Greatwater Lake i was just an only child of the universe, and then i found you

Her eyes flutter open to morning's pale gold, jaws stretching in a gentle yawn as she stirs to consciousness. She tilts her head back lazily, pressing into the thick fluff of @Aldric's chest, and the steady beat of his heart quickly drowns all other sound. She's still for a few moments, simply listening, lulled back to a state of half-consciousness before long. Her eyes close again, and her mind conjures something between a scene and a broader memory of her childhood:
Sunset on the beach of Minrathous, sky painted red and gold and every shade between, the dull hum of distant chatter at her back. Aldric's scent, his sudden presence at her side like a warm embrace; always following her like a lost puppy, like she was the only thing he ever saw. Her own youthful turmoil, churning relentlessly and often scalding those who dared get close, and the way his soft words had always soothed it so immediately. Words she can't remember now, but it hardly matters. She will never forget the way she'd felt then — the way she feels now.
She sighs, shifting back slightly to plant a gentle kiss at the dark patch on his throat. She preens carefully along his jaw, tracing his charcoal mask over his muzzle and ending with another kiss between his eyes. Have I ever told you how handsome you are? She murmurs sleepily, unconcerned with whether he hears her or not. I've always thought you look like a prince. Another kiss, this time against the silvery fur of his forehead. My prince.

this can be forwarded to present if you want. apologies for the delay. let me know if you need more btw!

Sleep eludes him until it does not, no matter how lazy in which Aldric appears, he is haunted—much like all persons, especially those from Minrathous, who’s disorderly chaos brought pain upon them all. The warmth and Nirali’s comfort have been luring him to slumber nonetheless, where he feels safe at first until it is only he trapped within the dreams he wishes he could forget.

He struggles against such chains, thrashing at the dark flames that lick at his legs, slowly consuming all that he is.

Gentle touches beckons for him, asking for his presence to return to reality away from the nightmares that plague him. His ears twitch, paws flicking alive a moment later, but alas, Aldric does not open his golden gaze just yet. He hears her voice akin to a distant echo. »Nirali?« In his dreams it is clear, in reality, it is a sleepy mumble.

“My prince.” He shudders. It has been long since he’s been called that. His parents often prided the title, and he, too, lingers on it as if it is all he has left to remember them by. He blinks his eyes open, breath held until a stammering exhale escapes him.

Stunned, he finds Nirali before him. Her soft, ethereal glow blessing him, as if she is an angel who’s pulled him from Hell.

<3

There is something troubled in the way her mate stirs, she decides, trusting that she knows him well enough to follow this instinct. She tucks herself closer as he murmurs her name, heart aching slightly when she feels him shudder against her. His turmoil is a certainty now, in her mind. A dream, perhaps... or her own doing. She starts to speak again, but decides against it, worried that her words are the source of his discomfort. Instead, she showers him with kisses as his eyes open, gentle but more insistent than before. Though her main purpose is to offer comfort, she seeks her own reassurance in the touch as well, hoping for some sign that she is not the reason for Aldric's distress.

Hazed from his slumber, Aldric does not realize his turmoil—not in the way Nirali does. Each kiss and snuggle a comfort that the ex-prince melts under. The tension gradually fading from his lanky frame. Eventually, he, too, joins in with the kisses, pressing them tenderly upon his mate where he can reach. Between the onslaught of affection, Aldric finds his words; »Are you alright?« He whispers—gruff tone barely loud enough to hear between the two of them.

Relief blooms slowly but brightly in her chest as she feels Aldric relax under her affections. A soft noise of surprise and pleasure slips from her when he starts to return her kisses, and warmth spreads over her. His words, however, give her pause. Her expression goes blank for a beat.
And then she laughs softly, more confused than anything as the question fully registers.Am I alright? She cocks an eyebrow as she pulls away, concern bleeding into her expression after a moment. Her tone turns serious with her next words. You seemed... troubled when I woke you.

Getting into this routine is something Aldric never thought he’d have the pleasure of; he melts, savoring each touch as if starved for it. The ex-prince longed for this, and the fact he is able to wake up and see her makes him feel nothing but bliss. Taunting nightmares tucked to the very corner of his mind. Yet, his mate is observant, realizing what he’s gone through and bringing it up without Aldric being completely aware. He shifts, lifting his head slowly. »Oh…« His volume just as quiet as before. »Must have been a dream.«

Her concern grows more apparent as she takes in Aldric's next words. She has never known her love to be faint of heart, and her heart aches further to think of the horrors that must have plagued him. Does that happen often? Her words are gentle, purposefully avoiding the content of the dream. Better to let Aldric decide on his own whether he wants to dredge up those details, she decides. Nothing can stop her concerned probing altogether, though.

