Hushed Willows daisy chain blues

teya ishtar had never been one to clamber up the ranks, but sundance's placement as faerie while she remained as soul did not settle the girl. however, she did not believe she was ready to take the steps toward the ritual; her inner heart quailed.
the rain had ceased. in the evening breath of cool wind that promised snow to come, sooner realized before a wolf was ready, teya emerged from the line of willow-trees to stare at the sky and its dazzlement of starlight threaded through the black velvet.

Bridget had been curious of the timid one since their few meetings, and being as she was, she wasn't opposed to letting that curiosity get the better of her.  She seemed high strung for a faerie, though you wouldn't catch her judging.  At least, not with any real ill intent.

She was up late that night as well, and was just returning from a quick drink when she caught sight of Teya staring at the sky.

Always kinda wondered where they disappear to when daylight comes.  Seems like a shame, she opened conversationally, shifting her steps to draw nearer rather than heading straight home.  It was quite possible Teya didn't want company, of course, but that didn't mean Bridget would ever assume herself unwelcome.  Teya, right?

the pinpricks of light rolled through teya's eyes. she sighed, and would have turned away, had not another she-wolf shown then.
the girl started, wilting in embarassment as her widestream gaze took up the sight of bridget's curious lilac stare. the pretty copper markings across the other's cheeks she caught with the tail end of her glance. "b-bridget," she guessed with a nod toward the other's assumption.
wondering why her packmate was also out so late, teya turned toward the faerie, forcing herself to address the other despite her lack of confidence. "i miss them when gone. the stars."

Particular friends of yours, huh? She asked, then laughed.  You got it.  Bridget, faerie extraordinaire.  You came at the same time as that other guy, yeah?  Sun... shoot.  She couldn't for the life of her remember, but she'd been pretty busy since they signed on.  Now that she said it, though, Sunshoot would make a pretty badass name.  Maybe he should change it.

Anyway, glad to have you!  She glanced up again, letting the cool night air ruffle over her and fill her lungs.  There was nothing quite like being up after dark.  She thought about asking why Teya chose the fairies,  how she came to be here, but those were kind of boring questions in most cases.  Besides, she'd likely answered them five times over.  There were better ways to get to know a wolf than that.

bridget had the charming, peculiar ability to make teya feel as if they were the only wolves within seelie court. she felt beckoned, warmed by the attitude of the other. "sundance," she finished softly, feeling her heart spread with gold sussuration at the sound of his name, and in her tones no less.
"glad i here," she responded prettily, careful of her manners but intrigued by affable bridget. "i just start to look at stars," teya went on, turning her eyes skyward once more.

The way she said the name was telling.  Bridget hadn't wondered then, but thinking back, it made sense.  Well well well!. Ahh, Sundance, she repeated, still laughing, and the emphasis she put on the name was a teasing suggestion.  She had been right to think Sunshoot was a cooler name, but something told her this quiet wolf appreciated his more.

Back to the stars.  Bridget would occasionally glance at them, but she'd always used them more for navigation than anything else.  She could appreciate their beauty, but she could rarely be found sitting still for long.  

Thinking on that interest reminded Bridget of the other... the question she'd wanted to ask.  I don't want to keep you from it, but I did want to ask.  Are you a healer?  I saw you during the flood, carrying things.  She wasn't too tied up in her hopes that it was true, but it would be pretty cool.

so fascinating, still, the masque of red-robin that bridget wore upon her face. teya found it otherwordly, suited to this enchanted realm among the willow-trees. "no," and she shook her head, though she was pleased to have found such esteem in the other's eyes. "only wanted to carry ... to safety," she indicated, cursing the resistance of her stubborn tongue.
"you are healer?" was that why bridget had asked? maybe the other sought common ground between them. teya wished there was more to offer, aside from a blush beneath the velveteen fur of her cheeks as her gaze dropped away. the woman was so much more than she, and already teya knew there was a hierarchy in the court, beyond the spoken word.

Oh. She was definitely disappointed, but in an offhand way.  On the one hand, this meant the role was more needed than ever; on the other, it meant she would have to learn what she could on the go.  Leticia had told her a number of time she had a particularly solid rock on her shoulders.... but she wasn't bothered.  The memory usually made her chuckle... one of few from the old glen worth remembering.

