#selowyn

[selowyn]

Selowyn’s “Very Argent Thanksgiving” for her Year of the Scourge comrades.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[lothishighwind]

Siren

On the first night I saw you, I had traveled to a distant shore for idle pleasure. You traded drinks for answers, morsels for merriment, and I forgot to remain aloof when you smiled. Still, I divined your true nature at night’s end as you tempted me to meet again in your home harbour. Temptation was meant to be endured no matter how appealing. I promised nothing. I knew, as sure as there was ground beneath my feet, that I would never hear your call again. You meant to take me to deep waters if I answered that call, and I was still wary of drowning.

By the second night I had waded into familiar shallows looking for temptation, casting my net for silken tresses to surpass the dark between the stars. Fishing for eyes that reflected the Twisting Nether above. Resigned to slack, wholly unprepared for when the line drew taught, I found myself beside your wave of bloodied-sunset hair. Your lips split into a grin fit for a shark.

Later, aimlessly splashing in your wake, I saw an isle that had once been known intimately; the memory of bones broken and treasured things lost weighted my limbs, and I sank into the bottle you offered when that freckled coast slipped beneath the horizon. Later, I had a chance encounter with white sails and golden lanterns, a patchwork vessel guided by unbreakable faith--one that knew me by name and approached me without shame. It was all too much to bear in one night. You guided me to a safe depth while I wept over all the things I’d jettisoned in years past.

Waking alone the next day, I judged that there was still no danger. Your playful darting called to mind too many near disasters for me to succumb. I would remain unmoved. I knew I would return to shore soon, unhurried, in my own time. So why not swim for awhile, if the opportunity was there? What could the harm be, after so long?

Excuses made in the privacy of my own head, justifying the slow erosion of my desire to remain alone.

Each encounter came as regularly as the tides. You would appear to me each night and I would fail to escape the current encircling you, finding myself drifting inexorably away from the safety of dry land. Day and night began to blur. Each half-hearted push away was weaker than the last, and I soon found myself treading water even in your absence, scanning the horizon for streaks of crimson, head filled with your echoing call and the taste of salt ever on my lips.

In the end, I sought you out myself, only a full week after our first meeting.

My last night atop the waves was a clear one, both moons limning the sand and the water alike in silver. There’s a special recollection of your greedy smile and the warm, exploratory fingers against my chest. I question you the final time, reminding you there are many others you could coax away to be your willing meal.

“I’ve had my fill of little fish.” The smile reaches every part of your golden eyes.

I happily drown.

(( @melisandemeadowshine, @gloamingdawn, and @selowyn for vague mentions))

[selowyn]

[lothishighwind]

Hypocrite (55 Words)

So he’s a rake?

An epicurean, perhaps.

People aren’t foodstuffs.

For him, there’s only consuming.

It gnawed away until he bled disquiet, staining all thoughts, each bite driving his mind toward confession.

He had, eventually. Sunhawk recognized his concern, retreating to ruminate.

Later, new guilt for old. Platinum exchanged for crimson.

Do I consume her?

[lothishighwind]

Body and Soul (Letters)

The folded note had been placed in an envelope more for modesty’s sake than any practical purpose. Unmarked by any postal codes or stamps, it had been left just inside the Velvet Brier’s door early in the morning, weighted down by an equally unassuming drawstring bag of grey linen that made up for it’s appalling drabness with the pleasant, chiming heft of gold inside.

Thaleya,

You admitted a taste for flattery, so it’s only fair that you’re allowed to gorge to your heart’s content in exchange for the boundless generosity you showered me with. Choice morsels:

The suit was flawless. I’ve seldom been looked on so favorably, never for my choice in dress, and so I credit you for every awed glance laid at my feet that night. ‘My mark’, as you put it, was thoroughly enchanted - her companion, a friend whose discernment I have the utmost faith in, made much of how well matched we two were - and I pay due tribute to you, again, for the confidence with which I led our dance. In this instance, it’s fair to say that the clothes, and the clothier, made the man.

And if you haven’t yet glutted yourself insensate? I took to the field well-armoured and seized as complete a victory as anyone could dream of, as well as a prisoner; I’m in no hurry to ransom them away after such a gloriously satisfying engagement.

