THORN
The occasional echo of 'Thorn the Third' draws a rare smile to Thorn's lips. The sabino lurks just outside of earshot whenever he watches Tamlin, shadowed eyes bright purple and dewy. He doesn't often seek his brother out, but when he stumbles upon him on accident, that little whisper of affection soothes the reverberating cries vibrating in his chest. He is enraptured, eyes blank, mouth slightly agape, lips turn up in the sweetest, most secretive smile. Here, away from Tamlin's eyes, he can feel joy.
Because here, so far from his brother's direct hurt, Thorn doesn't have to remember he deserves this.
Here, he forgets how he has hurt his family.
Here, ethereal in glow and in gore, terrible and beautiful - he is Thorn, Tamlin's beloved brother, and not Thorn, a cursed son.
For a few moments, Thorn forgets that the Tamlin he now watches is not a vision. He is the flesh and blood brother of his youth, smile still boyish, so like the look he'd give Thorn when he won one of their races. "Oh," he whispers, feeling that familiar ache of pain forcing more blood down his legs. "Oh," he repeats, barely audible, pained by how very there Tamlin is, and yet he cannot be there. Thorn is trapped in his ache, invisible and frozen, distant enough from reality to mark this is as a memory he'll soon dump from his brain.
That is, until his dazed staring causes him to lean to hard to the left and -
Snap! A twig cracks loudly beneath his hoof.
@[Tamlin] <3