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his trip had taken him across the cold stone surfaces of the mountains dividing the hinterlands from the rest of the teekon wilds, a trip wherein he slipped several times and slept fitfully in the shallow caves along its length. a coney was his only sustenance, but Casmir was more focused on crossing the peaks than he was motivated on feeding himself, and when at last the sun dawned on his final rocky step, the boy heaved a sigh of relief and slept deeply almost in his tracks.
when he came to, the Mayfair found breakfast for himself and headed onward, unsure of exactly where he would end up. the thick scent of wolves finally floated to him as he paused in an eerie landmark, and he gazed at the stone walls as he loped toward the clearly marked borders.
Casmir was stunned to find that he recognized several of the scents there, namely the fragrance of Mayfairs overlaid with Floki's reek. try as he might, and despite the fact that he had no reason to dislike the man, Casmir still retained a misgiving when it came to the Moonspear wolf. what interested him more was why his brother and sister were here, and the boy paced away from the border before giving voice to a howl that pleaded with Constantine to come see him.[/tr][/td][/table]
Never would he have dreamed that another would call to him from the borders -- his stay within the tall mountain had been entirely too short, and yet the crooning notes of a very familiar voice echoed across its landscapes, stirring a light frown to the Mayfair.
Casmir had all but openly said he never wwanted to see him again, so why was he now calling for him?
He considered a moment to ignore the call. As far as the twin was concerned, his brother had given the final verdict on their relationship and nothing stood to even be mended. His eyes held a flicker of annoyance that he maintained to square away as he began to lope toward the caller -- much against what he felt was his better judgement.
Casmir was courteous upon their borders -- and Constantine did nother hold himself with any authority as he coolly regarded the wolf that had become all but a stranger to him. He held a quip of his own within mind -- it would seem Casmir was no longer fated to avoid Donnelaith now that his brothers presence was no longer there, but he hadn't the energy to voice it.
Nearing his littermate, his eyebrows arched upward, waiting for whatever it was his brother felt the need to say. A sense of worry clung to him -- that Casmir perhaps held terrible news of Donnelaith and Deirdre. And yet a part of the youthful Mayfair doubted even now, after everything, that his twin would even bother to seek him out now.
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like he had with Aria, Casmir watched his twin brother come down into the odd landmark, and felt a glissade of apprehension as Constantine stood quietly waiting, aloof and cold. Cas supposed he'd been the cause of that, and swallowed his pride to approach his sibling with his tailtip flagging at his heels. "hi, Connie. Constantine," he hurriedly corrected, unsure of whether or not the nickname would be held against him, or even allowed.
"welcome to Casmir's Big Apology Tour," he joked lamely, but didn't smile as he said the words. "um. Rowan and her kids were the last tie i felt i had to dad. i wasn't even there when he died. and then ... well, i flipped out. again. i was a fucking dumbass. and if you don't forgive me, that's okay. i just wanted to say i'm sorry."
he wanted to turn and lope off until Constantine could no longer see him, but instead the boy squared his shoulders and added, "thank you for being there when i ... wasn't. for Em and Dee." no matter the reasons for his departure, it was true that his brother had taken on the mantle Casmir should have also donned.[/tr][/td][/table]
It was strange to watch his brother now -- the anger that had consumed Casmir before, and he had spouted out words that Constantine had warned to him he could not take back -- and yet now the Mayfair twin fell in to old habits, referring to him as his childhood nickname. He spoke nothing, his fiery eyes simply watching his brother as he tried to determine his own thoughts on the matter.
The apology came out fluently -- but it did little to soothe the swarthy Mayfair himself, and as Casmir finalized what he had come to say, Constantine found himself standing in a moment that would define their relationship -- and somehow the ball had ended up in his court.
It wasn't that he wasn't a forgiving wolf -- he had done his own acts of stupidity he wished he could take back, and one of them was Rowan -- at least to the extent that he wished they had taken more time to settle the matter, rather than act so swiftly. He still did not believe the girl anything more than a lying seductress, and he found himself uninterested in knowing her spawn.. even if what she said was true and Lasher was the father. But that was neither here, nor there. It was that Casmir had dismissed him completely for this girl who had practically been a stranger -- and now he wanted to pretend like their relationship hadn't been severed completely.
"I appreciate that." It was the best he could do -- his tone was stiff, and as he studied his twin, he realized just how different they had grown up to be. Casmir was chatty -- social and charismatic. He acted on his emotions swiftly, and fully.. Constantine was more reserved than his brother. And, as the situation now revealed before them, pigheaded as well. "Let's just drop it."
i'm trying to wrap up all Cas' threads before he leaves, and tbh he wouldn't stay around with Connie's response <33
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Constantine did not respond how Casmir had expected — but as the twins stood watching one another, the boy quickly became aware of the gulf that had grown between them. here he was, scarred, missing an ear, carrying so much fuckery around in his heart he couldn't set it down to be happy for five seconds. and then there was Connie, much more careful than he, but also devoted to something Casmir couldn't understand. he wasn't like Deirdre, committed to the redwood forest and their father's legacy — he wasn't like Emaleth, who had gone off to find her own way, or like Eilidh, who was quiet, veiled.
Casmir didn't know who Connie was at all.
"yeah," he muttered with a small, tight smile. there was nothing to talk about here. Connie's unyielding tone made it clear to his brother that things were done, at least for now, and there was no friendliness in him. Casmir didn't truly understand why — he was not an introspective boy — and decided to cut his losses. "i'll go now."
with that, he turned and trotted into the odd landmark, heading for whatever; he didn't know, just that he needed to get out from beneath the weight of Constantine's eyes, which were seemingly disapproving and devoid of any warmth Casmir felt his brother needed to have.[/tr][/td][/table]