I am.  Well, kind of?  I used to be given chores for our healer when I'd get myself into trouble, and well... you can imagine what kind of kid I was, because it became a sort of trade of mine.  She grinned, obviously not at all apologetic.  Those geezers in the old court had more than deserved the tricks she'd played.  They'd all had sticks shoved a variety of depths, and it wasn't her fault they didn't appreciate her gracious attempts at removing them.

So just stars then?  Or is there something else you like to do?  She was quiet... Bridget could immediately gather that.  And while she was a force to reckon with, she meant well, and only began to pry when she sensed comraderie.  She liked this woman's demure nature, but mainly because it made her curious of what might be hiding beneath it.

bridget was a story-teller; she drew teya in close and wove crochet-hook themes around the woman's ears. what sort of chores, she wondered, without the words to ask or the confidence to consider it. but her gaze was attentive, the language of her body engaged.
"i not thought of it," a timid laugh unspooling behind her words. and it was true. she had taken to the stars since coming to the court, but was not sure what role she might take. healing did not interest her beyond the aesthetic of plants, but warriorship and endless hunting was not her milieu either. a shift of her ears toward the woman in the red mask. "what you like to do?"

Bridget wasn't particularly taken aback when Tehya didn't come up with anything to respond with, but she did shake her head.  There can't be nothing, every wolf has something they like doing.  But I guess sometimes it's harder to share, she added congenially.  It's personal, yeah?  She took no offense if that was the case.

Me, I like to do just about anything so long as I get to move while I do it.  Hunting, fishing, sparring! Even plant-picking.  She winked, then laughed.  It was hardly as "glorious" a job as the other two, but it was a trade she'd fallen into, and she knew the importance.

Honestly, though, I think my favorite thing to do is just... hang out.  Yeah?  Like this.  Earlier that day she hadn't known Tehya, and here they were, becoming fast friends in Bridgets' eyes.

hang out. did bridget mean with her? the woman and her red-cloaked face were fierce enough to command the air of any wolf. but it was teya she had chosen. the rustgrey ears splayed, but it was not with fear this time; something else sparking warm and slow in her veins.
"tell me ... will you tell me about you?" anything, the girl supposed; her auds cupped forward and a shy sway of plume at her heels as eyes held the starlight intrigue in the other courtier. bridget certainly led a full life, she thought privately; her own days were aloof and reserved, for teya enjoyed the shadows and quiet places of the court.

About her?  Bridget laughed, again.  This wolf!  Tehya surprised her all the time, normally wolves wished to mostly hear their own voices.  And honestly, Bridget would have appreciated to hear a little more about her! She felt she'd been talking up a storm.

Alright! But only if you try to return the favor after, since that'd only be fair.  She replied easily.  I grew up in the Court, but didn't really ever fit in the old one.  I love the traditions, don't get me wrong, but they were so serious.  So stuck on keeping everything the same!  So I tried to mix things up and got into trouble a lot.  That's why the whole plant thing.  But then a few others left, and I figured, why not me too?  See a little more of what's out there, yknow?  When I came here, though, I found Lumiya and figured it was perfect.  I could have something new while still keeping what I loved about the old.

Bridget didn't consider herself to be too sentimental, but she did miss a few things about the old court.  Mostly the couple of wolves who had really made the place family.  She was sure it wouldn't be too long though before she found that same vibe here - and Tehya was proving that to be true.

