King Elk Forest i will paint you in silver; i will wrap you in cold

@Mona <3 backdated to 2/12
sorrythissucks

He regarded his distance as a shield. Burke's death had shaken him more than he wanted to admit-- more than was reasonable, he thought. It had been expected, of course. His father was old, and in bad shape even when he found him.
For some reason, Nathaniel still found himself here. Almost two weeks later, he had not spoken of it much; nothing of his feelings, especially not to his firebird. In fact, he hadn't mentioned a thing about his father's death to her. He couldn't bring himself to approach the topic with her-- there wasn't much to say, he thought, and why make the girl sad? More than anything his stomach churned uncomfortably at the idea of seeing her upset. Nope, he decided, definitely not going there.
A moment later the ex-soldier chided himself for losing his train of thought. He sat at his father's grave now with a purpose, and he intended to see it done. Nathaniel wouldn't necessarily have believed it even if someone had mentioned to him that it was ridiculously unrealistic to expect what he did of this. What he expected, exactly, was that he would get over his grief, somehow, by staring at the ground where he knew his father rested. Not the most solid plan, or the most realistic goal, but "rationality" and "emotions" aren't typically found in the same sentence when Nathaniel is involved.
He studied the grave intently, flicking one ear as if contemplating the soil concealing Burke's body. Yeah, this was going somewhere.