she's, thankfully, not too hard to find. the walk has tired him; he smiles wanly, arranging himself to lean against the earth with as much steadiness as he can manage. "oh, you know," delight says, "i think i have a cold. but i wanted to, umcatch up, if you want to." tactfully (for now) he leaves out all the other things going on, figuring that in the course of their friendship he has done more than his fair share of venting between them. besides talking a lot? bad plan right now. he wants to listen.
"i'm glad you're here," he says, proceeding to talk a lot anyway, "sorry about the.. cats. um. but -- but it's good to see you, what happened with sunspire?"
a famine among other horrors -- the androgyne drops his head, offering a sympathetic whine as he nudges against her cheek. what she says about their ranks -- the implications, that is -- do not match how he thinks of rannoch. it makes him want to pry; seabreeze does not need that from him right now. instead he puts it aside, deciding he doesn't have enough information to feel any which way about it (ha! as if), and says, "well, you're here now and so are they. i'm sorry to hear about olive's child and about ibis' attack, too."
he doesn't know what he'd do if one of his were attacked by even one of their tiny smelly cat friends. they've been through enough trauma. briefly he tries to recall which one of the children is ibis -- small and white? -- she seemed none too worse for the wear, beyond the difficulties in relocating. still.. it is a dread thought.
"queenie left," he admits, shrugging as if to play it off, "a little while ago. if the kids seem especially.. hostile, i suspect that's why. at least partially." or they took after their parents' proclivities for selfishness, but that's neither here nor there. "we'll all adapt, i'm sure," he adds with a soft smile that turns into a cough, "we'll stick together from now on." we of course turns to him and seabreeze -- and he peers at her anxiously, hoping she agrees, hoping he hasn't overstepped. but now that seabreeze has come back into his life, he does not want to give her up, not now, after everything.
warmth floods him as she speaks, echoing his own thoughts. "i hope so," the androgyne answers vaguely, either pleased with seabreeze's offer (they could use a more nurturing prescence -- god knows neither he nor queenie are equipped for that) or afraid of the endless open of the future. who knows what will happen tomorrow? so many have died or left under him.
it is different than him promising. he can trust his own promises.
still: "thank you for coming back to me," delight whispers sheepishly, moving to wind himself around her if she will allow it. maybe in a different world he'd be -- what, straight? normal? -- whatever feelings these are, he does not want to deal with them right now. seabreeze is his friend and she is here and that is enough. that will be enough.