Dollhouse

Aurora

“I’m sorry dove, now just isn’t a good time and you didn’t give me much notice beforehand. If it isn’t an emergency, I’m sure it can wait. Or you can just tell me here and now?”

“Can’t Khepri look a-a-a-after them for a bit? It would only be an hour or t-t-two. I just- ” she broke off, finding it hard to finish the sentence, knowing her stutter was getting worse the more she got worked up.

“Aurora, please. Another day, I just can’t leave right now. I need to keep them safe. I worry these festivities between the two nations could turn to blood like during the protests and if that were to happen… I don’t want the next time we see each other to be at another funeral. I’ve barely seen you since the last…”

Her ears burned hot as her waterline threatened to fill with tears, feeling her mother’s crown press into hers with that familiar silent apology and promise of another time but that next time rarely ever came since she could remember or if it did, what had mattered had already come to pass before time was made. She wanted to tell her not to promise something she couldn’t keep as she swallowed down the words, knowing better than to cause a quarrel between them. Everytime she had the courage to act out, to try to have a voice that was louder and stronger, something worse always happened. Mother’s eye, Haskell’s tail, Victorian’s silence, her uncle’s anger. The list seemed to go on forever but at least some of it was only temporary.

“I’m sorry… ff-f-f-for wasting your time, Mama,” the words came out quiet and defeated, concluding her visit for the evening as she withdrew from the woman’s touch without offering a press back in return. She could see a pain grow in that ember eye, one her own gaze was quick to shy from. “Aurora…that's not-” a sigh would follow her mother’s voice but as she saw a dark paw attempt to reach out, it seemed to change its mind and drew away before any touch could be made. Absent-mindedly she had taken a step back herself, unknowingly rejecting the gesture on an impulse alone. ”Goodnight dove.”

The door shut gently so as to not disturb the babies, leaving her in the hall all alone. Or, at least, she thought she was alone as a couple tears found their way down her cheeks as she turned to start walking down the corridor, hoping none of the maids of the Tiamat manse would witness her in her attempts to leave and go home. She wouldn’t get very far before running into someone, however, just missing colliding with a fire-colored pelt she didn’t recognize from any of her past times visiting here. Was this the wayward stepsister she had only heard of? If it was, what a horrible first impression as she felt all the more like fleeing by the second, but she tried to smile past the sorrow like she learned so long ago, so she could remain of fine delicate porcelain, but it was already too late to hide the streak. “S-sorry.”

Sleep eluded her.

She had tried. But it had been for naught. Fires licked at her stomach, muscles tense. She had tried the exercises practiced a thousand times or more, counting breath. And yet, drowsiness did not exist in the mind that was wrought, wired and tense.

Sif had been more than approachable, welcoming. There was no jealousy- not really, no standoffish nature. Simply an open palm.

So why did she resent her for it? Why did she want to snap it away as quickly as it was given? And why was it accompanied by guilt?

Nice. She had to be nice. She wanted to be nice. Despite the ache that twisted and tore when she saw Sif interact with Haskel.

As her mind replayed that moment, a growl rumbled from her throat. In a flicker of flame, she was up onto her icy paws. Her eyes widened, jaw locked tight. With dark-rimmed ears pinned to her skull, she set off.

To do the only thing she knew how to- train.

Train when tired. Train to exhaust herself, eventually, sleep would come.

Ismailia partially stomped down the hallway, mind racing, breath ragged.

Until-

"Oof-"

Almost crashing into a body adorned in smoke. Jaws opened, ready for a sharp scalding, until icy eyes set onto features she thought for a moment-


S-sorry. No. Words delicate, soft as a butterflies wing. Pale eyes glistened with... tears?
"No need." Her voice was sharp, yet her icy brows furrowed. Indeed it was a good job that she did not bark a warning.


"Are you... ok?" Blinking, her ears perked as she studied the woman's features. Was this Sif's first born? The one who's parentage was also questioned?

How ironic.


"not all ice bends to fire"

table ▶▶claerie. reference ▶▶ wicker

@Aurora

Aurora

There was flare in the other’s eyes, making her flinch away slightly, her eyes instantly closing with expectation to get yelled at despite never really having such issues while here. Everyone had always been fairly welcoming, especially when she’d babysit what was now more or less her cousins. Still, those eyes seemed even sharper than Xandria’s and it made her want to run and hide even more than she already did, feeling every bit of her body tensing with anticipation. Her mouth ran dry, her heart raced as if it might burst out of her chest without any effort in the matter. What she waited for would never come, not even a growl breaking the bits of silence.

The dismissal of the apology would make her open one eye, nervous about what she might see past the darkness of her lid. There was still something that seemed intense and full of ire but aggression wasn’t part of it. A brow seemed mixed with worry as she batted some more water from her own eyes, trying her hardest to chase away her sorrow so open to the air like this and still the shaking she just realized she was doing. Hesitantly she opened her other two toned eye, as if it might reveal more than one alone before her shoulders would relax a little, starting to feel a little more at ease with this looming presence that made her think of how she felt back when Nassar found her running from a corpse as a puppy. It too had started with her bumbling apologies and ended in her asking Nassar to teach her self defense.

Where it had been accepted, it had been a rather embarrassing time to say the least as even Lyra and Bast so easily beat her in childish spars despite being a year older than them. That small thought gave her a little bit of happiness at just the memory alone before she realized more words had been spoken.

“I-” she started, drawing in a breath, shaking her head. “Reality is harsh s-s-sometimes. I wish it were as sweet as m-m-my dreams or the mesmer-erizing tales in countless ledgers.” She was vague, in part because she wasn’t even sure who she was talking to. It was hard to see her as the girl she could only guess when taking in her appearance as best she could without meeting the other’s gaze. “I’m Aurora. You wouldn’t happen to be L-Lia, would you?” She gave a small curtsy in greeting, doing her best to reset to factory settings but some tears continued to bleed around her eyes, threatening to fall. She’d sheepishly looked up with a paw to her own chest when asking for who the red woman might be.