Total Jakey words: 3100 Replies: 22 # Opening 86 You notice a large body on the beach and almost mistake it for the dead afflicted bovine that you helped to fell earlier, but it's breathing. It's the horse that stormed out of the cave, after ranting to the Godling about his dead spouse and her manipulation to look like them. Maybe you agree that this is all so damn *weird*, but maybe you don't. “I'm resting...” He grumbles, but he makes no move to shoo you away. His tail flicks slightly. “...Can I help you?” # Ser 1 Ser sits nearby. Close enough for conversation, far enough that he couldn't kick her; caution out of habit. **"What would you rather be?"** She starts, a doozy of a question but it continued her questioning from the sewers. If he wanted a role in the coming days that *wasn't* play-thing, she could provide. ## Jakey 140 Jakey flicks his ears at the question. He adjusts his head to take a proper look at the wild dog, blinking wearily as her ruby teeth shine in his eyes. What *would* he rather be, if not the Godling’s pawn and plaything? Would he rather just be himself? Well, that’s not quite right. He doesn’t want to be *himself*, look where it’s led him. **“I don’t fucking know,”** he admits. **“Something more important than a mere follower, I guess.”** There’s an ache deep in his stomach as he says it. He’s always been proud of his loyalty to those he loves. But he doesn’t love the Godling. He’d only followed her because there was no one else left. Jakey huffs. Dust flies in front of his face and a speck lands in his eye. **“Ow. Fuck.”** He grumbles, blinking rapidly. ## Ser 1 **"With no one to guide, there is no point in a leader."** She corrects, another habit bred from walking through the stalls and roads of the Domain. What she did was for them. Anyone could preach, but few could fill the throne room with loyalty. She guessed though, that was not what the horse wanted to hear or know. Her gaze was politely turned away as he blinked out the dust, her next words a distraction. **"What are your skills then, if 'following' is one you wish to avoid."** ## Jakey 113 Well, she does have a point. With no followers, a leader is nothing. Like a god without devotees. And he supposes a follower without a leader is… just some guy. Like him. Jakey looks at her again, his green eyes narrowed as she moves on. What are his *skills*? He snorts. **“It feels like you’re trying to recruit me into something, little dog.”** Well, whatever her intentions are, he’s intrigued. Not intrigued enough to get up and go do whatever Ser suggests, but intrigued nevertheless. **“I’m sure you already have an idea of what I’m capable of, you don’t need me to tell you. You were the one who approached me, after all.”** ## Ser 1 Oh good. She could drop the attempts at court talk if he was going to be direct. It was much easier to be exact rather than dance around the niceties of flattery or subtlety. **"The world we came from is, as it seems, gone."** She tilts her head, looking past him for a moment to the emptying sky. **"My work to shape the Domain for its heir has to start over, and there is no better place than to start with its new citizens."** Her smile is small, but clear. She enjoys this work, learning about the people and finding the best fit for them all. **"I could put you where a horse should go but would you be happy there? A healer doesn't fit in a butcher shop. A climber would drown in the earth if working on tunnels."** *An eldest daughter would wilt without a brother to spoil.* ## Jakey 108 Jakey hums. So, she’s some kind of political leader or royalty. Someone important, looking for followers, looking to rebuild her empire. But… the little quirk in how she worded it. *For its heir.* She’s not exactly the leader, is she? She is a lost follower, just like him. A wanderer, not a blade. He tucks his head near his chest, briefly touching his stone. Their stone. He sighs, dust flying in front of his face again. **“Little dog, how can you offer me a role in your world when you barely have your own?”** He murmurs. The words would feel harsh, but his tone is gentle, almost sad. ## Ser 1 The daughter opens her mouth to reply, but shuts it in contemplation. Her teeth click. She moves from her seat to rest on her belly, front paws pillowing her chin, as if proximity would help her understand what he's saying. She stares at him, a dark and level gaze. **"Is *maker* not a role to you?"