Snowforest Taiga wind shear

it would be easy to give in. to use this girl to alleviate the pain, to fashion her into the images that haunted his mind. to imagine her sleeker, and scented with salt. there was a part of him that found her incredibly enticing, but an even larger part still hung up on wheeling gull isle. even after all this time, and after all of the changes. he couldn't stop.

aditya leaned forward and pressed his muzzle against her cheek, lingering against the soft, warm fur there for a few moments. when he pulled away, there were broken things in his eyes.

"there's something i have to do," he whispered, feeling like an absolute wreck. he shook his head. "i can't talk about this right now--i can't do this right now. not yet. not until i know." he was rambling absolute nonsense at her, words that only made sense in his head. adi rose to his feet, legs trembling, his body clumsy with fear and with desire barely checked.

"i can't--i'm sorry--"

and he crashed away into the brush, tail all but tucked between his legs.