Coconut Grove deta woh tumko bataa--

دیکحا

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the trees were unlike anything he had seen in the north, their verdant, feather-like brows casting shadows on the already darkened ground. the clouds had swept in, and icy rain began to fall. rehan had been stuck on the salt flats when the first droplets hit his muzzle and had ran swiftly to shelter.

despite a lifetime spent in the mountains, his coywolf lineage did not take well to freezing precipitation. his fur was light and coarse, not downy, and there was not much of an undercoat to speak of. rehan huddled under one of the unfamiliar trees and shivered, looking forlornly into the rain.

the rain.

when he had first met zooni, it had rained and rained. it reminded him of the days where she was blissfully ignorant of his past, of his family. but it had been warm rain in the midst of summer, and this was colder, more akin to the blizzard when they had parted. this was a cruel wintery mix, bittersweet, taunting him with past and present alike.

his heart had frozen over, but even the sleet had a way of melting it. he wept silently underneath the palms, head rested against the banded trunk. water from the leaves drip. . .drip. . .dripped. . .onto his head, sluicing through his pelt, but he cared not.

he only felt the heat of her touch and the warmth of her breath, the sunshine in her voice.