He was glad that she accepted his offer to start over again, his slow smile growing more as she chuckled lightly and it caused him to further relax. It was so easy for him to be on-edge around others, to worry about whether something would trigger his shifting and he would become dangerous, lethal, to be around. But with these easy smiles, a fresh start to what had apparently been a rocky beginning for their acquaintanceship, surely meant the monster was far away.

“The pleasure is mine, Arah.” And just like that, it seemed they could leave behind the past and move on.

His companion felt the delight as well, thrilled as Wynter took off and joined him on the rocks. Griffins, he quickly decided, were odd creatures but Lucius felt the tension in Mesec ease and it encouraged him to relax as well. It was rare that he got to play with a creature as large as him and he returned the nip with enthusiasm, making a delighted noise in the back of his throat as he used his four mighty wings to lift off from the rocks - encouraging Wynter to follow, to join the chase.

The feathers of Mesec’s wings stirred with the breeze, chilling the skin it exposed with the disturbance, and he was thankful for the suggestion to walk as they talked. “Walking sounds like a lovely idea, Arah.” He moved from his cave as he spoke, temporarily abandoning the memories contained within it. Besides, clearly Ki’irha was not hiding within the shadows there and travelling the Steppe with company was a much preferred plan to being on his own.

As he fell in line with Arah, he replied to the question she had posed about why he came to such a lonely place. “I actually came up here looking for someone I met during a snowstorm not too long ago.” The exact circumstances of why Mesec was looking for that someone didn’t seem like information he should share with a near-stranger like Arah. She didn’t need to know that he needed to find the star-mare to see if she was pregnant, to find out if he would be a father thanks to a one-night-stand. So when he elaborated, it was without the most private details. “I wanted to make sure she was alright after our last meeting but it would seem she doesn’t frequent this chilly place.” A quick glance around at their surroundings and he chuckled a low, quick laugh before adding “Not that I can blame her for that.” Although he had run across someone almost every time he had come here, there certainly weren’t crowds of Helovians mingling in the open spaces of the Steppe where the wind reigned over all.

With the stirring of another breeze, Mesec squeezed his sides with his large wings - protecting them (and wishing he could offer similar protection to Arah) as he turned his head to the snow-white doe. “And what of you, Arah? What do you seek in this barren place?”

I’m trying to find my direction home, ______________
A question of space, a matter of time, _______
I follow the stars until the first light.