If only he had felt half as confident as he seemed in the eyes of the unicorn. If only the youth had revealed a fraction of whatever awe he might have felt, how much good it would have done the boy. To know that his mask worked, to hear that he at least appeared mature and wise to others. It would have strengthened Cathun in so many ways. But just like he himself was reluctant to put his innermost emotions on display and crafted a facade, so did this dark child, and for all that the ember-maned equine had caught a glimpse of the distress Erebos might be feeling he couldn't see through the regal scrutiny, was left unaware of the prickling jealously over what he himself saw as nothing but a curse.

Cathun didn't expect to either. He most certainly wasn't prepared to hear anything other than some casual excuse followed by a more or less pleasant ticket to elsewhere for intruding, but what he was offered was neither more nor less than the truth.

It left him mute for a long while, surprised and reeling with the implications. The tone might be casual, but the weight of those words... Man, that was some heavy shit.

"Uh...That sucks. I'm sorry to hear that."
Eloquence escaped him, because what words did you use to express condolences to a stranger? 'Chin up' isn't exactly helpful.

"My mother's dead" he offered tentatively. He wasn't sure why it would make the other feel better, but hey; at least Cathun could relate to the feeling of loss, right? In a sense. Somehow. "And I haven't seen my father since... I don't know."

The smile faded, his brow furrowing at the thought of the silver-maned sire. He'd said he would come after Cathun, but he had still seen neither hide nor hair of the old man. Had something happened, or was he still too 'busy' with whatever it was he always had to go do?

Disappointment was a sour thing, hard to swallow and even worse to stomach. Cathun knew that feeling at least, and it truly sucked that this colt too had to experience it.

"Do you know where they went? If you want to go look for them I could help" he offered spontaneously, long legs stepping high over the snow in a sudden need for action, movement, something to do.

So what if Cathun couldn't do anything to solve his own issues, at least he might be able to help others? An obstinate face with red eyes and a golden blaze hovered before him with a withering look of 'I-told-you-so' and ire rose for a fraction of a second, but the youth quickly swatted it away with a supposed elegant flick of the tail. He wasn't doing anything because of that girl, alright? So she might have had a point in one or two things she'd said, but that didn't mean... well...

Oh, never mind.


@[Erebos]

Cathun

The firebrand