i see now i made a mess

KIADA

and i'm fed up with little deaths

The cigarette being offered to her is a hint of a surprise, unsure when the last time she’d tried it was (or if she ever had), but the temptation far outweighs any worries about it. Her delicate fingers pluck the cigarette from his own and she takes a pull from it before handing it back, immediately breaking into a slight coughing fit that shifts into a surprised laugh, one that reverberates from the maze that surrounds them.

She gives it one last look before her gaze lifts toward Morgen. “Thanks.” For the first try of one and a cementing fact of why she hadn’t tried one in the first place. But the burn to her throat is something she relishes in, proved by the smile that blooms across her face even as the conversation shifts more dour.

Her shoulder shrugs and she looks around as they remain in the maze, in the middle of nowhere, out of sight out of mind as it were. “Hard these days.” She finishes the sentence for him, her tail waving slightly before it wraps around her leg and her arms fold across her chest. “I haven’t kept in touch well myself, so. Perhaps it’s mutual.” A soft hum slips from her lips as she tilts her head. “How’d you get into wrangling unicorns? Was it a family business or did you just decide one day to say ‘fuck it I’m going to hang out with unicorns all day for the rest of my life’?”

pretend i'm free of consequences

totally sniped from odd ilu

I have my freedom but I don't have much time

Snorting under his breath but otherwise making no attempt to hide his amusement, the wrangler grins. "Yeah, it's like that when you first start out. Though if you pick up the habit, you'll be smokin' with the best of 'em in no time." This was just to say that she wouldn't be coughing anymore.

Though it's a rather heavy topic, Morgen's laugh is surprisingly bright as he nods in immediate agreement. "Ain't that the gods damned truth." Glancing at Kiada, his eyes grow a touch distant yet his gaze is still sharp and focused on her, specifically the shape the moonlight carves against her cheek. "That's a real pretty way of sayin' it." He mumbles, sounding both awed and bashful at the same time.

Huffing out a dry laugh, Morgen reaches one hand around to rub at the back of his neck. "Bit of both I guess. My momma had a herd. Ran 'em with me in her belly so I guess you could say I been doin' it my whole life. Seemed a good enough thing to do as anything else, so when she passed on I kept at it." He chuckles. "They can be a bunch of assholes when they want, but they never come near what humans are capable of, so fuck it I'm gonna hang out with unicorns ain't a bad way of sayin' it either."

KIADA

and i'm fed up with little deaths

There’s a playful roll of her eyes at his advice, though she is charmed by it – taking it easily to heart as she nods. “Noted.” Comes the soft admission, before the conversation shifts towards darker topics and Morgen’s laugh is one that reflects on the twitch of her face, the edges of her lips that quirk with amusement to hear it.

And what she doesn’t expect is the way that he seems to grow somewhat distant, the bashful tone to his voice isn’t one she’s heard in some time, and she can’t help but to let it reflect in her as well as she looks him up and down before away toward the hedges to try and see if she can still scout a way out of here. “I suppose it is.” She admits, equally just as soft as before, even if she’s just trying to cover up her own little show of tenderness – as much as one can be, covered in blood as she is.

He answers her question of his history, though, and her iceberg gaze returns to him, smiling brightly for a moment until he mentions that his mother passed – something they both had in common, but she hopes that Morgen’s mother hadn’t died as terrible of a death as her own had. “That’s bittersweet in a way. Seems to me like you’re doing a good job of keeping up the family business, though.” She admits, before she half turns from him again and takes a few steps toward another bundle of brush. “I never really had a family business. I’m an Outlander, though, so I suppose that’s to be expected.” She reaches out to touch one of the leaves of the hedges, relishing for a moment that she could actually feel it, before she continues. “This is the third world I’ve gotten sucked into.” Not exactly a great way to move up a business ladder of some long standing family tradition.

pretend i'm free of consequences

totally sniped from odd ilu

I have my freedom but I don't have much time

"I guess." It's a rather humble sort of answer that has the wrangler shrugging his shoulders. "I jus' try to do right by 'em and everything else just sort of works out." Morgen continues. If there is supposed to be honour in carrying on the family business, Morgen isn't the type to have noticed.

"Oh?" Being an outlander was coming to be as rare as being an ascended was, and though Morgen had no idea what that sort of uniqueness felt like, it still made his bones feel heavy at the mere though. "Third?" The quiet and almost introspective expression he'd been wearing now suddenly breaks as he stares at Kiada with an unfettered look of admiration and surprise. "Well hot damn."

Trying and failing to come up with something immediately witty to say in response, the wrangler just huffs a quiet and disbelieving breath as he runs a hand up the side of his cheek.

"Outta the three, which one you like best so far?"

KIADA

and i'm fed up with little deaths

She’s glad that it works out. Mostly given the fact that she imagines pissing off herds of unicorns is certainly how one gets on some kind of shit list. But that’s neither here nor there. It could be her life, dropping into three different worlds and somehow managing to piss off the gods in every single one of them.

At least he’s surprised and interested by it. It’s enough that she turns back toward him with a bright smile, a twist to her lips that edges it towards a small smirk of allure. “Third.” She repeats softly, until his question causes her to pause and she thinks pretty hard on it. What was her favorite? The first one had the nostalgia of being her home, but it was also tainted with her father and mother and all the other bullshit. The second one was out to kill her at every turn. And this one? Well, she had a mixture of the first two worlds all combined.

So she puffs out a soft sigh, taking a few steps to close the slight distance between them. “Even though this one succeeded in killing me, I’d have to say it’s my favorite.” Then, tilting her head, she reaches up to pull her dark hair over her left shoulder, away from the right side of her neck. “I got this when I went from the first world to the second.” The large, gnarled X etched into her neck as if it had been carved out sat there.

pretend i'm free of consequences

totally sniped from odd ilu