i'm not calling you a ghost // o

[radeken]

Summertime heat made the night feel thick and alive and Radeken could only keep herself on task for so long before a new excitement drew her away. First it was tidying her storage and then it was sniffing around the locks on the rooms of her colleagues and then it was exploring outside because everything felt so much nicer at night, so much more private and personal, and then it was splashing in the shallows of the Starpool, watching the sky overhead warp and ripple on the surface of the cool water. She hoped she would find something cool there in the water, something a little bit more special than a meteorite shard - she already had one resting against her chest, that all-knowing eye, unblinking and ever judging - but supposed that just being out here to get her paws wet would be fine, too.

Mud was between her toes and the water lapped at her legs now. She wasn't an excellent swimmer, but she could carry herself for a reasonable distance, and she wasn't afraid to keep wading until the water was deeper. I'm not afraid of anything. Radeken knew better. What was a little water compared to all she knew? The wolf stood up to her chest radiating a smug, peaceful sort of energy and rolling a round stone under her paw, trying to make it out amidst all the murk she had kicked up, cutting a muddy path through the crystalline pool. There's unflattering symbolism here, I know it. She scoffed and her eyes rolled so hard they damn near popped out. Radeken was still before submerging her face only to pull it out very quickly, shaking and sneezing and bursting with a quick, clear laugh.