, okay? is the last thing Mako had said to Salem before she'd winged off into the night.
That was two weeks ago and depressed isn't the right word for Mako's mood, but she is terribly lonely. When her spirits dip to their lowest, a gray sky rolls over her face and she is reminded of a sweet boy and his nervousness. From an ivy-draped cave opening, Mako watches the rain drift over a bright blue sky. As the first hesitant drops begin to fall, she pushes the greenery aside to reveal just a bit of her muzzle. There, rain finds her downward lips, and a gentle smile lifts. MAKO
@[Garett] well. that was sadder than i was expecting
He thinks of her every time it rains, and sometimes when it’s just cloudy and... sometimes still when the sun is out. Thoughts of her flick through his mind often and Garett’s kept his green eyes open, hoping for a glimpse of periwinkle and frost. Hoping for another chance to enjoy her company. He did not intend to allow so many days pass without her in the future.
If she’d let him stay.
He’s been enjoying the overcast day, wandering aimlessly and letting his mind do the same. Although he is keeping a wary eye for any chance the rain might turn into a thunderstorm, Garett smiles as the first drops of rain begin to fall. And then, just like that, he turns and sees a periwinkle and silver muzzle extending through a curtain of foliage and he stops in his tracks.
He does briefly consider the idea that it’s not her, but overall he feels confident, and a delighted smile brightens his green eyes as he comes to stop in the open, rain slowly dampening his green and white mane.
“What are you doing hiding from the rain, Mako?” Garett’s teasing voice is as gentle as the soft patter of the drops around him.
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image by monsleonis
@[mako]
DON'T KNOW HOW TO KEEP LOVING YOU
NOW THAT I KNOW YOU SO WELL Mako has spent much of her life hiding, fitting in neither here nor there. Months spent in Loess, growing warm and alone next to Castile--followed by years spent with Salem, finding freedom and pain in their perpetual push and pull. But she doesn't hide in a storm, no--she comes alive, raucous and savage, much like the dragons she grew up with. Full of life, filled to the brim with energy, ecstatic and dancing.
When Garett arrives, Mako hardly notices. The hanging vines blind her and the pattering rain distracts her, but when he speaks--oh, that darling, friendly voice--she practically launches forward.
"Hiding?" she barks with a laugh, rushing forward to press them into a fervent embrace. "I could never hide from the rain," comes a final, giggling rebuttal. Mako moves to pull away but reaches forward for one last playful tug of Garett's mane. It's truly a delight to meet him again, both because Salem has been gone for so long and because Mako often thinks of their time together quite . . . fondly. A little flush rushes to her cheeks, warm and welcome, at the memory of how he had first made her feel.
Strong and beautiful. She'd crushed hard, then.
Mako finds that flutter again, peering into his warm eyes.
"I'm so happy to see you again, Garett. What are you doing in the rain?" she asks, a shy grin quickly following. MAKO
@[Garett]
Garett’s laughter joins hers when Mako surges through the hanging vines, emerging into the rain where he stands and immediately embracing him. His laughter dies a little at the contact and he breathes in deeply - feeling so immeasurably blessed that his memories of her are being replaced with something more recent, more real. And that she would embrace him without hesitation? Well, that doesn’t feel too bad either.
She steps away, after tugging playfully on his mane, and he’s all smiles as he looks at her with absolute adoration and wonder.
His own heart flutters delightedly when she says that she’s happy to see him again. Garett’s not very good at playing coy or pretending to be more aloof than he already is - so when she asks what he is doing in the rain he answers with complete honesty.
“It reminds me of you.”
He hopes, belatedly, that’s not too cheesy of a thing to say and he feels nerves prickle against the hum of the excitement at seeing her again.
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image by monsleonis
@[mako]
DON'T KNOW HOW TO KEEP LOVING YOU
NOW THAT I KNOW YOU SO WELL They're a singing pair, Mako and Garett. Their laughters join in gulps and giggle, noises dancing elegantly around each other. They make music and move to it, little twitches of skin and pleasant shakes of joy. The air fills with elation and Mako, as downtrodden as she had found herself moments before, feels herself bubbling and ballooning with a good mood. So full of air, she thinks she'll float away - and it doesn't look like Garett is keen to deflate her.
Very suddenly, Mako wishes she could read Garett's mind. The desire feels dark and strange, reminding her of the family she's never met in Pangea. Mind readers and demons with all the darkness to carry in the world. How differently she had turned out, despite bearing a violent bloodline on both sides of her parents. The man before her is so vastly different from the world she had imagined herself living in, one full of glory and brimstone and death. Being surrounded by it taught her she was different but still destined to be like the generations before.
And this little magic fluttering, this delicate beating heart, is so starkly opposite.
"O-of me?" Mako parrots, pastel eyes blinking in surprise. A wide, instinctual smile lifts her lips and she just sighs for a moment, staring. "Thunderstorms remind me of you," comes after, accompanied by a laugh. "I've caught myself wondering how you're weathering them by yourself." Mako looks down, scuffs a hoof into the yellowing leaves. A silly thing to think, but the racing in her chest tells her Garett won't find it so insignificant.
Mako looks back up, lashes fluttering as a thick lock of her mane falls over an eye.
"I've thought about you a lot." MAKO
@[Garett]
The fact that Garett could read Mako’s mind is not one that ever occurs to him. He has only ever used his mind-reading as a foal with his twin, reading each other’s thoughts and sharing a secret communication. It is a power that lays dormant, forgotten, because what need does this boy of earth and sunshine have for it?
When she says the storms remind her of him too, his smile brightens and he watches her even when her gaze goes down to her hooves. “They’re definitely not as easy to weather without your expertise.” He says this in his perpetually soft voice. There’s no sign of teasing, no sign of anything other than complete truth - because he means it.
Every time the thunder crashed and the lightning flashed overhead and he could feel his heart race, he wished she were beside him. Garett needed no help grounding himself but he sometimes needed help to fly, to shift beyond the calm that radiated through him with such ease. And with Mako? He felt like he could soar.
“I’ve thought about you a lot too, Mako. I’m sorry our paths didn’t cross sooner.” It’s not that Garett thinks it’s either of their faults - just how it had worked out. “I’m so glad to see you again though.” And he reaches out to touch her again, the moss-green of his muzzle against her pastel coat. He wants to tell her they should try to see each other more often, that they do not need to be parted, but he does not want to tarnish this moment by thinking of when they are apart. He is beyond content to enjoy this time together.
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image by monsleonis
@[mako]
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