|
It's fairly late in the evening, in a quiet part of the city. Lux is standing beside a small bridge--allowing a lesser-used street to pass over a drainage tunnel. They're not visible from the street above, crouched down to spray paint over the concrete wall that lines the trench. There's only a small trickle of dirty water coming out of the drain, so they're not too worried about getting their shoes dirty. The wall already has a fair amount of graffiti sprawled over it, and Lux doesn't seem bothered by covering some of the tags--integrating some of them into their own, even. Despite doing their best to stay hidden from sight... it's really not hard to spot them, if someone were to look down from above. The downside of wearing all neon colors, even if you can't see their mein.
Pap pap pap
Fox feet are very, very soft, but they do make sound, especially if someone's listening really hard for sounds, like if they're trying not to get caught while tagging.
Pap pap pap
And then a head pops over the side of the bridge, silhouetted in the streetlight across the way: the little red fox doesn't see them. Yet. It isn't spooked. Yet.
Sprsst sprsst. Lux is moving back and forth between several cans, pulling them out of their backpack to spray on the wall--creating a rainbow of colors that spell out LOVE LETTER in a stylized font.
They are indeed keeping a look out though--and the pap pap pap makes them freeze and look upwards to where the fox is peering over the edge. They blink in surprise and just... stare. "...Uh. Hey, fluffy..." they murmur awkwardly, unsure what to do. Likely not the first fox they've seen while wandering around, but--well, they're not an animal person.
hop!
The hissing sound of the paint can causes a little flicker in the fox's ears, and the animal starts to turn its head toward the sound, but then there's someone addressing them, and the fox does a little shocked vulpine hop! when Lux speaks to them. Their bright green eyes catch the light, and shimmer sharply, but they don't run away, just yet.
(Which is weird, for a wild animal, but then again, Lux isn't an animal person, so maybe that doesn't seem that unusual, that the fox sits up straight and they wrap their tail around their little feet.)
Lux squints up at the fox for a moment, then slowly lowers the can to tuck into the backpack. "You're... friendly, huh? Used to people?" They still have no idea how to move, so just... taking things very slow, trying not to let their nervousness show too much. Foxes are cute, but they're sure as fuck not wanting to get bitten. "...You hungry or something?" Not expecting a reply, clearly. Lux looks down to dig into the backpack.
There's a specific word for the sound that foxes make when they're either fighting or playing: it's called gekkering. They're short, abrupt little bursts of sound, and they can be startling to someone who doesn't know what they mean. Little Fox lets out a little burst of that sound, head canting sharply to the side, and then hops down gracefully, a series of little bounds, like fox parkour, when the word 'food' gets said.
They do little forward-backward dance, keeping their distance. Sit down. Blink wide-eyed.
Uh. Yeah. There's a moment where Lux just flips out--scurrying backwards away from the critter as it scurries down into the trench with them. "Ah--shit! Good... fox??" They eye them cautiously, holding their backpack against their chest like a shield. But when it doesn't come any closer, Lux slowly relaxes. "...Guess you are hungry, huh?" Their brows crease, still uncertain, but the fox's antics are... well, really fucking cute, when Lux isn't in OH SHIT panic. How can they resist?
"...Not sure I have any good fox food. Shit, what do foxes eat..." Lux frowns and digs around in their backpack again. "Probably not chocolate.... Uh... Oh--nuts?" They pull out a baggie of trail mix that has had all the chocolate bits already picked out, leaving pretzels and nuts. They open it and cautiously toss a handful over at the fox.
Pap pap pap The soft footfalls of the fox as it skitters closer, stretching its nose out toward the trail mix. Foxes are omnivores, as Lux is about to find out, and the little black nose wriggles at the bag. Sniff. Sniff. Another tiny burst of gekkering, this softer, and the fox sits back, wrapping its tail around itself again. Curiouser and curiouser.
It certainly isn't turning down the food, though.
Lux gets cautious again as the fox moves closer. "...Okay, uh... nuts are good, then. Here, you can just... have it." They take a slow step closer, then set the open bag down on the ground between them, then step back quickly to give the supposedly-wild-animal some space. But then Lux crouches down, resting their arms on their knees as they watch, now curious. "You're a fucking adorable little thing, huh?" Their lips twitch up into a small smile.
The fox scoots closer once Lux gives the bag some space, apparently remembering that, oh right, should be at least a little skittish. Oops? It scoots in closer, sniffing at the bag tentatively and then sticking its tiny little black nose into the bag to sniff more before taking a single pretzel and chewing on it with little sharp teeth. It's sort of a comical thing, and puts truth to the fact that foxes are like tiny cute urban goats: they'll eat whatever they find.
Its ears twitch when Lux says it's adorable, and another little burst of quiet gekkering follows once it's done eating the pretzel, fluffing its tail. Yes, in fact, it is adorable. That's probably coincidental, of course.
They watch the fox eat, smile spreading with curious fascination. "Wow. You're so chill... Must be used to people feeding you?" Lux stays where they are, still crouched down, but relaxes more. Their eyes are bright as they stare, leaning forward. The urge to pet is rising, but Lux isn't quite that comfortable. Yet. "I'll make sure to carry more trail mix while I'm around here next time.
Their head cants to the other side, and it watches Lux carefully. Somewhere in the midst of all of this, the little fox stares at Lux for a good long moment, which could lend to the feeling that they're being seen in some important, fundamental way. But that's probably just because Lux isn't an animal person and having a supposedly wild animal stare at you like it can see your insides is ... a little uncanny.
The thing is, Fox is seeing Lux's insides, but it doesn't tell them anything that interesting. And then they gekker lightly, swishing their tail, and stick their nose back in the bag to steal another pretzel.
Lux blinks as they're stared at, staring... back. There's a little tilt of their head before they let out a soft huff of amusement. "Fuck. Times like this I wish I could talk to animals," they murmur to themself, squinting in thought, trying to recall if there was a Contract for that or not. Not any know know, at least.
More gekkering, and this sounds like laughter. A little too much like laughter for comfort. The fox leans forward for a moment, and steals one more pretzel, then dashes up the embankment with the sort of grace that a creature has to be quadrupedal and quite small to possess. Chomp chomp. The pretzel's gone, and a moment later, so is the fox, scarpering off down the street.