It's not the most exciting story, but traveling was a lot of fun, and this has definitely been a change.  Unless there's anything specific you wanted to know, that's mostly it!  She fell silent, watching Tehya to see how the girl took it.  Something about the girl's quiet attentiveness had drawn Bridget to her from the start.  There was an open honesty to it that was really damn hard to find sometimes nowadays.

teya's eyes were quieted by the flow of bridget's words. the worst of it would always be that she could not answer so easily, words slipping over one another on their rush out of her skull, and tipping to her tongue garbled them further. but for the cardinal's sake she would attempt.
bridget, a woman who had lived within the ways of the fae forever but was not content. and even here, with what she knew, teya sensed an intrigue in bridget that was not easily satisfied. or perhaps it was only her own perception; no matter.
"tell me about flowers you saw," she smiled shyly, tap-tap-tapping the edge of her tail against her hocks. a breath, a squint skyward as she awkwardly gathered sentence fragments like an armful of briars. "not know parents. knew uncle and aunt. was not — they say i am not ... complete," teya said in a quieter voice, eyes flicking to bridget and then the silent dark earth. "so i leave. come to empire. it is beautiful but ... cold. empty. one night i slip, fall into willows." she laughed; the irony of it. "and now i am here."

Bridget caught the question and held onto it for after, but she lost it indignantly as Teya began to haltingly tell about herself.  Well that's pretty damn rude,  she said with a little righteous heat.  Not sure how anyone but you could know how complete you are.  

Then she shook her head and laughed.  Well, however you got here, I'm glad you did.  And that you didn't get hurt, falling.  You didn't, did you?  She glanced at her pelt, and legs, with sudden mild concern, but all seemed to be well.  She didn't want to offend her by going too deep in on her family, but she didn't like hearing that her aunt and uncle had belittled her.  Nor did she like the way that Teya averted her gaze when she spoke of it, like it still affected her deeply.  Both things awakened the bear within her, the one who would defend her loved ones with every heartbeat she had.

sundance had seemed defensive of her as well, teya noted, hearing the tone in the back of bridget's throat, the way her lavender eyes skimmed her for any injury. and beneath both their gazes she felt warm, something like shyness fluting her into a stilted, surprised laugh.
"no," and she shook her head, softmade ears splaying shyly. "lumiya help." their mysterious ruler and her ethereal beauty, which somehow had become more earthen in bridget. more tangible.
suddenly balking at the intense attention of her companion, the little she-wolf turned her eyes back to the sky, sighing toward the stars.

No matter how stilted it was, the laugh was music to Bridget's ears.  They shot up in surprise and her smile widened.  You do have a laugh in there, she thought with a chuckle, but she didn't want to mention it and shame her about it.  She didn't want to do anything to risk not hearing that again.

I'm glad.  She really is something, isn't she?  Bridget wasn't sure what to make of their leader.  She was young, but at the same time, Bridget felt like a kid compared to her.  That wasn't a sensation she was used to and while it wasn't offputting, it was certainly... different.  There was a reason that Bridget had never cozied up to the leadership back home.  She wasn't fond of formalities or checking herself, and when she chose a wolf to be around, she preferred one she could say whatever crossed her mind to.  Barring, of course, the comments that would make them stop laughing.

Teya seemed to find more interest in looking at the stars, so Bridget looked up as well, companionably silent for a moment.  You wanted flowers.  She said finally, without shifting her eyes down.  I didn't learn much, but I learned a few.  Mostly flowers to aid a sick stomach or an infected wound.  Willow, ginger, and tansy.  There's a bunch of others, but it would be better to show you.  A few I don't have names for.  She twitched an ear and glanced out of the corner of her eye at her friend.  If you'd be interested, sometime?

teya did not understand bridget's continued kindness. in earlier life, it had been rare, a taste of honey here and there from a well-meaning older wolf who wanted to give the child something happy. for they all thought her dim, she knew; her tongue locked behind iron bars, her mind unable to link words to one another.
suspicion then, in the recesses of her. but bridget had only ever been kind, interested in her since their first meet. and sundance, the way that he looked at her —
teya flushed beneath the short fur of her face, listening with an eager raptness to the cardinal's detail. willow she knew, tansy she had seen in passing. "ginger." she rolled the jolly word around for a moment. "i not know that one. yes. i like if you show me." a smile into that glance then, even as her own pulled away with a sudden surge of shyness.

Bridget was surprised, if Teya did not know ginger.  Some wolves had no exposure, but it brought another thought to the fairy's mind.  There was a small chance that it might offend her, but Bridget hoped that her behavior so far would win her a pass.  She didn't ask because she was bothered, only because she was genuinely curious.  She'd met very few outsiders, so secluded in the courts all of her life.

