Noctivagant

[Thalia]

For once Noctua’s snap hit deep enough to chip against bone. When Mara peeled from her arms, Nimeda drew up her legs and plopped her chin upon her folded arms. Her sister’s giggling soothed some of the turbulence inside, and rather than dwell on her own hurt she considered the moniker dream eater. Protection banded her chest, but she knew the measure of her own powerlessness. Nimeda did not choose to wear Thalia’s bruises but she was vastly aware of how vulnerable she was. She floated in the currents of this world, but she did not control them.

Noctua shimmered as he paced, a swirl of gold and green. Nimeda had seen such vestments cloak his shoulders before, though this time they brought to mind the echoing halls of his home. She glanced at Mara, curious to see what the other girl made of it. It occurred to her that she might actually know more of who or what Noctua was when his eyes opened in the Other world.

“Of course I will try to help. Always, Noctua.” She blinked, surprised when the admonishment of his lecture ended with such an open question. Nimeda found his rejection painful, but she was not burdened by any self-defensive desire to reciprocate. She had shared things with Noctua she had not shared with anyone. She was unlikely to ever deny him anything he asked of her.

A bloom that looked much like those that swayed in Tuuru’s garden still habitually nestled amongst the other fauna wound into her hair. She kept it for the same reason she kept Grim’s warning on the skin of her palm. To remember. Her posture relaxed like she were a flower herself peeking rays from a sun, though with the curls wild about her guileless expression, perhaps she was naught more than an errant dandelion. “If the key is what you Need most, you will find it. But seeking and Needing are different things. Only the dream can answer that question.”

His seeking brought the attention of Mara’s pets, but their stalking had begun before that; she’d seen them scuttling like shadows in the periphery before now. Fear was a diversionary path, but Nimeda trusted the journey. She pushed herself to her feet, scrunching her toes against the cold rock underfoot. “Beware of your desires. What you value most must be denied. That is what you told me. But it will only hinder you here, Noctua. We found Tuuru and the garden because you surrendered your Need.” She held both palms open but did not move closer. The decision ought to be his. The beckon included both. Nimeda was too aware of her own loneliness to willingly exclude. If fears still nipped Noctua’s unconscious thoughts, the Lady of Nightmares might be no unwelcome traveller. Or at least, Nimeda trusted she would offer protections to someone considered a friend, if she were able.