"Hey--" Lux's face falls as the fox scurries off, pouting. "We were just getting to know each other," they whine. There's a beat of hesitation, but then they hop up to their feet and shoulder the backpack, climbing out of the trench to follow behind the scampering fox. Maybe they could find where the fox's den is, to leave more offerings food later.
zoom
The fox runs up the street at full speed -- which is very fast, indeed -- and dodges under the wheels of a parked car before coming out a second later, dashing further down the street. And then a sharp cut into an alley.
A second later, there's a hiss, a spit, a growling sound, and a cat comes dashing out of that alley. Apparently that is the fox's alley, not the cat's.
Lux is pretty fast too, mostly because obstacles just... don't seem an issue. They jump and vault over benches and fences with ease, and sliiide across the hood of the car rather without missing a beat instead of going around it. They only pause when there's the sound of growling and hissing, darting aside to get out of the cat's way before moving down the alleyway, using their own mein's light to see with.
It's not accurate to say 'there isn't a fox in the alley.' What's accurate to say is 'the fox in the alley isn't in the same shape it was a minute ago.'
The faint glimmer of Lux's mien casts a vague neon glow over the skinny, tiny form of a half-naked woman with her back to the Bright One: pulling up a pair of battered jeans, zippering and buttoning them. The jeans cover the roots and base of the trunk of a massive Tree of Life back piece, strange sigils woven into the bark of its trunk. Lanky black hair hangs down over her shoulders, and she bends to grab a t-shirt from inside the backpack stashed behind the dumpster. Absorbed enough to not notice, or just ignoring incoming sound.
Lux had... not expected to stumble upon someone mid-dressing, and lets out a soft yelp in surprise before quickly turning around to face the other direction. Not that they mind the view, but you know--common decency. Most people don't like being caught half naked. "Shit--sorry--uh. Didn't mean... to... Uh."
When Lux yelps, the woman stops cold, and slowly turns her head, looking at the Bright One through her dark hair. The light of that mien catches her eyes oddly, flashing back green at them. Humans don't normally have tapetum lucidum, and it only lasts for half a second, so maybe it was just an effect of Lux's own mien, and not the woman herself?
"Ah, shit." A grubby, short-fingered hand gestures outward. "No, no, it's -- it's fine." She pulls the black t-shirt with the Downtrodder logo over herself, apparently as unbothered as a person can be about being interrupted while dressing in an alleyway. "It's on me."
I'mma... try KENNING. :0
"It's cool. I mean, I'm cool if you're cool," Lux says with a little glance over their shoulder at her. Then they turn on their heel, head tilting. Now it's their turn to Wyrdly Stare for several seconds.
Then their eyes narrow a little. "Hrm. You... didn't see a fox run through here, did you..?"
"I'm cool," she reassures, and then bends down to the backpack in order to pull out a pair of battered slip-on sneakers, which speak to more the artifice of putting on shoes than to actually needing or wanting shoes. Shoving on her shoes one at a time, balancing on one foot to shove the opposite into her shoe, she's off-balance when the question gets asked.
"Uhhh... " A pause. And then the world's least convincing, "... no... I... did not. See a fox." She can't, after all. It's technically the truth.
"...Huh." Lux looks more curious rather than suspicious, giving her an up and down look. Then they rock back onto their heels, stuffing their hands into their hoodie pockets. "Well, that's a shame. Cause if the fox was here, I'd offer to treat them to some real food." Their brows lift, grinning slowly.
The smile that flashes briefly from the skinny woman has the sort of sharp little teeth that one expects to see in a Hunterheart's mien. It's one of the risks of overusing your attainments as an Orphan of Proteus: you start evidencing things like 'eyeshine' and 'sharp little vulpine teeth' no matter whether you're currently wearing your human form or not. "Maybe you can pretend that I am a fox, and treat me to some real food anyway?" It has all the guile of 'what if it was for puppies,' that.
Lux considers the toothy smile a moment, with a flicker of caution. But it passes easily enough as they rock on their heel another time, then nod their head to the side, out of the alley. "Could do that. But I'm not gonna have to pretend too hard, am I?" Lux says challengingly, brows lifting. A hint of I know, but giving her the space to ignore or deny it, if she wanted. Either way, they turn on their heel to head out of the alley.
Sneakers shoved onto their feet, Fox scoops up the backpack and zips it shut, hooking both of the straps over her shoulders. They raise their eyebrows slightly, and shrug. "Maybe, maybe so," she answers, padding toward the mouth of the alley. It isn't like she can confirm, after all. Might be just a random human spraypainting things, and then where would Fox be? "What kind of real food?"
"Dunno. Could go for a burger. Or... pizza. Fuck, pizza sounds good." Lux squints in thought, waiting at the end of the alley for her--though they do glance back. "By the way, if you're a vampire, I do not consent for you to feed from me. Pretty sure you'd vomit my blood back up anyway. I'm offering real food."
That makes Fox stop cold, both hands grabbing on to the straps of her backpack, and she looks -- for a hot second -- truly indignant. "I am not a vampire!" That was a little too loud, Fox, and she huffs, lowering her voice. "I am actually very alive, thank you." She reaches up to pull her hair out from under her backpack, letting it spill over her shoulders lazily. "And I would very much like some pizza. Or a burger. I like burgers. Have you ever had pelmeni? It's really common street food... I mean in Russia. Not here so much. I think there's a Russian food truck that parks by Temple sometimes, though. I used to get bags of it when I lived in St. Petersburg. It's so good."
Lux blinks at the reaction, hands lifting. "Hey, hey. Sorry. You just... got some sharp looking teeth there. Covering my bases. Glad to know that you are very much alive." Their lips curl into a playful smirk. "I am too, by the way. Very much alive." As if she didn't know this already. "Hmm... Pelmeni? Never tried it. We can swing by and see if the food truck is around, though? I'm always up for trying new things."
She sucks on her teeth, then, and shrugs a little bit. "Yeah, uh. Vampires don't usually walk around with their teeth out, I don't think. That would be wasteful. And scare off prey. Fortunately, I don't prey on people, so." A little snort, and she speeds up to catch up with them. "Oh, I know," she confirms, wrinkling up her nose. "You're very alive." And then she flashes another one of those sharp grins with a cut glance aside. "Let's do it! I haven't had their pelmeni in ages, and never with a new friend. It will be a new experience."
"Well, fifty percent of the vampires I've met have been dumb assholes, so I don't particularly have a high opinion of their intelligence, as a whole." Their shoulders lift, falling into step beside her. "Sounds good to me." They grin. "I'm Lux."
