"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
And inside you're burning with some secret yearning
The stars stretch over her in a sea of unbroken midnight velvet, twinkling at her in benign beauty. In utter betrayal.
She loves them still, would always love those distant, lovely lights, but they had broken her trust in a way that can never be regained. They had gifted their light to another. To her daughter, no less. It is a difficult sin to forgive.
But still they call to her, speaking of endless nights and untold beauty. Given half a chance she would give up her entire existence in this realm to go live amongst them. But, alas, she is only a mortal being, doomed to roam this inadequate plain for the remainder of her days.
Still, she would never release hope.
Tonight is a night like any other. A night to wander the wood and meadow, to bask in the soothing light of her night sky. Occasionally she would break the routine by engaging in a light flirtation. Of course, light may be a bit of an exaggeration. Her four children attest all too freely to that. And given her penchant for attracting rather dangerous men, perhaps it should be called anything but light.
A game, perhaps. A test of her wit and skill, of her beauty.
Certainly she is lovely enough, with her vibrant red coat tipped by teal, with the elegant white star upon her forehead. The only blemish marring her otherwise perfect features are the scars tinged with red and green running along her cheek. Even so, they add a dramatic flair to her appearance, a charmingly dangerous edge.
A testament to her bravery. Her cunning, even if it is a story she would never tell.
But tonight, that is the last thing on her mind. Tonight, her only concerns are the chilly, snow-laden meadow and the endless stars above.
Just stay away from the white light. I'd say your worst side's your best side.
As my son has aged, he has become more and more inclined to wander on his own. I understand the impulse, having spent most of my youth doing exactly the same. He continues to learn much from both of his parents, but he likes alone time to synthesize the information and to make his own observations and explore the world on his terms. So now that my love is busy with a fabulous little project of his own, I find myself doing the same: wandering solo for the first time in a good year and a half, almost two if you count the months I did so while carrying Tycho.
It is...less satisfying than I remember. Stumbling across a lovely new flower or creature or land formation is much more fun when there's someone to share it with. Or two someones. I could, I suppose, interrupt my brother and his lover from their perpetual entanglement. But I can imagine how...displeased I would be if he were to interrupt me in a similar state. And their lovely daughter spends most of her time with her grandmother exploring old haunts and learning all about Beqanna. Somehow...somehow I'm not quite up for a tour of the old homestead, yeah? So. Solo it is.
The night is lovely, stars spilling endlessly across the midnight sky. And as I wander the Meadow, in idle search of something to capture my attention, those stars reach down from high above and illuminate an equally lovely sight. Darkness dims the vibrant red of her coat, the teal of her mane and tail muted by the cover of night. An elegant star on her forehead stands out most, and on her cheek, a faint hint of scarring just visible beneath the dark of a moonless sky.
Ah, but my family has never been the type to run from a few scars. Most of us have worn ours as badges of honor. I fought to wear mine as an outward sign of the monster I'd believed myself to be, once upon a fever dream. Gave them up for my favorite brother, even if the bastard did set me on fire. Still, I don't regret their absence. There's not a mark on the powder blue of my coat, no patchwork stitches cutting across the steel blue of my dun markings showing where my family had to put me back together. No slashes across the blue violet of my dorsal stripe, and my matching violet mane and tail long since grew back, the outermost edges lightly frosted with the powder blue of my coat.
Still. I can admire the story behind a good scar, even if I have none to speak of any longer.
In another life, or a couple of years ago, I would have been tempted to flirt. Would have wondered what those scars would feel like beneath my lips, what her skin tasted like, what sounds she would make if I touched her just right. So I am a little surprised when curiosity doesn't unfurl its lovely wings in my belly and urge me closer, closer. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I barely notice anyone who isn't Pazuzu or Tycho. They're my whole damn world, those two, and everyone else is just periphery.
No. Not everyone. Family is slowly trickling their way back into my life, Mom and Drow and Arzhur and Dara. Still, most of the rest of the world fades to insignificance when those two are around. So much for being determined to be nothing like my mother. My family is all that matters.
Dammit.
Determined to...I don't know, hold onto some semblance of a life outside being an almost-wife and mother, I forge ahead. Taking a couple of steps forward, I close the distance between myself and the lovely stranger to something more sociable. “Lovely night, isn't it?” I ask, casting another glance up at the stars. Then I meet her gaze and smile, an expression surprisingly lacking in its usual hint of wickedness. “Name's Ryss.”
Just when you think that you're alright, I'm crawling out from the inside.
Daeryssa
of the restless heart
((I am so sorry this took so long. :| She's finally cooperating again.))
And inside you're burning with some secret yearning
She has always been a creature apart, but not as one might expect. Many would consider her to be, well, less than good. Much less. Certainly she has never tried to be. But still she has never fit the mold of those considered evil either. She is something else entirely. Above and apart.
