Overture Downs oh, lord, what have i become?

from the hollow terance went, up towards the downs. the move had gone well-- as far as he could tell, anyway. he was still just trying to get accustomed to the area, but he didn't stray too far, only a territory or two away. his tail swung as he walked, but his face was stoic and his ears were angled forwards. as neutral appearing as ever, terance made his way through the downs with only a few, minor worries. 

so far, terance had thought that treason was doing a phenomenal job as their beta. he'd found no complaints with her at all. they were different in many ways, but they seemed to work well together as betas. and they both worked well for rannoch-- terance thought. 

terance paused in the downs to sniff curiously at a stale fox scent, deciding it wasn't worth his time-- but still something worth noting..

He knows he shouldn't leave his friends as often as he does, but to be fair, that'd been the point of running away. And... he misses Delight.
He finds few regrets in his decision to leave the pack, but his ex-lover is one of them; it's painful to think of him that way, now. He'd never meant to hurt him — but he can't trust himself not to, and he knows this is the best thing for both of them. But still, it just... fucking hurts. So he takes a walk to clear his head, not expecting much to come of it; maybe a hunt, maybe less of this awful pressure in his chest. Or maybe he'll just make his legs hurt.
He almost doesn't notice Terance — no, correction, he doesn't notice Terance until he's close enough that it's definitely embarrassing, even walking right towards him. And when the dark male finally does catch his attention, his first instinct is alarm. His fur fluffs out and a brief half-yelp slips from him before he breaks off, embarrassed. Oh — Terance, He sucks in a breath, remembering the man's awkward visit. Seabreeze's ex. Ughhh... Sorry, I didn't see you — um, what are you uh... doing? Here? Good job, Ali; that's not rude at all. But... well, isn't Sunspire a bit far from here?

terance's train of thought was interrupted by something quite surprising-- alarian. terance remembered him sourly-- not because of him but merely the memory that surrounded his introduction. but terance was not one to hold grudges on such a surface level, and so he gazed upon the man with a still neutral expression. he'd missed the defensive initial reaction that alarian had. 

"alarian," he returned with a passive smile, "sunspire has moved to a hollow a territory below this." he was going to ask why he was all the way out here, but a familiar scent caught him entirely off guard. his ears pricked, a clear batch of surprise smacked onto his features. the scent was on alarian-- mingled with him. terance was baffled.

"do you know a korei julia?" he asked, expression concerned.

Terance's explanation makes sense — Sunspire had been suffering a food shortage, right? Though... why hadn't they moved before his wife and children left? Or — maybe they had deeper problems than a food shortage. He doesn't really want to know. The man's next words catch his attention anyway, immediately drawing a slightly worried frown to his face. Great — maybe Terance is related to Korei too, and he'll have to deal with that whole mess. On his own. Great.
Umm... yeah, He says after a moment, pausing before he continues. She's my friend. We're uh... traveling together. Why? He shifts a little uncomfortably, hoping he hasn't just invited more drama into his life. And whatever happens, Korei definitely can't hear about this.

terance's tail began to wag, relief flooding over him. "so she's okay? how is she?" he asked before he had to chance to answer the why question. and then, with an apologetic shake of his head, terance said, "she used to be in my pack-- i always thought we were friends, but one day she just left." 

with another dip of his head, the hollow's beta continued, "sorry, it's just been a long time since i've heard from her. i'm very glad to hear she's okay." his head tilted then, as he realized exactly what alarian had said. "did you say-- traveling?"

His reaction isn't what Alarian had expected — at all. But he should probably be used to that, honestly — how many times has Xyn had to type that damn phrase by now, anyway? Ahem. He tries to smooth out the expression of confusion written on his face as Terance speaks, though he can't do much but nod mutely in response to his first question. The more he learns about Korei's past, the more it confuses the hell out of him. He's not equipped for this. He really just wants to sleep. God, why does —
Oh, shit, he should probably... say something. Um, He tries, suddenly feeling way too tired for all this. Yeah — it's... complicated. My pack moved too — um, Seabreeze and Olive took things over. They're by the coast now. He doesn't know what else to tell him; I'm a fuck-up failure and I don't know how to not be that, so I abandoned them all, but Korei insisted on coming with me so here we are ? Haha, nah. He falters, then decides to fall back on his favorite habit: subject-changing. So, um, is your pack doing better now? He asks, swallowing.

he wished he was less visibly pummeled by alarian's comment. they left? they left. the comment rocked him, and it showed in the furrow of his brow and the sudden sag in his usually stiff posture. he averted his gaze, and he looked instead to his feet as alarian began to ask questions. terance asked nothing. if seabreeze wanted him to know where she'd taken ibis and okeanos-- then she'd tell him. she was such a coward, terance almost wasn't surprised. in only a matter of moments, terance had gone from almost broken by the comment, to mostly numbed to it. 

this was expected.

