Lie had been shortsighted, as he so often is. While not apt to care for teenage boys following his descent from the throne, he could have visited when his senses finally returned. Instead, a year passed, and the boys grew older and older.
Five now, actually—an age Draco is well aware of.
He does eventually decide to go to Pangea. The most biting part of the decision is how quick it was: Lie, freshly washed from a dip in a creek, decides he is feeling refreshed enough to face both the boys rumored to remain in their birthplace. In an instant, his shadows set him gently upon the dusty Pangean earth. He stands, peers down at the red and gold flecks as they settle on his pale fur. Hmpf, he sighs, suddenly remembering the pale red tint he carried as King of Pangea.
Such a trivial thing to think, before such a monumental reunion.
Lie gulps.
“Ghaul!” Draco calls in a spasm of excitement. He grins, trotting good-naturedly to meet his brother. It has been a while since the pair have gotten quality time together. Between Ghaul’s imprisonment in Nerine and then his taking of the Cove, he’s kept considerably busier than Draco. Sometimes the demon resents those responsibilities, but he forgets such loose anger when in Ghaul’s presence.
“She is perfect, Ghaul,” Draco gushes, incapable of keeping his stuttering heart out of his voice. “I’ve never been happier,” he says, and as the words tumble out like a waterfall, Draco fully realizes that. “Dove and I tell her stories about Uncle Ghaul and Aunt Clarissa all the time. You must see her,” Draco adds, lifting his head up as Midsommar and Dove might be within earshot.
And that’s when Draco spots him. Stepping hesitantly out of a shadow. Anxious face creased.
“Dad?”
Litotes snaps his head around at the startled, near-angry exclamation. Draco and Ghaul stand close together, both of them alert and staring.
“Draco? Ghaul?” he replies, because he doesn’t know what else to say. Because nothing he can say will put out the fire roiling in the boy’s eyes. Because sometimes, in moments like these, he hates himself so much it’s easier to make them hate him, too.
“Oh my god,” Lie finally exclaims, rushing to meet them.