** Her voice is remarkably level for the poison she swallows. It stings of course, in the same way every look from her parents stung; every look from the Court who saw her and shook their heads. *Where is our heir? Where is our son?* They just got *her* and couldn't that be good enough? She was making it right in every trade deal she secured, every tunnel she cleared, every bit of land she helped them expand into - every person she found to fit the vision of something *better.* ## Jakey 117 He watches as the dog’s lips tighten around her teeth, seemingly deep in thought. Good. Her expression reminds him of Angel for a moment, so stubbornly following in his mother’s footsteps, even if it endangers him, even if it wasn’t what he really wanted to do with his life. Interesting. Jakey decides he should just let her think. It takes time to unravel from things like expectations (about five to ten years, maybe). And he came out here to rest, anyways, not join another wanderer’s cause—especially since he’s just as lost. Instead of answering her, Jakey closes his eyes. He begins to snore, but it’s pretty obvious he’s doing it with the intent to annoy her. ## Ser 1 Her eyes narrow when he "falls" asleep, but, with the sky dark above, and the noise of the cavern behind her, she doesn't feel up for nudging him to answer at least *one* of her questions with an answer that wasn't just another question. Still, Serrah can be petty too, and yawns wide, practically illuminating this corner of the beach, to annoy him back. ___ # Pam 1 Pamaran approaches, the little mouse barely the size of one of Jakey's hooves. Actually, he's probably smaller, still. But he speaks loud enough to be heard, despite his size. It probably helps that he just climbs right onto the horse's head while he's laying down, peering right into one of his eyes. **"...what did the Godling look like, to you?"** He says after a beat, resting his tiny little paws on Jake's snout. They're warm. **"I didn't know she looked different for everyone."** ## Jakey 183 He cracks an eye open, thinking a leaf had fallen on his nose and he needs to huff it away. But to his surprise, it’s a little armored mouse, sitting right on his head. Jakey hums, amused. **“When I met her, she looked just like my baby daughter. Akari, she’s called. Not a baby anymore, though, definitely older than you.”** He says, though there’s a conflicted fondness in his eyes as he recalls the Godling’s coat colors instead of Akari’s warm bay. Briefly, he considers leaving it at that, but what’s the point of secrets at the end of the world? Jakey sighs, though he tries not to move so much as to not accidentally toss Pam off of himself. **“And then she looked like my spouse, who… recently passed. It felt like a sick joke, you know. Told her to quit it, now she looks like a cat.”** A laugh escapes his mouth. He’s been holding in the tension since he stormed out of that cave. He looks at up at Pam. **“And I suppose she looks like a mouse to you?”** ## Pam 1 Pam looks rather solemn as he listens, contemplative. His tail swishes slowly behind him, the tip flickering gently like a candle. His little claws tap lightly against Jake's face. **"Yeah,"** he says eventually, mouth twisting a little. **"...definitely not a baby anymore."** He says quietly, shaking his head. **"...The gray fur... kinda makes her look like my sister, now that she looks... uh. Older..."** He tilts his head. **"...A cat, huh."** ## Jakey 168 **“Your sister…”** Jakey repeats, taking note of the hesitation in the little mouse’s voice. It cements the idea in his mind that the Godling had been manipulating her appearance, depending on the viewer. Trying to provoke an emotional response, maybe. **“Doesn’t that freak you out, that she can just… look like whatever?”** *I’m sorry, Jakey, I just want to be like you*, she had pleaded, though it didn’t exactly convince him that it was all well-meaning. Why would she ever want to be like him, a sad old bastard? Why appear young at first, then appear older later? And why did she become a cat? Is that her true form? **“Not sure about why a cat, specifically. A wild cat, not a small cat.”** He watches the flame on Pam’s tail dance gently, thoughts continuing to swirl in his mind. It doesn’t seem to be hurting the mouse, thankfully. Perhaps it’s just a side effect of being granted powers. **“You got something on your tail,”** Jakey murmurs, deadpan. ## Pam 1 **"I mean,"** he pauses, tilting his head this way and that. Thinking. Turning the words over in his head. **"...Iunno. I think— if I could do something like that. I would... just choose something, like, bigger. Or cooler?"