ARD
When news of the little ’meet and greet’ had reached their ears, Ard’s reaction to his brother’s pleading expression had been a vehement, scalding ’no!’ filled with as much vitriol and warning as he could muster. No. No. Fuck no. He did not want to go out and meet those who called Terrastella home. He did not want to go out and be forced to mingle with the crowds, where he would shuffle and shift and shrink into Erd’s charismatic presence. He wanted to stay in the small room he shared with his brother and hide away from the world, not include himself in it, and spare himself the judgement that all of the strangers would carry in their cold eyes.
His vehement, passionate ’no!’, of course, had been swayed into a furious ’fine, damnit’ when Erd would not give up his annoying, desperate pleading.
”It’ll be good for us to get out and meet everyone! Come on, Ard, it won’t be that bad. Like it or not, this is our home now. We should introduce ourselves. I bet they aren’t as bad as you think they are.” Oh, but Ard had held his ground rather stubbornly for most of the day, pinning his ears and baring his teeth whenever Erd would even bring it up. In the end, however, he had been undone by his twin’s soft, pitiful beckon of, ”Please, Ard? I don’t want to go alone.”
And so, that was how the younger warlock found himself shuffling after Erd along a familiar path towards the meadow that they had ended up in when they first arrived in Novus. He still wasn’t happy, but… Damnit, Erd was clearly so excited to meet the others of the Court that Ard couldn’t begrudge him, his brother’s pace accompanied with a little hop with every step he took. It was endearing and adorable, and despite not wanting to participate, Ard was glad he had agreed if only to see his beloved twin so happy.
The path that they had been following cleared into an open area dotted with warm fires to chase off the evening chill, and before they knew it, they had arrived. Others mingled and talked quietly among themselves, strangers meeting strangers, friends meeting friends. It was the type of event that Ard hated, but… Here he was.
Giving an unsteady exhale, Ard bumped his muzzle into Erd’s flank and sucked in a deep breath of his brother’s scent. He could do this. He could. He just had to believe in himself, right? Following after his brother, they arrived at a warm fire where a golden lady stood illuminated by the flickering flames. Instinctively, Ard was drawn to the warmth of the fire, but he remained rooted at his twin’s side. Another young male, rich tones of earth and speckled with mottled ivories, already stood in conversation with the golden woman with the kind violet eyes, and the warlock was able to catch their names; Florentine and Quinn.
Even as Erd found a moment to introduce them, Ard simply held his silence. He was not yet comfortable to speak.
