[private] leaving all my past and silhouettes up on the wall; svedka

[Pteron]

and since you’re the only one that matters,----------------
----------------tell me: who do i run to?

“Flatterer!” Pteron accuses, but it is with a flush across his pale cheeks and a smile to match Svedka’s. His olive eyes follow Svedka’s playful demonstration with rapt attention, though he glances away after for just a moment. It would have been nice to simply watch, to admire the strong curve of Svedka’s arched neck and the way his sky-streaked mane looks in the moonlight that filters down between the trees. The other man’s face is an open book, one that promises delight with its suggestive smiles, raised brows, and the place along his jaw where the white of his face melds with the gold of his neck.

The ease of his tawny companion is contagious, and Pteron must keep reminding himself to look away.

He’s on patrol.
He is responsible for Aegean’s safety.

This is another reason to find a more permanent home, Pteron thinks. He is a social creature at heart, preferring the company of others to his solitude. It is easy to forget that in the enchanted worlds that Aegean creates for them, but he is reminded of it now as he looks down at Svedka crossing the gully. The other agrees to stay through till the morning, and Pteron replies that: “I would hate for you to be the first,” with a marked wickedness in his arched brow. “I have a good record, and I’d hate for you to ruin it.”

He begins steps back to allow the other more room to ascend, but finds a bare-branched tree trunk nearer behind than he expects. They are crowded instead, just near enough that Pteron might reach out and touch the spot along Svedka’s jaw where his pied markings stitch together. The teasing nature of their conversation has filled the air between them with electricity, it seems, yet the brief kiss that he presses to that place is tender, and he darts away as quickly as it is over. He would like to linger, and is certain that Svedka would not refuse him, but there is no time for that now.

He's responsible, and cannot tarry long from his task.

“Perhaps you could tell me a story,” Pteron says as he begins to lead the way forward through the woods once more. They can talk and walk, and he can look and listen. “Why did you leave Tephra for Hyaline?”

-- pteron --