Even if he weren’t able to sense the emotions in others, Djinni would negate the need to.
She illuminates at his admission, her skin sunshine-yellow like her mane and tail already are. It’s fascinating to watch the change come over her, made all the more so because it is her and no one else. She shimmers under the midday sun, so bright he nearly has to avert his gaze, and it reminds him suddenly of the desert. The warm, snaking tendrils of her happiness make their way under his skin, reaching ever closer to his heart. That he’d caused this change in her makes him wonder more than anything. That he’d made the smile on her face fills all those little holes in his heart with buttery light. Walter suddenly forgets that he’d tried for years and years to make the others respond like this. He no longer cares about those failures (failures that had kept him up at all hours of the night, wracking his brain for reasons why) because this is the only success that matters.
Why hadn’t he followed her all that time ago?
A dark, needle-thought pierces him then. Because you are your mother’s son: a coward, a leaver. He closes his eyes even as Djinni places a kiss on his cheek. It’s not true, he tells himself, trying to shake the thought. But at the same time, he doesn’t lean into the grullo mare’s touch – not again. Walter pulls back all the way until they are facing each other once more. He’s not a leaver, (I’m not) but he will not hold her back, either. He cares about her too much.
And while he wants to follow her this time, (his wings even stir unconsciously as if readying for takeoff) he thinks he will not, should not. She needs her adventures and stories; she needs to see the world and dive in feet-first without his weight tying her down. The yellow stallion looks away from the yellow mare when she says she’s thought about the Chamber. He can’t imagine losing her so soon after only finding her once more. He sees her in the inky, piney confines of the achingly familiar kingdom, pictures himself alongside her, pointing out the places of his childhood. It’s such a silly thought, really, but he knows it will keep him awake at night for a long while.
“The Chamber…” he starts, trailing off as he turns back to Djinni. He looks pointedly at the too-bright yellow of her skin, figuring she realizes how out of place it will be there. He forces himself to adopt a lighter tone when he speaks next, hoping she doesn’t think he disapproves. “Might want to change it up before you go.” His smile is small but there; he misses her already. “I visited the Deserts years ago, looking for you.” Walter blinks, hurriedly adding, “and your parents.” The spot where her dusky lips met his face still tingles. “I don’t think I’m ready for a kingdom just yet. I thought maybe I’d start a herd here. More of a band, really. Nothing in the traditional sense.” Nothing about him is, anyway. More to the point, he doesn't want her to get the wrong impression. "What do you think I should do?"
Walter
come down from the mountain
you have been gone too long