Rising Sun Valley You've got me seeing stars, brighter than ever

This can wait or be changed to all welcome if you want, I know they already have a private thread but I had muse for this <3

The sun fell behind the horizon as she traveled, and was rising again by the time she neared Swiftcurrent Creek. The morning chill manifested as a faint white haze hanging over everything, as if the clouds had heard her speaking of them and descended. Even the sun was fractured and blurry, nothing more than a bloom of faint blue light. It was a gentle fog, not enough to hinder her travels, but the horizon was obscured.
Maybe it was too early to call on @Lestan. She turned to idle wandering, trying to catch glimpses of the sky through the trees until they fell away to open sky. The heavens were a moody and grave-faced companion today. Something dark churned above; Mother Rain, stirring to call her wayward children home. Reverie half-expected the fog to swirl away at any moment. She wanted it to stay.
She didn't even think about it; it felt so natural out here in the open, with Mother Rain watching over her. As the sun chased away the last of the night's shadows, she danced. And snow began to fall.
It started soft, but soon she danced in a flurry of feathery white. Mother Rain answered her call with a cold embrace, and she remembered Rose, singing. She could hear it so clearly. They had always practiced together, though it was forbidden, and she had danced to Rose's songs of far away places and dreams made into reality. Forbidden, wonderful things; that was how this felt.

no I love them <3

the creek was quiet lestan was unsure if this was what was still desired. and yet he was dutiful. he made his patrols and hunted small game. he took the land's lay. more had come.
perhaps his cousin would have what he wanted after all. cousin was good for akavir, lestan decided, as he did not know their true bond. 
the day was thick with fog. he had been here long enough to learn the tiny trails and details, so he did not stumble as he idly followed a stoat away from their cache.
idle only because he had snapped at the beast and it had run, the mayfair was content to amble behind, ensuring it truly fled. morning turned to grey and then to snow.
lestan emerged from a fogbank to see movement, whirling between the blowing flakes and the mists being eaten by the faint pale sunlight. as they parted, he saw it was! and now his throat choked and he was struck, standing there transfixed, as reverie looped and twirled and cut a tiny elvish pattern upon the face of the frozen world. fae. unliving. did he fear her? he knew nothing but her face and limbs and form, a single tear at this taste of the old world creeping slowly down his cheek until it hardened into a globule of salt.

I love them too <3

She was not the flames.
It was wrong, she knew, but fire had no place in her heart. She was the wind and the spiraling snow, she was as bright and immaterial as a fleeting thought of something beautiful in the moments before sleep. She existed in the way of sunlight and songs; something seen and felt but impossible to grasp.
Evander had once said that he found solace in dancing, that it brought out some secret part of him. A boy who loved rain and hazy nights; something that their parents could not control. It was different for her. There was no hidden beauty to her, nothing secret in her heart except sickness. And when she danced, all of that fell away. She could see the world so clearly, and she could think about anything at all.
The snow gathered around her feet, kicking up now in splashes of white. She spun in her own storm of snow, a golden blur in a pale cloak.
She was thinking of Rose again, and how she'd always wanted to dance. Reverie had thought that she would like to sing, too, but no wolf could do both. Even the twins hadn't been that special, and they were more important than any of them.
Lestan did both.
She stopped, and as the snow began to settle around her, she saw him. As surely as the Mother above, he had answered her call, though she had not meant to call him. She'd only wanted a moment of beauty. Maybe it made sense that he would answer such a call.
She shook the snow from her fur and ran to him.
Lestan, Her steps slowed as she reached him and was struck again by the magic of it all. What if she was only imagining him here? She reached out to touch him softly, to assure herself that he was real. Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper. You came.

but her fire burned him.
not to scorch, not to char skin and singe fur. but to enliven him, to remind him of the flames upon that great old lake, in daytime, in moonhigh, and now in the buttery-sunflower ripple of her lithe body.
lestan blinked and reverie was stopped; another blink to blot the tears and she was coming toward him, touching him.
his heart raced; he was sure she could hear it, hear the sharp intake of his breath and the way his eyes widened, as if he had forgotten for a tiny true moment that either of them were real.
"yes," he breathed belatedly; "yes, i came, i — haven't been able to stop thinking of you."
he should hold back! he should not be so smitten; he had only seen her twice before, and now thrice, with snow floating like down all around. he should offer her a proper courtship, when he decided in a proper amount of time that he was sure and that this was not just another enchantment.
but he wanted honesty, and honestly, reverie pulled it from him like a golden unwreathing of soft paperweight words.