** *Something stronger.* **"She doesn't look— exactly like her. No scales or anything, just. The gray fur and blue eyes. Y'know? My sister's, like, older, anyways."** He blinks, twisting around to look at himself. **"Oh, huh. Weird,"** It's green flame dances idly in the breeze. He stares at it in wonder. **"Well, if you could be something else. What would you be?"** ## Jakey 56 Jakey nods along as the little mouse speaks, though he’s cognizant enough to not shake Pam off. He snorts softly at the question. What would he want to be, if he wasn’t a horse? It’s something he hasn’t imagined since he was just a colt, but he answers just the same. **“A crow,”** he says, simply. ## Pam 1 **"A crow,"** Pam echoes back, his little head bobbing. **"I got to ride on the back of one once. They're fun. I think I'd want something that could fly, too. Like a dragon, from the stories!"** ## Jakey 83 He can’t help but smile at the mental image of a little mouse riding a crow. It’s silly, something a kid would come up with, but Pam seems to be genuinely telling the truth. The mouse mentions dragons. He’s heard of them, in myths and stories, usually from younger folks he’d met. Lizard or bird-like creatures, fantastical stories further fueled by huge fossils washing out of the ground or kept in old human museums. **“I think you’d be a cool dragon.”** Jakey murmurs. ## Pam 1 **"You think so?"** Pam pats the space under Jake's eye. The mouse was so small compared to this guy. It would never not be pretty comical. **"Would you be a crow-dragon? Or something else?"** ## Jakey 44 Jakey hums. **“You even got the scales. Maybe you have some dragon in you already.”** He ponders what kind of dragon he’d be. A crow dragon sounds cool. He yawns, and smiles gently at the mouse with half-lidded eyes. **“I’d be a sleepy dragon.”** ___ # Dawn 1 Dawn had slipped away from the cave and everyone else to finally take to the shore to actually see the beach just like she wanted to. The others can clamor over the Godling as she found visiting the beach more exciting than meeting with the Godling again anyways. As she walked along the shore line, she eventually found a... horse? He was laying down in the sand as well... as best a horse can she supposed. Dawn chirped out a greeting to him to which he stated he was resting. Oh... Did she accidently wake him? He didn't seem too bothered with her being there so she waltzed on up to him and planting her front paws on his snout. Dawn shrugged, **"I don't know, do you like swimming?"** She asked as she tried to look at the water over Jakey's head before giving him a look over. **"You look like you'd be good at it! But... You said you were resting... Did... Did you need help?"** ## Jakey 134 Jakey doesn’t flinch when the cat stands right on his snout. He’s endured years of little paws smacking him around—well, just Zhenya, mostly. She was always laying her dirty paws on his face. When Dawn mentions swimming, he follows her gaze to the water. He’s flattered that she thinks he’d be good at it, but the idea of swimming in such darkness feels… dangerously stupid and scary. And even if they stay in the shallows, it’s still wet and cold—dry and cold, he can handle, but swimming in the cold is for fish, not him. He squints at Dawn. **“I only like swimming on summer afternoons, unfortunately.”** Then, the blue cat asks if he needs help, which he snorts at. **“Well, if you’re offering help, I think I need a shoulder rub.”** ## Dawn 1 **"Bummer,**" She says a bit sadly as Jakey denies her request for a swim. His favorite choice of summer afternoons though was a good pick. It was always a good time to do that no matter how hot it was outside! Shame he wouldn't do it outside of that though... Dawn looked over to the horse's shoulders as he mentions wanting a shoulder rub. It's not really something she's done before but she could it a shot, **"Sure, I can try!"** Dawn hops onto Jakey's face and then over onto his shoulder, walking in a circle at first as she looks him over unsure of how to start at first especially given his shoulder was the size of at least on of her. She then comes to stop to start kneading his shoulder, spinning every once in a while to try to cover more area. ## Jakey 56 He raises his head in surprise as Dawn hops on top of him, watching as the cat presses her paws into his shoulder, rubbing at his tense muscles. **“I didn’t think you’d actually do it,”** he murmurs, before laying his head back on the sand. **“Thanks.”