Misery loves company, and they must be two of the most miserable creatures in existence to have found one another. Does he care though? No, because she is beautiful to look at - like a raincloud at dusk, and for some reason that he tries not to look too closely at, he just can’t seem to take his eyes off her.
In his heart, he feels just the slightest pinprick of betrayal but when had Caw ever actually said she loved him? She might have but it was easily said, perhaps too easily and he’d never looked at someone else before her or after her. Until now and that factors heavily in how he stands there, almost posed for flight but knowing that deep down, he wasn’t actually going to run.
Gun stayed put, frozen to the spot and mesmerized because she was a little thing and to be that sad? It broke his heart and all he wanted to do was comb the tangles out of her hair with his teeth but they added to her allure, to that wild sad untouchability she seemed to possess. Being a wild thing himself, he had an inkling of what it might be like to touch her: explosive, reactionary, and probably not at all in his favor.
Little mouse, that’s what she reminded of him. Timid and small, scampering for cover beneath the shadows or those pretty wings of hers. He never seemed to quite fall for anyone that was just as normal as he was. Gun always seemed to reach for what he couldn’t and shouldn’t have - dragons and angels. That thought alone almost made him sigh but he bit it back, not wanting to have to explain that part of himself to her quite yet.
He didn’t mind the long silence that stretched between them or her late reply. Gun appreciates silences, awkward or profound, and finds them telling enough about who he shares his company with. Her shame is not noticeable to him but her awkwardness and discomfort, of which he doesn’t realize he is the cause of. Had he known, he’d have taken his leave of her just enough to see her maybe relax and let loose those feathers from the tight tuck against her body.
“No need,” and there really wasn’t any need for her apology. She had done nothing wrong, committed no faux pas that he was aware of but then, he also lacked enough social graces that left him constantly wondering why he’d even come back. Not for the one he thought he loved and not for his own daughter whom he loved above all else, even life itself.
The correction between was to is left him curious though. Curious enough to surmise that the girl must have finally reached an age suitable enough to be cast out from her mother’s side, only mom didn’t look too happy about that. He tried to smooth it over either a whiskey-flavored chuckle, “No ma’am, similar but not the same. I’m just a regular old appaloosa with some spots. You roans sure are pretty though and I’ll bet she’s as lovely as you are.”
Yes, he dared to slip a compliment in there and could only imagine that the daughter was a slip of cloud-speckled sunshine just as her mother was cloud-speckled dusk. He started to envision just how pretty a pair they’d make standing up on a ridge with a sunset in front of them and it sure made pretty picture in his head. Until he realized he had initiated this new silence and found himself looking at her bright appreciative eyes.
“Do you call these parts home?” ah, he’s a touch awkward too and not all that good at conversations.
@[Brine] ❤️