He truly does not wish to worry her; he almost wishes to lie, say it hasn’t happened before when they haunt him more often than not. Aldric cannot, however, for even if he tried he knows Nirali would unravel the truth. He’s never been good at it, and she can read him like an open book. Slowly, he nods his head. »After… they banished you from Minrathous,« he says, swallowing down thickly as if the words itself pain him—the memory fresh, a wound bleeding from his heart. »They told me… that you guys left, out of your own free will.« Of course, Aldric never believed in such a thing, but doubts had clogged him regardless; creeping up and grasping hold of his hidden insecurities. His mind a weapon against himself; echoing over and over again in an eerie tone that he’d been abandoned once more. Eventually he’d learned the truth, but not before the doubt had already been rooted.

Hearing the pain in his voice is almost as difficult as grasping his words. They sink in slowly, settling heavily in her chest and coiling tightly in her stomach. She wants to comfort him, to reach out and tell him she would never leave him willingly - but stupidly, selfishly, the first thing that slips from her is: You doubted me, Quiet, almost too passive in its sorrow to be an accusation, yet it is. She swallows, suddenly overwhelmed with guilt.
I'm sorry, that was - I tried. Her voice breaks faintly on the last word, taking on a tinge of desperation, and she swallows again, face heating with shame. It takes her a moment to recover enough to speak again. When she does, though, her voice is more level. I tried to get back to the island to see you - it must have been half a dozen times, getting beaten back by the sea or caught and threatened by some brute. I kept trying until - She cuts herself abruptly, knowing this is not the time, and continues with barely a pause. They made sure I wouldn't come back. She blinks, irritated to find her eyes brimming with hot tears. I would never leave you willingly, Aldric, I swear.

Wielding a spear, it is stabbed within his heart; echoing a pain that has been covered numerous times to no avail. It is an accusation that he has no right to deny; in truth, he had, when time and time again he was given lies in place of truth. The ironhold his parents held upon him shackled him; a mistake that Aldric must live with for the rest of his days, yet he adventured and corrected his ways before too long. That is why he is now here.

Black rimmed ears swerve backwards, silence an answer, as she unravels her own side; of her trying, fighting against nature and the goons of Minrathous. Never once had Aldric blamed her; perhaps that is where he led the conversation astray, made Nirali feel as if she must justify herself in his eyes when he lays his bleeding heart before her.

»I know,« he says. »That is why I am here.« The doubt rests not in her words, but in his own worth. It saddens him that these thoughts plague him, seeping unwantedly. He sinks into the grave he dug.

She does not need Aldric to tell her that her words had hurt him to know it, but the reality of it doesn't quite sink in until he speaks. The realization twists her stomach painfully. Her own selfishness strikes her again, and her gaze drops, throat tightening with nausea. This isn't about me. But the reminder doesn't help.
I'm sorry, She buries her face in Aldric's fur abruptly, tears spilling from her as she embraces him. Their sudden, stinging presence only deepens her despair, and it overwhelms her for several moments. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. For leaving you, for being so selfish - for failing even now. She does not know what to say, how to help, though she desperately wishes for it. Even the strength she knows Aldric has always admired in her seems to be crumbling in the face of a wound far deeper than she'd realized.

To see one so strong crumble before him is difficult, but there is beauty; strength in admitting wrongs and weaknesses that Aldric wishes he could learn from. The silver prince tucks close to her, pressing his muzzle over-top her head as she buries into him.

»I do not blame you, and I never have,« he tries to keep his graveled voice steady in the wake of such intensity; emotions over-spilling. He is not the only one hurting, for it is obvious they both have resolved issues; of thinking no matter what they did, it was not good enough. »The decisions were out of our control.«

They were victims to the whims of others, older and supposedly wiser than the kids that were tossed outside—never truly understanding the meaning of their supposed mission to teaching when all it brought was pain and hatred. »I love you.« He says, not only to utter the feelings at his core that would not change, but to remind her—he loves every part of her.