There. Be satiated, and forgive me for being so familiar - you seem to prefer it that way.

The field report is certainly the smaller part of your reward. As my mercenary, Magis Thaleya, you share in the spoils, if not the new holdings or titles. I’ve managed to put together your first payment much earlier than anticipated, in fact. With luck, you’ll be fully compensated before Winter’s Veil, and I can then press you for the tie and the pocket square to complete our exchange. Expect the same amount next month, though hopefully I’ll have time to exchange a few words in passing. Be well until next we meet, and thank you for your patience.

Eternally appreciative, Lothis

The Mason’s response had finally arrived, weeks overdue. There wasn’t any artistry in the cheaply bleached paper that bore the letter, nor elegance to the runny taupe mess of beeswax that sealed it away from prying eyes; all in all, it wasn’t an impressive return on Selowyn’s investment. The words within, however, had been chosen with painstaking care at odds with their humble trappings.

Confessor Sunhawk,

An apology, first. Forgive me for my lateness. Your patience is, as always, wasted on me. I’ve been remiss by choice, not circumstance - I’ll admit that spending ‘one more day under false notions’, or a week, or a month, is easier to bear than intimate conversation with one so highly regarded.

But what’s easy isn’t always what’s necessary. Bishop Morningdove was always very clear on the value of Tenacity, and you carry the same spirit forward even now.

I’ll make time whenever you’d like to talk, prying ears or no - service done for the sake of the Crusade is important for its own sake, but I confess to feeling replaceable as any one of the stones I helped lay down. The labour has a value beyond the labourer in that way.

There are one or two other concerns that are more pressing to me, of course, if your time will permit and your patience will endure the telling of them. Your guidance would mean a great deal to me, as much as your example did in Northrend and does still, here. The words to describe them slip like wet ice under my mind’s best attempts to freeze them here for you. Our next meeting cannot come soon enough.

I wouldn’t put words into your mouth or thoughts into your head, but I will add something here to ease my own mind: the counsel I seek has nothing at all to do with what we discussed the other night. That’s all there is to be said.

With respect, Lothis

A thought in closing: Melisande tells me you intend to instruct her as your pupil. I will overstep my place to say that she values the friendship you’ve shown her with precisely the same weight as her awe at the knowledge you bear, neither eclipsing the other. You are already quite dear to her. It’s my firm belief that you will not regret taking her under your wing.

((Tagging @selowyn and @ashenmorn for the letters, @melisandemeadowshine for the brief mentions.))

[lothishighwind]

Fabrication

Four eyes like emerald lanterns all guttered as one upon meeting. Two mouths warped into perfect copies of the other’s rueful grin in response. And not for the first time tonight, the elf was caught staring at the reflected man in mild disbelief. It was a window into another life.

Is that all it takes? A change of clothes? The unrecognizable - for Lothis would never accept it as his image, not truly - mimic’s lips flowed into a grimace.

He'd expected the novelty to wear off immediately. A close examination in one of the Velvet Brier's multitudinous mirrors, all under the alluring couturier’s feline smirk, left him feeling exactly as bared, as electrified, as when she’d originally taken his measure. The bespoke suit was flawless, from the way it framed his generous shoulders, the artful taper towards his waist when buttoned, or the unexpected warmth that its cool slate colour drew from his auburn hair by power of contrast; after the posing and relaxed sauntering at Thaleya’s direction, there didn’t seem to be any reason to pay more mind to the custom garb. It was to be worn by him, not seen.

Lothis shamefully adjusted that expectation after catching his own motion in the storefront windows of her shop when he left. The labourer halted, gawking, utterly transfixed, until nudged out of the way by passing traffic. Nearly the same paralytic awe had overtaken him during negotiations with a wayfinder mage; the outfit had been snared by a crystalline array on a nearby worktable, refracting an infinite succession of green eyes atop grey-swathed limbs. Now, minutes after taking the portal he’d paid for, it was the pocket mirror of the human woman in front of him that rendered him in miniature as a small crowd lined up to seek refuge from biting winds by slipping inside the Wonderlight Ball. Organizers passed out roses to each passerby as they entered: yellow blooms promised chaste companionship, red for romance, and he found himself accepting the latter based solely on the basket he passed by as he strode in. The only crimson he cared to think of was a tangled waterfall cascading around golden eyes.

