(SE) tame the wilds

eyes can't shine unless there's something burning bright behind

Aurelia's surprised by his stubborn, deepening silence in answer to her prying question. She almost laughs, a wry smile forming at the edges of her lips, but she manages not to. As off-putting as he seems to be, he just doesn't deter her in the way he might want to.. Or if he doesn't necessarily want to, it doesn't deter her the way it might deter others. In fact, she's probably quite used to his type of person? The people she often socialized with in her world were gruff, too. Other hunters that had seen more shit than she ever had in her comparably short time in the field. It showed in the way they carried themselves, in the scars that shredded over their sun-damaged skin and distinctly guarded expressions. Yeah, Deimos is a lot like that.

So it's for that reason, for the reason that she's more used to this than anything, that she's able to shrug it off as well.

She's pleasantly surprised, though, when he watches her lackluster presentation of her air magic. If anything, she expected him to keep moving, to ignore her shenanigans and further his investigations of this new part of the world. So when he actually grants her a response, and it's a good one, she feels a spark of inspiration.

A genuine smile, one not marked by sarcastic wit or overenthusiastic merit, softens her expression after she listens to his unexpected advice.

"You have a lot of powers under your belt, don't you?" She asks, impressed. "Well... if you have the time, maybe we could head back to Torchline, find somewhere more... spacious? I'd be real grateful for some help with... you know, learning more about what I can or can't do." Milo's help had been monumental already, and she enjoyed training with him. (Perhaps a bit too much.) But maybe someone with more advanced magic and longer experience with it could give her a few pointers? It couldn't hurt, after all.

"I bet I can beat you there," she offers in a sly challenge, hoping it will dampen any reservations he has on leaving.

Aurelia

this is the reckoning

His impassivity and stoicism had ensured plenty stayed away in Helovia. His magic likely had its own hand in the matters too – but it’d been far more difficult to maintain any semblance of friendships beyond Rexanna, Hotaru, or Kiada – those he considered family – in the regions where he orchestrated war and demolition. Caido had an air of acceptance that felt impervious and hard for him to fathom, once so used to being relatively ignored, avoided, or intimidating the rest of the world. Sometimes that was exactly what he wanted. Often though, he merely appreciated the world’s patience, in permitting him to find ground that didn’t always erode under his feet.

She still didn’t back away, and instead continued in the consistent trend of hoping for education, sagacity, wisdom, and training. The beast stifled a sigh, glancing upward, towards Belial, and then sidelong, at the unicorn. There only appeared to be the sweeping grounds of greenery here, at least for now, and it would probably be best to leave before something else discovered them. He was still half-tempted to say no, to instill some boundaries on a sovereignty that still asked a lot of him with very little in return. But he was also a General, and understood the measures in which many yearned to understand. Deimos had been the same, and it still persisted in the notches of his mind, in the bellows of his soul. “Fine,” he obliged, shaking his head, as if it were a mistake.

But then he snorted at the goading, at the challenge, and it was as if she knew exactly how to read him in that moment.

The Sword hated to be outdone.

“Doubtful,” came on a snicker, on a grin, before shifting entirely. His companions responded to the conforming paws and the hellhound expanse with dual notations of speed – his muscles bunched, coiled, in canine impact, before hastening off in remarkable, swift, quiet interludes – leaving enough impact in the land for her to follow the path. Sights and smells would instill the familiar route back to Torchline.

{FIN}

DEIMOS

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