[private] Face to the Sun [Warrick]

[Warrick]

like the sun swallowed up by the earth

A rattling sigh leaves him, one that is nearly a shudder as it shakes through him, the velveteen feathers at his sides shuffling against her pale and honey-gold strewn body as well as the auburn of his own. The wings settle against his flank and withers, broad and strong and beautifully blue in the quiet darkness of the underground, and he wishes his mind would settle too. How is it that they have found themselves here again, each goodbye becoming more painful than the last, more daunting and nearly unfair in its departure. Maybe he must always find himself here, stuck between a place where he is needed and a place where he wish he could be. Perhaps Tang feels it too (a bit differently, but felt all the same). Maybe she also feels like she is stretched thin, like butter over too much bread, pulled in so many directions that it is impossible to see which one is the true course, the true path.

With a silent understanding that they have always had in the years they have known each other, Warrick understands that even though her wild heart calls her elsewhere, that reluctance fills every curve of her body and every bone that holds her steady. The fact that she has stayed this long is perhaps too much to have even been asked of her, but she had done it – dutifully and wonderfully. But it is not the children which hold her back – children are meant to leave their mothers and fathers, to venture out into the unknown and maybe never return. It is him that causes her to hesitate, and deep down he knows this.

The bay stallion swallows hard the breath he hadn’t known he had been holding in his throat, her soft voice reverberating off the stony walls that surround them. He closes his eyes in almost a wince.

It is not him I go to…”

Her voice trails off and a pang of guilt threads through him, his navy lips pressing together tightly as his jawline clenches. Of course it’s not Amet; how could he even ask her that?

“Maybe this will be the last time.”

“Tang.” He says surely, almost interrupting her as he does so. He is selfish; she is not his possession and though he has never seen her as that, he suddenly feels as if he has demeaned her, playing her off as a simple object that is here for his happiness alone. She has done more for him than could ever dreamed of receiving from anyone, and his simple question has only added to the pain she feels. The shame is a bitter taste in his mouth, sour with guilt.  “The timing is impeccable. Take Svedka with you, he could use the change in scenery.” A hint of a smile is on his voice, but it does not reach his eyes. “So could you,” he murmurs honestly, his eyes finally opening and turning to gaze at her. “Solace will flourish here, under my care.”

He presses his cobalt lips against the whiteness of her slender neck, inhaling deeply and savoring every detail of her. “Go,” he breathes into her skin, his voice calm and sweet and encouraging, “I will be here when you return.” A kiss alights on her flesh before he pulls away, stark blue eyes glazed with a certain sadness. “For we never break our promises.” A gentle reminder for them both; he will always be here and she will always return.

A pause grows, and then a whisper.

“I miss you already…”

Warrick

@[Tang]