She has always been odd in her ability to find beauty in every aspect of life. In her youth a half dead girl had been one of the most lovely things she had seen. Certainly a few of her lovers had been less than perfect. But still she found beauty in them. The memory of one such brings a smile to her blue lips even as starlit horns curl from the back of her skull, responding to that distant remembrance. He had been the father of her second child, a terrible, cruel man she had found immensely amusing.
She would always remember him fondly.
It takes her a moment to notice the blue mare approaching her, lost as she is in her musings. But as her silvery gaze comes to rest upon the lovely figure, appreciation can be seen in those depths. It would be difficult to deny that her newest companion is a beautiful creature, and she certainly would never do so.
She holds a deep appreciation for things of beauty, for she herself is one. Perhaps the sentiment is rather conceited, but when one has been told that very thing since childhood, it is difficult to do otherwise.
A small, slow smile curls her lips as she draws to a halt. The other woman’s words sound softly in the night air, the sentiment causing one brow to lift in mild amusement. ”The night is always lovely,” she responds simply, emphatically. There are few that can see it when nights are not so velvety and star-strewn as this one. She would, it seems, be forever showing them.
”I am Lirren.” Her gaze travels slowly over her companion’s feminine form before finally settling upon her face. ”What brings you here at such an hour?” Night might be her preference, but she had long ago learned that few others dared venture from the safety of their homes at such a dark hour. Her curiosity is piqued by this woman who would defy convention for a few stray bits of conversation. Had she known of their connection, a shared once-lover as it were, she might have been even more intrigued.
Just stay away from the white light. I'd say your worst side's your best side.
Her gaze idly traverses my body and it's clear I'm not the only one who likes what I see. Still, it seems more of an appreciation for one another's aesthetics than anything else, admiration for an appealing figure and striking coloring. Even as a her lips slowly curl into a smile, even as her eyes linger along their journey across my hips, my side, my chest, the curve of my neck, the spark of hunger I have seen so often in Pazuzu's eyes is absent from Lirren's silver ones. Curiosity, perhaps, but no active attraction I can see.
“The night is always lovely, you're right,” I agree, looking away from the lovely teal of her mane and back up to the stars. There is beauty in the darkness whether it is a clear night like tonight with stars dancing their way around the north star, or their presence is covered by a blanket of cloud cover, or a storm rages and rain falls heavy in the night. Still, there is something so profound about staring into the vast void of space, staring out toward the edge of the universe and being reminded of how very small we are, and how very inconsequential. And yet, we are everything.
To those distant stars, we are smaller than the cells that make up our bodies, and so much less relevant. So unimportant to their existence. But to me? They are background, beauty visible only in the dark; they are ambiance, and while I hold a great deal of appreciation for their presence, to me they are nothing but pretty scenery. They are as inconsequential to me as I am to them. Those I love are all that matter in any real way.
“It is lovely to meet you, Lirren,” I add, my own lips curving into a smile in return. “As for what brings me here...well. Curiosity. Restless feet. And my mate isn't around tonight to...occupy my attention.” Thinking of just how he'd be doing so puts a wicked little edge on that smile of mine. Ah, there's the quiet unfurling, the tingle beneath my skin any time I think of his lips on my neck, his body pressing against mine.
A self-deprecating little snort and I'm focusing back on the lovely mare in front of me. “And our son has taken to doing some wandering of his own. I found myself with far too much free time and nothing to fill it. Thought I'd take a little stroll. And yourself?”
Just when you think that you're alright, I'm crawling out from the inside.
And inside you're burning with some secret yearning
Those distant stars, the ones most look upon with only passing interest, are her entire world. She would give anything to live amongst them, to be as one with the cosmos, to burn eternally in their pure and radiant light. But she is woefully earthbound, a creature destined to live amongst the bland and mundane no matter how she wishes to escape into the night skies distant embrace.
She loves them. She loves and cherishes those tiny pinpricks of light far more than she ever will any mortal beast. They are hers just as she is theirs.
To her companion, they may just be pretty little jewels sparkling benignly in the night sky, a thing to be momentarily admired and rapidly forgotten, but to her, the teal and red mare, they are everything.
There is nothing in this world that could change that. Not her family nor her lovers. Not even her children. Those are the momentary distractions, the ones that amuse her briefly but are just as quickly forgotten. Oh, she loves them. They each hold a small piece of her heart, but never would they the have the same grip as her lovely stars.
The two mares are so very different in that respect.
A slow, knowing grin curves Lirren’s lips at Ryss' response to her question. ”Hmm…” she begins, amusement evident in her tone. ”They do have a way of doing that, don't they?” In this way, they are all too similar. She certainly has never had trouble… enjoying her lovers.
