1. V

    Open That other Horizon

    He said yearn. And something inside twitched. Because there were layers beyond obligation. She didn't know how to answer immediately. Not in words. But she knew. So she reached past the drink and grabbed the collar of his coat. It wasn't a strong grip, especially for someone his size. But it...
  2. V

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    „You see what I've been dealing with?“ A shared look of mock horror. „Sass and starvation.“ But Jem had long since adapted to Vyn's nonsense, so he only shrugged and turned back to the pot. Lid lifted by sausage fingers of his – revealing their sausage kin, floating with tubers and more...
  3. V

    Open That other Horizon

    Whichever one she liked? A brow wanted to go up, but only lips did, at the corner. She already knew which man he was. She could be wise enough for both of them. „Entirely too long.“ It could've been any numbers of things he asked about. And the answer would've been much the same to most of...
  4. V

    Open That other Horizon

    „Smoke gets in your eye.“ Tone flat. A quiet, kind lie. There was a way out if he wanted one. She didn't look back either, simply passed the now shared drink to him like she'd once passed the bir. Only this time she didn't have to word the offer. Just held it there. Some things go down like...
  5. V

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    „Of course he's real.“ She huffed, breathless from the run. „No one would believe me if I made him up.“ Grin wide, teeth and joy. Her hand gripped his as she dragged him ever closer. Jem stepped forward. He was short for a Deva, maybe up to Vyn's shoulder. Still managed to look stern though...
  6. V

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    Snow crunched like sugar as she made her way down the slope. No more thinking or worrying. Just the speed of boots and shape by the fire. He was turning when she hit him – beginning to face the noise. The ladle came up in reflex. Swing became consideration. And then it slipped from stunned...
  7. V

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    Vyn blinked. And again. Let Xen mess with her scarf. Air remembered its bite. „Didn't think anyone...“ Voice surprised. „Didn't think we'd see him here.“ She didn't explain why it mattered. The Road didn't know how to wait. Couldn't. Not for anyone. But a man had. For Vyn. It was a happy...
  8. V

    Open That other Horizon

    The first thing that found Jens' arm was cloth. Fabric and the pressure behind it. Jem moved too quickly, too quietly, even for Vyn. Sometimes that scared her. The very idea that the man who made himself a walking jingle could walk with silence was unnatural. Jem looked up at Jens, pressure...
  9. V

    Open That other Horizon

    He said no more. Flute to his mouth. She tensed, but a moment. She could've stopped him. But no. One could not enjoy the flame fearing a match. So she stuck herself on the bench, like tar on deck, next to where he'd left. Took up the mug. Jem signed Halt? in question. She just drank. The flute...
  10. V

    Open That other Horizon

    „Most things play themselves“ Her voice quieter now, closer. „This fife hums. A bell rings in the wind. Even a drum'll thrum on its own if by the right fire.“ She glanced back at Jem, but he was sipping away. Content as witness. „But that's just noise.“ She looked back to Jens. „Doesn't mean...
  11. V

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    Not much of a village, really. Just a handful of roofs huddled together, slouched against the cold. Weed grown by time and accident. Below, dogs barked and chickens answered. The chickens weren't evil. Probably. Life, such as it was. The simplicity of it might've offered relief had her chest...
  12. V

    Private Wind in the Woods

    Vyn nodded. Why was she reassuring him? She was the one who needed it! She didn’t smile. This wasn’t that kind of weave. She moved away from the door awkwardly, her quarters feeling small, looking down her wet hands. Rain felt more like an echo of another day than something real drying on her...
  13. V

    Private Wind in the Woods

    She followed the crook of his finger to an open door. But nothing blocked the doorway. Still, each word of his nicked at her very bones. Patience and courage bled together as her face settled into something angrier. She knew the Wagon. Knew its ghost – cloth and flesh both. And she, of all...
  14. V

    Open That other Horizon

    Jem flexed his fingers as the taller man spoke. Digits moved around as if banishing a weatherache, joints creative in their stretch. His face shifted at Jens' words, but he didn't respond. He didn't need to. The reply came without much delay. „Of course there's a place for it.“ Vyn's voice rang...
  15. V

    Private All teeth

    Stayed low. Took all her courage not to bolt. Didn't even dare breathe too loud. Just watched the enormous rabbit hop forward like this was all normal. Like something hadn't taken the cook last winter. „You're.“ She offered, voice flat. „Very large.“ Voice careful, as if size was something she...
  16. V

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    Didn't flinch at the hand. And that surprised her. Vyn instead put her own over it and pressed it in place lightly, delaying the pullback. Wasn't sure why she did that. But she appreciated the weight. Something to keep her steady. Head focused, feet on the ground. She didn't ask more about Rat...
  17. V

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    „Rat was lucky.“ She kept her tone light. „To have a Jem.“ The glance over her shoulder cast Xen in a different light. Not the freezing half-starved creature she met in the snow, but something bigger. And then, softer still: „To have you.“ She didn't explain the name. Didn't need to. Just...
  18. V

    Private A Bad Place To Be

    „Sometimes the fly. Other times the soup.“ Didn't feel like a joke. Not fully. But she shrugged the distinction. Still hard to imagine herself the toad. You never had time to be the one stranded. Someone else always needed saving. Or Feeding. Or remembering. She followed Xen towards the creek...
  19. V

    Private There won't be a third

    Happy at the offer, Vyn scratched. Good girl. Yes, she was. Space between them disappeared as she worked her fingers, like wind, through the tangled beard. For all the rubs, Jem's quiet kept her in the moment. He was never much for talking. But it still felt wrong to speak for him. „Jem?“...
  20. V

    Private Wind in the Woods

    Vyn needed a moment. But there were never enough of them. She looked up at the boy, blinking her panic into anger, into whatever else she could get her hands on. “It’s Vyn.” Her eyes stayed on the track for a while. She didn’t look at Roki right away. Because she wasn’t sure whether his parents...
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