She squints at that for a moment, and then asks, "How come you know a bunch of vampires? Enough to have fifty percent of the ones you know be dumb assholes? That's at least two vampires." She's shorter than Lux, so every so often takes a little skipping step to keep up, and that seems to suit her just fine. "You can call me Naika. Or Little Fox. That works too, I guess. I get called both."
"How come you know enough about vampires to get offended when I call you one?" Lux counters with a bright grin, then they shrug. "I get around. Meet people. Have a few tricks up my sleeve, myself. Not as cool as turning into a fox, though."
"Maybe I just watched Underworld an awful lot of times," Fox fires back. "All of those vampires are very dumb, and they look like they just fell through a Hot Topic and hit every single rack on the way through." She pauses at a corner, turning her head quickly to look both ways, and then scampers across the street. "Well! That's a very cool trick, it's true," she calls back over her shoulder.
Lux snorts in amusement. "Oh shit--you know, I've never actually seen that movie? But I've heard awful things." Lux barely glances left and right before barreling on ahead after her, darting across. "Now I'm more tempted to sit and watch it, though."
Another one of her sharp little smiles -- Fox smiles an awful lot, at least when she's not fussing about someone seeing her teeth, which she currently isn't -- and she replies, "It's really bad. And it's sort of -- mmm -- since I saw Good Omens, it kind of breaks my brain. Because trying to imagine Aziraphale in the weird cliff sex scene is ... ooooof." A little shake of her head. "I'd watch it again! It's so bad!"
"I'm so behind on movies, fuck." Lux sighs heavily. "I missed all the horribly amazing movies in the nineties and early two-thousands. Still catching up." Which might be a hint to what they are--if Fox is knowledgable about Changelings. They perk up a bit. "Oh! I watched Good Omens, though. It was awesome. Wait--the guy that plays Aziraphale is in Underworld? And has sex on a cliff?? I've got to watch this."
Yep, she caught that -- her head snaps to the side, and she gives Lux a very seriously assessing look. "Yeah, you're super behind on movies, and lots of other stuff, I'm sure." She sticks her tongue out briefly and points across the street to a line of food trucks up Broad Street -- this time of day they're still open, because students (especially med students) eat at all hours. "Yeah! Michael Shean! He's like, super shredded in that movie, it's so disorienting. I watched Good Omens for like three days straight when it came out, it's so good."
Lux glances sideways to her, meeting the assessing look with their own casual stare, followed by a helpless shrug. Not denying, but not lingering on the topic. The idea of Michael Shean shredded practically makes ???s appear over their head as they try to ponder that out. "What the fuck..." Then their phone is whipped out so they can YouTube Underworld clips. "Didn't watch it that many times--but thoroughly enjoyed. I have a hard time sitting down long enough to watch stuff unless I'm cuddling with someone. Or high."
They turn around to walk backwards, watching Lux's reaction to the video clip. "That's easy to arrange!" Fox agrees, hooking their thumbs on the straps of their backpack as they watch the video clips. "And I understand. Sometimes I get totally immersed in something and I completely miss out on ... uh... several days. But then sometimes I can't stand still." Like now. "Do you like pork or chicken better? Or beef?"
Lux walks while their eyes are glued to the phone, going on... quite the face journey. At first squinty, then bewildered, then horrified, then finally settling on delight. They apparently have found the clip of the CLIFF SEX, and when it comes to the point of him hanging over the edge, they let out a soft squeal of delight. "Oh my god!" Their eyes lift to stare up at her, wide-eyed. Their life clearly will never be the same again. "What the fuck. Uh--fuck, uh. Pork?"
Lux walks while their eyes are glued to the phone, going on... quite the face journey. At first squinty, then bewildered, then horrified, then finally settling on delight. They apparently have found the clip of the CLIFF SEX, and when it comes to the point of him hanging over the edge, they let out a soft squeal of delight. "Oh my god!" Their eyes lift to stare up at her, wide-eyed. Their life clearly will never be the same again. "What the fuck. Uh--fuck, uh. Pork?"
Fox doesn't just laugh when watching Lux's face journey par excellence: she howls laughter, an unbridled, enthusiastic sort of thing, clutching at her stomach and clapping her hands alternately. People are definitely looking at them, and Fox definitely does not care if anyone's looking at him. "I know, right? Fussy sweet Aziraphale. But I'm telling you, we have to watch the whole thing. It's so like 1990s it's painful. And it's on Netflix!" She wipes her eyes with one hand, tears having gathered at their corners, and circles the bright red food truck labeled HOUSE OF KIEV. "Three orders of pemeni, please? Two pork, one beef. And uh... do you want something to drink, Lux?"
Lux doesn't laugh--they never laugh--but they grin widely at her and let out soft huffs here and there as they look back to the phone to watch the rest of the clip. "Ummm. Yep. Definitely. Aren't there more than one? We should marathon them, sometime. If you're cool with that." While high or cuddling? Fox's choice.
They tuck the phone away and rock forward on their heels, peering at the truck. "Sprite, unless they have some weird unique sort of drink I need to try. I don't know much about Russian food."
"There are! We should definitely do that. I am down for cuddling, high, or not, movie marathons." It takes a lot of energy to be in this much motion, and so sometimes a Fox needs some downtime. But not Downtime, because that's a place in the Hedge. "I can get the dankest weed on pretty much a moment's notice." She doesn't seem to care much that she's saying this while also talking to the guy in the food cart. This is just how life is.
"Uhhh, there's Sprite and Coke and stuff, but they also have Tarragon and Duchess and Sitro. Tarragon tastes like... uh, like tarragon? And then Duchess is kind of a desserty kind of drink, it's pear-flavored, and Sitro is very citrusy. I'm gonna get some Sitro, it's been a while."
"Hell yeah--let's do it. I'll give you my number?" Lux grins at her. "Never turn down good weed." They peer at the truck. "Ooh, I love anything sweet and desserty. I'll try the Duchess."
"Okay!" And then she turns back to the counter, hanging onto it with both hands for leverage as she stands on her toes to peer into the window. "And two Duchess and two Sitro, please!" When asked for her name for the order, she answers, "Just put Fox." It's easier than trying to get a rando at a food truck to spell 'Naika' correctly.
"Yeah, definitely." Naika swings her bag around, shrugging it off one shoulder, and digs in the front pocket for her phone. Unlike everything else that she owns, it's in fantastic shape, like it just came out of the box, and in a leather case with a Tree of Life embossed on it. She flips it open, unlocks it. "Fire away!"
Lux peers at the phone case a second, then rambles off a phone number for her to put in. "That," they say, pointing at the Tree of Life. "It's important to you, right? What's it mean to you?" Lux's own phone is tugged out, the screen tapped at.
