Sunbeam Lair seorsum

germanicus did not expect the aggrieved way that lady meadow turned her face toward him. it was the storm, she explained. 

he saw her overcome. as the storm gathered strength above them, the woman sank down among the ferns and herbs. he was left sitting above her.

a man.

there was enough allusion there to make him now question. the imperator moved quietly and soon sat alongside meadow rather than before her. he thought to remove the pressure of his eyes as she told him her own truth.

"it is practical to fear a storm. and it is understandable when it has been so tied to deep and harrowing changes." a burning forest. he glanced now toward the epochian and saw finally a comforting familiarity.

"you were weak. i asked when you had last taken water." and it seemed a thousand years ago. crowfeather's existence had not ended in his life. or perhaps it had not begun. long shadows had pulled themselves over that time.

germanicus did not touch meadow as she crouched beside him. it was as much for her own autonomy as it was his own unsurety. but as the seconds passed he felt the calming blend of their warmth, below the eye of the world. "perhaps our presence here together is serendipitous after a fashion." perhaps he was meant to be reminded of an earlier moment.