To lead but never follow

DEIMOS

ache first, but then let the cuts close
spit out the blood

A flurry of paper and parchment, worries and concerns, and then time – flickering by on the outstretch of wings, on the telltale expanse of gilded plumage – where he felt safe and secure for a moment, winding and winding down along pathways he’d never seen before. The hues and colors were startling, especially when all he’d seen for months was white and black and brown; stone and marble countenances of cities shorn into mountains. The expanse wide and beckoning, and he might’ve been able to lose himself somewhere in all the finery, in all the decadence, had a thousand other things not weighed on his mind.

Invasions. Actions taken. Consequences rendered.

He could hear his name on the wind, and eventually he sauntered over pieces and pockets of starlight, recognizing Seren immediately, concealing a sigh yearning to be released. Instead, he drifted until there was nothing but the grass underneath his talons, and then shifted back to human form; stoic and tall but not at all proud. Resolute maybe, in the confines of his features, but for what he couldn’t be certain any longer. “Seren,” was a rumble, off to her side, near a bench and unlit lanterns, indifferent to the gray hues wandering overhead. "What do you want to know?"

watch your body pull itself back together
then let your soul do the same