[mature] then sang to the sea for feelings deep blue // bru pony

[Rhaegor]

He heard the girl's thoughts of sibling retribution before he processed the words she spoke aloud. A part of his brain registered her tone as one much more familiar than she but her thoughts dissuaded this assumption, followed by the raising of his gaze to take inventory of the filly. Blonde, splashed, antlered, winged. Though she lacked the telltale prints of her leopard-marked grandmother, Solace's blue streaked through her like a beacon. It matched the blue on Rhaegor's own haunches.

He brushed his consciousness against hers to reply but the scent and sound of another's approach distracted him before he could explain away his misfortunes his innocent niece before him.

Warden.

The stallion who so resembled his mother, Kagerus, alights next to the other two pegasi upon alabaster wings. Something about seeing the face of the uncle he grew up with as a cousin caused the hard, cold knot in Rhae's chest to loosen and warm. For a moment he felt like crying. But a heartbeat later he found himself supported, Warden at his side with firm and intimate gestures of trust and long-remembered companionship. Willing to express vulnerability for the first time in a long time, Rhae leaned his weight into his uncle's, grateful for his presence despite the shame he felt at having to be seen in this condition.

With an ease that Rhaegor knew deep down to be a facade, Warden turned to the yearling before them and spoke as though she were not there. Rhae smiles a little at the rhetorical question (it had to be rhetorical) and nods. We should, he murmured into the recesses of his uncle's mind, brown eyes sliding sideways to see Warden's reaction to his telepathy. Though they'd grown up together, taking turns vacationing in Tephra and Hyaline during their childhood years, enough time had passed that Den might not know about the latest of Rhae's abilities.

Somehow, Rhae found the strength to right his figure as Den spoke to the filly herself. The presence of family, both new and old, roused a piece of him that had slept so long he forgot it existed until now. Feeling a smile find its way to the pink of his lips, Rhae stepped towards the girl and offered his nose, blinking in a way that he could only hoped exuded trustworthiness. When he stepped back, he stepped into her mind with as much gentility as he could muster.

You must be Warlight's daughter. I am your uncle, Rhaegor -- and I am okay. He didn't know how to, couldn't, explain his condition to a yearling. He remembered meeting the girl while she slept just days after her birth, when Will had teleported him with her to see the girls one night. Laia, right? He thought, allowing the conversation into Warden's mind, too. It's a pleasure to meet you.

.

@[Laia]