The Thyrsus' bright green eyes slide up to the guy making their food, sauteeing up the pelmeni on the griddle and packing them in paper bags. "Not a conversation for a streetcorner," Fox laughs. "Do you know where Maddy's is?"
Which is a nicely layered question, given that you can't even get there unless you belong to one or the other of the supernatural communities, and its presence is sort of a Known Thing.
Lux blinks, then grins widely. "Yeah, been there before. Pretty good friends with the owner. Maddy is great." They sniff the air a bit, peering over at the food being sauteed. "Smells awesome." They dig out some cash to exchange for the food. Lux did say they'd treat her, after all.
"Yeah, we go to a lot of the same parties, she's pretty awesome," agrees Naika, stepping back from the counter and grabbing hold of the straps of her backpack again while they wait for the food. "It is the best. I love getting them when I'm stoned or drunk. They're perfect post-bar food. Protein, carbs, fried... so good." She lets out a little happy sound, and once Lux pays, reaches up to take the bottles down from the ledge.
"Reeeeally." Lux gives her a more curious up and down look. Not that Lux knows much about Mages. Yet. "Interesting." They seem content to wait for the food to be finished, taking the containers once they're passed over. "You got any preference where we go, or just want to find a quiet random place somewhere?"
Her shrugs are liquid and elaborate, and she answers, "Yup! She's neat." When the food is handed out the window, Naika takes two of the bags, and then hands one over to Lux to carry; she's tucked the bottles of soda into her backpack already. "Show me your favorite hangout spot," Fox prompts. Experiences are to be gathered.
Lux looks thoughtful for a long moment, peering around as they get their bearings and think about what is nearby. "You ever been to the Willow Steam Plant? It's pretty awesome, if you don't mind climbing. But--I like being high up."
Clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, Fox thinks about that. "I... don't think I have! Maybe I have. I don't remember if I have. So let's go! I don't mind climbing and I like new experiences." She rocks back and forth on her feet eagerly, still holding on to the straps of her backpack and the bags of pelmeni all at once. "Lead on, MacDuff!"
"Awesome!" Lux beams, then turns to dart off down the street. They're pretty fast, but they pause every so often to make sure she's able to keep up--and if she's as fast as they think she is, there won't be much trouble. Lux seems to know their way around the city well, ducking through alleys and darting over streets, weaving their way through neighborhoods until they eventually get to a large, kinda-gloomy looking abandoned building: https://assets3.thrillist.com/v1/image/1602846/792x528/crop;jpeg_quality=60;progressive.jpg
She's not as fast as, say, some tiny pandas that Lux knows, but she's pretty damn nimble, and partway there, a burst of speed enables her to catch up to and keep pace with Lux. Foxes are faster than humans, but humans who can borrow a fox's speed... go very fast. She doesn't have the same parkour flow as Lux, but she's dogged (heh) and very persistent.
When they get to their destination, Fox tips her head back, looking up the gloomy edifice. "Oh, I like it!" she trills happily.
"It's even better at the top," Lux says cheerfully, looking over the building fondly. "There's a lot of great tags up there."
They head over to where the fire escape stairway is, eyeing the bottom of them thoughtfully to gauge the distance--then steps back to run at the wall, then up it for several feet, managing to grab onto some ledge and pull themself up. They reach up to slide the container of food onto the edge of the stairs above them, then crouch down to offer their hand to help her up.
When you don't know what someone is exactly, it's probably rude to just turn into a monkey and start climbing up the wall, so, while Fox stares up the building and contemplates shapeshifting, this isn't what she ends up doing. Instead, she first gets distracted by Lux gauging the distance and then running up the wall, and blinks once, twice, before declaring:
"Hot."
Unzipping her backpack again, Fox puts the bags she's carrying in, and zips it closed, then runs toward the wall and just leaps, flailing her tiny self upward and grabbing hold of Lux's hand. Fortunately she's capable of pulling herself up once she's got hold of them.
"Thank you," Lux sing-songs with a smug smirk. They grab her hand and haul her up with a grunt, then reach up to pull themself up onto the stairwell since they're taller and able to reach it more easily. But them they lean over again to help pull her up. The rest is easier--just a walk up some rickety stairs. "Getting into abandoned places like this is a passion of mine. Seeing how buildings decay, and seeing how people still leave their mark on them." They gesture to some scribbling left on the wall as they head up the stairs. "It's like... a contrast of sorrow and beauty. I dunno. I'm getting weird, but--Its a thing."
She's not hard to pull up, partly because she helps, and partly because she's little to begin with. Another one of those sharp little smiles of hers, and once they're on the stairs, she turns her gaze up and out to the things that Lux points out, carefully picking her way up the stairs. About halfway up, she stops to take her shoes off, because it's easier to just carry them and be lighter on her feet than to wear the worn-out sneakers. "There were a lot of places like this when I lived in St Petersburg," Naika offers thoughtfully. "Lots of Soviet places just... falling apart. It's part of where I got obsessed with foxes. Scavengers adapted for urban living. They're one of the first things to sneak in around the edges of the decay, a reclaiming of wildness when man looks away for a moment."
A soft puff of laughter, a muted thing. "Getting weird is kind of my thing," she offers. "It makes sense. What got you into abandoned places? Like... what started the passion?"
"Did you live in St. Petersburg for long? That's a super old city, isn't it? Imagine it has some awesome old places to poke around at." They pause to let her remove her shoes, then continues up, eager to get to the top. Clearly no fear of heights here.
"Hmm..." Lux considers that for a moment, brows knitting. "I guess it started by falling in love with street art. What I am--an artist. It was amazing to me, that people could just... cover the city in art. Make it their own. Leave their mark. Where I was before, people didn't do that. So I started exploring to find all the tags I could, and find the best places to leave mine. Led me to places like this."
"For a couple years," offers Naika with a sort of wistful air. "It was nice, but it's hard to be queer in Russia. Even if you're -- not exactly existing in the world that everyone else does, you have to live there at least part time. But yeah, it's an old city, and like a lot of old cities, it's built on top of the older city, and ... like you go down into the basement of an old office building and how old are those stones? No one knows."
She weaves her way up the stairs, nimble enough to miss the broken stairs and her feet tough enough to not be bothered when she steps on grit or rusted metal. What's the possibility of lockjaw to a Life adept?
