11-10-2018, 12:31 PM
the taigan
"Welcome home yourself," she said with a smile that warmed him. It was good to see her smile after everything she'd been through. "I thought--it's been so long, I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again. I'm glad I was wrong."
His head tilted a little and he studied her. Was she blushing? She'd done that once before. The corner of his mouth curved slightly, amused and curious what would put that warmth in her beautiful dark face.
She bent her head and tried to coax her little girl forward with sweet words and a gentle nudge. His expression smoothed over again and he raised his head, ears flicking back and looking down at them. He didn't trust himself with something so precious, couldn't trust himself even with his own children though he was too protective of them to release them to anyone but Bright or Jinju.
The small girl reminded him of how Jinju was when he'd first had her. He hadn't been this way with her though, and he wondered briefly if she should've been raised by someone more nurturing. But, no. Jinju was perfect just the way she was. She'd come out of her nervous shell just at the moment she'd been ready to. He was proud of who she'd become.
He was proud of who Lilitha had become too.
He loved when the Taiga was home and family to another orphan.
Orphans no longer, though.
Perhaps it had become Taigan tradition, and that would amuse and please him.
"I'm so glad you're back, Ruan. I missed you."
She was able to soften those ice-hard eyes again. He felt an urge to reach out and touch her, which only translated as his shoulders relaxing again and his breath coming easier. He would've missed her too if it had been longer than a few days gone for him.
"Time has passed," he commented quietly, knowing it to be true in all the differences he'd seen thus far already. Their Taiga was quieter. Emptier. It had been teeming with the People once. Before it had been destroyed in the fairies' betrayal.
His eyes flashed hard and sharp again and he stepped back, a growl rolling in his chest. The temperature dropped around him, his skin chilling dramatically beneath his thick winter coat. His breath fogged. The feral haze beat at his defenses, scraping to consume him again and he only fought it at all for the children present.
God damn the man that kept Bright.