** It’s relaxing, thankfully. He could fall asleep to this. Zzz… ___ # Nirn 1 Nirn approached the prone equine cautiously. A wellness check. He hoped it wasn't any sort of keg injury, as those could often be more severe in animals like this. And he could help but notice that this individual was on the older end of the spectrum, gaze inspecting the fur for any apparent injuries. He'd been so caught up in it he hadn't noticed he was being watched. The apothecary jumped despite himself- embarrassed and apologetic. ***"Oh-* I am sorry sir I was just.. I was.."** ## Jakey 46 Jakey laughs softly at the startled cat who was so keenly inspecting him. **“Checking on me? I appreciate it, but I’m fine.”** He points lazily back at Nirn with a hoof, a wry smile on his face. **“How about you? Have you checked on yourself, kitty-cat?”** ## Nirn 1 Nirn sighed through his shame, despite the fellow saying he appreciated it. **"Yes.. my apologies, I did not mean to disturb you.. I am glad you are alright."** His brow knit slightly at the hoof pointed in his direction. **"I am unharmed,"** he answered, knowing full well that it was not what the other meant. ## Jakey 82 The stallion’s gaze lingers on Nirn for a moment before he huffs softly. He rolls back onto his belly, hooves tucked to his sides. **“But you still seem troubled,”** Jakey murmurs, ears forward in curiosity. Then, he tilts his head, thinking. Most are troubled, nowadays, from what he can gather. It’s not exactly uncommon to be terrified at all of this, to be grieving. **“If it helps, I think it’s more odd to be unbothered by… everything ending,”** he says, voice soft. ## Nirn **"I suppose you are right.."** Nirn let his gaze drop to the sand beneath his paws, coarse and uncomfortable. Izzo had always wanted to take him to the sea.. *Or drag him there and toss his lanky tail into the surf,* as his partner would put it. But they were always busy, caught up.. He must've thought he'd have more time. That they'd both have more time. Nirn only wandered to the sea after Izzovir had left him, some small part of him hoping to find him there. But Izzo wasn't there, and he wasn't *here* now. Nirn realized with a finality that there was nowhere left to look. Every last living mammal was here.. No matter where he looked, he would not find him. His partner was well and truly gone. The cat sat heavily in the sand now, stricken. **"I don't know what to do."** The words took shape oddly, unbidden and unaffected by the usual care Nirn put into his tone and cadence. ## Jakey *I don’t know what to do.* The cat’s words are heavy with grief. It’s familiar. Just by virtue of being *here* and not gone like everyone else, he knows that Nirn has lost *someone*. Dead or disappeared, it didn’t seem to matter now. **“Does *anyone* really know what to do, at the end of the world?”** Jakey says, soft but bitter. He sighs, glancing back at the cave where the Godling was resting. **“I mean, all you… all *we* can do is just… follow her.”** Jakey weakly smiles at Nirn. **“I’m Jakey, by the way,”** he introduces himself, bowing his head slightly. ___ # Lorin 1 Lorin approaches the sprawled horse when he’s alone, curious about something. **“You seemed to think that the Godling was someone *familiar.*”** ## Jakey 52 Jakey flicks his ears at the question, looking up at the… goat? Deer? He wasn’t sure, and he hesitates even more as he gaze drops to Lorin’s talons. Well, none of his business. **“She’d made herself look like my dead spouse,”** he says, dryly, even though it was none of her business. ## Lorin 1 *That* seems a little crazy. To Lorin, the Godling simply appeared like a gray version of her own species. She had just aged in the time she’d seen her last. **“That is strange,”** she muses. **“To me she just looked like an antelope.”** ## Jakey 115 Jakey looks up at Lorin’s face again, his gaze tracing along her horns. He wouldn’t have gotten *antelope*, but he can see it. Perhaps heavy exposure to the ooze had made her look that way, and made all her relatives look like not-antelopes. **“I think she changes her appearance based on who is looking, to relate more.”** Jakey says, hesitant. He’s still unsure of the Godling’s motive to do so, but she’d said that she wants to be *like him*. Could be a childish mirroring, could be a calculated manipulation. But… from what he’s heard, she can often look like a relative. He looks to Lorin again, brows furrowed. **“Did you not know other antelopes?”** ## Lorin 1 **“I had a herd.”