(no subject)

[white_flowers]

She recognizes what is happening, at least to some degree. How could she not?

(when the Dark comes rising)
Blodwen moves lightly through the winter storm and over the snowy ground, and ghosts silently past the dark shape of the bunker that waits outside the lake door. She pauses there, looking up at the blood-bright sky and the dark space within it, then braces one hand against the doorframe, pulls the door open, and passes on through.

Behind her, the wood that she's touched shivers the slightest bit and begins to crumble, the rot slowly but steadily spreading its way up and down the frame and into the wall. She pays it no heed.

Like calls to like, after all.

(ashes to ashes, and dust to dust)
She stands for a while in silence at one side of the room, studying the poison-yellow crystal above the bar, watching others as they come and go, remembering her last visit, and the last person she'd had any cause or care to speak with here.

Eventually, her diamond-blue, diamond-bright gaze drifts to the Observation Window and the glorious, explosive vision beyond it.

(you asked me why I fight)
Slowly, Blodwen smiles.

Comments

[bring_a_sponge]

"Mike! Line 'em up again! Drinks on me!" a surprisingly upbeat voice calls out from the bar.

Apparently, there's at least one person here having a thoroughly good time.

[white_flowers]

So it would seem.

Still smiling, Blodwen drifts across the room toward him.

"My goodness me," she observes, amusement in the light soft voice. "Why, I do believe this is the best mood in which I have ever seen you, cariad."

[bring_a_sponge]

"Blodwen!"

Why it's one of Zed's favorite people.

"Take a seat. Drinks on me tonight!" He gestures at the rest of the bar. "Time for a celebration!"

[white_flowers]

She seats herself carefully on a barstool without touching it, folds her hands in her lap, and looks inquisitively at him.

"A celebration, is it?"

[bring_a_sponge]

"Look around. Check out that." He points at the ominously yellow crystal above them.

"You know what that means?"


Apparently, something wonderful.

[white_flowers]

"Quite unsettled here, tonight," she observes, and then peers up at the crystal before glancing back at him.

"Bright it is, to be sure, but I cannot say I like the color... what does it mean, then?"

[the_lioness]

Every night, the door to the bar opens and closes more times than anyone cares to count. Sometimes it is pushed open and slammed shut with a satisfying burst of noise that may or may not be audible on the other side. Often, Alanna is responsible for that particular disturbance of the peace.

She is certainly to blame now.

Alanna is angry. It's a deep, boiling rage that has been churning in her stomach for days. A large portion of her mad is directed at herself, which only makes her more mad, and after getting in another shouting match with Jonathan she decided to vent her fury at Milliways instead.

She hasn't been back since the Sven incident. She has no idea what has been happening. All she knows is that if someone asked her which she found more disturbing, the palpable shift she feels when she enters the bar or Blodwen's smile, she'd find it rather hard to decide.

What else is there to do but stand beside Blodwen and stare out at the destruction as if she isn't at all concerned by this turn of events?

[white_flowers]

"Why, and a good evening to you, cariad," Blodwen tells her, finally glancing away from the Window.

Her smile remains.

"Such a long time, it has been!"

[the_lioness]

Alanna does not return the glance. She can't, not yet. All of a sudden her feet feel rooted to the ground and to turn, to look in Blodwen's eyes and let her see whatever her body language hasn't already given away, would feel like a capitulation.

Lioness, she thinks; it sounds like a roar in her mind.

"A very long time," is all she says.



Thinking back makes her feel weary. Her shoulders square, defiant and proud; her toes curl in her boots.

[white_flowers]

"Mm. To be sure," she agrees.

A beat.

"Although perhaps not for all that much longer."

[the_lioness]

A sharp look.

"Oh? Are you leaving us?"

Alanna is, much to her chagrin.

[white_flowers]

Her smile shifts, becoming sharply amused.

"A pleasant thing that would be for you, would it not?"

[forewarned_is]

Like calls to like?

Perhaps.

Perhaps that's why there's another woman (or woman-shaped being, at least) nearby, as dark as Blodwen is pale, studying the Observation Window with a very similar appreciation.

[white_flowers]

"A glorious sight, is it not?" she murmurs.

[forewarned_is]

She gives the other a sidelong glance.

"It's beautiful," she agrees quietly.

[white_flowers]

"Indeed and it is," Blodwen agrees.

She turns from the Window and gives the other woman a curious, measuring look.

[forewarned_is]

Kali's look is much the same, frankly assessing.

[forgottenmotley]

The Fool watches her. His hat over his face hiding his near glowing eyes but his smile is quite visible. He seems to be enjoying all the mayhem around.

[white_flowers]

She smiles back at him.

"Quite an evening, is it not, dear?"

[forgottenmotley]

"An evening, a day! A week! It has all been amazing!" DOOM IS FUN! "Things are happening and everyone's crawling out of the woodwork like maggots and fleas. Though if they're abandoning ship while the dog dies, I don't know yet."

[white_flowers]

"Oh, and I suppose it would depend on the person," she observes. Her lip curls slightly.

"So many heroes there are here, after all."

[forgottenmotley]

He laughs.

"Heroes. Ah. Heroes. The king of fools. The people who kill themselves for glory and honor and girls." He pauses. "Or perhaps boys. Sometimes it's for boys."

[sidhe_king]

If Blodwen's eyes are diamond bright, those belonging to her current watcher are dark as a midnight sky on the new moon. Finvarra watches the woman carefully, closely, from the perch on a rafter he has; his hooded coat is inky black and hides his face in shadow, all but the shine of his eyes, and the quirk of his mouth.

He doesn't know her--but part of him would like to. Oh yes.

"Such a visitor we have."

[white_flowers]

She glances up, her sharp blue gaze finding him easily. Blodwen studies him for a second, and then smiles.

"I might say the same of you, cariad."

[sidhe_king]

He chuckles at the pet name, and drops out of the rafters with the grace of an otherworldy creature, feet landing light on the floor without a sound, bare even though the rest of him is clothed. He has the markings of fae; teeth that look filed sharp for an instant when he shows them, the unnaturally deep eyes, his quick but silent motions.

Under the hood, there's a silver circlet with the star of his rank, which he doesn't show her just yet; Finvarra bends into a proper bow to greet her. "My lady. How does the day find you?"