[P] 'tonight we are alive and free'

[Kauri]

burn through my love, i've had quite enough There was something off. Back before this lake, he stared aimlessly at the night sky. Curled close to his chest was his companion sleeping away the time. The stallion needed a breath, the peace in which came with solitude. Crickets serenaded what company tuned into their notes, and the rush of cold danced above withering grasses. Did... he want to abandon this? He didn’t have to—he didn’t have to forget. This loneliness after loss. Perhaps he was afraid of moving on, of betraying the one he lived his last days with. But this drowning of himself, it tied him down to a life spent in denial. And as he refused himself, the further away he was from the man his lover once loved. Once the soothing presence of nature satisfied him enough, Kauri staggered back onto his legs. Of course, Naiosé was less than happy by his sudden awakening. With just a few nibbles on the fennec’s coat to calm his irritation, the two were on their way back to the castle. Although he knew he was no bother to the people here, the stallion still kept his steps light and quiet after entering this structure. No longer did curious eyes distract his mind, and so intruding thoughts began to flood in large waves. The low clicking of his hooves grew louder in the silence as minutes went on which merely fed his anxiety. For a time, he could only feel out of place from what surrounded him here. As he wandered about the castle, a warm glow caught his attention. His steps followed the direction his gaze locked onto, and his head immediately ducked down to lessen his presence. Naiosé scurried beneath him and gently nipped his companion’s heels to let him onto his back. Kauri hushed the canine’s action with a snort and stopped once all that could be seen of this bonfire was in his view. Barely did the light of the fire touch his form. Much of himself remained in the dark, save the fiendish look of his avian mask. Violet eyes bore through each soul then hid away under the shadow of his mask’s sockets. His hooves ached after witnessing the mass of beings that danced. Long has he retired from the art of motion. So his body grieved, the faint aches returning upon him. However, his mind took what it could of those days long ago—dusting off the old vinyls within the corners of his mind. His legs tucked under him as he laid down, and his companion snuggled close to his chest once more. Although he seemed to watch the little jubilation before him, Kauri was off in a different world. Everything began to blur—the figures that moved now appearing like ghost. Though despite the fading of his vision, he noticed one of the figures seemed to give a “ghastly” smile at him—a stranger he hadn’t realized he’d seen before. Within his mind, the record player stopped playing, and his memories crumbled back into nothingness. He dismisses the smile with a snort and turns his head so the light no longer graced his face. Kauri lain there nearly in the darkness with his nose against the stone floor. He didn’t want to disturb nor distract anyone away from their needed moment of happiness. One eye peered back over to the crowd as he simply looked on in wonder. "Speaks" | Thinks @Isra Tried to work with this scenario as best as I could <3

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