stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires
Rory liked horses.
Like, he lived for horses, and he spoke their language almost effortlessly, and he always had time for forehead scratches and ear scratches and
this was not a horse
Of course it was a horse: it had the body of a horse. But it wasn't a natural horse. There was just something, making it seem more Attuned than animal, and for some reason it was lipping at his bandages. Rory watched it, perplexed and a little offended that it just came up to him and stuck its nose into his bubble and started undoing his bandages.
Like, woah pony, you could say hi first?
That's where the not-quite-animal bit came in. It was like the spirit of something else shoved into a horse body, and it was definitely uncanny valley for him. He almost shoved the inquisitive nose away, but Remi seemed to think it was perfectly normal for his pet unicorn to a, be in a medical ward and b, undo Rory's bandages.
He was also slightly, slightly furious that this horse was indoors while his were not.
Not like he could feed them in here. They were better off out there, whatever their odds were.
But it ate at him.
Both things: figuratively and literally, as the unicorn was now nuzzling his hair. And... Rory blinked. It was Isla? What the hell did he mean, it was Isla? Had he named his pet unicorn Isla? Why the fuck would he do that? Or did he mean it literally, that this pony was Isla? "It is Isla," Rory repeated, as if Remi had just said the most unconvincing thing in the world.
But their world was a pretty wild place. He had seen it do pretty wild things. Why not turn a fully capable medic into a unicorn while at it?
"No, I'm not alright," he said, drawing his brows together and staring at the dark horse. "There's a weird unicorn undoing my bandages and looking critically at me and it's creeping me out. How did Isla become a horse? What is going on here?"
He took a deep breath.
This was why you didn't go out during Long Night. He had nearly died, Amalia had nearly died, and Isla had become a fucking pony.
Like, he lived for horses, and he spoke their language almost effortlessly, and he always had time for forehead scratches and ear scratches and
this was not a horse
Of course it was a horse: it had the body of a horse. But it wasn't a natural horse. There was just something, making it seem more Attuned than animal, and for some reason it was lipping at his bandages. Rory watched it, perplexed and a little offended that it just came up to him and stuck its nose into his bubble and started undoing his bandages.
Like, woah pony, you could say hi first?
That's where the not-quite-animal bit came in. It was like the spirit of something else shoved into a horse body, and it was definitely uncanny valley for him. He almost shoved the inquisitive nose away, but Remi seemed to think it was perfectly normal for his pet unicorn to a, be in a medical ward and b, undo Rory's bandages.
He was also slightly, slightly furious that this horse was indoors while his were not.
Not like he could feed them in here. They were better off out there, whatever their odds were.
But it ate at him.
Both things: figuratively and literally, as the unicorn was now nuzzling his hair. And... Rory blinked. It was Isla? What the hell did he mean, it was Isla? Had he named his pet unicorn Isla? Why the fuck would he do that? Or did he mean it literally, that this pony was Isla? "It is Isla," Rory repeated, as if Remi had just said the most unconvincing thing in the world.
But their world was a pretty wild place. He had seen it do pretty wild things. Why not turn a fully capable medic into a unicorn while at it?
"No, I'm not alright," he said, drawing his brows together and staring at the dark horse. "There's a weird unicorn undoing my bandages and looking critically at me and it's creeping me out. How did Isla become a horse? What is going on here?"
He took a deep breath.
This was why you didn't go out during Long Night. He had nearly died, Amalia had nearly died, and Isla had become a fucking pony.
