yesterday i was clever
i wanted to change the world
i wanted to change the world
F
or all his time away, Ipomoea had given little thought as to how he would return.He had thought of home often - even a world away, even in a court filled with stars and an island born of wonders, his heart had known the way back to here - like an itch he could not scratch, thoughts of Delumine had never been far away.
But he had been gone far longer than he had intended. And while he had no doubt that he would recognize his home, he had begun to wonder if his home would recognize him.
It had been selfish, he knew, to abandon his post as Regent to take up a foreign cause a continent away. But how could he not? How could he pretend that the war against Raum was a war for Denocte and Solterra to fight alone? He could not sit by and pretend that there was no threat to Delumine, that he had no duty to help his own friends. Solterra had been his home as well, even if he did not remember it; and Denocte had always welcomed him as one of their own. He had more stake in their victory than any of them had imagined, more than even he himself knew.
The halls echo with memories; ones he remembers with vivid, painful clarity, and ones that tease him by remaining just out of reach. He had spent years memorizing this citadel, wandering its halls until they were as familiar to him as his own reflection.
It felt good to be home. Strange, but good.
It was the sound of hoofbeats ringing against the marble floor - a familiar, proud cadence - that had him taking a deep breath, as if to prepare himself. When he turns from the window he can feel his heart twist itself into knots inside of his chest, a strange mixture of joy and unease that made him feel almost weak in the knees. But he steps forward anyway, slowly, hopefully.
Somnus, as usual, does not disappoint.
His King, his brother in all but blood, his friend. Ipomoea leans into his embrace, and for just a moment lets himself feel the weariness that had settled in his bones from his journey here. His eyes fall shut, and he wills his heartbeat to ease.
“It’s good to be home,” he says softly, forcing the words out past the lump in his throat. He stays there a moment longer, taking comfort in the brotherly embrace. "I've missed you. I've missed all of you, more than you know."
But then he opens his eyes, and wills away the fatigue. Ipomoea stands up straight and takes a small step back, looking over the golden pegasus with careful scrutiny.
He almost can’t stop the questions that form at his lips, the onslaught of inquiries that demand to know how things have been, how Somnus has been, what and when and why -
But instead he forces his lips into the easy, impish smile that he reserved only for his family.
“So. What have I missed? Are the river dolphins still up to their usual antics?”
He already suspected it wouldn’t be much. The thought brings a stab of guilt with it, threatening to turn his smile into a frown, but he resists. Delumine has been quiet, too quiet; it was far too tempting to bring back all the noise of war, of injustice, of accusation. Senna and Raum had not lied when they called Delumine out on its inaction, in this war and prior wars. And when Ipomoea had silently agreed, the admission had felt more like betrayal than acceptance.
Betrayal, because they were right. Betrayal, because for as much as he loved his court, they had always done too little, too late. Betrayal, because of the self-righteousness that had clouded his judgement from the moment he left Delumine, the certainty that he knew better, that he was doing what was right. But was he right? If he was, why was it so hard to form the words that he needed to?
He swallows thickly, and asks in a voice that is far more quiet than he wants it to be:
“What now, Somnus?”
@Somnus "speaks" let the reunion commence