"well i hope you're finding what's good for you, alarian," he commented kindly, pairing it with a gentle sigh and a roll of his shoulders to recompose himself. terance was fine. 

"yes, much better," he replied with a dip of his head. and then, unfortunately for alarian, terance turned the conversation back towards him. "do you know where you're headed?"

Even through his own inner turmoil, he can't help but notice the change in Terance's expression and demeanor. Again, he's confused — but this time he puzzles it out after a few moments. He hadn't heard anything about Seabreeze telling Terance, though perhaps he'd assumed she'd asked Lily to do it when she'd sent her scouting, if he'd thought about it at all (not likely). He pauses awkwardly, wanting to apologize — but before he can say a word, Terance is speaking again. He has to hold back a snort at 'finding what's good for you'; death is probably what's good for him, but he's settling for walking until his legs crumble.
No, not really, He says when Terance asks another question, pausing a beat. I wasn't planning on settling again, but with Korei following me... He doesn't finish the sentence, though; he'd rather not talk about this. Continuing the metaphorical game of hot potato (albeit a little more probingly this time), he decides to ask: Are you — okay?

why was that part about death so funny to me lmao

terance hesitated-- feeling an uncharacteristic round of awkwardness settle upon him, perhaps that was alarian rubbing off on him. "would it be strange to offer you both a place at the hollow?" he asked, a wry smile replacing whatever expression he'd had, "i'm not sure what korei thinks of me since she'd left but i'd always considered her a friend-- you're both welcome among our ranks." 

and then, malarian asked if he was okay. and terance snorted, shooting an apologetic look his way after-- that was a tad bit rude, he supposed. "i'm okay. it's been a long year, i've done this once i'll do it again," he told the man with a flick of his ears. "okay is... relative, but at this point in time, yes, i'm okay."

ngl i laughed writing it, poor ali
edit: woops, forgot abt poor @Outlander

He's a little startled by Terance's next words, but he has received stranger offers. He pauses, about to tell him no — but then he registers the smile fully, and... well, Seabreeze has good taste in men, at least aesthetically. He returns the smile, his own faintly echoing the wryness of the other's. I have another companion too — and I would have to um, talk to Korei, but maybe, He says, adding with a soft laugh: I can't say I know how she feels about you, either. She's pretty tight-lipped about her past.
Oh, now he's oversharing. Ugh. He glances away, but his gaze is drawn back to Terance as he continues, sympathetic this time. I know what you mean — about it being a long year, He tells him, voice a little softer. But — at least we're still here, right? He tries to think about it that way now, anyway. His mother doesn't have that. Eris doesn't have that.

despite it's lack of umf lately-- terance's smile did typically have that effect on others. it was still warm enough, and quite genuine upon his dark features. anyhow. 

he dipped his head again. "don't worry about it-- but the offer stands, just call for me at the borders... maybe send korei my way anyway, i'd like to see her again," he said with a slight flick of his ears. it wasn't strange to hear that korei didn't talk much about her past. surely she'd felt similarly to liffey, and felt bullied out. of course, terance hadn't fully understood either of those sides-- the cerberus had always been friend to him.

well, until now. but that was another story.

with another smile, terance nods. "at least we're here," he agreed with a soft sigh, "and you've got a fresh start." with a small chuff, he added, "mostly."

He's only a little ashamed of his well-established weakness for pretty faces, honestly; he's gotten a lot further chasing aesthetics and surface pleasures than he ever has pursuing deeper connections. His smile brightens slightly and he nods, glancing the direction of the hollow briefly just to be sure he remembers. It's been awhile since he's gotten lost, but — it's been awhile since he's truly run away, too.
I'll let her know, He promises. At Terance's next words, he can't help a brief laugh. Mostly, He agrees, gaze wandering again — this time in the direction he'd last seen Korei and Outlander. He glances back to Terance. By the way, um — I'm sorry about... you know — I hope everything works out eventually. God, he's bad at these things — why does he even try?