Hibernation Point pardesi, pardesi, jaana nahin

it's a life, aditya reasoned, shrugging. he much preferred company to solitude, structure to fluidity—but when it came to him and his wandering paws. . .no one could ever catch up. eventually, he left them all behind. 

he smiled as she offered her name, then considered her question or a moment. i have family in the south, he answered. the ever-familiar pang as he thought of his children, of brook. and the white spine wolves, and the friends he'd made there. . .

he deserved none of them, and none of them deserved to be stuck with him.

where you headed? aditya instead went on, capturing her tone from before with a playful glint to his eyes. conversation made him feel young again. too long spent trapped in his own thoughts left the man jaded, wizened.