Neverwinter Forest What I do for afters

PP intro discussed! Somewhat backdated.

The howl was a much needed positive -- @Caerus! His son wasn't gone. He was home. Safe. One returned was a small sliver of hope. Hope that the others were with him, maybe behind him. He dropped what he was doing, galloping towards the source.

But the man who ran to answer was half a shadow of the one he was. Sure, it was Mal, but he was scruffy, unkempt, and probably a few pounds lighter than his normal weight. The world rested on his shoulders, and though he was joyous, it was behind a tired, sorrowful veil. He bounded towards his son, to tackle him -- sort of -- and just generally be happy he was back, and from the lack of scent of blood or obvious wounds, he was in one piece. Caerus! Relief.

Dad looked... different, a little rougher around the edges and lacking some of his light. But his son was elated to see him again, and took the tackle, rearing up to embrace his father lovingly as well. dad, He sighed, and managed a grin. sorry... i went exploring and... saw some things, He thought of Primrose, but i'm home now. i didn't mean to worry you.

He licked Caerus' face and head almost wildly for a moment, just glad that at least one thing hadn't gone awfully wrong. One out of many. He stopped to lean back and just look him over once more to be sure, I'm just -- I'm just so glad you're ok. I tried looking for Simmik and -- everything's just gotten worse, ok? I'm just glad you're back. One last lick, then he added, You have to be hungry, we'll go get something. Do you... want to tell me about any of it? Or not-- I'm just glad you're home. Had he repeated that enough? His tail still was waving so probably not in Mal's mind at least.