like rising from a thousand year long slumber, delight emerges, and finds himself surrounded by kind company. he has been nothing and nowhere, resigned to drifting dreamlessly through the months, letting heat give way to snow without notice. it is easier to hide down in his corner and shoulder shame without confronting anything than to deal with.. any of it. with alarian's abrupt departure and queenie's crashing through him and solomon's disappearance, delight thinks its a wonder there's any of him left at all.

well. he's rebuilt before. he can rebuild again.

there is a pack around him and there are two children of his that probably wonder why their parent is so removed from them -- so he goes to collect @Brilliance and @Mali, no real plan in mind besides 'be available as company to them.'

he finds brilliance first, his gaze lingering on her visible ribs with concern -- there's no reason, as far as he knows, for her to be underfed; the pack is doing well despite him. "brillo," delight calls softly, afraid, maybe, to upset her with his presence, to damage her any more than he already has. after a moment he swallows that fear and moves closer, reaching out to gently press against the crown of her head, if she'll allow, adding, "do you want to take a walk with me and talk? maybe we can find your brother, too?" 

it's a start.

brilliance probably knows @Mali better than he does at this point. in a selfish weird way he's glad they have each other at least, because lord knows he's not been much to either of them. they've struggled to adapt to all the change he's subjected them to and he doesn't feel like its his place to force them to accept his friends or to get them to behave a certain way. even if it'd make things easier for him. delight follows her easily, trying not to give in to the urge to make himself as small and sad as possible. brilliance is a child, she doesn't need to manage her father's guilt on top of it all.

"listen, brill," he starts as they walk, "i want to apologise -- to you and to mali, when we find him. um," he breathes, "how are you? how have you been?" are you eating, he nearly asks but stops, worried that's too tactless of a question.

she asks for what, surprising him a little. maybe she's just being nice? delight never really got a handle on how to communicate with kids, his or otherwise, considering he spent a large part of their childhood sick and/or absent. well, it's pointless to start lying to them now. 

"i wasn't a very good -- parent," he admits, his ears laying back as she says she misses solomon. gingerly he reaches down to nudge her shoulder. "i miss solomon too," delight says. "i shouldn't have let you two go -- or made you feel like you needed to get away in the first place." he's sure they will come to resent him if they don't resent him already; he doesn't blame them.

brilliance is quiet and delight holds his breath, waiting for -- something: condemnation, forgiveness, maybe just acceptance. instead she bursts into sobs and his heart shatters. instinctively delight swoops close, pulling her into his weak embrace, his voice shaking when he speaks. "i know," he says, "you didn't -- it's not your fault, brilliance, i promise." how long has she felt like that? it makes sense, he supposes (and she is his daughter after all) -- foolish of him to not think to comfort her sooner. weak and pathetic. not what she needs right now, so -- he swallows those thoughts back down and holds her, hoping she will believe him.