Hurried strides slowed. He forced himself to adopt a relaxed prowl instead of the nervous trot of a summer suitor, scanning the floor for the Confessor and the Siren between knots of dancing bodies and standing groups.

It was the ease of fascination that troubled him, Lothis mused, for both Melisande and his transformed image alike. That effortlessness - thoughtlessness, a biting correction - was why he was pushing his luck for no better reason than the thrill of it, wearing a suit he couldn’t afford to see a woman he shouldn’t encourage, for pleasure he didn’t deserve. Every resolution to resist was overcome by a compulsion to continue trading on what he simply didn’t have, buttressing regular omissions with a ready litany of lies. It sickened him, at least when he remembered to think of it at all.

Spying a familiar head of blonde hair and the flash of jewelry, he slipped around one of the large pillars supporting the roof to observe. There, next to the sable-wrapped Selowyn, was his mark: long red hair, a seafoam green cloak, a cheery smile behind her raised wineglass. He watched a moment longer while she laughed at something, perhaps the priestess’ remark, and allowed his resolve to melt for the hundredth time.

The truth, naked as a jaybird, wasn’t something he could offer her. It would destroy him. And while falsehood would inevitably fail, perhaps he could maintain the illusion by dint of effort alone, winning ground one night at a time with empty words until he could make good on his claims. Or, perhaps, until he could bear to break free.

Lothis took his opportunity and began closing space the second the pair turned their eyes away, towards the crowded ballroom floor. His concerns dwindled more and more with each step until they finally dissolved. All that mattered was the evening ahead. If he convinced himself, then it would be that much more convincing to Melisande.

Bare truth was beyond him for the moment, but he had ensured the lie would be impeccably well-dressed.

((Tagging @ashenmorn, @melisandemeadowshine, and @selowyn for the mentions!))

[selowyn]

Waterfalling (55 words)

Coaxed by a silver tongue,

water seemed a fitting compromise between fire and ice.

The memory of his hand in mine, briefly,

beneath the lapping surface,

or in the darkness behind the waterfall.

                   Only there.

                                    Hidden.

(He is more wounded than I thought.)

I’m starting to see how this ‘works’.

But do I like it?

[selowyn]

Meet the Character

► Name ➔ “Selowyn Sunhawk.”

► Are you single? ➔ “I feel connected to many by the grace of the Light. But if you mean am I romantically attached or committed to a mate, then no.”

► Are you happy? ➔ “Not all the time. I strive more to be content than happy. Happiness is a passing fancy, a ephemeral bubble that pops all too easily.”

► Are you angry? ➔ “I try very hard to control that.” She thinks for a moment, lips pursed. “Alright, well. Not often, anymore; but if I ruminate too much, it bubbles up at times.”

► Are your parents still married? ➔ “They are deceased, unfortunately.” A pause. “In...due to...the Mana Bomb.” Another pause. “ A tragic loss to the Arts and Sciences.”

NINE FACTS

► Birth Place ➔ “Quel’thalas. But I will always call Theramore my home.”

► Hair Color ➔ “Burnished gold with bronze undertones.”

► Eye Color ➔ “Cyan ringed gold. They used to be more blue; experiences change a person.” A slim finger raises to gently touch to her cheek near the eye socket. “Lately though, specks of gold have been mottling the iris and spreading. I blame my proximity to the Sunwell of late.”

► Birthday ➔ “I’d rather not say. What does that matter? Are you going to give me a gift?” She smiles benignly.

► Mood ➔ “I’m not sure what you’re asking. Moods are like the weather, changeable; if you mean climate...I’d have to think about that. Perhaps a bit tepid, really. I am not sure if that is good or bad.”

► Gender ➔ “Female.”