** She goes silent for a bit. Then she continues, **“They have since died. We were nomadic. I spent less time with them as I grew older, traveling the world to consume ooze.”** Perhaps her severed ties made her a less attractive target for looking like someone she knew. ## Jakey 131 Jakey nods, and he can’t help but feel pity for Lorin. Just like him, a herd animal without a herd. But she didn’t seem too bothered about it. Outwardly, anyways. He raises his brow at her second comment. Oh. She’s mutated herself on *purpose*, then, by eating ooze? Jakey supposes that there are worse hobbies to have at the end of the world. And she seems to be strong for her age, older than him. Maybe there are benefits to eating it, but he’s always avoided the stuff. Jakey hums, deep in thought, and decides to pivot the topic away from personal histories–neither of them seem that keen to expand on it, anyways. **“So, do you think the Godling has good intentions, now that you know she changes her appearance?”** ## Lorin 1 **“Her intentions matter little to me,”** she says, and it’s *almost* true. -# Deep down, though Lorin is loath to admit it, she craves her approval. **“I was always meant to become a god, and I will do so with or without her help.”** ## Jakey 73 Jakey flicks his ears at her words. What a fascinating character. He’s tempted to crack a joke, but he thinks better of it. He *shouldn’t* piss off this antelope and *should* find a way out of this conversation. But… shit, he’s *so* curious. **“What will you be the god of?”** He asks, voice steady. Then, remembering his conversation with the wild dog, he adds another question: **“And who will devote themselves to you?”** ## Lorin 1 **“Creation,”** she says, and isn’t that sort of what all gods *are?* **“I do not care if people devote themselves to me or not. That is not what I am for.”** ## Jakey 52 He nods, amused at her confidence. She sort of said it like it was obvious. Well, if she doesn’t need devotees, why is she preaching? Jakey lays his head back down on the sand and gazes up at Lorin with sleepy eyes. He yawns. **“I look forward to seeing your creations, demiurge.”** ___ # 135 After being bothered by several others on the beach, Jakey figures that it isn’t a very private spot to rest. He trudges up to the cliffs instead, hoping to find a suitably lonely area. He finds Cher instead, watching the ocean, and she turns as his hooves disturb the dry and dead brush. He settles a polite distance from her, tucking his legs to his sides, watching the waves crash and roll against each other. The water is dark, barely visible from the handful of stars that still remain in the sky. Some time passes in silence before he realizes he’d forgotten to properly greet the mountain lion. He looks to Cher again, ears burning, but even though he meant to apologize, a stupid quip comes tumbling out of his mouth instead. **“How’s your nose?”** ## Cher 1 Really, it's felt like almost half of their group has come to visit her so far. Not only did she not expect so much attention, she found that many of them seemed decently well-to-do. There are the notable exceptions--the dog who did the killing, of course--but *he* was an issue she would address later. For now at least, she could put herself at rest. A noise at her back makes her turn, and it's then that she sees Jakey, tromping up the way. It's only for a moment that she meets his gaze. But without her mask to obscure her muzzle, he can see the ghost of a smile her cheeks. Looking to her left for a good deal while longer, she eventually turns her eyes back to the dark sea, amusement tickling through her as the silence is filled by the churning water. He's just close enough to warrant a greeting, and yet, none comes. Anyone else might be annoyed or offended by that. But for some reason, she can't bring herself to feel anything close to that. She glances back to him, and just in time to see the realization paint it's way across his face. That in of itself almost gets her to laugh. The quip, in the end, is what does her in. **"Hello to you too, Jakey."** She laughs, warm and easy, and shakes her head. **"Much better. After your help, a nap, and some healing, it's all clean and tended-to."** She glances back at him. **"I hope you didn't come back for that bit of blanket you lent me."** ## Jakey 141 He sighs into a chuckle, relieved that she didn’t call him out on his rusty social skills and just laughed it off. Jakey usually thinks himself as unlucky, but maybe he’s lucky that when he fucks up, people are kind anyways. **“It’s fine, keep that scrap if you wanna. I don’t carry the blanket for myself, anyways.”