Umbra Copse merrily we fall out of line

When he had promised to stay with her, she was grateful because she had needed him. She wanted him to be happy and, yet, still have him with her. Her answer to his request of her staying with him, however, was one that shouldn't have caught him by surprise. It did, just as everything else about Castel had - time and time again.

He held her gaze, afraid that if he looked away the world might turn upside down and gravity would pull them apart. She would return to the place where she had come from and he would find himself back beneath the willows as if nothing had changed. He might have suffocated then. His breath rattled from the smallest of gaps between his parted lips.

"Yes," he breathed. "Please."

The Lyall's eyes watered. He, too, could have uttered those three, simple words. The ones that were said so often by others and yet not enough. The ones that were only shared between two lovers. Lovers, that's what they were, weren't they? Once upon a time, he felt he could never compare to his father, see himself in a relationship that was like the one his parents had. They were gone now, though, and suddenly this bond he had with Castel, he felt, eclipsed it in its entirety. He understood it all too clearly why his mother had gone just moments after his father had. If Castel were to leave... no... he couldn't think of that. The grief surrounding his parents still lingered in the distance, but not as heavily as it had before. He would always miss them; and, both Elettra and Angier being gone meant that he had no one left. No one but his Castel, and he could not even begin to imagine the world without her.

His tail lifted from the snow behind him as he shakily stood up. As much as he wanted to play, he could not; all he wanted to do was cuddle up to his little love and remain there in the snow with his face hidden against the nape of her neck until he forgot about his wariness, his doubts, his fears. "Let's find a place then," he half-whimpered, his tone still hushed against the chilled winter air. "You lead, and I'll follow."

(Fade.)

we can say goodbye, just head home, but if we're going to be alone
Chimera is currently traveling with Niles and may hop into this IC thread!