we can leave our story like nothing ever told
UNTIL WE TASTE OUR GLORY
Oh, how his words touched her deeply, stirred something within. But hers was not a life meant for happiness. This did not mean that she never felt happy though – she had loved her parents, and she had always had Tolinka, and with them, she had known moments of happiness. If one was able to look closely at her they’d see traces of her past, written on her skin. Scars that had faded long ago left only memories of difficulty. She was a survivor and a dreamer, meant for something great.
“I want more important things for myself than happiness,” she admitted softly. “Hope. Loyalty.” These were things she always had in Sinopa’s presence. “I have learned not to ask for more, lest I grow too greedy.” A sigh, soft and lingering. “As much as we may wish it, we cannot have it all in this life of ours.” Tolinka turned her blue eyes towards the stallion, meeting his gaze for a briefmoment. “Happiness is what I ask for you.” she said again. “Goodness knows one of us deserves it.” she admitted softly.
A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth and lit up her eyes for a brief moment, as though she had been waiting, longing for the question. And yet… She was slow to answer. The silence was no longer sad, not with Asche beside her, his breath warming her skin, muzzle trailing down her spine. With a contented sigh, she pressed close to him even as he leaned into her. “Tolinka,” she whispered finally, moving to bump her muzzle to his, the contact lingering because she didn’t want to pull away. “That is who I am, a name given to me by one I loved, once. But I am so much more than this, more than a sister, more than a stranger.” He spoke, and she fell silent, eager to listen. But something in his words made her turn back her ears for just a moment, and she finally pulled her head back, raising it a little and fixing him with a stare.
“Just for tonight, then… I do not seek to change you, nor anyone. I came to you, as the sun set, because I was drawn to you, by everything you are, and everything you are not. Because of the differences between us, and maybe the things that are not so different.” Tolinka looked away again, taking a moment to appreciate the world of the night, the stillness of it. She worried, for a moment, that she had spoken too boldly, too harshly, and so she kept silent. It would not do for her to adopted Sinopa’s way, after all. After a minute or so had passed, she leaned back into Asche’s bone-white side. “I answered your question, now answer one of mine, Asche.” She trembled as she lifted her muzzle to his ear, whispering like her words were secret, sacred. “What can I do to make you happy?”
How she wished she could stay here with him for always, in their pool illuminated by moonlight, with nothing but the starlit sky above them.
t o l i n k a
we’ll bare our skin and bones
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