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[trailborn]

WELCOME TO THE SALTBURNT NETWORK

USERNAME:
ELSA

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[powerhungry]

[ She laughs so brightly that he has to look away — like she's a little too bright to look at directly, as sunny as the golden edges to her features. It's a small thing, smaller in light of Jawsy's reaction; he turns over a little, onto his side rather than on his belly, humming as Elsa's fingers comb through his fur. Content — clear in a way his master isn't. Clear in the way that she is. ]

A riddle. A pun. A few different sorts, all in the interest of making me laugh.

[ Jawsy, as if aware he's being spoken of, cranes his head, looking up at Silco. You laughed, in so many words. I know you did. ]

They speak on their own, where I'm from, [ he adds, backtracking. ] There's no need for magic, no need for a translator. I didn't consider what it might be like otherwise until arriving here.

[trailborn]

[miracles are real, and they take form in silco and jawsy's connection. she sees it now, in jawsy's round black eyes as he looks at his companion and silco's blue and red– red like the heat of a sunset in the middle of summer, color too bold for a simple description. this man ...where does his happiness go? he has the same looming darkness as shea had.]

You have all sorts of surprises, don't you?

[breezily said, as if to be interpreted for either the baby hyena to hear or for silco.]

After a while, you'll learn his language. [meant for silco as she curls her fingers into jawsy's fur once more, a final ruffling before she eases the pup from her lap and brings herself to her feet.] He already knows yours.

[powerhungry]

[ When Elsa moves to rise, Jawsy practically rolls out of her lap, laying prone on the ground for a moment — like he's readjusting to being unattached — before he gets to his feet as well, shaking off a little of the frost that's smudged onto his fur. He lopes in a circle around Elsa's ankles, then returns to Silco's side, though his ears remain tuned in the girl's direction. ]

I suppose so, [ is what Silco offers, as he looks down to meet the pup's gaze. (Not typically the kind of assessment he'd indulge in, but he's felt it, since rising from the grave — the sense that the creature knows him, somehow. That the fact that they rose together wasn't just coincidence. Strange, that she should be able to sense it, too.)

As he glances back up, not inclined to keep her here — to hang onto any conversation, really — if she means to go back inside: ]

I take him out every morning, if you'd like to see him again.

[trailborn]

[the ghost of her laugh has stayed firm in her smile as she watches jawsy romp around her feet. elsa lives in every moment entirely, engrosses herself in the smallest of details– not for nothing, be it whether to pick up a lizard or reach for a gun. silco is a contrast to the space she chooses to take, instead holding everything close to his chest. not stiffly, exactly, more careful control.]

I would. Sunrise?

[she doesn't ask what time, and even with the use of handy clocks, she chooses not to rely on them alone. hands get tucked into her jacket pockets, posture straightening.]

It was nice to meet you both.