"I saw your tags. I've seen that style around." She blinks her wide green eyes thoughtfully, light coming in through a crack in the wall briefly catching her eyes again. "That's beautiful as fuck." A pause. "People have always wanted to put their art up places. Like screaming 'I was here' in the face of how big the world is. What's 'love letters'?"
"That's pretty fascinating," Lux murmurs. "Not the anti-queer shit--no way I'd be able to stand that. But the other stuff."
"I've got stuff all over the city, so not surprised. Recently had a mural on the news--protesting that fashion show fiasco that happened... a month back?" They squint, then shrug. They smile, looking out over the view before scamping up the past steps to hop up onto the roof. "Yeah, guess so. There's always been grafitti--uh, I read an article once about anicent roman grafitti. ...Well, didn't really read much of it, but--looked at the pictures. It was cool."
"Oh--I was advertising for a street artists collective I'm starting up. Called Love Letter Art Collective."
"Yeah, Russia's kind of shit if you're queer." And she leaves the rest of it there. "Oh, I never actually asked your pronouns." You know, in between climbing buildings and buying pelmeni and discussing the theory of old buildings. "You can use any for me, including it, or neopronouns. But if you're worried about safety then just use the pronouns that would correspond with how I look at that moment."
"Oh yeah! I saw that, kinda, on the news." She follows in their footsteps almost literally, since they know where the stairs might be weak better than they do. "Roman graffiti is wild. Greek, too. But we know more about the Romans because of places like Pompeii. The ash preserved the graffiti. A lot of people have this idea that Rome was austere and all those white statues and stuff but it was not, they painted those statues in a way that would make the wildest tag color combinations weep with joy. The Romans fucking loved colors, for real." Naika just goes zooming off along tangents.
"Oh yeah? That's pretty sweet. What's the collective's goal?"
"Why were you in Russia, then?" The hop over to sit on the edge of the building, opening up the containers of food before peering up at her. "Oh--cool! Got it. I don't really care what pronouns people use either. Hmm--actually not it, but otherwise it's whatever. Most people seem to go with they/them for me though, which is also fine."
Their head bobs, grinning as they listen. "Yeah--their art was super colorful. The grafitti I read about was all super crude, too. Dicks! Dicks everywhere!" Lux snickers, pulling out some of the food to start digging in hungrily. They're not terribly worried about manners.
"To get street artists seen, mostly. Get them actual gigs. A lot of the artists I know don't get shit recognition, and don't know how to get their name out there, so people only hire the rich white artists that went to fancy art schools. It's all about privilege, you know? But getting organized, we have a place where people interested in hiring legit street artists can come and find someone to hire. I'm also working on trying to get some contracts with the city, to get legal art put up. Start getting people to see them more than just criminals, you know? And--we're gonna set up a workshop, where people who can't afford their own studios can come use the space."
"I was working there. I had an opportunity to go work for an ad agency in Russia, which sounds bizarre, I know, like who would just pick up and run to another continent to work for an ad agency, but I was in my early twenties and the opportunity came up, so I jumped at it." A pause. "I didn't really know I was queer, or how dangerous it was to be queer in Russia, when I took the job." She finds a spot with a good perspective on the city below, near to Lux, and starts unpacking, settling in. There's a blanket at the bottom of the bag, which they unfold and set out, then start putting out the drinks and sit down.
Propriety? Not with Naika! Social rules are for other people, really. She grabs one of the bags of pelmeni and digs in, shoving three of the little dumplings into her face so her cheeks puff out like a chipmunk. Chewing through them, she swallows, and then reaches for her soda, twisting it open. "No one really uses 'it' for me, but I don't really care if they do. Thank you for telling me, I'm glad to know!"
Laughter, then. "Oh yeah. Dicks everywhere. And like, even the official art was all ridiculously gaudy. Those statues that everyone treats like they were all, like, pristine, they painted them! All these wild colors. And the erotic mosaics and stuff. It's so incredible. People have always been people." A contented sigh, as if that's one of the most comforting truths in the universe.
While Lux explains about the collective, Naika shoves more dumplings into her face, alternating with swallows of citrus soda. "Totally," she agrees with the concept of it being about privilege. "That's fucking awesome. You have a really solid plan. Are you gonna just work with people who paint, or will you be doing, like, sculpture and stuff, too? Or guerilla gardening?"
"Huh. Ad agency?" They look at her curiously as they stuff their own face. "What sorta stuff did you do?" One of the drinks is grabbed up, and Lux takes an experimental sip, then a more eager one. "Fuck, this is good. And yeah, no problem! Thanks for asking, and letting me know too."
"I probably would've fit in during ancient rome," Lux muses. "I fucking love gaudy." They flash her a grin. "And dicks!"
They take another bite, head tilting thoughtfully. "Mm, I'd totally open it up to other sorts of artists! I mostly know people who paint, but I'm all for expanding outside the box. Fuck limitations."
She rolls her eyes. "Grunt middle-of-the-pack work," she offers in between mouthfuls of pelmeni. "I ran around chasing photographers to make sure the pictures had been taken, booked models, sent people out to replace stuff that had been painted over on subways. It was really soul-sucking work. But, honestly, I'm kind of convinced that getting broken down like that creatively is what forced me to -- grow." The pause there is indicative but she doesn't really elaborate.
"It is good. It's a little sweet for me to have with savory stuff, but I like Duchess," she agrees. Then more of that bright laughter that's like the gekkering. "I too love gaudy and dicks!" Picking up her soda, she raises it in salute. "To gaudy and dicks!"
A swallow of soda later, she nods emphatically. "I don't paint, but I like making things out of stone. It's very primitive. Very... hmm. Connects humanity to its roots. Whether it's ten rules on tablets or the Colossus of Rhodes, humanity has always wanted to put important things in stone."
"Oh." Their nose wrinkles. "That sounds fucking awful. But yeah... I guess I get that. Glad you were able to grow." They smirk then, lifting the bottle towards her before to return the salute. "And to growing."
They take a long swallow, licking their lips afterwards. "Huh. That's pretty cool. I've never dabbled much with sculpture--but I'm into it. What sort of things have you made? Got any pics?"
"And you never answered, about what the Tree of Life means to you."
"It was." And that's all there is to say about working for an ad agency in St. Petersburg. It was terrible, and now it's over. But she smiles, and shoves more pelmeni into her face, quickly finishing the bag and then burping loudly. Very classy. "Holy shit, I missed those. They're my favorites." A happy sigh, and she leans back on one hand, picking up her soda and taking another swallow.
