06-16-2020, 07:28 AM
----------------tell me: who do i run to?
Pteron’s gaze follows the pair of lanky foals until they disappear into the trees, and when he turns back it is with a fond smile. Aureus and Asena looked much the same as they had the last time he had seen them, something that he cannot say the same of when it comes to Halcyon or Elio. The months of his search for Aegean had passed without his being truly aware of them, the single-minded focus distracting him from all else. As he meets Aegean’s gaze, feels the warmth in his chest as the smile is returned, Pteron knows he does not regret that choice. He would have searched the Beyond if he’d not been able to find the antlered stallion in Beqanna, the difficulty of the task not even a concern.
Aegean speaks of following him and Pteron hums happily, pressing another kiss to the plane of his cheek. In this way Aegean is unlike the moon, he thinks. Or perhaps the tide of Pteron’s desires are strong enough to exert a force even on celestial bodies, though the grandiose folly of that brings a brightness to his olive eyes as he nods in response to the other stallion’s question.
“I am,” he continues, “It’s been nearly four years since I was last there.” Pteron had counted the seasons on the flight back to Tephra from the forest. It seems strange that so much time had passed, and yet the memory of Halcyon – a young tiger instead of a cub – was indisputable proof of that. The image of the striped creature is accompanied by the memory of what the other had said: that he has a younger brother born the spring after Pteron’s last visit.
The pegasus had been careful – they both had been – every time except the very last.
Some part of him had wondered why Aquaria had never searched for him the way that he has searched for Aegean, and now he is certain he knows why that is. She is likely furious with him, and he cannot even blame her. Pteron means to atone for his wrongs to Aegean, and he knows that a return to Ischia will surely mean doing the same. Yet Halcyon and the idea of a child, even one that he has never known, emboldens him enough to face the consequences of his actions. Let Aquaria met out whatever anger she has; Pteron is willing to face it for Halcyon and the chance to know Cormorant, who Pteron is nearly convinced must be his son
He glances away, just the once, to be sure that the children are long out of earshot, and continues. “Halcyon also mentioned a younger brother, born the spring after my last visit.” He lets that hang there, the implication clear as he searches Aegean’s face for a reaction to this news of a potential sibling of their children, one that Pteron had clearly not known of. “It will be nice,” he says hesitantly, thinking of the many ways in which Aquaria might react, “if we already have family there, don’t you think?”
@[aegean]
-- pteron --