atticus was gone.

how he had wandered away from the dotage of his mate, lasher could not imagine — and all at once he recalled dumbly that the healer had taken on double tasks once more, tending the injured male as well as supporting dante as the gunmetal man took the reins of the plateau.

a sharp flare of resentment for both peregrine and fox knifed the delta as he raced with muzzle lowered around the last place he himself had seen atticus. however, taltos' feeling toward the ruby was quickly translating itself to hatred, and his lip curled with rare anger.

pausing near a copse of birches, lasher explored them for the former beta's scent, but found nothing. a moment's time found him dashing away again, desperation lacing his heartbeats.

lasher struggled almost daily with his feelings toward fox, and the idea that he would not win this battle within himself was terrifying to the earthen man. blue willow's chuff came as a welcome reprieve — taltos whirled toward her, surprised out of his reverie, but with a flag of his plume toward his friend, he crossed the clearing.

"willow," he murmured, pressing his cheek against the velveteen black of her own. he knew what sort of creature she was, and understood that she would viciously blame herself for what had occurred. she had lost much in the past weeks — her father, peregrine, and now atticus.

again the hatred flared, but lasher quelled it aptly. "this was not your fault." it would make little difference, his words, but he wanted to speak them all the same.

"you have done all you could. you lift our spirits, you heal us. you lead us. you loved atticus with all of your heart, blue willow; the strength of your faith that he would recover brought him back to us." he nudged her again, willing fervently that she understand and accept. "no one could have done more than you, my beloved friend."

closing his eyes, he lingered in the warmth of her embrace for a moment before drawing back. she would go on after this, after all she had suffered, and be stronger for it, but he still loathed the fact that she was in pain.

the pressure of her soft cheek against his shoulder comforted taltos' own pain; he passed his tongue over the uplifted side of her face. "love does heal; that is true, but i have come to believe that there are stronger sensations than love in our world." no one could ever know why atticus had gone, save for the man himself; blue willow surely knew this, but her belief in love now led her to the heart's-pain she felt now.

he shifted beneath her prone head to accept more of her weight, if it so pleased her, and nudged her muzzle with his own. lasher was a physical beast; the contact soothed him, and he believed fervently in its power. he could not remove her agonies, but the caresses, he hoped, would be theraputic for the willow.

"i will always be here for you," he said softly in answer to her thankfulness. the memory of his offer, now pulled back from where it had been relegated by atticus' return to the current world, danced in his mind. glancing toward the sky in silence, the earthen man mused over whether or not to mention it to her again — it would not be tactful in any other situation, for it would make him seem an opportunist — but he and the willow knew each other well enough now to where he thought she would not think such of him.

"i will always love peregrine, and my heart is too abundant with love toward others for me to embrace tradition, blue willow," he began quietly, turning his muzzle toward her closest ear, "but with ever fibre of my being i would strive to bring joy to your heart."

drawing back, he searched for the soft green of her eyes with his own, a tender expression crossing his features — in whatever capacity she needed, he would be alongside her. they were close companions, she his most beloved friend, but taltos was a servant, a comrade; if she decided she wished more intimate company, he would gladly lend it to her, for he had come to love her dearly, and the knowledge that her heart was broken hurt him as well.

he nodded to her clarification. "i will forever be your friend, regardless, but you deserve children, blue willow. and i would not leave you to rear them alone." while he himself had little desire to further his lineage, he was consumed by curiosity of what they would look like, cubs fathered by himself and nurtured by the healer.

taltos knew that the woman before him was careful, and would not make a hasty decision, nor did he wish for her to be cavalier over such. for the foreseeable future, he would be a part of the plateau, and thus a part of her life — there was room for a family there.

but for now, he lapsed into silence, having spoken his piece; he smiled wanly at her, encouragingly, though somehow there was trepidation within himself over her anticipated answer.

she surprised him; he blinked slowly as she spoke with finality, having reached a decision without the days of time the man had assumed she needed. to her gentle question he gave a silent nod; he laid alongside her, placing his muzzle across the black velvet of her shoulders.

her sigh provoked one of his own; the air blown forth from his nares ruffled the fur along her withers. he had lost peregrine, and blue willow had lost atticus. they would rebuild themselves in a union, though their hearts would not be entwined.

or perhaps one day they would — lasher was not a scryer. who could know the future? and so he remained quiet; he would lie beside the willow until she rose and went about her day.