[FIN] Frosted Petals (Rosalyn and Savva)

[Whoan]

Savva ducked his head and held as still as he could for her to bestow the rose. The flower's scent, though faint, was pleasant and warm. Not a sensation he got to feel often.

"I sorry I don't have gift for you. But this flower... This flower is as pretty as the color sky lights, " he muttered with a shallow, bashful toss of his head. Normally he was more attracted to strength, but this mare... He actually liked her company.

" Father you look pretty!" cackled the polar bear as she returned. Carefully, she made her way to snuggle against Savva's side. "Pretty lady give you a pretty gift? What flower is it?"

"Molodoy shhh... " Savva sighed exasperated. In fact, he didn't know the flower's name either.

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[belloblossom]

Rosalyn merely smiled at his apology and shook her head.
"Your company is gift enough, Savva. It's been a while since I had such interesting visitors." Or, any visitors at all, really. She neglected to say that, of course, it wouldn't be polite, but some loneliness slipped into her eyes as she thought how he would be leaving soon and then she would be alone to her thoughts and her familiar.

It was the bear's rumbling comment that brought Rosalyn back to herself and she chuckled softly at Molodoy's enthusiasm. Settling herself into an upright laying position, taking care not to disturb any of the flora that surrounded her, she addressed the white bear to answer her question.

"They are called roses." Rosalyn replied. "And while they are traditionally red, my roses always seem to grow pink. Although I've heard rumors that they can also be grown so they are as white as your fur!" She grinned at the young bear and then turned her gaze to Savva. "Now that you have found your companion, where will your journey take you next? It looks as though you are the sort who would walk only with a destination in mind."

Whoan

 

[Whoan]

The Kirin thought about his answer before giving in to the realization that this was the farthest he had ever been since claiming his land. He snorted, breath a white frosty cloud.

"Home vhen I catch breath," he grunted with a disappointed rumble, "I... Do not travel. Do you?" His ears pricked forward wanting to not miss a word.

A snore caused Savva to falter for a moment. Full and warm, Molodoy had begun to doze off.

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[belloblossom]

Rosalyn's ears dropped a little when Savva said at he would have to return home, once he caught his breath. His home sounded so far away and she doubted she would ever see him again. Oh well...

"No, I never travel. The last time I did was when I was fleeing my herd, but... That was a long time ago." It wasn't a story she liked to tell, because she was supposed to be the one that other Soquili offloaded their troubles to, not the other way around. She went on if only to try for a happier tone. "When I came upon this grove and saw the wildflowers in bloom, I knew I wouldn't find any better place to call home. Besides, now those who ever want to find me again always know where I'll be."

She looked at Savva and wondered if he would ever care to visit her again or, with a flash of pain in her heart, whether he would forget about her entirely. The rose in his mane would wilt and she would become a regular brown mare and nothing more. She refrained from sighing or looking pained. She could do all of her moping when he was gone.

"You two are more than welcome to take rest here, before you head home." She offered quietly when she, too, noticed Molodoy had fallen asleep. "It will be no trouble to me, I promise."

Whoan

 

[Whoan]

The pain she suddenly had was almost palpable. Even though Savva was gruff and blunt, it didn't mean he was heartless or unaware of others. Call it a primal instinct. He ducked his head.

"This nice place, " he stated, "I vould not mind... Returning here if you need me... Or vant... I just not versed in the world." He tried offering her a warm smell, but the expression came out more strained. Other than Molodoy, the giant had not much reason to smile. But here he was, a frost Kirin among flowers smiling at the warmest mare he had met yet.

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[belloblossom]

Rosalyn was struck into silence by Savva's sudden offer and her face seemed to melt into one of pure elation. She positively beamed at the stallion and for a moment forgot the winter chill as she looked upon him.

"I would like that very much." She replied, her tone earnest, but soft. She may be happy, but Molodoy still slept and Rosalyn would loathe to wake her from her nap. "Thank you, Savva."

Upon hearing the snoring bear, Bracken had poked his head out from his burrow, but upon seeing Savva's smile, let out a surprised squeal (because from Bracken's timid perspective it looked more like a snarl.) At her familiar's behavior, Rosalyn sighed and shook her head.

"You'll have to forgive Bracken. He takes some time getting used to visitors.' She pointed a look at the entrance to the burrow, but the only reply she got was some shuffling from inside. Hares.

Whoan

 

[Whoan]

And just as fast as it came to be, the smile vanished. Savva snorted in the rabbit's direction, his thin beard fluttering with the action.

"I must get use to rabbit too," Savva grunted, "Molodoy is fast at becoming ok with new things....I am not fast..." His ear twitched back to brush against the rose, the first gift ever given to him. A large rumbling sigh escaped him.

