[private] trying to find a better way

[aureus]

Aureus

oh, these wings, they flicker and my feathers stir
'til I'm an ancient soul in a cascade world

She is lighter than he had first thought when they had met—kinder, in some ways. She had looked so otherworldly that he had assumed her as nearly cruel. As uncaring, unfeeling, to those around her. But she had shown him friendship when he had assumed there was none to be had—shown him that perhaps he does not have to break the things that tie him to others, that he can be trusted with connection.

And for that reprieve, he is grateful.

He does not worry that he will break her.

“I have not always been known for my inclination toward fun,” he says with a smile—something that nearly becomes a grin—and he drops his head a little, forelock falling over his purple eyes in a bashful sweep. When he glances back up, the smile has not yet fully faded from his face and he studies her, trying to memorize the curve of her long ears and the slant of her eyes. The way she looks so very different.

He laughs, a little breathless, “But I think maybe I could try.”

A roll of his shoulders as Astrum comes back to rest against him, bouncing lightly along his spine so that he can feel just the flicker of silvery warmth she emits. “Maybe we can avoid the world again sometime,” he says it cautiously, unsure of where he is going with it, but willing to at least attempt it.

Another hint of a smile around his mouth.

“If I can find you, that is.”

and I'm quick with the bullet when it comes undone
I got a head like a turret with a mouth for a gun

@[Anuya]