He was quiet for a moment, and she studied the tiny details of his expression. His lips were parted and his eyes were wide; pretty sunlit eyes with bursts of blue from within. How had she never noticed that?
He was looking at her as if he had seen something beautiful. Her heart leapt into her throat, and she wanted to believe it was the snow; the dance; not her, never her. But he was speaking of her, thinking of her, and she didn't know if this feeling was joy or fear. It felt like both, somehow.
I've been thinking about you, too, She admitted, breathless and uncertain. She'd thought about boys, before Rose died. She'd never actually met one to think about that way, though. She'd never considered it a real possibility, not until this very moment, and so she hadn't realized it was happening. But it was. It had happened. I've never... I haven't thought about anyone this way before.

lestan let out his breath, a whispery exhale of surprise and pleasure. she made him feel so very light, and the way she looked at him now and mirrored his words, why, lestan felt as though his heart might come directly through his poor chest!
"on the fire lake, we — brought gifts, for someone we wanted to court." he felt foolish and elated and foolish again, to have come empty-pawed.
his heart cantered with the long legs of a lovestruck doe. "i — will you let me see you again, reverie? ah, formally?"

I figured out Rev's theme and, as someone who raised a sibling who had a very long Curious George phase, I have a love/hate relationship with it

He was speaking of the fire lake now, and gifts, and something she didn't quite understand. But oh, the way he said it! And he asked to see her again! Her cheeks warmed and she smiled shyly, a little embarrassed that she didn't know what he meant. She didn't think he would mind, though. He never seemed to mind.
Of course you can see me again, but - what does that mean? To court someone? A slight tilt of her head now as she found herself invested in the answer. Did it mean what she thought it might mean? She was certain her heart could not possibly beat any faster, but somehow it did, and everything seemed brighter for it.

truly an iconic bop! my sis & i were obsessed w the books lol

"well, i —! i suppose it means, um," lestan stammered eloquently, nerves feeling as strained as a fishing line in winter. "have you ever, uh, have you ever wanted to be married, reverie?"
the tips of his cheeks burnt as a blush unfurled scorchingly across his face. he was aflutter with them! how could he be sure? but lestan had never discussed courting before, he had only known of it secondhand. thirdhand.

Marriage! She had suspected it had something to do with romance, a concept she had fallen in love with at a young age but had never been able to fully visualize. But marriage — that was a lot, wasn't it? That was forever.
He wasn't speaking of marriage exactly, though, was he? I - She had to remember how to speak. It was difficult to make sense of her thoughts, jumbled and racing just like her heart. Yes, I - I have. She wanted to say more, so much more, but she could only bite her lip and wait for him to explain.

they were shy and tremulous with one another. lestan laughed under his breath at what a pair they made then, hardly able to look at reverie! "well, courting, it means that we keep visiting. we keep doing what we have been doing, getting to know one another."
now he did look at her. "and maybe, in the future; maybe we can talk about that — again." he inhaled, ears flicking backward, hoping that he had not overwhelmed her in any way.

And he did explain, in his shy, sweet way, barely looking at her as he did. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She could not give him marriage, not now, when they barely knew one another and she barely knew herself. But she could give him this — and with time, maybe more. If he wanted that, after he really got to know her.
I... would like that, She began, her smile more confident now. His eyes were on her again, and this time she wasn't afraid of what she saw in them. Someone told me about something called the ocean. He said that it was awesome, not in the way that means cool, but in the way that leaves you in awe. It made me think of you.
And then she blushed again, suddenly aware that she was being childish. Why would Lestan care about her stupid idle thoughts? What I mean is - is that I like you. A lot. And I don't know if I'll ever be normal, but if you don't mind that, I... I want to try this with you. But she'd already said that, hadn't she? She was in such a haze, she almost didn't realize it, and when she did she hardly cared. Lestan wanted to court her.
She hadn't even known what that meant a moment ago, and now it was everything to her.

fade w ur next post? ill start a new one!

lestan's heart felt as though it were made of honey and cedar. had he hands, he would have taken hers reassuringly in this moment. as it were, he only stepped closer with a resolute shake of his head. "i like you as you are, reverie."
silences and tongue that went away and the deep, fathomless look in her eye, all of it, for he found a reason to be reverent in those times. he found a reason to think back upon the lake and the glen and the mysterious dancing of light-motes.
suppose reverie was one, only given form?
"i'll come to kvarsheim next. or you can come to the creek!"

Sounds great! <3 We can discuss more on what they agree to here or you can just make any assumptions you want! I'm staying vague on times for now because they might need to be adjusted, depending on things

He stepped closer, and her breath caught in her throat; she knew what this meant now, this warmth glimmering between them like liquid sunlight. It all felt different now.
He didn't want her to change. Maybe she should have expected that, but she didn't. What love she'd received after Rose had always felt conditional, based on the hope that one day she would be fixed. And Lestan surely didn't love her yet, but even the promise of maybe one day was more than she'd ever expected. She leaned against him lightly, just for a moment, letting herself feel warm and safe.
Then he was making plans for their next visit, and she realized she'd almost forgotten to extend the invitation for a trip. She told him about her plans with Turmeric, and how she'd immediately wanted him to come. Whatever he said, she would need to pass the news along to Turmeric — and then she would have to find a gift for Lestan!