Andre Brasilier, French (1929 - 2004)

Andre Brasilier, French (1929 - 2004)

La robe verte

ଘ(੭*ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ♡‧₊˚

Pika with bouquet of tundra flowers.

📷 Alan Lipkin

Big Blooms by Paul Lange

Anaïs Nin in a diary entry written c. July 1944, featured in The Diary of Anaïs Nin Vol. IV 1944-1947

His soft laughter tickled the Forest Goddess’s heart; still, she tried to maintain her indignation, keeping her gaze on the river and its gentle current until she noticed how distant he sounded in his agreement with her.

She wanted to say something, something comforting. But this felt far too out of her depth, and even if she had comforted anyone before, she wouldn’t know where to begin with him and this subject specifically.

It made her deeply unhappy, but she didn’t want him to know that so she hid that feeling. It wasn’t like she could stay in that state for long—banter with Rafayel did a lot to keep her from dwelling too long on one thing, even more so when it crossed his mind to be an utter menace to her with little hesitation.

Of course, that also meant that she could retaliate any way she wanted, even in the midst of trying to get her furious blush to calm down. She stuck her tongue out at Rafayel when she saw that giving him a taste of his own medicine worked, satisfaction briefly twinkling in her eyes.

But as much as she’d like to maintain her suddenly rebuilt walls and to remind him that she doesn’t completely trust him yet, his words has the uncanny ability to persuade her otherwise. Should it still be a surprise to her that she was so easily swayed, when even her predecessor insisted that she keep her heart at least a little open to this Sea God? Or when Caspian actively cheered for him, and urged him to be patient with her?

It shouldn’t be.

And as she listened to him speak, she couldn’t deny or disagree with anything he said.

(For a brief moment, she did wonder how things would’ve unfolding if his handlers had the opposite approach to tell him of the Forest Goddess than they actually did—she realized that things might’ve still unfolded the same way, only that it would’ve happened sooner than now.)

“…You have a point. Even if either of us were able to unseal this scroll by ourselves, we wouldn’t have been able to read its contents in its entirety without the other.”

She realized that she’d crossed her arms at some point and tried to relax herself. “You… Can trust that I’ll continue to work with you on this new endeavor. Eolchaire was smart to include her writings in the scroll.”

Because now she too wanted to know if more scrolls had been written, and if Rafayel thought that any clues regarding that possibility were hidden in both their predecessors’ writing. She was just about to ask him about the clue he suspected when he asked about Eolchaire’s artistic side.

“Huh?” her brows briefly furrowed before she fully processed his question. “Well… She knew how to do a lot of things,” she answered.

“Eolchaire bound her own tomes, furnished our dwelling herself, made the clothes and jewelry you’ve seen me wear… She knew I wouldn’t have anyone to take care of me once I emerged, so she prepared as much as she could for me.”

It was a fact of her existence that never truly struck her as impossibly lonely until she said it in front of someone who had handlers and an entire city that was both under his care, and cared for him. The feeling pulled her lips further down, but she fought against it.

“Why do you ask?”

₊❏❜ ⋮ i'll chase you to the ends of the earth. ⚬𓂂

@dolasach

He is used to it; however, that didn't mean he accepted it.

Rafayel sighed as he let his head rest against his palm, the same thing being drilled into his mind by the endless sea of words spewing the history of Lemuria and the world on the surface repeated like a broken record from the elders. He seemed to be falling asleep and was immediately scolded for not paying attention.

Evidently, something came up that had the elders leave the vicinity for the time being and this served as an opportunity for Rafayel to escape. He had attempted in doing so a few times, but he was sure that this time he would be able to be successful. 

A blue fish swam around him and held his hand out, allowing the fish to swim over his palm. 

"Shall we head to the surface? It's a little boring right now and I'm tired of hearing the elders saying the same thing over and over again." 

The fish continued swimming over his palm before seemingly directing him toward an opening to which he was able to squeeze through. It was then he realized that he was out of the city walls of Whalefall City and was able to swim to the surface.

He thanked the fish before it disappeared back through the city walls and Rafayel didn't have to think twice as he turned away from Whalefall City to swim up to the surface; however, before he allowed himself to fully come out, he swam slowly as the damn words from the elders rang in his head. 

"The world on the surface is dangerous, even if those people worship our Sea God, there is a chance that someone will try to capture him."

"As the previous Lemurians have..." 

"Rafayel, you must never venture out to the surface world. Your people are here, that is all that should concern you." 

And the annoying part of all. "The Sea God will one day meet the Goddess of the Forest, and when that day comes, should he fall in love with her, it will be the beginning of the downfall of Lemuria."

Rafayel always thought it to be those stories to be something a parent would tell to their child to make them listen. And besides, Rafayel had always been, not only a rebellious soul, but one of sheer curiosity. 

Once he peeked out from the water, he spotted a woman by the shore. And he had seen a few other humans before, but something about her was different and he couldn't help but to swim towards the shore, closer to her. Who could she be? For some reason... he needed to know and while he doesn't know why he needs to, he simply just has to try; in a way, it felt as though there were residual feelings, feelings that weren't from him and that in itself baffled him.

So without thinking, his mouth opened to speak.

"Who might you be? You don't seem... human to me, although you do appear to be." He tilted his head briefly before letting out a laugh. "Ah, apologies. This is bold of me, I will admit."