"Mostly I leave my work out in the wild," she explains. "I have... a couple pictures, yeah. But it's sort of a meditation on the time in the wilderness. Old stelae style." Setting down her bottle again, she rummages through her bag and pulls out her phone... but then stops at that last sentence.
A soft hmm. "I'll trade you. If I tell you, then you have to tell me something that matters to you like that matters to me, and why."
"I can see why they're your favorite. S'really good," Lux mutters as they finish off their own last few mouthfuls. "Hm. That's cool. Leaving it out in the wild, I mean. Might be kind like my tags. I mean--not out in the wild but I like leaving them out around the city. Makes it feel like it's... more? Like it's a part of something greater, and a part of other people. Not just me."
Their head tilts, looking curiously to her phone--then up to meet her eyes. They consider the offer a moment, then nod. "Okay. Deal."
She flips through her phone, and pulls up an image, scooting closer to turn the screen out to Lux so they can see the stelae. It's about six feet tall, and looks like it's ancient. The lines in it are weathered, and it looks like it's got written text on it in Ogham. "It says 'Be Gay, Do Crimes,'" Fox explains. "On the off chance that anyone who ever finds that rock in the middle of nowhere in northern Russia can read Ogham, they're going to be real fucking confused."
Matter Adept practical jokes are the best, thanks.
"But yeah, that's it, exactly. Putting it out in the world means it's part of the great continuum of human art, going back to when people were just outlining their hands in white paint on cave walls." A little content sigh.
She sets her phone down on her backpack and stretches her arms up over her head, then drops them down next to her sides, her gaze fixed on theirs. "The Tree of Life is everything. In the moment of clarity that turned my life around, I... understood. How it was all connected. That I'm not 'better' than a field of grass or a tree or a fox or a bird, I'm not ... more worthy of existence because of being human, and I'm not apart from the rest of the universe because of that, either. I'm ... connected. Connected to the bees and the nudibranches under the Antarctic ice and to my fellow humans, no matter how much modern life tries to disconnect us. And I promised in that moment to do everything I could to connect people to the truth of being alive. It can be scary, it can be painful, it can be joyous, it can be beautiful. But it's here to be experienced. And the Tree of Life reminds me: experience it. Be an experience for other people. Find new things. Be new things."
Lux leans in to peer at the phone, blink-blinking. "Whooa... That's awesome! How did you get it looking so old? That looks totally legit. Uh. And what's Ogham?" Lux's head bobs quickly in understanding, smiling appreciatively to her. "Yeah. Fucking... yeah. I guess it is kind of a primative feeling, huh? Never thought about it like that."
Their grin dims to a more thoughtful expression, watching her intently as she continues on. "Huh. That's... really fuckin' beautiful. So... you just run through life, trying to experience a new thing after another? And pushing people outside their... boxes, or whatever? To try new things?"
She grins broadly, and shrugs her shoulders. "I'm extremely talented," the Thyrsus answers, adding, "It's one of the things you learn when you become like me. And I think it's funny, so I keep doing it. Ogham is a really old written language usually found in the UK, on stones. I like leaving big fucking rocks with lines on in places they shouldn't be. Not anything that would cause, like, real problems, but things that confuse people. Make them think about how they perceive the world." She scoops up her soda and takes another swallow. Lots of talking makes a girl thirsty.
And then she dips her head forward a little, a splash of pink briefly sliding across her face when they call her words beautiful. "Thank you." Beat. "Yes! Pretty much. I go gather up experiences, and I bring people into those experiences with me where I can, and where I can't, I come back and tell them 'this is what it's like to do this.' I bring experiences back to my tribe. Like being a hunter, but for knowledge and emotion. Or I take them out with me, on the hunt."
"Ooh, cool." Lux bobs their head as she explains, grinning. "Well hey--if you ever wanted to do that stuff more--and maybe get paid for it... or just get more opportunities to make stones like that, hit me up. Love to expand the Collective more."
"Hmm. Fuck, I like that. Can get behind that. I like experiencing new things, too." Lux looks out over the city, looking thoughtful. "Well... deal is a deal." They exhale a breath, then shrug. "Winter. That's... what I live by. It's kind of... uh, metaphorical and literal, in a lot of ways. The cold and ice is a part of me. I wear it like armor. It keeps things--people--threats out, keeps me hidden." They take a thoughtful sip of soda. "Which is... lonely. But you learn to embrace the loneliness. It protects you, too. You learn to take care of yourself, rely on yourself. But by embracing it, you also... learn to appreciate when you can connect to others? It becomes more meaningful. You never take the warmth you manage to find for granted, because you know how quickly it can be taken away. And you accept that... some day, it will be taken away. You accept that the days are dreary and the nights are long and cold and the wolves are always at your door." Their lips purse. "If you embrace your sorrow, use it to make yourself stronger, then... no one can hurt you. No one can use it against you."
They puff out a breath. "A lot more depressing than your thing, sorry. But it's what I am."
"I'm totally here for it," agrees Little Fox, apparently entirely signed on the idea of the Collective. Go out into the world and put things in it for the tribe to experience? BIG GREEN CHECK MARK.
She finishes her first soda and sets the empty carefully aside, turning toward Lux and giving them all of her attention, wide green-and-gold eyes focusing on them entirely. She knits her fingers together, presses her forefingers against her lips, head tilted to the side just a little, much the same way she did when she was a fox, focused in on them.
"No, no. It's not depressing. It's beautiful. It's your way of being, and it's beautiful. You've learned how to take something that would isolate most people and use it not only as a tool to protect yourself, but a tool which helps you value the connections that you make." Her gaze is intense, her expression completely thoughtful. "It's an extremely Russian mentality, I have to tell you. And ..."
"Life ends. That's what gives it meaning. If it went on forever, we wouldn't value it so much. Days end so night can begin. The body of a squirrel becomes the meal of a worm. Things have to end so that we value them, and so that life can continue. And you know that, and you take strength from it. That's not depressing. That's ... that's perfect."
Lux is still, blinking slowly as they watch her. Their grins have faded now, leaving a pensive expression. Maybe even sad. But the sort of sadness that is peaceful and accepting, not regretful.
Their head dips a bit, looking down over the edge of the building. And, just for a moment--there's a shimmer of cold light over them, like the colors of the aurora borealis reflecting off of fresh snow. Or maybe it's just a trick of the sunlight.
"Yeah... Yeah. That's what it's about." Their lips twitch upwards into a fond, soft smile. "Cycles are important. The changing of the seasons especially. You can't have Spring without Winter. Can't have anything new and thriving without having something end and die. Heh... Thanks. Most people don't get that so easily," they murmur softly, sheepish.
