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Would you like to see it? It is nothing fancy, really. To be honest, I think my home pales in comparison to what you two might be used to. But you can see the bulk of the forest from the back.
Then it will be perfect.
It was a cottage space, relatively empty inside save for a table and a kitchen set. There was one extra room with a sofa, but as far as Aymeric could see, no bed. No extra chairs, no decoration to make it feel like home. Well, there was a plant by the stove, but otherwise there was nothing else. No dishes to do, nothing out of place— it was almost like a show home.
When asked, he only received a shrug. “No time to come here.” He was not bitter, nor was he sad. It was a purely factual statement. No time to come home. No reason to decorate or to be comfortable. There was no time to mull over the underlying sadness. He didn't let them. "However, there is one room I find particularly comfortable. It has a wonderful view of the gardens and spans into the forest. If the inside is too dreary for you, you can spend some time in there. I have ice clusters hanging about, so it shouldn't get too warm."
Of course he did.
It was a quiet day. There was very little to do, but the lethargy settled in regardless, deep into their bones until their calm turned into a sleepy silence. The sun waded across the sky undetected. And when Aymeric woke, G'raha had curled up at his side and a note was left in his hand.
I will be back after sunset. I needed to grab some Coerthan Tea Leaves.
Sunset. Another bell or so, then. Perhaps two, if it was after. Aymeric closed his eyes again.
It was nothing like in his head. There was no infinite amount of lights, there was no music playing from the radio, it was absolutely silent. Silent, save for the quiet "oh!" G'raha had mumbled out the moment he saw a flicker of light. And the lights blinked, sporadic and everywhere and nowhere but consistent all the same.
There was nothing to illuminate the wonder that was no doubt etched over the Scion's face, yet Aymeric could clearly see it. Perhaps not in the glimmer of his eye or the crook in his smile, but he could see it in the way G'raha's tail swished to and fro, and how his ears twitched or that he had been so uncharacteristically quiet ever since that first blink.
Aymeric sat upon the sofa, ways away from the glass wall with which G'raha made his nest. His eyes wandered from the fleeting lights in the trees to the leaves that swayed in the wind, back to the lively man watching nature run its course. Fondness took his heart and ran with it, left him out of breath and wholly distracted. Though he yet retained the thought to finish his tea.
G'raha turned around once the lights had begun to flicker out. He looked as if he wished to say something, yet no words filled their silence. So Aymeric left his seat and went to him, wrapped an arm around his waist. There were no fireflies left to watch, but the stars had begun to wake. Yet it was not the stars they searched for, but a glitter of purple.
It would not come for another half bell, but it appeared all the same. And a figure leapt off the steed that glowed to run up to the glass and press his face to it. So G'raha bunted his head to the glass as well with a small laugh. Their Star had returned, and he would soon be on his way to join them.
