I think that you will catch me, and that's entirely part of the problem!
( confidence in your friends has never sounded as annoyed as it does right now. and to match it, there's a deep scowl on shionne's face. )
I am being calm!
( unfortunately for kisara, at no time has 'calm down' ever calmed anyone down... especially a worked-up renan. )
I told you already I can't use any of my magic in here, dream-whatever included! If I could don't you think I would have tried something like that already?! I guess your shield isn't the only dense thing around here.
( she really... is going to feel sheepish about this, soon... )
[...Wow. Even Kisara, with her near-infinite patience, is at her limit with that one, snapping back,]
Maybe if you tried thinking positively it wouldn't be such a-
[-Okay. Okay, hang on. They're getting way more heated than the situation deserves; it's annoying, yes, but it doesn't seem especially dangerous. They've gotten out of worse situations without being at one another's throats like this. She cuts herself and pauses, taking a deep breath. Think, think...]
This world and its magic is powered by emotions, right? So maybe the cage is so strong because we're feeling very, ah. Strong emotions. Can we try to calm down?
( there's a near-hiss at what seems like an asinine suggestion. somewhere in the back of shionne's mind, she's cringing violently at herself. but unfortunately for the both of them, the magic of the tree's influence drowned out the voice pleading for reason...
she doesn't reply, but her shoulders heave with a quickening breath, as she leans forward, hair falling into her face. )
You know what it's like, don't you? ( shionne's voice is low, coming through clenched teeth. ) To feel trapped? Like you have no real control over everything happening around you? So how can you...
( for now, her anger seems to be simmering at least... kisara may notice that the bars do indeed seem to limpen. hmm. )
[Kisara is quiet for a moment, and when she speaks again her voice is calmer still. She feels the bars begin to give beneath her hand, and she takes it as a good sign to keep going.]
Of course I know. [How could she not? Her entire childhood was spent in slavery under the thumb of a lord far more cruel than Dohalim could ever be. She wasn't in a cage but between the stone in her hand and the Renan guards at every gate - not to mention zeugles in the wild and no safer realm towards which to escape - she may as well have been chained in place. She understands completely.] But it's temporary, I promise. We're here for you, and we'll get you home. Just stay with me, okay? And I'll stay with you.
( the lump in her throat hardens, making it harder to swallow, as a whimper sounds from her corner of the cage. kisara's sweet words of understanding keep her from lashing out again, but shionne's hands remained clenched tightly at her sides, trembling. )
You say that so easily... knowing how much it hurts?
( she wants to believe it, too. but part of her has never allowed her to accept even the possibility that someone, let alone several people, would even want to stay with her... the bars sag again, looking like they'll give way. )
I never meant to— I'm not even sure I deserve something like...
( she shakes her head, as the crackling of astral energy begins to come to life slowly around her. )
Don't say things like that. [Kisara will gently cut her off before she can get too far into that thought.] You deserve to be happy too, Shionne. To have family and friends. We wouldn't stand by you if we didn't believe that. Trust in that, if you can't trust yourself right now.
[Carefully, she starts trying to pry open the bars now that they're weakening, to create a space to bring Shionne up and out of the cage. When enough space has been made, she holds on to the branch with one hand, and the other, she stretches out to her friend.]
( trust in that... trust in the others, in alphen... in kisara, who was standing before her right now, hand outstretched towards her. in all her life, how many times could shionne claim that someone extended a hand towards her like that, without fear? without cowering? without hesitation in the face of the unbearable pain it was sure to cause...?
and now, that the bars around her had gone slack, the reality of what everything that she had said weighed down on her. anchored her feet in place, causing her to have to drag them slowly, one foot after the other... as she once again dropped her gaze, unable to maintain eye contact for a different reason... )
Ki— Kisara...
( gradually, the pace of her feet started to pick up, until the last few steps were closed in with a hurried run, as she launched herself towards the guardswoman, reaching for that hand. and when she finally looked up, tears had started to crest in her eyes... )
[It's not as if she's ignorant to what's coming; of course not, she'd witnessed it enough times, the threat of pain even in approaching Shionne, the way the thorns tear against Alphen's skin when he has to do it or forgets himself. But she's no stranger to pain, growing up the way she did, choosing the warrior's life she leads. And above all else, she'll never hesitate to carry more pain if it's necessary to protect and save her friends.
