just to spite

Wary now. She unnerved him. She felt a small rush of pride, the same way back then, back in the caves, the darkness where the fight was everything and her eyes were perfect. But that had been then, this was now, and in the now, she was crippled. Now, her words...like birds with broken wings.

"Speaking," she tapped her foot on the ground. "Two...years."

Two years when Sanguine found her, when Id broke her, when Brittle put her back together again. But they were warriors, used to her language, so she was slow in learning in theirs. They made it easier to just read them, rather than trying to teach. But she was young still, her mind still quick and fluid enough to grasp at their voices.

She smirked at him, faintly. "I can close eyes...if you wish. You like...your secrets."

She wouldn't be able to tell what they were in any case; she read the body only as far as betraying emotion, betraying future action. She could never understand the reasons behind them. But let him believe she had a little more power than she actually did, after all, he was something dangerous.

"Secrets... You could call them that," Yet he ignored her offer, finding his somewhat large ego bruised by her attempted comfort. It might be fun, actually, if she could manage to put the pieces back together again.

And so, humpty dumpty sat on a wall.

He stood before her like the many statues surrounding them in her oppresive garden, the slight flicker in his void eyes challenging her.

"No, leave them open."

"As you wish."

It was an elegant turn of phrase, given her ineptitude with language, but she...liked it. With this new tongue...not all was lost. She found some pretty things among the rubble of her old life, trying to build this new one from the pieces.

But this one was confusing, intriguing though he may be. He was changing definitions of words she thought carved in stone, linking together words that had no correlation. Metaphor, hidden meaning...things that Sanguine said would come in time if they ever came at all. Confusing...but she would learn.

A new challenge, and she had been bored for so long.

"If not secret...then what?" she drew closer, again ignoring all bounds of personal space. If he would be another of the statues, then she would chip at him, like all the broken others.

"History," His words were almost hissed, narrowing his eyes as she moved closer. Why did she unnerve him so, she was so much smaller then he was.

Possibly it was because she had the ability of figuring him out. Digging until all those skeletons were found. All his past could be discovered and he wouldn't have said a word.
In all honesty, that scared him.

She scared him.

"What's done is done," Ether's blank expression grew into a sly smile, going back into his almost playful mode. The Rogue stallion took a step toward her in return, acting much like a tomcat going in for the win, show up the female and finally end this battle of emtions and boundaries.

"What about you? Surely such a broken angel could have secrets of her own?"

ooc|eeek! It's been so long! > <;;

Fear. The scent of it was intoxicating, bringing her back to the dust and the darkness, when she was at the pinnacle of perfection. A note of wonderment crossed her mind - why would a stallion with such power fear her? But then again, it was almost a birthright. She had been created to a death doll, a weapon - until the coming of Sanguine the words Warrior, Elemental, Rogue - they had meant nothing.

And then Id had come and torn her world apart.

Their orbits drew closer like a waiting game. He would seek to intimidate her, or to lay himself bare? Again back to her ring, back to her tests, back to the blood and the dance. Oh how she used to dance this way, with a thousand breathing corpses...

"We stare each other down like victims in the grind," she said, her voice vague and soft as she circled around, brushing against his flank in passing. "Probing all the weakness and hurt still left behind..."

She had learned to sing before she could speak; a simple matter of imitation, no need to know the meaning behind the words. But every now and then, forgotten lyrics would slip out of her, uncalled for, unpredictable.

"Angels..." she shook her head, mouth wicked. "Not I. I have...no secrets. No need."

((I know, I miss these two ))

He snaked his head around as she moved, silently observing her movements and absorbing her words. Most of what she spoke was gibberish to him, until he slowly took in another meaning. Whether she had intended to or not, he could feel the knife burying itself deeper into his back.

His movements became jerky and almost jagged as he whirled around on her, staring down at the smaller mare from high atop his head. The blank red of his eyes seemed to be moving, a swirling flame burning beneath the pupil.
Ether had almost had enough of her silly games.

"What do you want," Harsh words were barked. The poor stallion was not used to being the victim of such antics and it was beginning to show.

"Secrets? Fine. Sins, past, anything. Blood upon your hands. Stains."