Northstar Vale i miss you in the dawn & most of all, your fingerprints, everywhere (mtr.)

here now the inner murmurings of a heart he might not have touched had he not touched her — mahler felt the worship of her stirring again; her sodden crown nudging against him briefly until the dove settled her slight weight upon the heavy breadth of his body. the vibrations of her continued words jutted through his ribcage, made his silence all the more thoughtful.
her ideals aligned in many ways with those he sought to succeed in diaspora, and for the first time since their interlude, mahler thought of the pack he had inherited from his late brother. takiyok, then, would become his second — hang what any might think of it. the winterwhite deserved the rank, and more.
but beyond the logistic aspect of leadership,  aurëwen suggested that there was more to such things, a delicate nuance that might be achievable if only he shared her hope, a fluted thing that had always before escaped the shadowpriest. he lay beneath her as if carved from the very same stone of the plinth upon which they both rested, and considered what she had spoken.
"if there is anyvone who could accomplish such things, it vould be you, aurëwen," mahler murmured, reaching up to trace his teeth through the pale ivory tresses of her shoulder.
suddenly quite vulnerable, feeling as though it were more than his body she had exposed this day, he closed his eyes, and spoke no more. his mind leapt with questions, but the gargoyle found it more prudent to hold them back, allow them the pleasure of their silken existence at present.