The smoky mare was doing her best. She was always going to do her best when it came to her family. Rade was the only family Jaws had, and she would cling to him, do her best for him-- always. Fiercely protective. It was in the same way that Rade was protective over her. Each would go down for the other, if that’s what it came to. When he was gone in the end, Jaws didn’t know what she was going to do. That day was coming closer, but she’d push it out of her mind. Over and over, she’d push that away.
Oswin’s empathy was a balm to the smoky creature. “I want to hold onto as many good days as we have left.” Her gaze softened fractionally, relaxing marginally into the conversation. Jaws was doing her best to relax, but her presence here was inherently strained. The Peak was so alien to her, and the change of scenery so drastic. Even the air was different out here. She felt so immensely exposed without the cover of the vegetation that cloaked the Lagoon, and it left Jaws feeling unsettled. Anxious.
An olive branch. She is here with a request of peace, at least as long as it would hold. Jaws watches Oswin carefully as she speaks, and all of it seems so sincere. The prime minister elect speaks of the history of the islands, and it was one that Jaws knew well enough. The rift between the two groups went back further than living memory. The only thing that will sour me is if I find out I’m being lied to, Jaws nodded. That would be reason for things to get worse instead of better, the smoky creature could agree to that.
“I appreciate that you’re trying,” but trying and doing are two different things, Jaws didn’t finish that statement. Though the anger had bubbled up in her system once more, she managed to quell it. There was sincerity here, in the fact that she was grateful that the Peak mares were beginning to let go of longstanding bias. Her anger was at something else, and it couldn’t be directed at Oswin or the Vulcans, or any other living and breathing creature. Her anger was at the passage of time, which would inevitably take Rade away. Maybe it was a sign of maturity that she’d tried to reign it in.
“I would happily consider it.” Her words ring with a finality. She would consider it, she would discuss it with her dad. “I’ll talk things over with him,” there was relief here, and dread as well. Rade didn’t know she’d come to the Peak at all, much less on his behalf. She’d find a way to tell the story that made it seem like she’d simply happened upon Oswin in her travels. He didn’t know that she’d gone looking for the mare, gone to the Peak to ask for as much peace as they could muster.
“Thank you, Oswin.” Jaws was eager to return to the Lagoon, eager to return to Rade. Leaving his side even for a few hours made her more nervous than she cared to admit. Never much for manners, for once the smoky creature was concerned about stepping on any toes. “I need to get back.” The words were not abrupt in tone, simply a means of farewell. As suddenly as she'd arrived in the Peak, Jaws was gone.
mare. smoky black. 15.2.
rade’s daughter. |