ORIGIN - Ornaments Neatly Ordered, Lovingly Admired

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Azure closed her eyes, lifting her head and holding still for Dip to smear black all over her. She responded, but there were hands all over her face so it was kind of muffled.

"Uhh--I was with them, when they did bad things, I didn't know any better. I didn't get the chance to do anything bad, myself--I got my ass handed to me before I could--but I was with the group that attacked. So... yeah they won't be happy with me, I think. But..."

She shook herself, peering into the bit of metal that Dip was now holding up. She took a moment to smooth down her own facial feathers with her forelimbs. "Looks good," she decided. "Thanks, Dip. And... we--well, I--could try." She laughed a little, though not very happily, at the mention of the knife. It was a joke--it was funny--but it hit just a little close to home.

"Well, I'd rather not stab anything. And these guys--they have power, like--their magic, it's very strong." A brief, flickering memory of screams, of blood, of magic flashing and flaring and tearing them apart. She shoved this away before it could grow too strong in her mind.

"It'd be nice to try, even though I'd rather just. Not. I'd rather just stay here and never talk to anyone again," she muttered. "Plus if they don't agree, they might stick me in a cage again."

She was half-inclined to ask Dip to talk to them for her, but then realized at once that she couldn't. If they wanted to know where Azure was, they might hurt her. Then again...

"I know it's a lot to ask, but--do you think you could talk to one of 'em for me? I could just. Leave, so you don't know where I am anymore, like--so if they ask where I am and they get angry you could just tell them where I was last. But I'd be gone? And if it worked, you could... leave a gemstone here or something. I could check, sometimes. I can fly and I don't think any of them can so I could see if it was safe?" She paused. "...It's a little complicated, and uhh. Paranoid. I know. And a lot to ask. But if you want. If not I'll--I could try to just hide there," she finished lamely.

@Siren

Siren offered a grin, half-encouragingly, half-proudly, to Azure as she looked over her reflection before she set the scrap of metal down and went back to rubbing her blackened hands down, thinking. "Well, they won't be happy with you but it's not like they can do anything about it, you know? I mean they might be bad but they'd sorta be on the same level if they hurt you just because of your parents."

Not that that would stop them, she realised a little grimly some milliseconds later, but didn't say this out loud.

"Stabbing them might make them more angry," she agreed thoughtfully. She had been, incidentally, thinking something along the same lines in that moment-- that she could go and talk to the Seven on her own instead, and maybe placate them into coming up with some kind of compromise to leave Azure alone, but she did take the words out of her mouth.

She flicked a dimly-lit gaze towards Azure, smiling still. Her idea was complicated, but that was okay. "I can go ask them," she said, pushing up. "Uhh, if you wanna hide somewhere, you could hide in my den, maybe? It's pretty safe there, it's-- uhhh, hidden. Sheltered. I have a really soft nest as well 'cause of all of these things I found in the tunnel," she plucked at the yellow sarong around her shoulders.

"It's not really a lot to ask, though? I'd rather you felt safe and stuff than you felt like you had to avoid anyone, you know? Uhh. If you felt safer with the gemstone idea then we can do that too, if you wanna, but I don't really see why we'd have to if they were okay with you?"

Serendipity, of course, had no concept of betrayal yet.

@Azure

"Because they might say no. They want to kill me or cage me. Then they'd ask where I am. And I don't want them to hurt YOU to find out. So you can just tell them I'm here--but I won't be here anymore. See?" she explained. She was weary, nervous even at the idea of this. Everything felt darker, somehow, cold despite the heat of Monoceros.

Beneath it, though, there was hope. Just a little--a thread of it, humming quietly beneath the worry and the fear and the memories that lurched under the surface of her consciousness. It was kind of nightmarish down there, actually, what with the murder and all, but Azure tried not to think about that just now. If they could manage--IF they could talk to the Seven Gembound... or well, if Dip could. Maybe she wouldn't have to hide forever.

She never wanted to be friends with them--she didn't want to be chatting and hanging out with the Gembound who'd taken her family captive and killed the rest. Not that she loved her family, but she'd rather just avoid her entire past, really. It wasn't a nice one. She wanted to make a new life and most of that involved not ever touching the old one.

"Maybe I'll use your den... thanks," she added, knowing full well she wouldn't. Just another layer of protection, really. Azure wasn't the smartest, out there, but her fear drove her paranoia to expert levels.

"Are you going, like--now? You can stay for awhile but--if you do... good luck."

@Siren

"I could just lie?" Serendipity suggested a bit quizzically, pushing up to lead Azure to her den. It wasn't particularly far-- she'd been on the way there when she noticed the hybrid --but it was still a bit of a walk. "I mean-- if they weren't happy with it, why lead them to the same room as you? Why not say, uhh, you're in the bone room or Fornax or something?"

She lead the hybrid to an alcove in the wall, half-hidden behind a formation of rocks. It, at least, sheltered the space from the wind and the sand and dust. The inside was fairly small, filled with... trash. Most of it had been raided and dragged over from tunnel J, but there was a softer pile of cloth in the corner where Siren slept.

"Yeah, I'll go now," Serendipity said. "I mean, better just to do it now than worry about it later, you know? Do you, uh, need anything before I go?"

@Azure

"Don't lie. If they find out it'd just be a problem later. Easier for me to hide," Azure answered. "And..."

She hesitated. She had a new feeling in her chest--gratitude, she thought it was--and a sort of bittersweet... something. Grief, maybe? Maybe it was joy, coupled with self-pity. It stemmed from--well: "Nobody's ever done anything like this for me before. Thank you."

...Granted, nobody'd ever really needed to. But everyone in her life had been violent, or hostile by circumstance, bar a very few. "Be careful and thanks. Again." She kicked herself for repeating it, thinking oh, lame... I sound like an idiot-- and then forced a little more cheer.

"Enjoy Orion, while you're there, though--it's pretty." Then she turned, scanning Monoceros, wondering where best she could hide to keep watch for Siren's eventual return.

The blue-glowing moonstone bounced against her feathers as she did.

It was the little things in life, really, wasn't it?

exit Azure
@Siren

Serendipity didn't entirely understand, but if Azure had a plan then she decided she didn't entirely want to interfere with it. She nodded. "It's okay," she said, gently patting Azure's shoulder, but briefly.

"And thank you! I do quite like it. It's all shiny. Uhh," she paused as she stepped away from the den, looking over the hybrid for a moment. It was easier to say that it would be alright, but she didn't really want to think too hard about what would happen if the Seven were still mad about the ordeal.

She tried to shrug it off. "I'll be back soon," she promised instead. "Stay safe!"

And off she went, out of Monoceros.

[exit]

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