The shadows retreat with a swiftness that would have startled him had he been awake. But it isn’t until they brush past him that he stirs, brown eyes blinking open in confusion. For a minute he doesn’t quite remember where he is. Which, to be honest, isn’t really anything new. He frequently fell asleep in strange places and woke up confused.
He stares at her blankly as she leaps instantly into protectiveness, features becoming vaguely feline before she recognizes him. It’s his name on her lips that truly jerks him awake however.
Straightening from the tree abruptly, an almost sheepish grin begins to steal over his lips in the moments before he glances past her to find the two small forms antagonizing one another. The colt had stepped forward to gum toothlessly at his sister. She had responded in kind, little ears flattening as she gummed him right back. For a breathless heartbeat, Cassian can only stare uncomprehendingly.
They are both perfect, the colt with the twin circlets crowning his head as flames curl across his cheek and the filly with shadows wreathing her ears. Heart climbing slowly up his throat, Cassian glances uncertainly between the twins and Beryl until her name finally manages to escape his lips on a question. “Beryl?”
He’s hard pressed to know exactly how to react in the moment. Excitement wars with the knowledge he should probably exercise at least some caution. He looks at Beryl again. “Are they…?” He doesn’t quite manage to finish it before shifting forward to press an ill-thought-out but gentle kiss to the hollow just below Beryl’s cheek. Then he glances at the twins again, delight visible in every line of his dark frame, before returning his gaze to their golden mother to ask, “Can I?”
@[Beryl]