She woke under the strangest trees she'd ever seen, and thought that she must be dreaming. Or perhaps all that had come before was a dream, and this was her first time truly seeing reality.
Reverie blinked once, and looked for her daughter. She breathed out in relief to see her nestled at her side; safe, where she belonged. The past weeks were little more than a blur, and her heart ached to think of it, so she closed her eyes instead. The soothing rhythm of
@Blossom's heartbeat steadied her as she curled around her daughter. They were alone, the two of them, the way they'd started out. Something must have gone wrong, she thought.
Wherever Lestan was, he would find them if he could. And Reverie — well, she had a daughter to raise.
tags for ref!
Little
@Matteo was with
@Iseul, for now. As much as Boone already found himself loathing to part from him, he would not be far; no, no further than a howl's reach.
Even if the kid didn't want nothing to do with him, now. Which he honestly couldn't tell.
Today, the shore is where he lands. The grass coverage spreads thin until there is nothing but sand between his toes, and he all but winces at the texture of it. This wasn't no river, no creek; not even a sea, in the distance, but an
ocean. When he squints, he can see the waves, and—
Oh Jesus, Mary and Joseph, he was not alone.
A mother and daughter.
Instinct tells him to walk away before they can see him.
Were these two related to Colt? But even as he'd begun to turn, swivel on his heels, he could bring himself to go no further. He stares for a good long moment with soft eyes.
Hey,
his voice is damn near drowned by the roar of the water, so he shuffles closer, feet dragging.
you okay there?
They were not alone. Reverie tensed in a surge of protective instinct, turning to watch the stranger approach. His size did nothing to ease her, but his expression was soft and his words softer. After a moment, she relaxed, and let out a breath as she stood.
I...
She brushed some of the sand from her fur a little self-consciously. Her eyes were wide, a little hazy to match her stilted sense of reality. I think I'm lost.
Ears lowering now, voice little more than a whisper. Reverie glanced down at Blossom, uncertain.
Lost.
As he gets closer, he takes note of how disoriented she seems to be; sunken eyed, frail. No position for a mother to be in. The child curls at her flank, and his lip turns to a frown.
You're safe,
he puffs out a breath as he lowers his head, tail pressed against his heel. my name's Boone. I mean ya no harm. You're near the, uh, Hinterlands, but we're on the coast. There used to be a pack 'round here, just to the south of where we're standin'. Long gone now.
and he meant that as a reassurance.
Circling slowly to take a better look at her, if she'd allow, his brows come to a furrow. You from these parts, miss?
I used to be,
She said softly, finding her focus in bits and pieces as she studied the man, his unkempt fur, his kind dark eyes. What did he want from her? I lived with a pack called Saltshore, but then...
Her eyes filled with tears. Um, this is my daughter, Blossom,
Reverie brushed a paw over her soft ears, careful not to disturb her sleep. I'm Reverie.
She took in a careful breath and tried to dry her tears. Was it your pack? The one that's gone?
Her name is Reverie, and her daughter is Blossom.
She's a pretty thing, your l'il girl,
he motions with the tip of his nose to the blond babe. Where the hell was her father? What was with these kids and having no goddamn parents?
He notices the tears that well in the corners of soft golden eyes and he fights the urge to wipe them himself. Instead, he eases into a sit beside her, knuckles buried in the grit. They were, for a while,
his chest rises with a breathy laugh. It was safe to assume she knew nothing of the Isle, he thought. disbanded not long after I got here. I wasn't too fond of some of the members, anyway, though. S'alright.
He lapses into a calm silence briefly before he looks to her again; that pretty, tired face. You hungry, Reverie?
Reverie couldn't help but smile at that, her eyes finding her daughter again. She was still just as taken with her as she had been the first time she laid eyes on her. A little streak of sunlight with eyes like gems and a gilded heart; sometimes Reverie wondered what she had done to deserve such a blessing.
She listened as Boone told her about his former pack, her ears pulling back in sympathy. His story reminded her in a way of Swiftcurrent Creek. Reverie almost said as much, but stopped short when he asked if she was hungry. She could have questioned it. Should have, really, but there was an easy familiarity to this routine if not Boone himself — which only left the question of whether she could bring herself to let someone care for her again so soon.
But then, did she really have a choice?
Reverie nodded, her gratitude in her eyes, but found that she could not speak. And just like that, he became a part of her life. Maybe not forever; maybe just for today. Either way, it was comforting, and she needed that more than anything just now.
He left her with a soft hum and a crack of a smile before he set off in search of food. And it had not been long; perhaps twenty minutes passed before he weaved back to her through the cat-tails, a hare dangling from his jaws; tail in a sway up above his hind and blood pearled and dribbling from his chin.
Found 'im in 'is l'il burrow,
he snickers, placing the heap of tawny plush just at the tip of Reverie's toes. all for you.
He eases down in a bed of sand an arm's length away, forelegs draped one over the other and flank pressed into the warm earth. All the while, his eyes do not leave her, quietly examining; was she sick? Was she lost?
Or was she a liar?
And if she was, did it really matter all that much?
Where you from, Rev?
the personal questions are, decidedly, worth the trouble. His tone is light, ginger, as to not upset her further; eyes crinkled. It don't seem like these parts are all that familiar to you.
Reverie was alone with her thoughts while she waited. And she had never liked to be alone with herself, because
frankly...
Well. It didn't last long, at least. Her relief at Boone's return was so great that her tail stirred thoughtlessly in the sand behind her, flinging it everywhere for a few moments before Reverie realized and stopped. Her cheeks flushed.
