now and then there's a light in the darkness;
feel around 'til you find where your heart went.
The bleak rays of sunlight begin to peek over the horizon and slice through the quiet, frozen clutches of dusk, as the frost covering the dried brush and soil glisten brightly beneath. The minuscule ice crystals shimmer and dance in the morning light, illuminating the ground with its wonder. It is only a matter of time until they begin to melt away under the hot scrutiny of the sun, leaving dew drops lingering on the thriving grasses and brush that cling on to what little semblance of life is left. The air is crisp, frigid - a gentle gust of wind caresses the hardened line of his chest as he rouses from the warm embrace of his own slumber, his bleary and tired eyes observing the bright, empty sky.
A small cloud of carbon dioxide lingers after each warm breath as his weary bones shift uncomfortably beneath the cartilage and muscle wound so tightly around them. A long sigh emerges from his aching lungs as a gentle shake of the hollowed bones of his wings loosens up the light layer of snow that had blanketed his dark, preened feathers over the course of a moonless night. His heart is heavy, and his mind is once again weighed down with the burden of unspoken words and unrequited amity. The image of one of his closest friends (Exist - the one his heart so often yearned for in his youth, of the one he aches for even now) swollen and gravid with child that is not his own is not easily tucked away within his memory, and the same familiar despondency settles within the barren hollow of his heart.
His lamenting is brought to a startling halt as movement catches his wandering eye, the ridge of his brow line furrowed for a moment as he attempts to unsettle the heavy haze still wound around his tired mind (he does not at all favor morning, even in its resplendence). The figure - four-legged and low to the ground – recedes into the thick line of dry, brittle oak and pine, vanishing into the shadows left untouched by daylight. Anxious to find a distraction and to bury the uneasiness in his chest, his long, slender limbs carry him into the thick of the forest as the parched bark scrapes against his golden skin, his hazel searching for the source of movement.
It is fleeting, weaving around dense thickets and tucking itself away within tight crevices, and his eyes struggle to see through the untouched darkness, his lungs breathless from maintaining the rapid pace in such icy, glacial temperatures. At last, there is a break within the woodland, and his bright, gold-flecked eyes are met with the sudden, uncomfortably glaring light of an open clearing. Grimacing and left momentarily blinded, a long moment passes unceremoniously as his eyes adjust, and a heavy wave of disappointment settles into his chest. It was gone; a shadow dissipating in the light of day.
With a soft grunt of disdain, he turns back towards the dense line of foliage when something catches his eye again – and now, his heart leaps, pitter-pattering as his hazel eyes take in the familiar sight of a feminine figure in brilliant emerald and dark sapphire, and a slight grin tugs at the corner of his dark mouth. Lingering by a rapidly moving river, flush with fresh, icy mountain water, she is a sight for sore eyes – and the light, airiness of his head is a decidedly pleasant distraction.
”Circinae,” he says, his voice rough and ragged with sleep, a carefree smile on his whiskered lips. ”so we meet again. I hope that I am not interrupting anything.”
@[Circinae] - either he saw a random animal and happened to run into her, or he saw Circy in wolf form (I'm not sure how much control she yet has over her shifting, but I wanted to get this post up - either way, he's oblivious. c: