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Fearne sat against the wall of the cave, trying her best to ignore the cold drip that fell from the ceiling down the back of her neck every so often. They didn't have long, but the group had decided to take a breather (and some corporeal form time) before venturing forth through red storms and strange looking creatures. It was nice to be back in her body, stretching out her fingers and feeling the ground beneath her. She was just preparing to bring out Mister when she heard a familiar voice in her head.
Fearne.
Imogen.
What's up?
Can you come outside for a minute?
Feeling overwhelmed by it all, Imogen had stepped outside the cave they found themselves in and was perched on the cliff edge just outside, a few feet out of sight from the rest of the group.
I'll be out in a sec.
Fearne turned to Laudna, who had been sitting next to her with her knees hunched, talking quietly to Pâté in her lap.
"Hey, Laudna?" Fearne whispered, leaning in.
"Mm?"
"I'm just gonna go talk to Imogen. She, uh-" Fearne tapped her head lightly.
"Oh! Is she alright?"
"Yeah! Yeah, no, I'm sure she's fine. Might just want to talk about the... y'know." She motioned in a wave to where she could faintly see, if concentrating, the red aura that connected her to Imogen. "But I'll just see what she wants, I'll send you out to her right after I'm done-"
"Fearne."
"Yeah?"
A warm smile spread across Laudna's face as she placed a hand delicately on Fearne's knee.
"I just want you to know that what FCG said earlier, asking if I was jealous of this bond you and Imogen share... I just hope you know that I'm not, at all. I mean, I'm perhaps a little jealous of both of your very fascinating new powers, but I'm glad you two have this connection. I imagine it makes things a lot less lonely for her." She looked towards the mouth of the cave, face flushed with pure adoration and care. Fearne looked at her smiling, putting a hand over hers.
"She loves you so much."
Laudna nodded. "And for that, I am eternally lucky." She looked back at Fearne, still with a smile on her face. "She thinks very highly of you too, Fearne. She has a lot of love in her."
Fearne felt her face redden, a warmth that flowed through her body and almost made her feel like she was a floating cloud of mist again. With a soft squeeze of Laudna's hand, Fearne stood up and made her way outside.
Leaving the cave, Fearne shuffled across the thin stretch of ground to find Imogen sitting with her legs outstretched and feet close to dangling off the edge, arms crossed and gaze fixed on the roiling sky ahead of her. She sat herself down next to her, legs curled up on the other side of her body.
“Hey.” Imogen sighed out, turning to meet Fearne's eyes.
“You okay?”
Imogen let out a small laugh as she shrugged, throwing up a hand in defeat.
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what any of this means.”
“Well, I don’t know either, if that helps. Probably doesn’t.”
“Weirdly? Kinda does.” She said with a smile that barely reached her eyes. “Do you think they’re gonna use this power against me? Otohan, Liliana?” She stretched out a hand in front of her, turning it over and staring at her palm, the red lines creeping up from her fingertips and up her arm. Fearne reached out to take the hand in hers, bringing it in to her lap, closed and held delicately between both of her hands.
“They might. Nothing stopping you from using it against them too though, especially once we’ve figured out what it can do. You’re incredibly powerful.”
Imogen just hummed in shy agreement through a mind of swimming thoughts, and placed her head gently on Fearne’s shoulder. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes staring outwards, sharing quiet breaths as the wind swept around them. Imogen intertwined their fingers as Fearne’s other hand moved up towards her wrist, fingers tracing the marks that lined them. She had always been fascinated by them and how they changed, silently taking note every time they grew or looked a little different. As she traced her fingertips up, past the wrist, up her forearm, she felt a new sensation she had never felt before. A warmth. In fact, as Fearne looked closer, she even noticed the most subtle, barely-there red glow that followed her touch.
“Imogen?”
“Yeah?”
“Whatever you do, make sure you want to do it. Don’t let anyone else make the choice for you.”
“It’s just… so much.”
“I know.” Fearne hugged Imogen's arm once more, resting her head atop of where Imogen's lay on her shoulder. “We’re gonna keep you safe. I don’t know what we’d do if we lost you.” Fearne said, her voice so quiet it was almost a whisper.
“It was real scary when we lost you, Fearne.”
“I was barely gone, FCG managed to–”
“You were gone. I never wanna go through that again. Not with you, not with Orym, not with Laudna.” Imogen’s voice broke, the tears that threatened to spill down her face finally escaping. “Not with any of us.”
“Hey, hey.” Fearne lifted her head to look at Imogen, taking a thumb to her cheek to wipe the tear from it. She hoped Imogen wouldn’t notice the tremble in her voice as she continued. “I’m not going anywhere. Neither are they. And neither are you.” She held out her pinky, nodding for Imogen to do the same. She did, and they locked them together, the red aura creeping upwards from their bodies to almost lace around their hands.
“Woah.” Fearne’s eyes widened as she noticed the effect.
Imogen smiled as she felt the weight from their conversation being lifted, looking up at Fearne with excitement. “Well that’s pretty darn cool.”
“Yeah. Oh, and watch this!” Fearne held out Imogen’s arm once more, tracing a hand up it as she had been doing before. The same subtle glow crawled upwards with the contact.
“Huh.” Imogen watched carefully, eyebrows raised. “That feels nice.”
“Mhmm. Warm.” Fearne said absentmindedly continuing the motion. Imogen nodded, and then pulled Fearne’s arm inwards to wrap around her, lowering herself so her legs curled beside her and her head fell into Fearne’s lap. Imogen hugged the arm that came from around her shoulders while Fearne’s other hand found its way to Imogen’s hair, stroking it and delicately brushing pieces from around Imogen’s content face.
“I’d like to spend more time like this.” Imogen said, shyly. “Once we’re not, ya know, dealing with an apocalyptic moon.”
“I’d like that.” Fearne thought of what Laudna said to her earlier, brushing off her hesitation as she bent down, softly kissing Imogen’s forehead where the pendant of her circlet would usually lie. Once they’re not dealing with an apocalyptic moon, Fearne thought. Then maybe, just maybe, they could find a moment to deal with whatever connection they had felt growing under the surface for some time now. One that had nothing to do with the red moon they were born under.