01-25-2022, 09:36 AM
Lillibet
Lillibet, too, attempts to suppress her smile in hopes that it will help her to appear more casual and less giddy in the presence of this blossoming connection ─ to no avail. Sometimes, there is just no hiding chemistry. The moment Bolder turns his shimmering eyes to her and attaches a word such as terrifying to her existence, the former Sylvan Princess barks out a laugh and a subsequent eye roll. It’s only when her gaze returns to his silvered eyes that he finishes the thought, which prompts an entirely new reaction from the glowing ethereal woman. The heat on her cheeks alerts Lillibet to the reality that, more likely than not, her face has flushed pink at his compliment In an effort not to appear sheepish or embarrassed, she tosses her head and lilac-accented mane before throwing another playful side-eye in Bolder’s direction.
“You think I’m dazzling,” it’s a statement more than a question, meant to redirect the attention to the okapi-striped man while the heat in her face subsides. Thankful when their conversation shifts to talk of his wings, Lillibet leans in to him collusively to share in whatever conspiracy he intends to whisper into her pricked ears. When he speaks the name, it takes a brief moment for the daughter of Oceane and Ledger to remember what, exactly, is contained within Taiga. The oddity that someone else may perceive at his answer does not strike Lillibet, who thinks it must feel powerful to be able to soar above the canopy, unbothered and unworried by the trunks of trees that the wingless are forced to navigate through. She’d never found the opportunity to explore the great forest, but she has heard stories of monsters in its shadows. Beqanna is home to many of them, though, and the myths surrounding Taiga are no different than the monster who hides in the depths of Hyaline’s lake or the great ice entity of Icicle Isle. She wonders which are true, and which have been woven to scare the nearly-traitless such as herself.
“I’ve never visited Taiga before,” she pauses for a moment, pensive, before adding: “What made you decide to leave?” She awaits his answer with a flick of an ear, though her gaze has turned from the attractive Bolder and to their surroundings where the rising morning sun has begun to creep through the budding canopy, speckling the hardened spring ground with its golden rays. She settles herself in one of these sunspots, splashing her own glow into the mix, while her companion tells her of Ischia and treks deliberately over a crunchy patch of remaining snow. The simple act twitches her mouth into a small smile before she registers his next comment. “Perhaps I can hike up and wave to you from the caldera as you fly overhead. Maybe my glow will terrify and dazzle it into not burning me alive.” She flutters her lashes playfully as Bolder chooses a shaded area to rest for their chat, Lillibet surprised to be caught between the desire to sidle close to him or to linger in the sun where she won’t have to fight off shivers every few minutes. She opts for the sun, begrudgingly, and settles her weight with a back hoof cocked against the hard earth before returning her gold-flecked gaze to Bolder.
His question, though expected, finds her without a prepared answer. “I haven’t traveled much outside of the common lands,” she clears her throat at the unspoken and the South before continuing, “but I do believe the Ruins have been the most interesting so far. It’s… strange, to think that it has a history outside of Beqanna. That there is blood in those grounds that belongs to people who never existed here.” She falls silent for a brief moment before shaking the oddity of their reality away and gracing Bolder with another wide, playful smile.
“Tell me. Is it true there’s a monster at the bottom of Hyaline’s lake?”
