"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT & SATISFACTION BROUGHT HIM BACK
Smoak trots ahead of him, full of exciting stories from the day's excursion to the Playground. Dahmer had waited patiently in the Meadow, wandering contentedly until worry had blossomed in his chest, and then he'd stopped at the Fairy-protected land once more to pick up his son and bring him back to Tephra. Smoak had fallen behind once or twice on their journey home, but each time he would remember the fun he'd had, the bone-armored boy had sprinted ahead, screeching that he needed to tell Mom about his fun day.
Dahmer's grin is perpetual now, thanks to his new form of amusement. Smoak has proven to be a handful, but in a positive way that makes the winged stallion excited for his son's future. "Come, Smoak," the blue-eyed beast calls to his son as they move towards the volcano. The champagne colt amends his path and heads for Dahmer's usual hideaway, just at the base of the sulfuric landmass, with ears pricked and eyes curious. Dahmer calls loudly for Ellyse as they arrive and he ruffles his wings against his sides as his gaze searches for her, his steps coming to a halt just beside a lazy lava stream that drips, sizzling and slow, into Tephra's creek.
"I'm hungry, where is she?" Smoak grumbles as his fatigue sets in again, his stories temporarily forgotten, stomping a small hoof against the soft loam beneath them.
"Patience. And manners," the blue-eyed stallion responds tersely, and Smoak clamps his jaw shut, but considers to smolder tiredly beside Dad.
I know some things that you don't; I've done things that you won't there's nothing like a trail of blood to find your way back home
The morning had been quiet and tranquil – she had been barely pulled from the lull of slumber when the father of her son had whisked him away beneath the warm, alluring glow of morning light. Thus, she had spent the better part of the day in solitude, savoring the gentle caress of the salty ocean breeze, and the feel of the wayward wind beneath each golden wing. It was not often that she was without him beside her, and as such, she had shied away from the open sky above, and the thickness of the haze weaving through her bristling feathers is more than enough to rejuvenate her tired and weary spirit.
By the end of day, however, there is a subtle ache in her chest. She is often quiet and hardened, concealing the tender affection so few had seen beneath the callous exterior she held so close to her fiercely guarded and heavily barbed heart. Yet, with her son nestled into the curve of her barrel, his eyes wide, curious and alight with mischief, she is reminded of the flickering ember burning inside of her heart, only for those held closest to her – slight, and faint, but burning brightly for those who held any small piece of her as he surely did.
When the distant echo of Dahmer and his deep, rumbling call has reached her, she is drawn away from a simmering, bubbling spring, where she had spent idle time, awaiting the fading sunlight in the far off horizon with its resplendence draping the gilded surface of her skin in a deep, cerise overlay. She cannot conceal the warmth of her smile, tugging at the corners of her usually straight and firmly pursed mouth as Smoak and Dahmer inevitably come into view. It is with nothing more than a sweeping stride that the space lingering in between them is closed, her pale lips pressed against the nape of her son’s neck, tasting the salt and cleansing him of the musk of a day spent languishing in the sunlight.
”I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten lost,” she muses, a hint of humor laced in her voice, her deep hazel eyes searching the endless, piercing ice of her one-time lover. He held a piece of her, however small, captured by the light and life of the progeny forged that fateful night that seemed so long ago, and so slowly – slowly, the heavily fortified wall of her iron will has crumbled away. With a gentle nudge to Smoak’s jawline, she inquires (already knowing too well the answer), ”did you have a good time?”
CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT & SATISFACTION BROUGHT HIM BACK
Dahmer had witnessed Ellyse's promotion to Head of War. He'd known from the moment that Magnus placed that responsibility upon her gilded shoulders that she would rise to the challenge gladly. Even then, her vigilance and her vision for Tephra had been unfaltering. And, despite his utter faith in her abilities, he is still, years later, caught off guard by her capacity to arrive within minutes of being called, no matter the location. His lips twitch into a smirk at the sight of the winged champagne, curious if Smoak's return to Tephra had triggered some sixth sense in the mare, or if she had simply been ready for anything, as she usually is.
Smoak doesn't see Dad's smirk, opting not to wait for the blue-eyed stallion as he bolts away with gangly legs, his own champagne head thrown skyward as he forgets his fatigue and angles towards Mom. Approaching her a tad bit too quickly, the young colt missteps and nearly falls headfirst into Ellyse, his bone-accented appendages scrambling to regain composure at the last second. He leans his lithe frame into her chest, nestling there warmly as her maw plays at his nape. A quiet bout of laughter escapes his lips and he turns his hazel eyes guiltily towards Dad as he whispers, "Well, Dad almost got us lost," to which Dahmer huffs with mock affront.
"I got you home alive, I think that's the important part," he scolds playfully as his own azure gaze turns to Ellyse. His eyes linger on her as she questions Smoak about the day, which their son answers with ample excitement, telling her about the lake in the Playground and the other foals he'd run around with (making sure to mention that he seemed to be the fastest). The black stallion watches Ellyse, searching her face as she listens to their son, enthralled by the way her expression softens whenever she's around the young colt.
When Smoak has finished his monologue ("I'd like to go back soon, Mom, but right now I'm STARVING."), Dahmer is quick to turn his gaze from Ellyse, lest she see him studying her, and instead rests it on Tephra in the background, where the sky has turned orange and small wisps of smoke curl from the caldera of their volcano.
