tes has one (1) natural big iridescent dragonfly wing (the other one is just atlas tech since it was cut off). they said love can touch it but only if he knows he might get swept away should he choose to do so. also, they winked. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
‘ SWEEP ME AWAY, ’ HE MUTTERED BACK ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, then hummedamiably, uncaring of what impression that impulsive reply left — he often spokecarelessly and brightly. had he been caughtin his curiosity? for a second worrybloomed over if he had ever stared a little too hard, distracted &interested in their wings. love hadn’tbeen raised to ignore someone’s faunustraits, only to not bring undue attention to them, to not be rude orprovocative. these were very old social lessons,bored and thorough. how would he feel ifsomeone came along and pulled his hair just because they had never seen curlsbefore? annoyed. and if they made fun of him for it? annoyed and bad. thinkof people in their clan like leila, her straight and towering horns stillunbroken only because she was the strongest warrior among them. should one’s strength be the only thing tocensor meanness or discrimination? no,of course not. and so on and so on, teachingstories and violently moral fairy tales intended to push and engage him, toraise him with correct propriety. difficultto say if it worked, when one time after being asked what he would do if abully continued to cause grief love had given a severe pause, then an ecstaticallybleak i would kill them.
humor which his teacher failed to appreciate at the time! likely because back then some still feared theconnection between his excitability and his semblance, admiringly, like appreciatinga fine blade while fully acknowledging it existed to harm. like his blood affinity would one day inevitablyroll into bloodlust. shame. but in hindsight, too real. violence could and did beget violence.
the levity in tes’ response & wink eased love’sworry quickly enough, prompting his own flashed smile, always happy to be the recipient of their increasingly familiar brand of charm. ‘ i don’t mind! though if you do sweep me away please, for my sake, telleveryone that my cause of death was by my own mentor’s hand. make it very dramatic and as fond as possible. ’ said while circling behind them. he fluttered one hand behind tes’ wing andthought of putting a hand behind clear mosaics and stained glass. when the light hit just right the sight remindedhim of the same glimmer, theirs an iridescent swirl. he knew enough to know that insect typefaunus were rarer. he’d had enough of achildhood to associate tiny wings with delicacy and frailty that crumbled tothe touch, small powdery scales smudging his fingertips when catchingbutterflies too roughly.
but for all of his cautious thoughts, his next touch was surewhen he finally reached out. love boldlyspread his palms over their wings, natural and atlas tech both, pettingslightly to take in their texture, then themotion stilled so his touch simply rested there, as he said in an all-encompassingverdict: ‘ pretty. ’
@remnesque / unprompted / aa.