For a moment, as the other woman continues, Lirren's gaze is drawn to the stars overhead. She can never go long without finding herself gazing at them. ”I am always out at this time of night,” she answers in an offhand manner, replying to Ryss' question almost automatically. Turning her silver gaze back to her companion, she tips her head slightly, curiosity and just a hint of devilry coloring her eyes. ”Is your stroll as distracting as you'd hoped?”
Oh the things she could show this woman given half a chance. Certainly the night would be boring no longer.
Just stay away from the white light. I'd say your worst side's your best side.
Oh. Well now. The wicked little grin on Lirren's face has my blood running a little hotter, my heart beating a little faster. Maybe I was wrong about her interest being mostly a matter of appreciation for something beautiful. An answering grin curves my own lips upward as I purr, “They do indeed, or at least this one does. I've had a bit of fun with a few others, but no one else has ever come close to comparing.” No one else has ever made lightning sing in my veins, made me hurt so fucking good. No one but Pazuzu makes me feel like burning can be beautiful.
No other man really makes me burn at all.
Still, that devilish glint in Lirren's eyes is certainly doing interesting things to me. My eyes lock on her lips as she looks to the sky and answers my question. She's a creature of the night, then, drawn to starlight the way I'm drawn to storms. Mmm. The way I'm drawn to Pazuzu, really, and the storm he calls forth inside me every time he looks at me. Every time he touches me. I wonder idly how the lovely Lirren would have taken to his lessons about the universe, the day he took me and our Tycho walking amongst the stars, showing us how they burn, how they live and die, their lives so much longer than the lifespan of a species or a bloodline or a single solitary mare.
Would it have fired her blood the way it did mine, seeing the glory of the sky so close up? Oh, with the way those beautiful eyes linger on the stars like a lover yearning to be touched, I bet it would have. Not that I'd take anyone with on our little adventures; that's something for just the three of us. But oh, to watch her catch fire, to watch her come undone, succumbing to a lover made of starlight and all that yearning. Or to one made of flesh and blood and hunger.
“It's showing a bit of promise, at least,” I answer, taking a step closer to her. That extra little spark in her eyes makes me want to reach out and touch, taste, brush my lips along her skin. Oops. Mmm, and it's been a while since the body touching mine was softened by curves instead of hard planes of muscle. I didn't miss the feel of silky soft skin in the moonlight until her grin turned a little wicked. “And getting more distracting by the moment,” I add, my voice going a little husky, deepening as my idle admiration kindles into attraction.
My eyelids lower, heavy with the first stirrings of hunger. My back arches just a little as I imagine the feel of her velvet-soft teal lips pressing into my skin. One step closer, narrowing the distance between our bodies until it would be so easy to brush against her. “And you? Finding anything that interests you down here?”
Just when you think that you're alright, I'm crawling out from the inside.
And inside you're burning with some secret yearning
There is nothing she would not give to walk even once amongst the stars, nothing that would stop her from doing so given half a chance. It is her greatest desire in life, the one thing she wishes for more than anything else in the universe: to be as one with the stars.
It is fortunate perhaps that her newest companion is loath to reveal her secrets, for they would be certain to intrigue the red and teal mare far more than is healthy. Indeed, there is little she would not do for such secrets.
But alas, she lives in ignorance. Though, in truth, it is likely for the best. They day she discovers the secrets to traversing the heavens is the day she leaves this earth for good. She would much rather die amongst her beloved stars than live eternally on this lackluster plane.
Still, there are a great number of wonderful things here. Beautiful and distracting things that will fill her days until the time comes. Wicked things that will fill her nights.
She has never been short on lovers. She finds the chase, the clever, provoking byplay, a highly entertaining sport. Of course, the downside of such activities is the inevitable pregnancy, a fate she has chosen to do without these last several years.
She had never before considered taking a female lover, but she finds the prospect intrigues her, piquing her desires in a way entirely unique yet timelessly familiar. Ryss’ voice echoes in her ears on a softly warm note, sending a tingle of reckless heat running along her spine. Lirren's blue lids slide briefly closed as she savors the sensation. When her silvery eyes open again, there is a wicked light filling those brilliant depths.
”Is it now?” she asks softly, the notes of her voice a humming purr of delight. She presses nearer, the gleam in her eyes bright in the pale light of the night sky. Overhead, those very stars seem to draw closer, twinkling around them in vibrant beauty as they press in while simultaneously shutting the world out.
The faintest hint of a smile teases Lirren's lips as she draws them over the satin skin of Ryss’ neck in an almost nonexistent caress. ”Oh yes,” she breathes in response to her companion's final question, warm breath washing across the blue of her flesh even as her lips trace gently down that long, slender arch.
Lirren
starlit daughter of joythief and carnage
My apologies for the atrocious wait. Apparently Lirren is feeling frisky though :|
