Northstar Vale falling close to arson

the figure's hackles rose, but he did not depart her company. no — mona felt his gaze on her and straightened beneath its weight. it was he who drifted closer, murmuring back to her the same greeting. he was young, thin, all granite and heather tones, but it was the scarring along his face that widened her eyes. in a vague sort of awe, the mayfair let her gaze trace the socket of his missing eye, the too-new ripping along his neck. here was a boy who had seen things mona yet had not, and she was fleetingly ashamed of her lack.
however, most pressing was that the girl must come to, and realize she was staring — again. the girl's ears cupped backward only a moment, before she had recovered and swung them toward the source of her great interest again. "i'm mona," she chirped brightly, her marvel at his ragged but not altogether unpleasant countenance still spilling openly across her sanguine features. "this is tindome." mona could not help the beam that followed, unfurling itself like a flag over her face; despite all that had gone on, her home had only gotten more beautiful.