[ The instant your hand touches the lantern, the small flame blooms into a something huge and bright like an unfolding star, light flooding the Haven as well as your mind.
In that moment, the world disappears into that flash of light and it feels like the smell of pies and roast kujata and rose-scented tea in your mouth along with and jokes and arguments, surrounded by the company of those you missed so much it hurt, and the food is slightly salty with the almost disbelieving tears of overwhelming joy and gratitude that you can't seem to stop shedding, even when your smile is so broad it threatens to split your face in two, and you're happy, you're happy, you're so happy that your chest feels full to bursting;
it feels like getting drunk over a plate of nachos and the far-off shush of waves against a rocky shore, blue sky yawning over you, vast and improbably infinite, you let yourself put down a weight you've been carrying, just a little, just to see what it's like, and stress drains out of you as your blood alcohol content rises and in another life, maybe you would worry about this, but you don't have to because you're safe, you're safe here, you know you're safe because
it feels like the watchful presence of a gleaming white dragon with a halo of wings, coiled around the hole you dig while you busy yourself with the dirty and endless business of healing your wounds after he shows you that the things that come for you while you're sleepless and afraid are things that can be defeated after all;
it feels like the tinkle of a wind chime in a breeze and cardstock against your fingertips as you shuffle your deck, it feels like snowball fights and bento eaten straight from the container and way too many people riding a single struggling golf cart, it feels like the polished chrome of a metal dragon and a flower tucked behind her "ear" at a masquerade;
it feels like love.
Your eyes adjust to the light and the Haven resolves back into place, right where you left it. The newly brightened lantern illuminates an even greater radius than before.]
Re: Haven
In that moment, the world disappears into that flash of light and it feels like the smell of pies and roast kujata and rose-scented tea in your mouth along with and jokes and arguments, surrounded by the company of those you missed so much it hurt, and the food is slightly salty with the almost disbelieving tears of overwhelming joy and gratitude that you can't seem to stop shedding, even when your smile is so broad it threatens to split your face in two, and you're happy, you're happy, you're so happy that your chest feels full to bursting;
it feels like getting drunk over a plate of nachos and the far-off shush of waves against a rocky shore, blue sky yawning over you, vast and improbably infinite, you let yourself put down a weight you've been carrying, just a little, just to see what it's like, and stress drains out of you as your blood alcohol content rises and in another life, maybe you would worry about this, but you don't have to because you're safe, you're safe here, you know you're safe because
it feels like the watchful presence of a gleaming white dragon with a halo of wings, coiled around the hole you dig while you busy yourself with the dirty and endless business of healing your wounds after he shows you that the things that come for you while you're sleepless and afraid are things that can be defeated after all;
it feels like the tinkle of a wind chime in a breeze and cardstock against your fingertips as you shuffle your deck, it feels like snowball fights and bento eaten straight from the container and way too many people riding a single struggling golf cart, it feels like the polished chrome of a metal dragon and a flower tucked behind her "ear" at a masquerade;
it feels like love.
Your eyes adjust to the light and the Haven resolves back into place, right where you left it. The newly brightened lantern illuminates an even greater radius than before.]