He didn’t go to Tephra this winter, nor its neighboring islands. Bolder cursed the cold, and then begrudgingly accepted it. He kept warm by committing himself to patrols, to move along the borders of Hyaline and keeping an eye for anything unusual (or what unusual might be to a pack of shifters). He keeps changing, shifting into something that can accept the cold better than he can.
But a winter spent as a bear leaves him in a sour mood. They aren’t supposed to stay awake this long. And yet, Bolder spent the entire of the cold months as a lumbering creature that longed for a nap and a cave. (There were respites to this, as Bolder occasionally took trips to Pangea, just to see how the new leader of that territory was faring.)
Despite being a grizzly (and being in a grizzly mood), Malik recognizes him.
The bear grins, something that might terrify another, but not his cousin.
Malik’s voice is bright with humor and it warms Bolder, who had been cold a moment before this. "You’ve been gone so long that I’ve near forgotten what you look like,” the larger creature teases the other one, "Let me get my bearings.” He teases Malik, and then with a shift of shadow and light, the copper beast becomes a horse.
Bolder appears rather pleased with himself, when Malik looks at him. There is a smug grin waiting for his cousin that transforms into something more genuine, a look reserved for those he cares for. "Please tell me you’ve been somewhere warm and tropical,” the striped stallion mutters to the brindled one and then shakes out the shivers settling between his bare shoulders.
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