Maea
It's not a demon at your door
Casting a sweeping look over the messy table with all its wealth of information, she returned lavender eyes upon the young woman, trying to gauge how much to tell her. Sensitive to the risk of being brushed off as boring and silly, she also bled from the accusation of holding things back. There was an impulse now to overshare instead, and angry frustration at being stuck like this; not knowing what to tell whom at which point in time.
"I'm studying animal behaviour," she replied eventually, settling for the obvious while choking on the reasons for the interest. "What they eat, how they live, why they act like they do..." Following Nova's interest towards a depiction of a tide jaguar, she recalled seeing her shift into one.
The book the girl slapped onto the table was one Maea had read before. Amused by the fierce loyalty Safrin's daughter displayed, it stung her chest with envy. When had she stopped being so certain of the goodness of the gods? Even now, though she didn't exactly fight the connection to Dygra, it was not a blind devotion and it did not exclude the other gods from her mind. Perhaps it was simply age that made her less prone to blind idolization. Or maybe it was the many times she'd seen what it did to others, of trials and challenges and sheer manipulation. But how did she tell a bright girl that what she would find in the book was a far less generous view of Safrin than the loving, wonderful mother the goddess no doubt could be? More nuanced by far, in addition to the protective, loving healer and star-spangled Herald of Life, it also spoke of her as fickle, jealous and manipulative.
"Mh, I see. Perhaps you would like to keep me company while we read? If you have any questions afterwards, I can try to answer them." With emphasis on try. Maea had a feeling she was the last person who should talk about understanding. The best she could offer might be sympathy.
"I'm studying animal behaviour," she replied eventually, settling for the obvious while choking on the reasons for the interest. "What they eat, how they live, why they act like they do..." Following Nova's interest towards a depiction of a tide jaguar, she recalled seeing her shift into one.
The book the girl slapped onto the table was one Maea had read before. Amused by the fierce loyalty Safrin's daughter displayed, it stung her chest with envy. When had she stopped being so certain of the goodness of the gods? Even now, though she didn't exactly fight the connection to Dygra, it was not a blind devotion and it did not exclude the other gods from her mind. Perhaps it was simply age that made her less prone to blind idolization. Or maybe it was the many times she'd seen what it did to others, of trials and challenges and sheer manipulation. But how did she tell a bright girl that what she would find in the book was a far less generous view of Safrin than the loving, wonderful mother the goddess no doubt could be? More nuanced by far, in addition to the protective, loving healer and star-spangled Herald of Life, it also spoke of her as fickle, jealous and manipulative.
"Mh, I see. Perhaps you would like to keep me company while we read? If you have any questions afterwards, I can try to answer them." With emphasis on try. Maea had a feeling she was the last person who should talk about understanding. The best she could offer might be sympathy.
It's just your shadow on the floor