She watches them, those focused eyes taking in everything about them -- posture, the delightful shimmering color. The latter makes her lips part in unabashed wonder, a tiny gasp pulled in, and she blinks rapidly. "Revontulet," she whispers. It isn't often you see the effect which is your Shadow Name nimbusing someone else.
Blinking rapidly, she clears her throat, and her small smile echoes theirs -- she reaches for her phone again, closing the case, and turns that toward Lux. "The branches become the roots, the roots become the branches. Leaves fall, become rot, become earth, and the tree rises. You know there are some theories that trees are not singular but that many of them, especially birches, are part of a larger organism? Like cells in a body. The roots become the branches and it's all knit together." A small shrug. "I know it to my bones, Lux. It's how it has to be."
They glance over when she whispers, not quite catching what she said--or knowing what the word means. "Huh?"
They look at the symbol on the phone case thoughtfully for a moment, nodding slowly. "Hm... No, I get it. I mean... I'm not, like... super in tuned with nature? So some of it is me taking your word for it. But I see what you mean. How things can be all connected." Their lips quirk. "I didn't know that though, about the birches. That's fascinating."
"You -- you glowed, there, for a minute." One hand reaches out and gestures around Lux's head, almost reverentially, where that nimbus of light just was. "Like the Northern Lights. In Finnish, they call it revontulet, which means 'fox fire.' A fox running so fast across the snow that it kicks up fire and light." A sheepish little smile, and her hand draws back. "It's important to me, the Northern Lights." A small shrug.
She sets the case back down again, its illustrative purpose served. "It's a necessary thing. Without light, no shadow. Without night, no dawn. Without Winter, no Spring. Without death, no life. And yeah. Trees are cool. Birches are one of my favorites." A vague shrug. "Anyway, I don't think the way you look at things is depressing. I think it's beautiful."
"...Revontulet," Lux echoes, rolling the word around on their tongue. "I like that. That's a beautiful word." They stretch their legs out, leaning back to rest on their hands, head rolling to the side to grin over at her. "You should see what I really look like. I always glow. Light is a part of me, as much as your flesh and blood is a part of you."
"Thanks." They grin brightly, eyes creasing. "You're pretty amazing, Little Fox. I'm glad I chased after you."
"Thank you," Fox replies, as if they'd said she's beautiful. But then? Either they shouldn't have said that, or they really should have. Little Fox rolls up to her knees, clasping her hands together in front of herself, palms pressed together like she's about to pray. "Can I?" Her eyes get so wide, and her lips part; the Orphan of Proteus presented with the possibility of a new experience. The former Mystagogue presented with a new mystery in the form of a hot glowing person. Dang.
She dips her head forward, glances up at them through her dark lashes. "Thank you," she answers, in that same tone. "You're amazing. I want to see all your art."
"Oh--uh." Lux blinks in surprise as she reacts so intensely. "Um..." They give a slow look around the roof top, as if reassuring themself that they are in fact alone. Then they scoot backwards until they're confident they can't be seen from anyone passing by below. "I can't really do this often--it's risky, but... no one is around, so it should be alright."
They turn to face her, taking a deep breath as their eyes close. Then it's like a veil is ripped off of them, their skin darkening--only to be sharply highlighted by bright neon lights that glow all around them. The source isn't directly visible, as if shining from behind them no matter which way they turn, or shining from inside their sleeves and collar. A being of shadow and light. Currently they're glowing a bright neon yellow, but there is the occasional multi-colored glimmer over them from their mantle, that ripple of auroras reflected off fo snow banks. It's subtle, only noticable if you look close, or if their body tilts just so.
Their eyes open, looking back at her with twin small beacons. They're grinning, and its clear that they're... well, egotistical as fuck, enjoying the opportunity to show off.
"Happy to show you my art. I'll text you the address for the collective's office so you can come by sometime--though we're still working on getting things set up, right now."
She stays kneeled where she was, hands clasped in front of her like a first communicant about to receive the wafer, those green-and-gold eyes wide. "I can double-check if you'd like. I'm very good at that." Naika then settles, and waits, chewing on her lower lip. Blinking.
And then she gasps as the veil is ripped away and another one of the mysteries of the world is revealed to her. The Mystery which is Lux unveiled in all their neon glory, Naika starts crawling toward, falling to all fours and creeping forward in a way that's not too different from the way that she started creeping toward the pretzels as a fox. Cautious and fascinated.
She scoots as close as Lux will let her, literally crawling in close, lips parted, fascinated. Her fingers rise, skating through the air, as if attempting to touch their Mantle, the revontulet glittering through the night air. "You're so beautiful. You're like your own piece of walking art. I mean, all living things are moving art, but you're -- you're so beautiful."
Yeah, she's briefly forgotten about the collective. "Mmm? Oh. Yes. Okay."
Lux isn't the sort to shy away from touch--especially when it's someone staring at them like that. They blink in surprise, eye lights flickering on and off, but they're not moving away and not pushing her off. Their Mantle isn't something that can really be touched, but it's a bit like lifting your hand into a cold winter breeze--a tingle of chill in her fingertips.
"Thank you," Lux murmurs, torn between their usual narcissism and something softer. She seems to mean more than just physical beauty here, and that's something Lux is far less used to. Their lights pulse brighter for a moment as Lux is complimented, a subconscious preening reaction like a bird of paradise that fluffs up their colorful feathers--but their smile is a little lopsided and sheepish.
Collective? What collective?
When they don't shy away, her fingers go from fluttering in the air around Lux's face to careful butterfly-light touches skating across the planes and edges of their face. The difference in temperature makes her eyes widen, and her mouth forms into a perfect little 'o'. This is not a deterrent to her explorations, but an impetus to them, and she scoots closer, totally fascinated. Lux's neon lights reflect in those gold-and-green fox eyes, catching the back of them and literally lighting them up.
"I've literally never seen anything or anyone like you." And that seems to be both something amazing and something sacred to the Thyrsus, a moment of real profound mystery. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for sharing this with me." The bright pulse of light? She gasps delighted, and -- impulsively -- that mouth with its sharp little teeth presses briefly against theirs.
She pulls back. Coughs sheepish. "I -- "
Lux shivers a little at the feather-light touches. They don't quite lean into them--but they clearly don't mind. Their skin is indeed a little cold to the touch, but not to the point of discomfort. Radiating from underneath their skin she can feel a very slight tingle of energy, like touching a bright neon lightbulb or an active battery.