** Jakey says with a small smile, but it quickly disappears from his face with a sigh. **“I, uh, used to care for the sick, give them comfort as they faded. It was… habit, you know, to help out.”** The stallion grimaces as he realizes the implications of saying that to Cher. He clears his throat. **“I mean, treating the hurt in general. Not just…”** He trails off, worrying for a moment that he’ll get slapped by the cougar. **“Sorry,”** he says, a bit pathetically. ## Cher 1 Cher’s pleasant expression slowly starts to sink as Jakey talks. Lower and lower it sinks as he *keeps* talking, and just keeps hammering it home. She had to admit, she found his fumbling endearing before. But as his words sink like daggers into her ears, all she can do is blink and part her lips in hurt and shock. First, the mouse. He was kind enough about it. Then came the feline. He panicked after she was blunt with him, and it didn’t help much at all. Though she hadn’t known the horse for very long, it sickened her utterly that he had helped her—come up here to *see* her, even—because he pitied her. The thought made her that much more aware of how her bones poked from her fur. And in that moment, she felt like she wanted to cry more than be angry. ***”Stop…”*** she whispers shakily, turning away from him and resting her chin on the earth, resisting the urge to scrunch her face even more. She felt cold, now. She could feel his eyes on her, and it hurt to imagine it. Faintly, in the darkness of the everlasting night, Jakey can see the faintest of blue embers beginning to drift from her rashes. A few long, terrible moments pass. She sits up an inch, opening her mouth as if to say something, then sighs hard and settles back to the stones. The silence stretches on. ## Jakey 356 Fuck. God. Okay, maybe he *is* an unlucky bastard who messes everything up. He hangs his head in shame—fuck, he’s so stupid, of *course* it was a sensitive topic for her. Sickness, fading away, death. Fuck’s sake, Jake, just *look* at her, why would you say that? For years, he waded through grief and guilt, with Hans’s sickness, with Biel’s death. They were both his fault, to some degree. All he does is bring around misery while acting like he’s helping. And at the end of the world, that hasn’t changed at all. Cher helped saved his life and he repays the favor by casually reminding her that she’s rotting from the inside with no known cure. He looks at her again, his brow knit tight in worry. She’s… glowing, now, little blue flames pulsing as she takes shaky breaths. He wonders if he should tell her that she’ll probably live longer than him, wonders if that’ll make her feel better. But how would he word that? *Hey, if anything, I’m actually dying faster than you, because I’m old, and honestly, you should’ve just let me die back there since I probably will die within a year.* God, no, he’d sound even more like an asshole. What the hell did he do to make Hans smile, when they got stressed to the point of tears? He’d just say a stupid joke, usually, but that hardly feels appropriate. A nuzzle or gentle nibble? No, he’d *definitely* get slapped. Cher opens her mouth as if to say more, but then decides against it, giving up and settling back down. This time, the silence isn’t peaceful, it’s dense with hurt. And because he ruins everything, Jakey speaks again and breaks the silence. His voice is soft, barely audible over the crashing waves. **“I’m sorry, Cher, really, I didn’t… I’m an insensitive dickhead, I know.”** He swallows hard, nostrils flaring as he takes a slow breath. Jakey kicks his legs out in front of him, preparing to stand. He looks to her again, trying to find her eyes in the darkness. **“I can leave you alone, if you want.”** ## Cher 1 Cher hates the silence almost as much as she hates the words that preceded them. Silently, she lets the tears fall down her cheeks, nothing else to do but let them out and sizzle to the stones. She scolds herself, internally, for being so sensitive. Why should she feel bad about something she deserves? Why should she cry so much, if not out of grief, then out of guilt for her wrongness? Gods above. Did any of the kind animals she met actually like her, or did they only feel a passing sympathy for her horrid condition? Did that little white kitten? Did he even *sleep well* on this mangled paw of hers? She should be angry--in any better health, she'd probably give him a smart swat on his muzzle--but pitifully, she can't even summon that much. And so, she lies there. Flickering with the fire, too weak to even stand up and defend herself. Maybe they were right. Maybe she *was* pathetic. She should have known that the moment she turned to murder. She hears Jakey in her ear again, just hardly above a whisper, but still there. Limply, she lifts her head to peer back at him. Just barely, through the whiteness of her eyes, he can see the faintest glimmer of blue around where her irises might have been. She doesn't reply to his questions. She should tell him to go away, to *fuck off* like that dog who murdered the Godling. But she can't. **"...why did you come up here, Jakey?"