He took her words to heart; his heart, which had been obliterated so cleanly by Maegi's sudden appearance, by her banishing of him. Titmouse did not linger long in that spot once she'd sped off. He wanted to go after her — chase her until the world was dust and they were lost among the stars together, but she had been right to cast him away. It was for his own safety. He didn't like it, but she was protecting him. So, the young man had thought quickly and composed a strategy for his own survival.
He raced along the chilly beach until he came to the familiar land bridge that led to Undersea, and without calling for aid or alerting anyone of his arrival (in case Maegi's follower, the Redhawk, were to hear him), he charged along the bridge until he came to the island's edge. It wasn't the best place for him to hide; the island might have been far removed from the mainland (especially so when the bridge was submerged) but it was small, with few places for him to hide. For now, Titmouse lingered on the beach and crawled haphazardly across the scattered rocks and shells, until he found himself situated beside a few large logs cast aside by the tide - some boulders too, anything that he could hunker beside while he awaited his inevitable discovery.
The events leading him here were few and far between, but he had not yet started to process them. As he sat in wait for discovery, things began to creep through his thin veil of composure. He was hunkered there upon the sand with boulders and discarded trees as cover, very unlike his first arrival to the island — but still a piece of detritus, a nagging piece of meat stuck between the teeth of the world. While he sat there, his mind began to play back the last time he'd seen Maegi — her panic, her heart breaking as she cast him away. It was for the greater good. It was to keep him safe, to keep them all safe. Redhawk would never stop until he was dead but — but his thoughts weren't about his own safety right now. He imagined Maegi's face. The contours of her cheek bones, the lively color of her eyes, the grin cleaved through her skin...
Titmouse gasped and a sob came out, but there wasn't time for him to feel the full piteous effect of the moment because there was a familiar face creeping closer. For now, he'd stash away his emotions and do his best to -- well, he wasn't sure. Explain why he was there, for one. But as soon as he looked at Seelie he felt his heart fill with a mess of new emotions, and let out another gasp for air like he was coming up from a deep dive in the middle of the sea.
He missed the way she said his name; it wasn't him anymore, but semantics weren't the problem. As she came closer he rose up and moved to intercept her, and when he was close enough - whether she wanted it or not - he buried his face against her salt-lined scruff and hugged her tightly in the body-twisting manner that wolves did to long lost family. See,
he sighed in to her fur, See, I... I nee' stay, can — can stay?
He pulled back from his embrace and blinked at her with that one good eye of his, and it glimmered in the winter light, layered with thick tears.
It was all he needed to hear — and he fell to pieces beside her, burrowed against the dark of her blue-black coat, holding her close and feeling her warmth. The boy was a mess again but he knew he had a place to hide, so at least now he could try and -- and -- Titmouse wasn't sure. He didn't know what to do without Maegi, and upon realizing he was directionless even here, broke out in more sobs. He had to get a handle on these emotions or else he'd have to explain things, and right now Titmouse didn't have it in him to rehash all the things that had gone wrong since his dispersal from the island. So he held Seelie close, he cried, and when he could breathe again he'd follow her to somewhere much more private so that he could rest a while.