Snowforest Taiga wind shear

"bearable," he repeated, snorting a quiet burst of laughter. he was just about to rib her for it when her face grew sincere, and her words, too. ah. frozen in this moment, he stared at her, blinking slowly. a fine shiver ran over his skin, his pelt, and the hairs rose slightly. he closed his eyes for a beat and opened them again--

and saw coelacanth, her cerulean orbs before him, her ebony coat gleaming in the early autumn sunlight.

chikni raat.

aditya swallowed and blinked rapidly, several times in succession, and alya was there once more. all at once, he felt incredibly awful, and he ducked his head, unable to rein back the frown that touched his lips. he chuckled awkwardly, ruefully, barely a breath. ears twitching, the corners of his mouth trembling.

why must it always be her? why must he always see her?

"thank you," adi said briefly, managing the barest of smiles. "but you--" he was going to argue a counterpoint on how she was wrong, how he was not as good as he seemed. his love for seelie, his affair with alarian, his inability to keep this pack together. . .she was wrong. but how could he say that now, after she had spoken her truth?

"thank you, alya. i think it goes without saying that i feel the same about you."

and he did, really. but how much of his words were actually for the woman here, and not for the seawolf that danced in all of his dreams?