The autumn was growing thinner, down and down to the cold bones beneath. Acton could feel winter coming like an itch under his skin. In the moments he was honest with himself (rare though they were), he felt leaner, too – leaner, harder, worn bare. Maybe it was worry that didn’t know how to properly manifest; maybe it was an anxiety that hummed throughout him like a wasp nest. Whatever it was, he chose wandering as an outlet.
It was a long way he wandered, today. It hadn’t been full dawn when he’d left Denocte, the last of the fires still trailing smoke from the night’s festivities, and now the night was coming on again. The wind leaned into him and he leaned back, an orange and black figure against the increasingly stark background of Novus. Only a few colors still clung to the trees, and the clouds promised rain – or maybe it was snow.
Either way he wanted none of it. Acton was a summertime creature, all heat and flash, and the cold made him both prickly and restless. Overhead a few crows fought the wind, tipping their ragged feathers and fighting the current. Today was a rare day the stallion was glad he didn’t have wings.
When he found the creek, he found it was the only thing that could compete with the rats’ gnawing of his own thoughts, and so he followed it into the trees. It was instantly warmer among their trunks, their black limbs pressing against the darkening sky, and the forest was quiet save for a few scolding jays.
He pressed on alone, each step a thick crunch, and it took him a while to feel the weight of eyes on him. Even after he did, it took him a while longer before he paused, turning his head, the vapor of his breath visible in the growing dark.
“You’re a ways from home,” he said at last, and his fire-bright eyes were pleased.
Through the thinning canopy the first flakes of snow began to fall, bright against the brittle leaves, bright against his coat.
All welcome! I’d love it if was someone he knows from another court, whether friend or rival or lover, but anyone’s free to drop by. Message me if you have any relationship thoughts. :)
these violent delights have violent ends
