[private] i've never fallen from quite this high; Ruthless

[Pteron]

finger trips across my cheek----------------
----------------kiss me until i can't speak

Pteron remains still, letting the girl calm herself while he peers out into the nearly-solid mist around them. It is no wonder they starteld each other, and he nods at her observation that the fog here is thicker than the Field.

“It’s constant, too” Pteron tells her. “It’ll sometimes burn off on warm enough summer days, and it’s a little less in the winter, but I’ve yet to see a day without fog at all.” Falling quiet, Pteorn listens to Ruthless’ answer. She’s found a friend, the girl says, and the stallion recognizes the name of Aten and Izora Lethia’s youngest child.

Why has he stayed, the girl asks, and for a moment Pteron is quiet. It’s a question he has asked himself a thousand times as he watches his wounds slowly knit themselves back together. He’d once told Aquaria that it was duty, and part of that is true. The responsibility is a weight he had not expected. Pteron was a good soldier – he follows orders, thinks on his feet but mostly does what he’s told. But to be the one making the plans? To give the orders?

He dislikes ruling far more than he’d anticipated. That Reia so loves it rankles him all the more; his beautiful wife is a creature born to command. Pteron is not, and yet still he stays.

“Because my daughter is not yet old enough to inherit the Taiga,” he finally answers. It’s not the truth, of course, but it sounds truthful. It is a heavy admission as well, and the smile that has previously brightened his expression has dimmed considerably. Just before it slips away entirely, Pteron thinks of happiness and speaks again.

“Where is your favorite place here?” He asks.
 

-- pteron --

@[Ruthless]