** She says, her eyes shining with glowing tears. **"Do you pity me?"** ## Jakey 229 Jakey sits his ass back down quickly, clumsily. He’s not sure what the right answer is, if there is any. He didn’t mean to seek her out in particular, he just… Well, he did sit next to her on purpose, that’s probably what she’s actually asking. **“You’re a familiar face. And you helped saved my life, so I figured we were on friendly terms.”** He really hopes that stays true. And the second part. He’d be lying if he said no, he doesn’t pity her, but something about her—the glint of recognition when he’d mentioned his daughter, the way she had kissed the stone around her collar as she woke from her vision, her muzzle—God, her *muzzle*—the way she just… carries a certain grief about her, a fear that she’ll hurt others again. It’s a familiar face. **“I pity you only as much as I pity myself,”** Jakey says, laying his head down on the cold gravel, his gaze steady on Cher’s glowing tears. He’s failed to protect his family. He has blood on his hands. He shouldn’t be alive. But he was chosen, anyways. **“I don’t know your whole story, but I feel we’ve gone through similar things. Like we’re kindred spirits.”** He blinks. That sounded forward. He flicks his tail anxiously. **“Um, I’m not flirting, I swear, I’m not *that* much of a dickhead.”** ## cher 1 Cher's expression holds, but she slowly tilts her head to the side as she listens. Kindred spirits. Maybe he has a point to it. While she had the slightest of urges to pry, the mere mention of seeing a daughter was enough to make her fearful of unearthing bad memories; his outburst about his spouse practically confirmed tragedy. But she knew firsthand how painful it all was. Those were soul-deep aches. The deepest ones that there could be. And for those, one would not pour it all out to an inquisitive stranger. The honesty of his admittance makes her hurt, but only for a moment. At least he's got the guts to say it. But for all of Jakey's fumbling and rudeness and inadvertent hurting, a deep part of Cher can feel the presence of something that he, too, may share. It is one that no person--none that she has ever poured herself out to--could do anything but witness and shudder at. Except for ones who have felt the same. Ones who have suffered one of the most terrible things that could happen to a person, and still live in the aftermath. The facts come together in her mind. And slowly, as she frames everything that he's done and said, her hurt expression starts to soften at the edges. She hates to be pitied, yes. But more than anything else, she hates for that pity to be used in place of understanding. And maybe, just maybe, *he* would understand... She's about to open her mouth to speak, of course, before he decides it's a swell idea to tell a joke. It catches her entirely off-guard. And to his credit, her face crinkles up with an astonished snort. The snort, after a short moment, devolves into a chuckle. Then, shoulders trembling, her face twists together in a hiccuping laugh. She doesn't look very happy that she's laughing, but her laughter hops out of her all the same. **"Oh my** ***God,"*** she says, still laughing, disgust and bewilderment clashing in her voice. **"How the hell did you get a spouse?"** ## jakey 231 It’s his turn to be taken aback, watching as Cher laughs and snorts at his words. Jakey stutters out a response, voice creaking and face flushing like he’s a teenager again. **“I—I’m being genuine!”** *“How the hell did you get a spouse?”