don't say it

Hikaru was true to himself for the first time in his life. Or he mostly was, there were a couple thoughts he swiftly buried when they came up. He was as true to himself as he’d ever been, and being comfortable in his own skin. He was young and he had his whole life ahead of him. So what if every moment leading up to this he’d been training until he bled to prove himself worthy of a title he would never receive? His attentioned returned to Aslatiel as she easily adopted a shortened version of his name. He liked that she had grown so comfortable with him so quickly, but thus far he got along well with everyone he met in the pack. She teased him, but he’d stand up to her challenge if a real fight was what she wanted. He was rusty, but that didn’t mean he’d back down. He gave her a quick determined glance in return, but their focus was quickly shifting to the dummy.

”I am a fighter,” he added. Hikaru might have flunked out but he hadn’t been training his whole life to not claim the title. ”Just a little rusty.” He defended himself softly but looked back over to her as she offered her help, something he was very willing to take her up on. She listed off her siblings and their ability to help and as the note was left on Mortis Hikaru’s lips pulled back into a soft grin that he didn’t realize he was wearing. ”I’d be willing to see how ‘alright’ you are at fighting.” He teased back at her humble evaluation of her skill. ”Mortis has a very big heart.” Hikaru already knew he cared about the Fatalis heir more than anyone else in the world.

”If we hadn’t found each other in that blizzard a while back i’d probably be frozen out in the tundra somewhere, waiting for spring to thaw me out.” He chuckled warmly about the incident now, but his life had been in very real danger. ”I have a lot to thank him for.”