Chapter Text
Zephyr wakes slow, like they have everyday since their return to the Pit. They ache, but it’s not bad. Not like the hurt they’re used to. It’s more like a settling, a return to the space their body used to take up. They stretch, yawn, try to shake out some of the stiffness that’s crept over them while they slept. They decide this sucks actually.
It’s a nice cave, great actually, as caves go. Dry, clean, free from animals and, more importantly, other ghouls. One entrance, only one spot to guard, high up, out of the way.
Zephyr groans as they sit up.
He’s there now, they think. Guarding, keeping me safe. Despite the ache, they smile; a small secret just for them.
Feather, that you?
Ifrit’s voice lands like honey through their bond, deep, sweet, golden.
I’m here, Zephyr answers, getting a grip on Ifrit’s link and holding tight. Somewhere in their chest, other pack links lie still, slack, empty. There’s worlds between them now.
Beautiful sunrise. Ifrit’s voice filters through the haze, tugging lightly.
Beautiful sunrise? In the Pit? This I gotta see.
Zephyr braces themself against the cave wall and makes an effort to get to their feet. They wince, biting down on their lip to stifle a whine. Their legs take the weight, bird-bone thin, but lean, strong. Useable. It’s strange. They’d spent so long adapting, navigating the mortal flesh they’d been gifted topside that they never considered a return to their hellish body could be anything but a blessing. Their lungs work perfectly, they can run here, hunt even, but still there’s a quiet sense of loss that’s impossible to parse.
It’s just different, they decide.
‘Hey Fritter,’ Zephyr mumbles as they make their way into the cave entrance. Ifrit’s there, sat at the cave mouth, one leg swinging off the edge of the cliff, the other propped up by his arm.
‘Morning!’ Ifrit turns his head to look up at his mate, all smiles, as if nothing bad could possibly happen. As if it’s any other day. ‘Sleep well?’
Zephyr sets themself down next to the fire ghoul, throws their legs over the cliff, breathes in the cleanish morning air. ‘I fucking miss my mattress.’
Ifrit grins wider, pauses for a second, snorts loudly. ‘Yep. Ain’t it a bitch?’
‘How,’ the air ghoul starts, rubbing their lower back and relaxing into a light twist, ‘did I ever manage to sleep like this for the last few centuries? Several years topside and I’ve become the epitome of sloth.’
Ifrit snorts again, reaches out, tucks Zephyr into his side. ‘I’ll keep getting stuff for the nest, make it comfier, love.’
Zephyr pouts. ‘It’s not memory foam though, is it?’
Their mate shakes their head, chuckling softly. ‘Nope, not even close.’ He lets his head drop to Zephyr’s.
‘Could be worse. Can you imagine the stink Dewdrop’s going to make without his five billion blankets when he comes back?’
Ifrit’s scoffs. ‘Hell will never know peace again. That is one spoiled ghoul.’
Zephyr barks out a weak laugh, but it doesn’t last. They lose their smile as quickly as it appeared. ‘I miss them.’
‘Yeah,’ Ifrit breathes, looking out over the lightening sky. ‘I do too, love.’
Zephyr’s voice drops low, quiet. ‘It’s just the two of us now. We will see them again, won’t we?’
‘I found you, didn’t I? Pack will always find each other. In this world and the next.’
They’ll wait, the pair of them. What’s another ten, twenty, thirty years when together, they’ve lived lifetimes?