So she grits her teeth, bracing herself, but she doesn't hesitate in taking Shionne's hand and pulling her out of the cage, drawing her up to stable ground and freedom. She doesn't let go, and won't let go until her friend is steady on her feet again.]
It's... okay. You're okay now, Shionne.
[It hurts. It hurts so much, and that helps her to understand some of the guilt and loneliness that Shionne must be carrying around. If she had this burden, she'd want to push others away as well, for fear of harming those she cared about. Still- if Alphen can do this even after experiencing pain for the first time he can remember, push through it out of love, she'd never forgive herself for failing to do the same. Shionne deserves to know it isn't just Alphen who cares about her.]
( shionne's attention centres towards several of the offending flowers, suddenly trying to listen a lot more intently to the words they're starting to come up with. )
What makes it romantic...?
( she's wondering it aloud as much as she wants to hear his opinion on the matter, it seems. and the longer she listens, the more pink begins to colour the contour of her ears, as her face remains turned. )
I guess it... isn't so bad to have to listen to, if they're going to be that loud about it.
[ If there is any romantic bone metal gear in his metallic body, it's in desperate need of some fine-tuning. Somnus continues with their walk.
This isn't a song he knows, but the words the flowers sing imply that the lovers of the song are, well, very much enamored. It has a folkish tune, telling a story not unlike that of the the star-crossed lovers before.
...He does seem to notice her discomfort, however. ] ...Perhaps we should wander elsewhere.
[ And now the flowers are starting to sing about going somewhere private and alone. OOh oooh~ scandalous etc ]
( she moves a bit stiffly, maybe struggling a bit to keep her thoughts pure, no thanks to the whimsical lyrics that surround them as they move on... to the next fork in the road. )
You pick this time.
( the direction, she means. and while she waits for him to make a selection, shionne glanced somewhere off to the side again. )
You've... always been really supportive in the time I've known you, Somnus. Do you have any— you know... experience with... relationships?
( did suits of armour have feelings? alphen's were always so intense, but there was a man hidden underneath it. somnus on the other hand... )
[ He opts to take them down a diverging path, that of one shaded by blossoming willows. Tiny, white petals flutter like the first snow of winter around them, but unlike ice, the blossoms linger upon their path, waking in the wind.
...And it continues like this as they walk. The quietness of spring around them echoes after her question, and perhaps, just perhaps it makes his extended silence in response more bearable.
It takes Somnus quite some time to answer, and when he does, it's with overwhelming reticence, the reluctance of divulging something long past-- or in this case, long gone. ]
I had a queen.
[ At the same time, it has been, perhaps, millennia since he's ever spoken of her. ]
( the branches of the willow drown out the lingering song as they leave that path behind them, the falling petals instead sticking in her hair as they continue along. it's not that she minds the silence that draws in around them, but there is a quick flick of her blue eyes in his direction, right about the time he finally answered.
her brow hoists upwards, quiet herself for a moment, before finally coming up with a gentle, but prodding: )
[ His helm remains facing forward as they walk, strides steady as he speaks. ]
We have both since passed.
[ He had made her a widow, but now he is very much a widower himself. There is something both respectful and distant in the way he speaks of her, as if while attached to the memory, it is simultaneously untouchable for how long ago it had been. Remnants remain enough that a deeper sort of emotion reverbs within his voice, but not so much as to break the steel within. ]
You ask of our relationship. It was something… cherished.
( her gaze drops, hearing that, lingering on the ground and the petals that gently settle there, at his feet. her ears strain to try and make sense of the slight change in cadence the once-king uses... but its lost on her otherwise emotionally stunted senses.
she chalks it up to grief, giving a sympathetic, slow nod. )
I'm sorry. I— don't imagine there's easy about losing someone you cherish. Or being lost to them...
( she has no experience herself, but... it just so happens to be the fear she's wrestling with these days. )
( she understands, but— doesn't at the same time. how many years would have to pass to dampen the pain that losing someone you cherished? how could the void that they left ever heal over...? maybe this was why... it was simpler to just cut yourself off from the world, wholesale... )
Time heals all wounds, is that it? Only... they never tell you about the scars it leaves behind.