Turning his head, he bit at the charms in his hair. When a feather loosened itself, he craned his neck to give it to Rosalyn.

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"Molodoy is very impressive then, if she can adapt that quickly. I... Have the ability to adapt to new situations, though I prefer not having to, especially in the case of new locations." She looked fondly Aron d her frozen grove. "Secluded as it may be from the rest of the world, I suspect I will live out my years here." She was confident of this, in fact. Rosalyn had no need to go seek out her old herd and family when she was happy (albeit lonely more often than not these days) to make her life here.

Besides, not all was all tears and bitterness, that was just in winter. During the warmer seasons, the nomadic healers herd would return and so would her son, come the summer. She also got many of her clients (though neither wouldn't know it until they met.) Winter was the hardest, but now with Savva and Molodoy here and with Rosario surely on his way, Rosalyn was beginning to suspect that she could handle it well enough.

"Oh?" She looked at the feather that Savva was holding out to her as best he could. She smiled shyly and extended her neck, her muzzle brushing against his as the feather was delicately retrieved. She then breathed it into her lap to study it. It was a brown feather with a white dot in its center. She had no idea what sort of bird these feathers had once belonged to, nor did she know the fate of the bird, but she decided not to ask. She would hope that it was not a grizzly fate. Looking up at Savva again, her smile grew and her eyes warmed. "Thank you, Savva. This is a beautiful feather. I will find someplace special to put it."

Rosalyn held Savva's gaze for a moment and then let her eyes drift to the sleeping white bear.
"You know, despite the fact that she was trying to eat my familiar, I'm glad that Molodoy found herself in my grove." She raised her gaze again and gave him a smile that would have melted the snow with its warmth. "Otherwise I would have never met you, Savva, and that surely would have been a tragedy.'

Whoan

 

[Whoan]

Savva's normally calm and aloof disposition suddenly crumbled as they touched. His cold skin warmed slightly, almost making him nauseous . Was it was from the warmth spreading through his veins or the butterflies assaulting his stomach the stallion could not tell. He quickly ducked his head back as Rosalyn took the feather from his maw.

"Molodoy does not think, just act. It seem I do too. Must get it from me," the giant chuckled. He locked his eyes to her gaze as if searching for something. He slowly stood, Molodoy falling into the warmer space his large body had made in the frosted ground. Keeping his eyes downward, Savva made a careful albeit very slow path to the stream. He gazed into the cold water at himself. A frost giant in a land of spring, something so foreign to him. But here he was, adorned in winter among colors he had never seen clinging onto life waiting from the warmth to come back.

"That feather...I have never seen bird owner...I think is meat eater bird but I found nest. Empty nest. Though to self, vhat a vaste of such pretty feather. I took feathers from empty nest. Vhat a vaste indeed...like you being alone in vinter." He leaned down and took a long drought from the chill water.

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[belloblossom]

For a moment, Rosalyn was worried that she had done something wrong. Savva seemed to stiffen up and Rosalyn began to fear that he would withdraw from her or perhaps say that he needed to leave immediately. You can imagine her immense relief when he only got up to go get a drink and she noticed with satisfaction the care he took in crossing over to the stream.

"Oh, I don't know..." She answered after a moment's thought with a smile. "I can see how in some cases, like if you were in danger, acting before thinking would come in handy, maybe even save your life." She shiversd, but whether that was at the thought of violence or the cold was anyone's guess. "I'm fortunate enough to have never been in that position. Well, not immediate danger anyway." As horrible as her herd had been, they had taken care of her... Sort of. They let her eat their stored food in the winter, but did little else. She was a "mixed blood babe" after all. Who cared if she still had unicorn and Kirin blood in her if she didn't show any of the physical traits? She tried not to scoff at the thought. Her family and the herd she came from were never easy topics to think about, let alone speak of.

She turned her gaze back onto the feather as he spoke about it, flicking her ears to show that she was still listening to him as he went on. She supposed she didn't mind where it could have come from. Sooner or later she would have assumed it came from some sort of bird of prey and by that point she would have definitely not cared about its origin, so much as where it came from.

"What?" Suddenly surprised at what Savva had said about her winter lifestyle, she turned to him with a bewildered expression. "I beg your pardon, but what is that supposed to mean?” She asked.

Whoan

 

[Whoan]

Savva looked up, his ears going flat. Did he say something wrong? He was trying to be sincere and nice. With a low rumble, he glanced at her.

"Nothing. Just...I know that lonely is not nice feeling. It is a vaste that you feel like me...you are bright...alive...even vhen frost covers your land. It is a vaste that nobody is here but...one like me," the stallion tried to explain. Behind his resting calm facade, Savva was freaking out. He always managed to say something that would leave him alone. He glanced at Molodoy's sleeping form and sighed heavily. He knew she was growing lonely as well.