I have some back home, but it isn't as pretty dried.  The flower is the better part.  The root was what was useful in medicine, but it was always a shame to destroy the plant.  Do they speak differently, where you are from?  Different words?  She'd heard of such things, but never been exposed, and she found the entire idea fascinating!

"not different. just ... for me," teya struggled, for her mind wished to focus upon the concept of dried flowers. she had seen them before, but bridget seemed to allude that this could be done deliberately. "words come hard to me." and only her, from what she had seen. teya could not remember the children she had played with, or if there had ever been any; she recalled only the dour faces of her aunt and her uncle, and she turned out to wander in the forest till dark.
not wanting to think of that now, the girl forced herself to present. "i want to be faery also, but am scared."

Of course that question had blown up on her, she should have known.  Bridget wasn't bothered though, Tehya didn't seem upset (and shouldn't be) and she hasn't meant any harm.  I think you do fine.  Better than some, actually.  She laughed.  Some of the faeries back home would talk for hours it seemed and still say nothing.

She serious'd up when Tehya said that she wanted to be a faerie but was scared.  What are you afraid of?  Maybe I can help.  She thought that Tehya would make a perfect faerie honestly, probably even better than her.  And that was saying something because she was pretty damn great.  She just didn't have a whole lot of interest in the tradition side, whereas it felt as though her friend had a vested interest in becoming one of them.  Bridget wasn't sure she'd have chosen it if she hadn't been born to it.  I think you'd be perfect for it.

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again, bridget's gentle compliments; again, teya shrinking inside herself at the idea of praise. but this time she pushed beyond it, drew a breath. "sundance ... had sleep. i will have sleep. what if i not ... awake?" the concept of being put beyond herself by one substance or another was not an enjoyable thought for the flighty girl; even now she felt the thudding of her heartbeat in the birdcage of her ribs, and flicked her glance shyly toward the red-masque woman for a steadying answer.

Ah, yes.  In complete honesty, Bridget herself had never tried the drugs, so this was the one instance where her re-assurances didn't mean much personally.  The idea freaked her out as well, and she put way too much value in her own senses to allow something like that to take them from her.  It was a personal choice, to take or not, but outsiders had to to be accepted.  One of a few things she was ambivalent at best about.

They always wake, she responded, with a re-assuring smile.  In all of the initiations she'd watched, it was always the same, and the drugs were at least safe in that regard.  She'd never known anyone to take too much, not when it was given by the faeries who knew how to administer it.  She had watched her mentor countless times.

But you don't need to join officially to belong here.  That's up to you, but it won't change that we are friends.  Bridget replied, grinning and then idly scratching at an itch on her shoulder.  Pretty soon her winter coat would begin coming in and then hooo boy, she'd need to find a good tree for scratching around here.  You should only do it if you want to.  

Bridget wasn't up enough on the spiritual end of the Court to know what exactly it was they thought the drugs granted, but whatever it was, she was sure Tehya had it in spades already.  Any more and she might flit off to live in the forest like a real version of their namesake.  The image was aptly appropriate and made her smile all the more.

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only if she wanted to do it. teya weighed that in her mind as she glanced away from bridget, back up to the night-time flicker of clouds above them. their gathering signalled rain.
she blinked, feeling the air begin to cool in preparation.
"you .. ah ... you come back? with me"" perhaps abrupt, but teya was too reminded of her first night in the court to not be traipsed with fear. and yet she did not yet wish to leave bridget's company.
friend.
it rang with a shy warmth in her chest.

Of course.  Bridget answered easily, and stood to walk alongside Teya.  I've got a place I've been staying that's pretty dry, if you want to shack up with me for the night?  The offer was extremely casually delivered, but internally, Bridget would be lying if she said there wasn't a touch more to it.  There was a manner to her friendship that meant nothing more was expected, but Teya was adorable, and already had deftly caught a piece of the faerie.

If Teya agreed, Bridget would lead her to her den, a hollow at the base of one of the larger willows.  There they could ride out the storm and pass the night in each other's company.

last for me <3 thankeeeee!
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