[private] i'd like to make myself believe

[elio]

elio

some say I should learn to cry but I only learned how to fight
and I know everything must die but nothing fades like the light

The sky is pastel, streaked in colors and stars, dotted by the fluffiest, most peaceful clouds. Sitting on a distant bed of white is curled speck of red, so small that Elio almost thinks it isn't him.

"Lannister?" the stallion whispers into the cotton candy breeze, looking handsome and open as his mane lifts and flutters around his face.

Lannister: a gift, a force, a magic. A boy that stuck with him from the dream world to the real world, and then back again. The sweetest creation a stranger could offer him: Lannister. Elio will never forget what Catcher did for him, will never forget the dream-weaver's thoughtfulness as she granted him a heavenly son.

There's been healing in their few meetings, mostly in the way that Lio has been able to laugh freely and wildly. The boy has a quick wit for a newly created creature--a keen mind eager to learn and grow and understand. The stallion longs to bring him down to Beqanna, to show him how the earth twinkles differently than their dreams. There's only so much Lannister can pull from Elio's mind--there's so much for him to learn, to see, to feel.

Even in their dream world, they cannot have it all: Lannister young and uneducated, with whimsy and naivety comes feebleness and fear.

While Elio does his best to keep his son safe and happy, there's only so much he can do for a trapped mind.

"Dad?" Lio suddenly hears, and his ears perk happily. The little red dot hopes from cloud to cloud until it becomes a fully formed boy, faded gold stripes and all.

"Son," the stallion murmurs, tucking the boy into his side for a warm embrace.

"I've missed you."

don't reply to this please i'm going to be talking to myself.
elio is just hiding out in tephra while he spends all day sleeping so he can be with his son.
also this is technically in a timeline from months ago because i'm slow.