* Cher says, and honestly, he asks himself the same thing quite often. He feels his ears droop slightly at the comment, but he straightens them back out quickly. No need to make it a crying contest. Hans had every right to be mad at him and feel betrayed, they had every right to smack him upside the head after they had recovered. But they didn’t, they forgave him and they still loved him, because… He’s still not sure. It’s not like he’s the most attractive guy in the world, Hans could’ve had their pick if that was their main concern. Jakey noses at the carved garnet at his chest, thinking. Maybe they felt sorry for him. Maybe the sickness clouded their judgement for the decade afterwards. What pessimistic thoughts, Jakob. He shakes his head. They’d explained it to him pretty plainly, years ago, when he asked. **“Hans said it was because I understand them, and they understand me,”** Jakey murmurs, his gaze out over the ocean. They didn’t elaborate on their reasoning past that, and Jakey laments that he’ll never quite know. **“Understood,”** he corrects his tense, quietly. ## Cher 1 The more cher laughs, the more she realizes just how much of a dagger to the heart her words were to him. The twitch in his ears is subtle. But his silence, set against his quiet words, paints a picture that smothers her guffaws. Of course that's an issue for him. Why in her right mind did she think that would be funny? Feeling half a fool and half an ass, Cher curses softly and lowers her eyes to the ground. She glances up to him again a little after he's finished speaking, and standing up, pads a little ways down the incline to sit beside him. She's careful to give him space. Now that she knows, she can feel the weight in his words. **"We can talk about it, if you'd like,"** she says up to him. Despite the guilt in her face, she manages a little ghost of a smile. **"I won't give you platitudes. And...I promise I won't laugh."** Her expression sinks slowly, those just-blue eyes softening even more. **"I'm sorry."** ## Jakey 97 Her laughter fades, and he regrets his lack of filter. Jakey offers a small smile back, hoping he doesn’t look too upset. Maybe a little melancholy, but nothing extreme. She pads over to him, offers to let him talk, but he’s talked plenty. Too much, even. He shakes his head. Her pale eyes look sad, guilty. Cher’s too kind. **“I don’t need to talk more,”** he says, and he rests his head on the stones again, his salt-and-pepper mane lightly brushing against Cher’s side. **“I think you understand, anyways.”** Jakey closes his eyes, but sleep doesn’t come. ## Cher 1 She does. With a final slow nod, she watches him set his head on the ground, her eyes lingering on him for quite some time. She can feel the exhaustion clawing behind her eyes, too. She doesn’t want to go back to the cave. After such a busy and mind-boggling day, she figures they’d both like a little time to themselves. She stands, and silently, plods down the stones to find a different place to lie for the night. The one she finds is a nice little spot. A patch of grass, just beside the rocks that lead to the cliffs, the crash of the ocean distant but present. Sleep, for her, comes a little later than she’d like. She gets to the point that, no matter how much she wishes to, her mind can no longer think of anything but shutting her eyes. And so she does. Blessedly, in a day so full of nightmares, her dreams sit un-touched. ___ ## Jakey 58 Jakey is absentmindedly drawn to the light and gets startled when the little coyote greets him in pawsign. He nods politely as he mentally digs up his skills of manual language–it’s been a while since he’s used it. **“Hi,”** he signs back a little sloppily, his hoof scraping the sand. **“You’ve got, uh… stars? Is that normal?”** ## Bit 1 Bit's smile grows the moment someone else joins in, jumping up to their paws and sending sand flying everywhere as their tail wags. ``I think! Maybe? My friend- umm... the nice little pup like me... with the rings? She said I could be cool and special, like my friends!`` They nod excitedly, trying to scrape their own 'hoof' in the sand like their companion. ``What about you? You got cool things too? Is that how you're sooo big?`` Their eyes light up as they speak, head tilting back to glance toward him. ``I'm Bit, also!`` ## Jakey 103 **“Jakey,”** he introduces himself with his namesign, and he pauses for a moment—it was his spouse that had given it to him, a combination of the sign for *gold* and his initials. Jakey spells out his name after, and his joints strain a bit at the movement. The stallion looks back at his body for a moment, double checking if he had any lights or flames or whatever of his own. Fortunately (unfortunately?), he sees nothing but his shadow. **“I… don’t have anything like that, I was just born big.”** Jakey signs, then realizes how stupidly he phrased it. He just smiles.