sorry - nothing but thieves
Something was off.
Something felt off.
Something Remi could not yet define, but could feel slowly gnawing at his belly.
He had felt it as soon as his eyes had futtered open and the last bits of somnolence had faded. The morning sun was bright, and though temperature would most likely rise over the course of the afternoon, it was pretty hot already. Not that Remi minded this, summer was in fact his favorite season, especially since it were days like this that he most enjoyed playing in the coastline of his old home.
Sun and sea were a perfect pair in Remi's mind, and to currently be bathed with the light and warmth of the sun made the creamy Ostrega feel a small void inside his stomach. Not hunger. Or at least not one that could be sated with something from the nearest cache. He liked the mountains he really did, but today especially, he felt odd while trotting over the slopes of the mountainside. He felt like a ghost, though it was only him who was being haunted.
Haunted by a pair of sea green eyes that looked at him, and then refused to wake from their 'sleep'.
"Rilke" he muttered, as he stopped his anxious pacing. He did not remember how long it had been since he had said her name aloud. He did not remember how long had it been since he had not felt a certain ache in his heart.
Bre stretched her legs out from underneath her body, toes splaying as she yawned. She had taken a day to relax and had woken sometime in the late morning. The yearling stood up and trotted around, marking territory here and there and continuing to lend herself to her pack, even on her lazy days.
She could feel his discomfort before she could see him, his words ringing clear and true through the air. "Rilke". He smelled like she did, of salt and sea and it gripped her gut with sadness but she held it back.
The girl made herself visible although she supposed he could probably scent her beforehand, and her seaglass blue-green gaze sought out his own. What troubles you so?
Her voice was tender and thoughtful, but she made sure she did not sound condescending, as it was the last thing she wanted.
With his eyes closed, and his head hanging low, Remi didn't even try to fight the memory that began to play again, like a broken record, inside his mind. The soft hum of the ocean, of the waves reaching the shore, seemed to drown every other sound. Remi didn't need the voices anyways ,he knew exactly what had been said then, the dialogues as well as the soundless images that now filled his mind would forever haunt him.
The ragged surface of a rock that he used to perch on.
The clear blue glimmers of the water and the pink reflection of something at the bottom.
The instant fascination that crept upon his sister's eyes.
A perfectly excecuted dive and a splash.
Then a strange warp in time.
"huh" he managed to blurt out as he opened his eyes and blinked quickly as if to snap out of the sudden trance. He sought the face of whoever had spoken, his heart half thanking the interruption for it had pulled him from his painful reverie but also half scared to death for he didn't expect or recognize the voice. Soon he found a pair of seagreen eyes. Beautiful seagreen eyes that made his sister's name climb upon his tongue once more.
But she wasn't Rilke, so with difficulty, he stopped himself.
"i was remembering something..." he barked, not even knowing how he had even managed to form a coherent sentence, "someone" he then corrected, his crystalline eyes blinking through the exhaustion that his sudden trip down memory lane had left him.
She wanted so badly to go to his side and comfort him, this stranger, because all of the wolves of the Vale were family to her. It did not help that he smelled like she did, of ocean and salt! But instead the yearling shifted her weight comfortably and settled down on the ground a safe distance from him — if he chose to come to her, so be it.
She watched the boy fumble with his words and gave him the time he needed to find them. There would be no rush here, such as there was no rush with grief — or whatever it was that panged the stranger. Sorry to interrupt.
His gaze caught hers and she allowed it briefly before giving him privacy from her searching gaze as he barked at her. You seem tired.
His words had been forceful, almost fearful, and concern welled up in her again. You should rest. These thoughs, these memories, they take a lot out of you. I can bring food, if you would like.
She did not know the details of his memories or even that it was grief, but it was a memory and it was obviously painful from his pacing, his stance, his words. And lately, she'd experienced a few of them herself.
Unless you would prefer privacy,
though she wasn't sure she was comfortable leaving him all alone.
He could feel her eyes, her seagreen eyes on him, but he did not try to lift his gaze to meet them, not now. He couldn't. A soft apology came from her lips and Remi felt a new wave of embarrasment flood him. He was convinced he looked as what he felt like: a mess. "don't worry" he managed to bark, a pretty ironic reply seeing it was obviously him who was distressed, and his state was probably something worrisome.
She continued to speak, voicing a concern for him that was so unexpected (given she was after all a stranger) that it made Remi lift his chin and seek to face the familiarity of her eyes. She did not only sport the same eyes, she had the same kindness. "No, don't go" he blurted after she offered if not food, solitude to recover. He did not want to be left alone, not now.
"i mean..." he stammered, feeling fresh embarassment at his reaction. Now he didn't only look like a mess but a clingy mess. Great. Remi had never been good with the whole 'expressing emotions thing'. He didn't know how to so he pretended he didn't need to. Plus getting into trouble had worked at keeping him too busy. But frustrations were piling up and his latest stunts weren't covering it. He needed to let it out before it innevitably got out, because it would.
"i was thinking about my sister" he confessed finally, the knot in his throat loosening a bit but still making it hard to swallow. "i've been seeing things, little details, that remind me of her everywhere" he sighed, a soft whine escaping him as he, again embarrased, lowered his head and averted her gaze.
He felt vulnerable.
Miserable.
And surely he looked so to.