lend me your ears, and your teeth

Ludon's eyes scanned the landscape below him, admiring the swathes of green despite the impending and damning frosts beginning to slam the further lands of Winterhelm — his heart quickened in anticipation. Tanwyn gave her signature cry high above, declining into the distance, meeting another bird in the middle; the two not striking, but instead flying side by side. No doubt exchanging barbs or silent, recognizing gazes. It was always hard go guess what they would do when the two siblings met, and by extension, drew the birds together.

Which meant... Adorre was nearly here. It was like a shaken part of his soul settled again; balanced and at ease in a way it otherwise wouldn't be. At first, he hadn’t planned to venture so far, nor invite her this far either, but his legs were young and his heart was strong, and the thought of tottering off for a brief but heartfelt chat was all too alluring.

Ludon would grin when she appeared before him, an expression free and open and gleeful. An expression Ludon hadn't been allowed in the past months since searching for Vahae and then coping with the eventual disappearance of their mother. It was part of why he had to leave the stronger interior of Winterhelm.. for just a moment.

His heart faltered, before lifting again, unable to wallow with Adorre close at hand. Ludon’s mouth fell open, and his tongue twisted in a light greeting, full of warmth, ”Sȳrī rhēdan, mandia.” — Well met, sister.

He would remain sitting in the grass, almost tossing his head up as he deigned to let a complaint tumble from his tongue, petulant as he exaggerated their cirumstances. ”It has been forever since we have spoken like this.”

---

@Adorre

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Adorre had been most excited whenever she'd seen Tanwyn soaring through the great skies overhead, bringing with her word that Ludon had summoned her to the open moors that rested just beneath the hefty summits of their home. Home. Adorre had adjusted much more quickly than any of her family, she'd come to find. She was just consumed by everything around her, overjoyed with the simple fact that she was alive. 

Her quarry in tow, a bundle of different herbs she'd collected along her journey into the rolling hills of flowers, Adorre's gait had extended from a brief walk into a hurried trot when Ludon had come into view. So busy they had been, she hadn't had any time to just be and she was itching to catch up with her brother — who was the only one she had left, it seemed. She knew Vahaelarr was out there somewhere, but where? 

“Lu!” Adorre spoke affectionately, letting her eyes come to rest upon his chiseled face. She memorized each and every inch of his face, in fear that one day she might not see it ever again. Like mother's. She ignored the pang of hurt that throbbed in her chest and she joined her brother at his side, pressing hers heavily into his. Her head even came to rest upon his shoulder, her blue eyes drifting upwards to gaze at the morning sky as he did. 

Her ears twitched in response to what he spoke. “I know...” She drifted off, before letting her eyes pull to rest upon him. “Everything is so different now, Ludon. It's so surreal.” She sighed. “Vahae is elsewhere. Daeryn is nowhere to be found and... mother...” Her voice broke. She knew Ludon didn't want to speak of her, and yet she couldn't help it. She leaned upwards, staring bashfully down at the herbs she'd dropped between her paws. 

“I'm sorry, Lu. I shouldn't have.”

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His heart warmed ten more degrees with the nickname as it hit his ears, swathing him in remnants of the past and the comforts of home. He missed his foggy meadow, but it wasn’t as much a home as his family was — each one still treasured for their own reasons. Even ones he found more difficult at this moment than others.

He would bump his weight against her playfully before letting them fully settle, allowing the quiet and alive ambiance to hum gently in their ears. There weren’t many birds in the air, but some settled further along the hills, even despite their own birds’ presence, singing gently to one another across the landscape. Grasslands like this always had a charm that forests seemed to lack, when one wanted to find true serenity. His ears twitched as he listened to her, fixating from their idle browsing to focus only on her, and what she had to say.

His heart twisted, and that frost inherent to their natures threatened to cloak him again, as his throat clicked. His ears now pinned closer back to his head, the dark rims of them almost hidden in his neck fur with how tightly they pressed.

”Mother—” His voice immediately broke. Ludon hadn’t been idle in his part in searching for her; that first day they had realized she was gone longer than she should’ve been, he hadn’t rested until his paws bled from the rock and grit of ice. His paws still ached. His entire body twitched, and he almost pushed Adorre away, for just a moment, but then he scolded himself; what would that solve? Did he not learn from his scuffle with Vahae?

His sister didn’t deserve his roughened self. Not when she was one of the few he had left now. Instead, he loosed a low breath from his nose. ”It.. its okay, Adi.”

He let their shared silence hang a moment, before he pushed himself to speak again, quiet, pained, but caring, ”We’re both.. hurting.. but, if you need to talk… talk.”

That angry, newly blossomed part of him grumbled and spit — but he wouldn’t let it claim this moment.

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@Adorre

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