[ The cautions of adoration and admiration can be found within both songs and stories that tell of loss or tragedy. It is, of course, one thing to hear of such things than to experience it. The flowers have yet to sing of the great pains of losing a loved one can cause; nevertheless, Somnus turns his helm in her direction.
She speaks of potential scars.
He speaks with his hollow voice clad in steel despite the romanticism of the topic: ]
In matters of the heart, one prays for mercy. [ The burden upon his words reflects in a more serious tone as if cautioning her. No one is without scars, and he comments not on his own or whatever she may bear, herself. ] But know this, O Maiden: if one loves, then they are worth loving regardless.
( shionne keeps her gaze down, knowing he's entirely to blame for that. it isn't easy for her to think this way but, with alphen... somehow that did give her the courage to want to try, too. )
And I can't say I'm not— worried about you, either. I just want to know that you'll remember to take care of yourself, too...
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
@sermom
( confidence in your friends has never sounded as annoyed as it does right now. and to match it, there's a deep scowl on shionne's face. )
I am being calm!
( unfortunately for kisara, at no time has 'calm down' ever calmed anyone down... especially a worked-up renan. )
I told you already I can't use any of my magic in here, dream-whatever included! If I could don't you think I would have tried something like that already?! I guess your shield isn't the only dense thing around here.
( she really... is going to feel sheepish about this, soon... )
no subject
Maybe if you tried thinking positively it wouldn't be such a-
[-Okay. Okay, hang on. They're getting way more heated than the situation deserves; it's annoying, yes, but it doesn't seem especially dangerous. They've gotten out of worse situations without being at one another's throats like this. She cuts herself and pauses, taking a deep breath. Think, think...]
This world and its magic is powered by emotions, right? So maybe the cage is so strong because we're feeling very, ah. Strong emotions. Can we try to calm down?
no subject
somewhere in the back of shionne's mind, she's cringing violently at herself. but unfortunately for the both of them, the magic of the tree's influence drowned out the voice pleading for reason...
she doesn't reply, but her shoulders heave with a quickening breath, as she leans forward, hair falling into her face. )
You know what it's like, don't you? ( shionne's voice is low, coming through clenched teeth. ) To feel trapped? Like you have no real control over everything happening around you? So how can you...
( for now, her anger seems to be simmering at least...
kisara may notice that the bars do indeed seem to limpen. hmm. )
no subject
Of course I know. [How could she not? Her entire childhood was spent in slavery under the thumb of a lord far more cruel than Dohalim could ever be. She wasn't in a cage but between the stone in her hand and the Renan guards at every gate - not to mention zeugles in the wild and no safer realm towards which to escape - she may as well have been chained in place. She understands completely.] But it's temporary, I promise. We're here for you, and we'll get you home. Just stay with me, okay? And I'll stay with you.
no subject
You say that so easily... knowing how much it hurts?
( she wants to believe it, too. but part of her has never allowed her to accept even the possibility that someone, let alone several people, would even want to stay with her...
the bars sag again, looking like they'll give way. )
I never meant to— I'm not even sure I deserve something like...
( she shakes her head, as the crackling of astral energy begins to come to life slowly around her. )
no subject
[Carefully, she starts trying to pry open the bars now that they're weakening, to create a space to bring Shionne up and out of the cage. When enough space has been made, she holds on to the branch with one hand, and the other, she stretches out to her friend.]
no subject
in all her life, how many times could shionne claim that someone extended a hand towards her like that, without fear? without cowering? without hesitation in the face of the unbearable pain it was sure to cause...?
and now, that the bars around her had gone slack, the reality of what everything that she had said weighed down on her. anchored her feet in place, causing her to have to drag them slowly, one foot after the other... as she once again dropped her gaze, unable to maintain eye contact for a different reason... )
Ki— Kisara...
( gradually, the pace of her feet started to pick up, until the last few steps were closed in with a hurried run, as she launched herself towards the guardswoman, reaching for that hand. and when she finally looked up, tears had started to crest in her eyes... )
I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!
no subject
So she grits her teeth, bracing herself, but she doesn't hesitate in taking Shionne's hand and pulling her out of the cage, drawing her up to stable ground and freedom. She doesn't let go, and won't let go until her friend is steady on her feet again.]
