By the way Talya is talking about leaves as prey animals, how they might run wild if not properly hunted into submission, Luthien wonders if the girl might be a bit… Well, she doesn’t know exactly. The word crazy comes to mind, but she brushes it away hastily, not liking the connotations of that word; she’d applied it so much to herself that it leaves a shadow of distaste in her mind, makes her loathe to assign it to someone else she’d hardly met. So she smiles as the girl prattles on, and it is a genuine smile despite her misgivings about Talya’s state of mind. It does sound like fun, and she is eager to participate, yearning to shake off the darkness that had crept into her blood like poison over too many nights spent hiding in the depths of the forest like an unwanted cockroach.
She tells Talya her real name, but of course, it is like an inside joke - somehow, she’d managed to follow Bob to the only place she’d ever encountered that shared her namesake. Luthien on Luthien, it is rather amusing. She’d thought so much during her first encounter with Bob, when she’d thought him crazy for imagining that he lived on Luthien.
But of course, he did.
”Well, I guess we better get to hunting these…” Her voice trails off at the approach of the other mare, one she hadn’t seen before - not that it was any surprise after all the time she’d spent sulking and out of sight. There’s something amiss, a tenseness about her that sets Luthien on edge. Almost as if she were in pain.
’See? She looks hurt, girl. Must be dangerous here if she’s hurt, and trying to hide it, too. Not so easy to hide, though, is it?’ Though she tries to ignore the parasite, a brief flicker of fear flutters in her chest and her heartbeat quickens. Panic grips her; she struggles to talk herself down, taking a deep, calming breath as her gaze shifts to Talya, who’d begun making introductions without any indication that she’d noticed that the newcomer was in any pain, or the sudden shift in Luthien’s mood. Good, she’d hidden it well.
”Hello, Aurora,” she says brightly, somewhat calmed by Talya’s good-natured introduction. ”It’s my first leaf hunting expedition.” She shifts her gaze to Talya, then back to Aurora, once again glimpsing a hint of pain or other discomfort, and was that a quiver in her legs? She can’t be sure. ”Are… Are you alright?” The question falls from her mouth before she can stop herself, and she curses herself for prying, wondering if she perhaps shouldn’t have said anything at all. Likely, she didn’t want a stranger poking about in her business.
’And you shouldn’t even care. We should leave, and here you are making plans and doting on the locals. Have you lost your mind? You’ll get us killed, and then who’s to blame? Not me! I warned you. Ridiculous.’
Not for the first time, she wonders why she hadn’t listened to the parasite. She should leave, take care of herself. But then she thinks of Bob and though they weren’t necessarily friends, he hadn’t hurt her, either. He’d allowed her to help him and in doing so, she’d found a place to sleep for longer than a night, food to eat and water to drink until her strength returned. It isn’t just Bob, though. Talya, too, with her bubbly nature makes her feel accepted, as if she doesn’t have to run and hide, fend for herself like she used to. It’s nice feeling wanted.
She’d never been wanted by her father, but here?
She ignores the voice once more, focusing the whole of her attention on the (possibly) injured girl, Aurora, and on her newly found..friend? She’d like to think so, at least.