Golden Glade What now?

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Hearing his brother giggle in response to the bad word Astik spoke (despite how often his mother says it to him all the time) made the potential trouble he could get into for saying it worth it — though the shadowed Larksong wasn’t sure how much attention their sitter was paying to them. As it was, Astik had done a good job of blocking his presence out (oops), focusing on his pallid brother because Tapat was his only true concern. There is a flutter of Astik’s breath when Tapat admitted that he was glad that he (astik) was his brother. It catches in his throat for a moment, a lump of emotion briefly constricting his windpipe as a warmth spreads through his chest that broadened as he grows. For a moment, Astik’s amber eyes glimpse down at his paws before he looks upon Tapat’s face offering a wide grin. “I’m glad you’re my brother too, Tapat.” He couldn’t imagine being anyone else’s big brother (and though he wasn’t a big brother to them he did have other siblings but he didn’t really acknowledge them in the same terms). Laurel had tried to kill Tapat and whatever affection Astik could have grown to have for his older sister had been snuffed out before it could be given oxygen to breathe and live. Tapat might forget over time but Astik wouldn’t and it would always be a chasm between them — a crime he could and would never forgive despite that she had not been successful. He leaned against his brother and made to offer him an affectionate nudge to his shoulder.

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