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08-07-2016, 07:54 PM
It's the simplest of love songs, Footsteps. Any other night, Caneo would smother the impulse brought on by context (moon, water, desert on every side) but tonight he aches with empathetic hurt, with worry and with rage. Tonight, he snaps to the noise, to the soft voice, with a razor's focus. The movement isn't so much hasty as it is precise; Caneo pivots, his head swinging up. Between his toes, the serpent tastes of the water and recoils, like a child pressing back against every insistence he throws at her. Too cold, she breathes in shivers slow thoughts, a heaviness pressing down against the back of his mind as, separately, Caneo stares into the dark. He makes no acknowledgement toward the snake save silent irritation, as he takes in the pale creature standing apart from them still. She is a unicorn. That isn't enough to settle his nerves. “Did we wake you up?” Caneo says, answering her question with a question. In the dark, his voice is sweet, almost as soft as the shadows. “I hope not.” He quiets as he gaze falls to the tiny shape between his front feet. Inside, he's seething. Inside, he's running his horn through the stranger's neck. But in reality, he's just looking at her, his expression no more threatening than it usually is — maybe even pleasant. The tip of his tail twitches once. Her second question rings in his ears. Caneo glances down at the snake. His tail hurts. His heart beats like a hammer against his ribs. His gaze shifts back to the mare. “You're a healer?” Did he see her at the herd meeting? He doesn't even remember. “I don't think we've met.” And now is not the time for introductions, he thinks, but his attention is on the snake, all on the snake, on the light at the edges of the water and the shadows crawling around them both. Home is supposed to be safe. One ear twitches to the noise of the creature behind the girl, and it's an unsettling sight, and it sets him further on edge. Hers? He needs more time — to think — to run. “I'm Caneo,” he says. Gesturing vaguely at the snake, he adds, “This is a friend of mine. She hurt herself the other day while she was playing around.” And it's true — true enough — if Caneo thinks of them as the same being, the same frantic heart beat pulsing through two bodies. He's repulsed by the thought of allowing anyone else near either body, but he can't deny the necessity of the situation. “Have you healed someone like her before?” Why can't Tandavi be here, instead? but it's all our hearts can take. |
@Sikeax
* violence & magic use always permitted *
Do not tag Caneo unless you are starting a new thread you would like me to see! Thank you!
