ARD

It felt wrong, leaving a home that they had only just begun to settle into. Ard didn’t like it. Of course, it wasn’t as if he liked most things, but his point stood pretty damn clear in his opinion.
 
They had narrowly escaped the clutches of a maniacal madman, cruel and abusive and unforgiving as Vreis had been, into a world of mystery and wonder. Despite hardly conversing with the denizens or making much effort to get to know anyone other than Marisol and Theodosia, Terrastella had begrudgingly become their new home, and now they had left it behind. He hated it. How many more homes would they have to leave behind? How long until he and his brother just found a single, safe place to live their days in peace?
 
Denocte had welcomed the refugees of Terrastella with open arms and warm fires, housing them with food aplenty and a dry place to rest their heads. It was nice of them, he supposed. Considerate, and all that jovial bullshit that came with politics and natural disasters. It wasn’t like the Night Court had to, and yet… They did, asking little to nothing in return. Ard didn’t trust that bit of information any further than he could throw a full grown horse, which wasn’t very far at all, given his petite stature.
 
Still, it was nice to not be a sodden mess like they were in Terrastella. With their cloaks and hoods in place, it would be impossible to tell the two twins apart, which helped soothe Ard’s nerves as they explored the Night Court and all it had to offer. The hour was late as they milled through Denocte’s capitol, and the young warlock was content to just watch the few citizens pass them by from the shadows.
 
“… I fucking hate this,” Ard grumbled softly, the worn, constant scratch of his whisper surely heard by none other than his twin, “We should just leave.”
 
It would be all too easy to do. No one would miss them. They could easily slip away into the night like silver shadows and find somewhere for just the two of them. Maybe they could go back up into the mountains? No one would find them there. To Ard, it sounded fucking perfect, but he knew that his twin brother wouldn’t agree. Erd was too good for that. Too loyal. Novus did not deserve him.
 
“No one would miss us, Erd.”
 
The self-depreciating comment came without thinking, but the words were still spoken upon that rasping whisper. In Ard’s mind, they held a great deal of truth; no one would miss them. Why would they?

ERD

It wouldn’t be hard for them to settle within the Night Court, but Erd had no intentions on doing just that. This wasn’t home. As pleasant as the citizens of Denocte had been since their arrival, though distant, the warlock had no intention to get close to anyone here, nor grow attached to the land of night and mountains. There was no reason, not really, not when they would hopefully be returning to the Dusk Court proper as soon as possible.

Still, a little bit of sightseeing never hurt anyone, especially when he and his brother had hardly stepped foot out of Terrastella since their arrival to Novus. It still came as no surprise that his brother, Gods bless him, wanted nothing to do with this place. Erd understood. Ard was just like that.

“We can’t just leave, Ard,” the young warlock responded softly, patient understanding coating every word. Standing near a stone building and milling back among the shadows, the two brothers had simply settled back to watch the denizens of the Night Court mill about their own home. The hour was late, but Erd had no idea about what time it truly was. It didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Turning his head, Erd brushed his silver muzzle against Ard’s own, feeling his brother’s coiled tension leak through their bond. “Marisol would miss us. Maybe even Theodosia. I mean, yeah, we don’t really know them very well, but they’ve both been nice to us this far. Right? That has to mean something.”

But did it? Erd had no idea. He had no idea where they stood among the Halcyon Unit, and maybe it was a little sad that the military air brigade was the only semblance of interaction or relation that they had seemed to make since their arrival. Maybe it was a little pathetic, but, well… It wasn’t like he and his brother were particularly good at making friends. Well. That was partially true.

Shifting in his stance, the elder of the twins moved so that he stood flush against his brother’s side. He went on, murmuring softly between them. So far nobody had seemed to even notice their presence, and if they had, nobody seemed inclined to come up and introduce themselves. “I know what you’re feeling, but… Soon, we can go home to Terrastella, okay? Things will go back to normal. We just need to wait a little longer. Just be patient, Ard. For me.” It was all he could really ask.