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Cerin Cerin sits in one of the pinnacle gardens of the cascade, looking out over Solaria as the sun began its slow descent. In front of him is a small sketchbook, and floating over his shoulder is a white flower that glows from within with a pale purple light.
zahara feels for Cerin's presence, smiling a little as she senses him. She proceeds through the Cascade and up to the garden he is in, sending ahead of herself a tentative warmth and love. When she arrives at the garden she pauses, watching him sketch, the watching the wind lift a few strands of his hair and playing with it. "Hello, My Love," she says softly.
Cerin places one more line upon the book before him, and then closes it, turning to smile at Zahara. "Hello, my heart." Despite the fact that there is plenty of room next to him on the bench, he moves up a little.
zahara smiles and joins him on the bench, sitting close. She leans in to kiss him deeply, slipping her arm around him, and whispers, "Have I mentioned how much I missed you?"
Cerin Cerin returns the kiss, smiling just faintly as she whispers "Once or twice."
zahara smiles, then it fades a little. "When we met, and you said that everything you knew was a lie... is it still?"
Cerin "No ... and yes." He says quietly. "It is hard to explain. Some things are still true and will be always, such as my love for you. The others ... changed as I did. I think."
zahara nods thoughtfully. "Do you still remember what it was like to know the other truths?"
Cerin "Faintly. Many of them do not co-exist well."
zahara "Like what?"
Cerin "They are such small things. A rearrangement of priorities that put him at the top. A twist of my perceptions that said there was no beauty in the world..."
zahara shivers a little. "Can they truly see no beauty in the world, or did they curse you to divorce you from it?"
Cerin "The latter, I think. He is not the kindest of masters."
zahara "Then perhaps he has only served to make you appreciate beauty more." There is something unusual in her voice; a hint of warmth and empathy.
Cerin "Perhaps." He admits, leaning on her shoulder.
zahara runs her fingers through his hair. "So much has changed since I left. And there is still so much more to do."
Cerin "So much has changed ... though that there is so more to do is hardly new." His eyes sparkle
zahara chuckles a little. "True."
Cerin tilts his head and kisses her cheek softly.
zahara "mmmm... speaking of things changing, I see you got new armor."
Cerin "A gift from Ymir when we talked many years ago."
zahara "Ah? Did you tell her who you...would be?"
Cerin "Hmm?"
zahara "That you are the inheritor of her shard."
Cerin "Oh, she knew. That is why she was there."
zahara "What did she say?"
Cerin "Many things ... we talked. It was much like talking to myself, although ... not quite. It was just before she left Meru for the last time, to go to Bi'Allah to die."
zahara "Did she tell you why she left?"
Cerin "No, but I know why. She had nothing left to live for. Killing Talmuda had broken her heart, and with Kiraith imprisoned, she had nothing more to live for."
zahara nods solemnly. "I thought of traveling to Bi'Allah for a time."
Cerin "When you returned?"
zahara nods, fingering the gold ring about her neck. "Yes."
Cerin kisses her just above the collar. "What made you change your mind?"
zahara "I realized that you were not gone, and that I might win you back. That maybe love would be enough to throw a wrench in fate. Then, I went with Imrama to the Wyld, and we were granted a vision that showed the way. That was the first ray of true hope I had felt after we were unable to... convince you to stay with us at the meeting."
Cerin nods. "Hope is strange."
zahara "Strange?"
Cerin just smiles.
zahara "I also spoke to Ymir," she says, after a while, "But I do not think she knew who I was."
Cerin "She did not mention it."
zahara chuckles. "Well, we were masquerading as servants."
Cerin "Ah." He grins "You as a servant..."
zahara "It was a very effective disguise." she grins back.
Cerin laughs
zahara "I bet the air exchanger I fixed is still working."
Cerin "That would not surprise me in the slightest."
zahara looks at him thoughtfully and says, with a certain amount of akwardness. "Does it ever bother you that I do not... treat you as an equal... in our relationship?"
Cerin "No." he says simply.
zahara smiles, "I am glad. I did not want to find out I had been hurting you...." she winks "well, in the wrong way."
Cerin grins "No, not in the wrong way."
zahara "Still, I wouldn't be averse to... trying new things. Making things more equal, sometimes."
Cerin "That ... is interesting." He says softly, after a time to think about it.
zahara smiles and kisses him again. "I think the scales need to be balanced, tonight."
Cerin "Tonight ..." He seems to almost taste the word after they break the kiss.
< The Emblem of Strangling Ivy | Sol Invictus Logs | There Are Two Kinds of War >
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