Tarian knew about the timing of the seasons. It had never bothered him that Altissima came until early winter because a child was never something that they had to worry about. And though she had come earlier this year, he had honestly been so happy to see her that the Loessian never thought about the consequences.
He never thought of a child; he's never let himself think of a child.
Until now.
Altissima is always the exception with him. Tarian has always been a man of very few words, and he has never had any strong desire to keep idle conversation. He deplores small talk much the same way that his pale mate loathes the cold weather. There is so much that he wants to say but there is a stone on his tongue, and it weighs down his voice so that there is no sound. He watches Altissima with her wrapped wings and the small laugh she gives startles him out of his silence.
I would have preferred to talk about it first.
Talk about what? His mind is clouded with confusion, something in him refusing to put all the pieces of Altissima's words together. But she is direct, and gets to the point in a brutal honesty that he'll appreciate later. He'd thought that they might be talking about the possibility of children, of starting a family. But what she says is that they are already past that point. There already is a child and the gray stallion lifts his head, and his careful expression gives way to one of shock.
"You mean," he starts, finally finding his voice though still lacking his ability for a complete sentence.
"You and me?" he asks, letting the revelation settle in his head, before it starts to flow through the rest of him. It lightens his broad wings and suddenly, there is a bursting sense of sky at the center of his chest. "No," he says, firmly. "No, it's not that." He moves hesitantly to reach for her, to touch her but pauses to glance down at Wildling, with a smile stuck in the middle of awe and admiration. "A child, Altissima."
Something - like her - that he had never imagined.
TARIAN
@Altissima