Moonspear everywhere i go, i feel you there

it had only been a few hours since arcturus' discovery that his eyes were changing, yet it did not stop him from obsessively and worriedly peering at his glassy reflection every few minutes or so. arcturus still could not reconcile the alien color with his inner picture of him and who he was. he could not reconcile how that smear of in-volatile yellow constantly stared back at him.

hydra had made him feel better, but he hated it. he didn't want his eyes to change, and paranoid, started fretting other things would change about him too.

what if his sleek black coat turned to grey like revui's? or his ears lost their crisp upright stature? what if his eyes changed again, or remained this way - mostly blue with a vile streak of unwanted yellow through them? and what if his mom didn't like it, or his dad, and siblings?

with a small growl he smacked the surface of the pool with a paw, and frustrated, plunged up and down into the muddy depths. little growls sounded from his stressed throat and he circled relentlessly in the mud, attacking it with a fervor as if it had done him this colossal wrongness -- as if the source of his unhappiness sprung up from this now murky and splattered puddle that didn't deserve to be there anymore.

Despite how well the first interaction had gone, Gannet still couldn't shake his unease in intruding on the family and young children. He wanted to, and often loitered. But he did not approach as often as he wished, his newfound fascination with the pups warring with his omega's instinct of keeping out of the way.

When he heard the growls and the splashing, however, he was summoned. His dreams and fright before meant his heart leapt into his throat.... but he burst forth to find one of them attacking a puddle, not in distress. Immediately his posture relaxed, and he dropped some, his head tilting in confusion. Was it a game?

arcturus cast his rage into every blow; he beat the puddle with profound force, clawing and snapping at it until it resembled a puddle no longer, but a pit. his fur was splattered, his energy spent -- and after giving the puddle a small growl (as if to say that's right, you run away) arcturus rose from the indentation his angered grief had caused, and moved towards dry land dripping mud as he went.

his fractured gaze, sullen and grief-stricken, focused on gannet -- who had, at some point, arrived in the proximity without arcturus' detection. entirely encased in mud and in no mood to play, arcturus simply glumly slumped in front of the pale omega, not even his tail moving.

The more Gannet watched, the less it seemed the boy was having fun. But what he was doing looked like fun... and this didn't make sense. Why was he upset?

He slumped finally, thoroughly defeated, and Gannet thought only a moment before stepping forward, his stance friendly and open. With a hop he chose a puddle of his own and splashed down with two forefeet, sending a spray of mud across his forelegs and chest. A light grin leapt to his face as he did so, and his tail waved high behind. Perhaps he could entice the boy into a more fun version of what he had been doing.... it was worth a try at least!

there seemed little spirit left in the boy, who watched gannet with a baleful type of expression. an expression of hopelessness, out of place and distressing to see on the cherubic countenance of a babe. all the same, arcturus' first tragedy had struck -- having never experienced such gravid disappointment, he lacked the perspective to understand this simply was not world ending.

but it was world-ending, in his eyes -- no pun intended. as he watched gannet try to make sense of his dejected deportment, he only seemed to sink deeper into the mud. not even the obscene splatter of dark mud against the omega's pale coat elicited a smile from arcturus, who meted out a long-suffering sigh and simply closed his eyes in response to gannet's attempts to cheer him.

Gannet was perplexed. Why didn't he want to play? Now mud-spattered, Gannet stepped towards the pup and reached out his nose with a whine, dropping down to a crouch. Was he sick?

He reached out a paw and gently attempted to prod, ears pushed forward with curiosity.

arcturus remained despondent, his eyes fluttered shut and the fractured yellow of them momentarily hid from the world. he did not want gannet to see the stain that blemished his deep blue -- nor did he wish to relive the heartbreak of finding his most possessing, unifying feature stolen from him. muttering something into his muddied paws, the little black cub let loose a body-heaving sigh.

he knew gannet was attempting, at the very least, to distract him -- but he could not be distracted from the flaw that threatened to destroy the most entrenched symbol of his identity. reluctantly the boy opened his eyes, this time heaving another sigh in gannet's direction.

Something was definitely wrong. The white wolf hunkered down now, his ears flattening sideways with confusion as he stared worriedly at the pup from more his level. "What's wrong?" He finally asked, hoping maybe Arcturus would tell him and he could fix it. Then they could play and he wouldn't be sick or sad or whatever he was right now!

Well, maybe not fix it if he was sick. Gannet was no healer. But he could get help at least!

the boy stirred just enough to glance at gannet, who had done everything thus far to entice arcturus from his melancholy mood. he would not be budged; with a heavy sigh the boy rose and muttered a quiet "bloo," before he crawled towards moonspear's omega. his posture defeated, his eyes downcast, the dark ostrega sought to press his head into gannet's body and if allowed, would hug him tightly as he wrestled with his newfound identity.

Gannet had no idea what 'blue' referred to, but he gladly took Arcturus' reaching out and responded in kind, lying down and curling some to allow the pup a better cuddle spot.

He'd listen if Arcturus chose to say more, but Gannet remembered that this had been his favorite too when he was young and upset. He didn't want to talk... just wanted a hug.

i love gahnay! i'll have arcturus fall asleep here, feel free to PP however to conclude. we can have a new one??

the feeble child's advances were left uncontested; feeling no resistance, arcturus buried himself deep within the thick scruff of gannet's neck, comforted by both the familiarity and the warmth. his vocabulary was too limited for him to express his disconsolate emotions, and even if he had mastered a workable lexicon, he was too distraught to be comprehensible.

it didn't take long for him to be lulled into a sense of security, and from there, the dark child's chest rose up and down slowly, and eventually, soft snores and snuffs were heard from within the crook of gannet's arms.

sounds good!!!!!

As Arcturus fell asleep, Gannet watched him a moment, then lay his own head down. A deep fondness settled in him for the pup, and he snuggled a bit closer before closing his eyes and also settling in for a nap. Seemed like a good idea, honestly... the day was warm and the company was good.