"If I insult, I can go," the giant gruffly offered.

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"Please don't go!" Rosalyn was embarrassed and silenced soon after her exclamation. She had heard the desperation in her voice and with Savva being as perceptive as he was, she was certain that he would have heard it too. Her face became as pink as the roses on her coat and she ducked her head. She was starved for company and he had been so polite and she dared to question him on silly things, when he was only meaning to be kind and... and...

"I'm sorry." Her voice had gone soft, shaky even. Bracken appeared from his burrow at the change in atmosphere and crept up to his bonded, sitting back on his haunches and placing his front paws on her leg. She smiled a little at him, but then sighed and there was suddenly a look that swept over her that looked very similar to hopeless exhaustion. She had too much pride to beg for his company, too much exhaustion to cry out for her losses. For all that she let others heap their woes onto her consciousness, she never let her own anxieties out to others. She thought it was a selfish thing to do and so now all of her personal heart ache was beginning to show through. How embarrassing that it had to be in front of a stranger, kind as he was.

"I didn't understand what you had meant." She said finally, even her voice sounded tired. "I wasn't certain if you were implying that it was a waste for me to be out here alone, or just a waste for me to be... But no, now that you've explained I understand. Forgive my foolish reaction." She ducked her head closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Repression, that was her finest trick. It was obviously weighing heavily upon her and she would surely crumble beneath it sooner than later, but she would be polite in the fast of company. It was the only way that she could ensure that they would want to return to visit her again.

"So, Savva," She said, suddenly smiling. "What is the rest of the world like? I rarely go out to see it these days, so I would love an update on what's new-it doesn't have to be fancy, just.. anything, really!" She had to pick up this mood, or else he would leave and she would be alone with her grim thoughts.

If she could just hold out until Rosario got here, then all would be well. Rosario had a way of making her feel at ease, despite the fact that the memories of his sibling and his father put her in more tense moods. His sister never visited, even after all she had given to the dear foal. Born into a boy's body and yet insisting they were female-it was certainly nothing that Rosalyn had come across before. And their father, who never looked back after taking Rosario off to study more about unicorn healing. Precious Rosario was the only one who ever returned to her side, even if it was infrequently. Maybe... Maybe if she could turn this conversation back to the positive side of things, Savva might be interested in becoming a winter companion of hers. If she hadn't totally botched things already. Oh dear Angeni above, please don't let her have ruined this delightful companionship with her bought of gloominess!

Whoan

 

[Whoan]

Savva snorted hiding a small smile behind his frosted breath. He carefully picked his way back to where he had rested before and tucked his legs under him. His tail curled around his haunches and swayed with thought.

"Rest of world? I only have vasteland. All there is vhite snow. As far as eye can see. Until you pass mountains and vind up here. There is much life here. Much...color..." He glanced at the frosted flowers around him. "Is quiet with Molodoy. Sometime too quiet."

He rested his head against the warmer ground of the grove. A peace drifted over him. A peace he had never known.

belloblossom

 

[belloblossom]

It was bold, it was bold and it was risky and maybe he didn't like her at all that much, but... But Rosalyn was going to go for it and to heck with the consequences of her words!

"You should stay here then!" She went on before she could become too flustered with herself. "Stay here this winter... and the next winter after that, and all of the winters after that too! You could even stay for the spring, if you like! Or for..." She had to stop herself from going on then, because she had nearly invited Savva to stay with her forever and that just wouldn't do for a first time meeting! Her ear tips turned a little red at the prospect of just thinking on it.

"What I mean is," She went on, trying to keep her cool. "Is that both you and Molodoy are welcome to stay here through winter, especially if all you have to go home to is wasteland. Besides, I... I would be honored if we could call one another friends, Savva." She took a deep breath and met his gaze with a smile. "So, what do you say?"

Whoan

 

[Whoan]

Savva blinked a few times, jerking his head up to stare at Rosalyn. His cheeks puffed out as laughter bubbled up inside of him. Soon enough, it exploded his bellowing laugh loud enough to wake Molodoy.

"Rose-a-lynn," he rumbled the name still new to his tongue, "I do not mind staying here in vinter if you forgive me for stepping on flower or two. I vill try best to not, but...I am a little big." His expression softened as he gazed at the mare taking in her details like he did to everything new to him. Someone wanted his friendship....someone who actually didn't push him one way or another. He smile/grimaced towards Rosalyn before flopping onto his side. He glared into Molodoy's happy (but still half asleep) expression. "I like pretty lady," the bear chortled snuggling closer to Savva.

"It is varm...I am tired..." he mumbled. Normally the suspicious stallion did not show this amount of relaxation in front of others but he felt...home... At least for now.

belloblossom

Fin?