I need a break

THE WIND BLOWS LOUDEST WHEN YOU'VE GOT YOUR EYES CLOSED

there's tautness in his motions as he startles, turning to face her. abruptly, her motions come to a stop, paws digging into the black sand until it gets between her toes, irritating and impossible to ignore. she's caught between shaking one dainty wrist, worrying at the grit in her pads, and keeping her bright eyes on the flighty stranger ahead of her. it never occurred to the youth that she could frighten him - after all, she's never been the scary type. in the past, hadi would have been the one shirking away from others, flattening beneath their gaze and skittering from their touch. it's almost amusing - almost - but there's something of a wounded expression in his gaze, in the guarded way he watches her. she knows the look ( she's worn it, after all. ) and it hurts her to think she could give such feelings to someone else. almost cruelly, she twists her lips in a mocking smirk and drops her head, easing a step to one side, away from him, and fighting the urge to simply leave.

he seems comfortable enough after facing her, though, that she hangs out, ears twisting back in discomfort atop her narrow head. "nothing's worse than stagnation," she agrees quietly, suddenly, tipping her head back and exhaling loudly. the salt air brushes against her face as she thrusts it out into the wind, letting her eyes slip close and rolling her head from side to side to work at the tension singing through her shoulders. it's been a long few weeks, by the gods, and it feels good to have a living, breathing someone hanging nearby. but, oh; she forgot what it was to be social, to have to fill the quiet spaces and blank moments with something.

his name flows from his tongue, quick and without hesitation, and again that smile splits her lips, flashing her fangs in a sardonic way. there's bitterness tinging the edge of the expression, a little bit of self loathing, but she lets her eyes blink open and her head drop so she can peer at him from one, jaw tilted down, now, and away from him. "guess i'll call you riv, then." she says, simply - if he was giving a name, then she'll treasure it for the secret it is. her own name sits heavy on her tongue, weighing it to the inside of her mouth and she catches her lower lip in her teeth, worrying the already shredded flesh as she regards him with equal parts interest and mistrust. "are you all always so quick with names, here?" hadrianna says, finally, letting a soft sigh escape her. "are they all... worth knowing?" she can't imagine a world where everyone knew your name - or even cared to - and she can't imagine a world where that would be good, at any rate.