It's... okay. You're okay now, Shionne.
[It hurts. It hurts so much, and that helps her to understand some of the guilt and loneliness that Shionne must be carrying around. If she had this burden, she'd want to push others away as well, for fear of harming those she cared about. Still- if Alphen can do this even after experiencing pain for the first time he can remember, push through it out of love, she'd never forgive herself for failing to do the same. Shionne deserves to know it isn't just Alphen who cares about her.]
@luciing
( shionne's attention centres towards several of the offending flowers, suddenly trying to listen a lot more intently to the words they're starting to come up with. )
What makes it romantic...?
( she's wondering it aloud as much as she wants to hear his opinion on the matter, it seems. and the longer she listens, the more pink begins to colour the contour of her ears, as her face remains turned. )
I guess it... isn't so bad to have to listen to, if they're going to be that loud about it.
no subject
bonemetal gear in his metallic body, it's in desperate need of some fine-tuning. Somnus continues with their walk.This isn't a song he knows, but the words the flowers sing imply that the lovers of the song are, well, very much enamored. It has a folkish tune, telling a story not unlike that of the the star-crossed lovers before.
...He does seem to notice her discomfort, however. ] ...Perhaps we should wander elsewhere.
[ And now the flowers are starting to sing about going somewhere private and alone. OOh oooh~ scandalous etc ]
no subject
You pick this time.
( the direction, she means.
and while she waits for him to make a selection, shionne glanced somewhere off to the side again. )
You've... always been really supportive in the time I've known you, Somnus. Do you have any— you know... experience with... relationships?
( did suits of armour have feelings?
alphen's were always so intense, but there was a man hidden underneath it. somnus on the other hand... )
no subject
...And it continues like this as they walk. The quietness of spring around them echoes after her question, and perhaps, just perhaps it makes his extended silence in response more bearable.
It takes Somnus quite some time to answer, and when he does, it's with overwhelming reticence, the reluctance of divulging something long past-- or in this case, long gone. ]
I had a queen.
[ At the same time, it has been, perhaps, millennia since he's ever spoken of her. ]
no subject
it's not that she minds the silence that draws in around them, but there is a quick flick of her blue eyes in his direction, right about the time he finally answered.
her brow hoists upwards, quiet herself for a moment, before finally coming up with a gentle, but prodding: )
Had...?
no subject
We have both since passed.
[ He had made her a widow, but now he is very much a widower himself. There is something both respectful and distant in the way he speaks of her, as if while attached to the memory, it is simultaneously untouchable for how long ago it had been. Remnants remain enough that a deeper sort of emotion reverbs within his voice, but not so much as to break the steel within. ]
You ask of our relationship. It was something… cherished.
no subject
she chalks it up to grief, giving a sympathetic, slow nod. )
I'm sorry. I— don't imagine there's easy about losing someone you cherish. Or being lost to them...
( she has no experience herself, but... it just so happens to be the fear she's wrestling with these days. )
no subject
One may never know when the other may pass.
[ Answering her question hadn’t been him seeing sympathy, but rather to emphasize the importance of cherishing a loved one. ]
However, the passage of time is a salve.
no subject
( she understands, but— doesn't at the same time.
how many years would have to pass to dampen the pain that losing someone you cherished? how could the void that they left ever heal over...?
maybe this was why... it was simpler to just cut yourself off from the world, wholesale... )
Time heals all wounds, is that it? Only... they never tell you about the scars it leaves behind.
no subject
She speaks of potential scars.
He speaks with his hollow voice clad in steel despite the romanticism of the topic: ]
In matters of the heart, one prays for mercy. [ The burden upon his words reflects in a more serious tone as if cautioning her. No one is without scars, and he comments not on his own or whatever she may bear, herself. ] But know this, O Maiden: if one loves, then they are worth loving regardless.
@refire
( shionne keeps her gaze down, knowing he's entirely to blame for that.
it isn't easy for her to think this way but, with alphen... somehow that did give her the courage to want to try, too. )
And I can't say I'm not— worried about you, either. I just want to know that you'll remember to take care of yourself, too...