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[longwillows]

reach out?

the smell of fresh water in dry desert air. the feeling of cautious curiosity. a place as dangerous as it is resplendent.

c

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[longwillows]

[This is one that Kalmiya had not necessarily expected to be answered. Their moment of connection in the dreams was intimate—special to her, certainly, but she cannot claim any certainty that he feels the same way in retrospect. The circumstances of their coupling, while not extenuating, were admittedly unusual.

She is pleasantly surprised to receive a response, though the state he's in as his appearance is projected through the Murmur is less enthusing. While she knows he is not the only one ailing in the wake of the dream, that brings little relief.

There's a reluctance to connect more deeply and potentially subject him to further pain on her part, but it feels callous to speak so distantly when his response is so revealing. So after a moment, there is the sense of weight next to the Forsaken, and along the weave of the Murmur she can be seen sitting next to him, masked and unusually heavy in presence. Her shape is still humanlike, but the shadows play along her features in a way that leaves their details difficult to discern.

Her voice sounds further away than the impression of physical presence she has given. But it's truer than the degrees of removal she'd taken in her initial message—somber, sad.] Yes. To teach me a lesson.

I had many of them to break. [And every single one left a terrible pain once lost.]

[aeviternitas]

[ There is something important - not in Kalmiya's words themselves, but in a truth buried beneath. Unwell as he is, the Forsaken struggles through the fog shrouding his mind to think of it, recognizing only that it is there.

For a time, there is silence, only his appearance in the Murmur giving any indication he is still there. ]

I imagine there is little point to asking if you are alright. [ She seems exhausted beyond the physical, something unsure and weighted in her presence. It is wholly unlike the woman that he met in the palace of pearl, and even the dream before that. Again, he is silent for a moment. When he speaks again, strength like a thin steel cord echoes beneath his voice. Despite the miasma of fatigue that shrouds him, there is a gentleness, too. ]

Even so- regardless of the lesson she wished to impart, [ Of which he can guess the gist: obedience, worship. ] I hope the only one you took away from that is caution.

...Might your Tethers be reforged? [ That was what Espera had called them, tethers. An appropriate name, like a lead, or bindings. Again, his mind whispers urgency, though for what, he still cannot parse. ]