► Summer or winter ➔ “Absolutely summer. I spent enough time in winter. It’s a shame too: I used to daydream about snow. This represents quite a change from the years spent frolicking in Eversong, or trudging through humid marshes and swamps.”

► Morning or afternoon ➔ “Morning. The promise of a new day is a glory to behold.”

EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE

► Are you in love ➔ “I love many things, but I think you mean...not with a particular person, no.”

► Do you believe in love at first sight ➔ “Absolutely.”

► Who ended your last relationship ➔ A frown. “Powers beyond my control. Or his.”

► Have you ever broken someone’s heart ➔  Her eyes blink with concern. “I hope not.”

► Are you afraid of commitments ➔ “That’s a complex question, though I don’t think so?”

► Have you hugged someone within the last week? ➔ “Yes! Valstros Al’roth. He sorely seemed to need it.”

► Have you ever had a secret admirer ➔ “I think so? Currently, I don’t know. That would be nice!”

► Have you ever broken your own heart? ➔ “Oh, absolutely. Many, many times. Not just for ‘love’ per say.”

FIVE CHOICES

► Love or lust ➔ “Love, hands down.”

► Cats or Dogs ➔ “Cats. Dogs are fine too. But cats have an inner conviction I admire.”

► A few best friends or many regular friends ➔ “This fluctuates depending on time and experience, doesn’t it? My preference would be a few intimates I suppose.”

► Wild night out or romantic night in  ➔ “Night in, definitely. A fire, some wine, etc.”

► Day or night ➔ She shrugs. “Day, I suppose. Both are needed for balance, so...”

FOUR HAVE YOU EVERS

► Been caught sneaking out ➔ “Of what?”

► Fallen down/up the stairs ➔ “Yes. Ramparts can be tricky to navigate in armor or heavy robes.”

► Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? ➔ “Yes.”

► Wanted to disappear ➔ “Oh yes. Indeed.” She looks away. “I’ve thought I had, at times...”

FOUR PREFERENCES

► Smile or eyes ➔ “Eyes. Many I have been around carry grim expressions, but still have a fire in their eyes.”

► Shorter or Taller ➔ “I never really thought about it; does not matter.”

► Intelligence or Attraction ➔  “Both have their merits, but if pushed to choose, I suppose I would say intellect; but, let’s be honest - how many times do we say that, and follow an attraction anyway?”

► Hook-up or Relationship ➔ “While connecting briefly but passionately with others is nice, a relationship provides so much more depth and fertile ground to explore.”

FAMILY

► Do you and your family get along ➔ “We did! Well, my parents and I did, very well. My sister was always a bit dramatic and stirring up unnecessary trouble. But I love her dearly.” She pauses and her voice lowers to a soft murmur. “Do you know where I might find her?”

► Would you say you have a “messed up life” ➔ “I’m not sure I would call it that. No. I try my best to stay healthy and be of assistance to others. I can’t do my job if I’m too ‘messed up’.”

► Have you ever ran away from home ➔ “Eh, so to speak; due to the call of battle and service. Brothers and sisters in arms facing a common cause are stronger than blood.”

► Have you ever gotten kicked out ➔ “Of what?” Her face flinches; then: “Oh...kind of. I...” She just stops.

FRIENDS

► Do you secretly hate one of your friends ➔ “Goodness, no.”

► Do you consider all of your friends good friends ➔ “I have had friends; I have had great friends. Sadly, many are dead. The rest, scattered to the winds. Currently, I have a few new acquaintances; I would like to see some of them perhaps become ‘good’ friends.”

► Who is your best friend ➔ “I don’t think I have one right now.”

► Who knows everything about you ➔ “My sister, Alayna, used to. Currently? Perhaps Bishop Phadrene Morningdove; her mind is clear and keen, and she’s so easy to talk to. When she was stationed as a Confessor in Northrend I had the pleasure of working under her...I credit her with saving my soul. Also Lord Theiden Summercrest, “the Javelin of Corp’rethar,” comes to mind; we faced many cold nights in the far north and had each others’ backs.”

((  Thanks @veiled-shadows for the tag & mention; @phadrene ; leaving sister tagless for now; and Theiden has no Tumblr that I know of currently  ))