Thank you,
She murmured, smiling to cover her embarrassment, thinking that it was funny how life worked out. What was she even doing here, with him? What was
he doing here?
Did it really matter all that much?
Well, Saltshore was...
She glanced east, then west.
I don't know. Nowhere close to here. Before that, I lived in the Rising Sun Valley.
Reverie let out a little sigh, realizing all at once how fiercely she longed for it. She missed Kvarsheim; she missed Bjarna's gentle touch and Gunnar's wisdom, and Tauris, oh —
And before that, a place called The Gilded Sea,
She finished quietly, and then it was her turn to question him again. Her eyes were more focused now, brighter with each passing moment and filled with curiosity.
Where are you going? Now that your pack is gone.
Something; somewhere, called Saltshore. Coastal, if he had to guess. And then a valley, and then—
Well shit, you've sure lived a lotta lives,
he cracks, a little look given to the girl at her hip as his lips part into a grin. you like travellin', then?
his head drifts down to rest atop his paws, although it all but flops to the ground between them, teeth clattering with a loud snap.
Where was he going?
Well.
I don't know, actually,
his ears twitch. I don't got a plan or nothin'. My plan was to live in the Isle, but, uh, y'know. Guess I shouldn't count my chickens 'fore they hatch.
As the pause comes to settle, he searches for her eyes. Pretty eyes, he thought; them long lashes and that sunkissed pelt you only saw in the northern girls back home. And he'd noticed it, the signs; the flutter of her tail, the warmth that speckled her cheeks.
Goddammit, he's a sucker.
Where're you headed?
A year ago she might have demurred, feigned ignorance; the naive girl who had first come to the Teekon Wilds was unfamiliar with the attentions of men, always reluctant to read into their kindness. But Reverie was not that girl anymore. She knew the glint in a man's eyes when he saw something he found beautiful. She knew that gentle lowering lilt to the voice, the air of eagerness.
She was a married woman. But Lestan was not here, and surely there was no harm in basking awhile under the warmth of new attention. Nothing more. Eventually she would be reunited with her husband, and Boone would fade into memory.
For now, her smile turned slightly coy. Well,
Her sunlit eyes flitted over his features intently. It's open for discussion. I do love to travel.
She was flirting with him.
Unless he'd gone positively out of his damn mind, he was being flirted with. This pretty thing had dropped down right from the heavens and entertained him and his rambles with niceties; and he saw it, really saw it, that little smile as her voice lilted.
If he were a worse man; shit, if he were a year younger, he would have coiled himself around her wrist as soon as she said hello. He'd allow himself to drown, search for safety in those flowerpetal eyes and those dainty arms and morph into whatever she saw fit to do with him. And surely; surely, things would fall apart as soon as they came together.
But he wasn't like that anymore, right? Or maybe he still was. He didn't know, and now, as he watches the flutter of her eyelashes as she roves across his shoulders, his chest, he doesn't care. This was dangerous, oh, so dangerous, and yet he welcomed it. He didn't have nowhere to be.
He couldn't be so sure about her yet, but did he need to be?
How 'bout you come with me to the mountains?
And just like that, he was hers.
Reverie quietly marveled at the feeling even as she broke into a soft, delighted giggle at his offer. The way he looked at her — as if she held the sun between her teeth and the stars gathered at her throat, and for a moment she felt as if she truly did. For a moment she felt like the only true thing in all the world.
And just like that, she was his. In some small way. I hate the mountains,
Reverie confessed, still laughing. I got lost there. And I never get lost! Well, except now, but - it's a long story, and it's all a little mad. No, it's - it's completely mad. Like traveling to the mountains with a man I just met.
But I - I think I'd like that,
She finished, a little shy now because she meant this. She glanced down at Blossom, and could only think of how desperately they both needed some semblance of stability.
We must be outta our damn minds, then,
he snickers along with her, the quiet, breathy kind. we don't gotta stay there. We got nothin' but time to figure all that out.
And it was; it was crazy, inviting this strange woman with a baby on an excursion, but the more he thought about it, he figured anyone from the Isle was long gone by now.
Matteo was with Iseul, and only the lord knew where they went, as much as it hurt his chest to think of leaving with no note. Did they even want him around? What was the other option? Find Colt?
His eyes catch the way Reverie's lip curls when she laughs, the curve of her eyes, the ridge of her chin; and the girl, the little girl, a swath of grey and gold; and decidedly, he'd be much better off with these two even if it left him penniless.
How 'bout we rest here for a bit, let you and this l'il bugger right here get your strength up,
he gestures to Blossom with a tilt of his nose, the skin above it wrinkled in a smirk; and then we'll head out?
Last for me, I'm so looking forward to writing more of these two <3
Outta our damn minds.
There was something terribly romantic about the notion. Reverie glanced shyly at Boone, studying him again, and this time she felt she truly saw him as he was.
If she was honest with herself, she didn't want to; easier to see him as a role filled in her life, the framework of a familiar routine, but he was more than that. A man with kind eyes and an honest voice, a man just as lost as she was and reaching just as desperately for the warmth sparking between them. Impulsively she reached out, pressing a paw against his with the faint hope that he would understand.
Sounds like a plan,
Reverie agreed softly, and under those words lurked everything she would not say: that whatever he saw in her, whatever he felt when their eyes met, she felt it too. It was real, and as long as he wanted it as much as she did, Reverie wouldn't flinch from this.
She wouldn't make the same mistakes again.