[private] does he look like a birch?

[Anuya]

Sure, kicking and tossing around rocks was pretty fun but maybe the fairies on the Mountain were going to look for a little variety. Which is what brings Anuya to the forest as dusk descends. And, yeah, okay - she appreciated that she was a little extra glowy beneath the branches of the trees - the stars on her coat shining a little brighter like the stars that are obscured from her view. Now, what can she move in a forest? A tree might be too ambitious. Perhaps she could uproot a plant? Though that wouldn’t be very kind to it if it ended up dying, she wasn’t sure how to go about re-rooting it in a new spot. Anuya wonders too whether just the act of eating technically counts as moving plants but decides that she does not want to have to explain that line of thinking in order to turn in her quest. Her ears twitch with the night sounds that are starting to come alive but her eyes are narrowed. There does not seem to be anything moveable in her immediate vicinity, and she huffs loudly at the lack of convenience. So she moves on. And after a while, she forgets why she’s in the forest. She just wanders along the path she’s picked - wondering why she never bothered to come in here before and watching the faint, silvery glow of her coat glint on the new spring leaves.

art by eluatl at deviantart.com

@[Bruja] took a while for me to get it started but for whoever you wanna send!

[Saturnelle]

Was she supposed to be out here? Definitely not. Had she done it anyway? Duh. Saturnelle meandered through trees far smaller than the ones she was used to, dusty wings held close to her back like a rigid cape. It was wonderful breathing in the cool evening air tinged as it was with the thrill of adventure.

She'd had to move slowly when leaving home. Too fast, and a comet's tail of green began to flow behind her. A dead giveaway of her misbehavior, if anyone thought to look for it. Once the ponderosa were at her back, she began to move more quickly. What she was looking for, she wasn't sure. It would just be enough to be away from her family of mood-readers for a few hours. 

The down-breasted girl looked at these new trees with interest, telling herself she'd be back before anyone had a chance to miss her. It was spring, everyone was busy seeing what new life was emerging, where it needed help, or what was too gone to revive. Boring work. 

Bells chimed through the air as she walked, the notes not quite collected enough to call music. Just pleasant noise to carry with her, to ward off the nagging feeling of doing something she wasn't supposed to. Her path was an established one, easy enough to track back when the wandering had grown dull. One that others knew of, she realized, when another figure appeared through the trees. 

She considered turning back, or darting into the trees. Any grown up she could think of would be no fun at all if they realized she was far from home without permission, especially this time of day. It didn't even occur to her that there might be worse consequences in meeting a stranger than a reprimand, than the sticky-sick feeling of Disappointment. 

In the end, her curiosity won out. She'd wanted to see something new, and this stranger on her path certainly fit the bill. Saturnelle approached with a jaunty spring in her step, doing her best to look like she belonged here, thankyouverymuch. 

"Good evening!" She chirped, looking up at the strange woman's face. "Your ears are very long," she followed with, her own feathery antenna bobbing over her face in subconscious mimicry. 

@[Anuya]

[Anuya]

If given the choice, even in this strange place, Anuya would always pick interacting with someone over staring at leaves - even if she was admiring how the glow from her coat illuminated them. So she is - for the most part - happy that someone else stumbles across her path and she is not left wandering alone for long. She does, however, make a bit of a face when she sees the young filly approach her for two reasons. One, because there is a very brief moment where Anuya thinks this is another fae, someone from the summer or spring court maybe. This is a little disconcerting, especially when she had thought that she and Sidhra were the only ones to have come here. And two, Anuya is very aware of the fact that she has not interacted with a child since she was one herself. And that was 52 years ago this spring. So she doesn’t really remember a lot about it. The winged little creature comments on Anuya’s ears, which is not surprising - she often felt like her ears were ridiculously noticeable. A little corner of her mouth quirks up as those turquoise eyes drift to the feathery appendages decorating the girl’s head. “You’re one to talk.” She remarks, not unkindly. Just pointing out the obvious. Her own starry ears do twitch a little as she watches the way those light green things move and she’s reminded of moths and other non-horse (and non-fae) things. Which then prompts her to ask in a bright, curious voice - “Are those ears?” She tries to see if there are horse ears behind them but it’s difficult to make it look too obvious that she is trying to peer around so she'll settle for asking and hope that everyone else has the same tendency to tell the truth as she does.

art by eluatl at deviantart.com

@[Saturnelle]

[Saturnelle]

Surprise whistles down her spine, but that's as intense as the feelings get. Nothing so distracting that she can't manage it. She hadn't really been expecting to bump into anyone tonight either, so the Surprise was mutual, even if the nuance was different. Her translucent eyes swept over the tall woman, enchanted by the swirling galaxies captured in her skin. 

Magic, the girl thought, that was the only explanation. Same as it explained her own quirks and oddities. It made her gilded face brighten to feel like she had something in common with this otherworldly being. 

A soft giggle lit on the air, harmonized with her chiming bells. "I am!" She chirped, dancing in place to show off the appendages more fully. They twitched in place, feeding her minute information about the air they passed through. 

"They're my 'tenas," she corrected, her jig coming to an end. "Theeeese are my ears." She bowed her head to make very obvious the difference. "Ears are for hearing, 'tenas are for feeling." There was a note of pride in her voice at this, and excitement for being able to be the teacher for once. Usually it was everyone else telling her things. 

"I'm Sat-urrrr-nelle," the girl introduced after a moment, sounding out the long word with reverent care. She loved her name. It sounded big, and important, and she hoped that even though she was little, she could make up the important part some day. A lady this pretty had to have a name big, important name too, she figured. 

@[Anuya]

[Anuya]

Overall Anuya is a big fan of strangers that don’t get annoyed with her two seconds into their exchange. It might seem like a pretty low bar but there have always been those types. So she’s delighted to hear the little giggle and for the antennaed girl to lower her head to clear the show the very regular looking horse ears that are housed behind the big fluffy appendages. Is it possible to be both relieved and a little disappointed that they aren't ears? Because that's what this starry fae is thinking in this moment. She is immediately curious and has a question but she’s waylaid for a moment by the girl introducing herself. Saturrrrnelle. “I’m Anuya.” She replies back with a grin, liking her name just fine but being unable to put the same flourishes on it - considering how much shorter it was. Long ears, short name. There probably wasn’t anything too interesting to read into that. Introductions out of the way, she asks the question that had come to her mind. “What do you feel with them? Like… emotions and stuff?” That would be pretty strange and Anuya realizes that it’s a pretty dumb thing to ask as soon as the words are out but she doesn’t try to backtrack it. There’s a very slim chance that she’s right and if she is, she’s going to feel pretty damn smart. That’s worth the risk for sure.

art by eluatl at deviantart.com

@[Saturnelle]