"Really? Never? Never a person like me, or... never one who glows like me? There's a fair amount of my kind around." Their grin widens though, smugness overcoming their uncertainty. "Ha. You're welcome. I'm glad I could give you such a fascinating new experience." They let out a soft amused huff of breath.
Then she kisses them, and Lux freezes for a second or two before letting out their own soft cough. The grin hasn't completely faded though. "Uh. It's cool. I mean... Not like I mind being kissed by someone as hot and charming as you."
Impulsive, but instantly aware of potentially-crossed boundaries. Impulsive, but highly tuned-in as only someone who can instinctively watch someone's adrenaline and blood flow running through their body could be. Her hands pulled back when she did, flustered briefly by her own behavior. "I've seen ... people like you before. But never -- exactly like you. You are a unique experience, yes. No one who glows, no one who looks -- like you. You're -- perfect." And she clasps her hands again, a small, high squeak in the back of her throat.
She ducks her head forward at the compliment, and glances through her hair at him, her blush turning her strange and wonderful colors under Lux's neon-yellow light. "Well, I am glad it was not ... minded." Her hands twist in front of her.
If Lux had the mask still up, they'd maybe be blushing when called perfect. Instead their lights shimmer towards orangeish briefly, warming in tone, and shining brightly enough around their eyes that the light bleeds through their usually dark cheeks. "I'm... hardly perfect," Lux murmurs, the smugness dimming. "But I'll accept beautiful and unique. Thank you."
Then they let out a suddenly nervous huff-chuff, hand lifting--which has glowing fingernails--to rub the back of their neck. "I mean... It's more than minded. You're interesting as fuck, and damned beautiful too. Just... don't want to come off too strong, I guess."
"But you are," Fox reiterates. "You're perfectly Lux. No one could ever be you as much as you're you. And you're absolutely gorgeous." She may know that she's feeding Lux's ego, but even if she knows, does she care? Probably not. To her mind, she seems to be speaking the absolute eloquent truth as she knows it. Her little hands wring together in front of her, for want of something to do, as if she's stopping herself from reaching out again in her awkwardness. Want to touch the shiny. Want to touch the shinyyyyy.
And then she laughs again, that soft, sharp sound, so much like gekkering that it's hard to hear the difference between them. "Are we both doing that?" Fox asks, green-and-gold eyes glittering. "I think we're both doing that. That's funny."
"I--uh. Huh." Lux squints at her for a moment before an easy grin returns. "I guess you got a point there. I've never met anyone quite like me before. There's others that... glow, but not... like I glow." They glance down at her hands, eyes glinting--literally--with amusement. "I dunno. The touching and kissing came off a bit strong," Lux murmurs playfully. "But I'm cool with it."
Their hand drops from their neck, reaching out to rest over her's as they wring together. Reassuring that it's alright, and a quiet permission that yes, she can touch. Touching is okay.
"'A bit strong' is kind of my brand," sighs the little technoshaman, shifting in place and wringing her hands together. The admission wrings a little wry smile out of her, and she bites her lower lip with those sharp teeth. "People are generally not used to someone who just jumps face-first screaming into everything in life. It's just not ... how ... things are done. By people. Who aren't me." Naika looks up throught he fringe of her hair again, puffing out her cheeks with a little dramatic breath.
The hand that rests on top of her twisted-together ones earns a longer look from the Thyrsus, and then those hands close around his. "No one glows like you glow," she reiterates, laughing. "You've got foxfire." Someday maybe she'll be able to explain why that makes her laugh, the coincidental delight.
"It makes sense. With the whole... always living new experiences thing. I wouldn't want to hold myself back, either." A beat pause. "Granted... I don't really, most of the time? I can be pretty impulsive too. One of my partners calls me hummingbird cause I just--flit around so much. Always in motion. But I'm trying to get better about... stopping to think sometimes, too." They frown briefly at this, eyes flicking to the side.
"...I feel like I'm missing something here. Something important." Their head tilts. "I mean, obviously foxes are important to you, but it seems more than that." They're clearly curious, but not in the tell me your secrets way. More I want to learn, some day.
That softer version of gekkering that's her laughter fills up the space between them again, and her hands fold over theirs, little light touches tracing the edges of them, as if she could draw out more light by her fingertips skating across their skin. "Exactly," Naika sighs, bobbing her head. "I have to chase experiences down, if I don't, then... how will I find them? Even if sometimes that means running away from an interesting person and hoping they will follow." Her green-gold eyes spark bright.
"Oh! Hummingbird is the sweetest nickname. Hummingbirds are so much fun to be. You can hover." As if this is something that Lux was worrying about, whether or not being a hummingbird meant you could hover. "So maybe you could be a hummingbird and also ... stop to think. Because hummingbirds can hover, which no other birds can do." She twists her mouth to the side, thoughtfully, and then nods once in solemn affirmation. Yes, that's good.
Her shoulders shift. "It's a secret," Naika sighs. "Too much secrets for one night. But someday."
Lux seems about to say something--but then pauses and just grins instead. "...Huh. You know... I've never thought about that before? But you're right. Hummingbirds can hover..." They look off to the side for a long moment, at the view of the city past the edge of the roof. They look lost in thought for a long moment before shaking their head. "...Yeah. I'm uh... kinda reaching the limit of how much I can reveal to someone in one day." They look back at her with a soft smile. "I should probably get going, or you'll end up digging everything out of me." They lift their other hand to give her a light boop on the nose. "And what is the fun in that?"
They pull their hand away from her's and roll up to their feet, shouldering their backpack. "Text me, sometime? We need to have that movie marathon."
"They can." There's a weight to it which implies: so you can pause but remain essentially you. The tiny Thyrsus lets go of their hand and laughs softly. "Oh, I think that's a two-way street, that secret-prying." Her nose wriggles after it's booped, and she laughs again, folding her hands together.
"Yes. Text me anyway. I like texts, even if we're not planning something. I want to see pictures of your art." Naika unfolds, standing up so she can start picking up her blanket and cleaning up the detritus of their impromptu meal. "But we definitely need to do the movie marathon. I'll bring the best weed."
"Hell yes." They grin brightly. "Sounds good--I'm a big texter, so I'll hit you up soon. I had a blast getting to know you better, Little Fox."
And just like that, the veil is thrown back on, the lights fading away and leaving their still pretty but far less interesting Mask. "See you around!" they call to her cheerfully, before climbing down over the edge of the building. No trace of fear or hesitation.
| 