cover your crystal eyes
She might have entertained teaching the man a lesson had the sun not parted and landed on her fiancé’s face, bringing out the blonde in his hair and the cinnamon freckles across his nose. They’d been darkening slowly with the change of the season, but Hotaru would never stop lamenting the fact they would never be so dark and prominent as on Torchline’s shores. He is handsome, alive, and at her side. Foolish merchants and tiny transgressions can’t hold a candle to that, can’t possibly tear her attention away. Maybe that’s why she has to blink and shake her head to dispel the lovestruck expression from her face - and the accompanying fog in her brain - in order to muster up some sort of meaningful reply.
“Trying too hard is sort of your calling card hart koning.” Affectionately said from between smiling lips that hold a subtle curl of teasing to their edges, she rises on her toes to kiss his jaw. “It’s endearing, don’t worry.” A virtue Rae of all the old gods may not assign worth to - and not without reason - but one most other deities would covet in their worshippers.
The certainty of the wording - and perhaps some bleed over from Sunjata of how he’d felt hearing it in the moment - makes her stand straighter as her expression defaults into a placid, beautiful smile. A perfect, habitual disguise as she works through her unease. It passes smoothly under the seller’s radar as she places her own order for sashimi in hand-rolled seaweed, feline urges craving raw fish but human hands enforcing a portable treat. They sidle to the side so those behind them can order, allowing them a moment of privacy as they wait for their order. “I don’t like the ominous conviction of that wording. Surely if any of the gods were prophetic all…this wouldn’t have happened?” Her hand tightens slightly around his, clearly meaning the Family. Much as she’d love to pin the failure on Safrin alone, she doubts the pantheon of old gods wouldn’t have come together to share such news if they’d had an inkling of what was to come. Not that Rae - or Frey - had seemed all that bothered by the invasive species in their midst, so would they have even bothered to share it if they had?
Looking up at him, hair shifting like sunlight through water as it sways behind her, Hotaru smiles bravely through the sudden jolt of concern. “I met one of their demigods a long time ago who was incredibly literal. Maybe we’re overthinking it. Surely you will be late again - to dinner, perhaps.” Her grin is just shy of too-sharp as she tilts her head in a predatory manner. “Just not dinner with me.”
“Trying too hard is sort of your calling card hart koning.” Affectionately said from between smiling lips that hold a subtle curl of teasing to their edges, she rises on her toes to kiss his jaw. “It’s endearing, don’t worry.” A virtue Rae of all the old gods may not assign worth to - and not without reason - but one most other deities would covet in their worshippers.
The certainty of the wording - and perhaps some bleed over from Sunjata of how he’d felt hearing it in the moment - makes her stand straighter as her expression defaults into a placid, beautiful smile. A perfect, habitual disguise as she works through her unease. It passes smoothly under the seller’s radar as she places her own order for sashimi in hand-rolled seaweed, feline urges craving raw fish but human hands enforcing a portable treat. They sidle to the side so those behind them can order, allowing them a moment of privacy as they wait for their order. “I don’t like the ominous conviction of that wording. Surely if any of the gods were prophetic all…this wouldn’t have happened?” Her hand tightens slightly around his, clearly meaning the Family. Much as she’d love to pin the failure on Safrin alone, she doubts the pantheon of old gods wouldn’t have come together to share such news if they’d had an inkling of what was to come. Not that Rae - or Frey - had seemed all that bothered by the invasive species in their midst, so would they have even bothered to share it if they had?
Looking up at him, hair shifting like sunlight through water as it sways behind her, Hotaru smiles bravely through the sudden jolt of concern. “I met one of their demigods a long time ago who was incredibly literal. Maybe we’re overthinking it. Surely you will be late again - to dinner, perhaps.” Her grin is just shy of too-sharp as she tilts her head in a predatory manner. “Just not dinner with me.”
AND LET YOUR COLORS BLEED AND BLEND WITH MINE
Hotaru
