[private] remember when i broke you down to tears

[Nashua]

Duty calls him again and again to the Isle.

And the only thing that could pull him from the furthest point North is the mare in front of him. The moment their eyes meet, Nashua can't stand the remaining distance. He takes a swinging step forward and then another, not allowing his restless heart to settle until he can feel Noel's faintly beating against his chest. His muscled neck lifts over hers, and the winged stallion draws her closer.

Inhaling the scents of home, memorizing the scent of his happiness.

She curls into him and Nash wraps around her, attempting to lose himself in the white pegasus beside him. Attempting to forget the tumultuous world that continues to batter around them, like the angry waves that beat against the cliffs of Nerine. The day is almost gone, but Nashua doesn't mind. He won't make the journey back to his kingdom tonight, and peace seeps into his bones at knowing he will have an evening to spend with his mate.

His green eyes look to her as his blazed head glances back over the elegant arch of her neck, eager for any news that she might have.

"Did he seem alright?" he asks quietly, wondering if Gale or Mazikeen had kept Bolder from his mother. (There would be hell to pay if they had, but Nashua won't mention it now. He won't let his anger get in the way of the limited time he has to spend with her.) It's a comfort to know that her mother - Ryatah, the white mare he met along with their stolen son - will keep an eye on him. To know that Bolder isn't completely alone in a kingdom full of monsters.

"And you?" Nashua prompts her, using one of his wings to shield out a biting Northern wind. He had been away to the South, in Loess for more political meetings, and their time apart becomes a physical ache in his chest, only slightly eased by the knowledge that she was here now.

That they had tonight.

NASHUA

@Noel