Running Up That Hill

TABLE & CODE © SKELLE 2021
"Speech!"
Pallid form slipped over the dry grasses with a lazy gait, long limbs pulling him up towards the summit of the cliffs. He dodged warily between the eerie blue fireflies, unsettled by the way they seemed to hang in the cool evening air until he got too close. They simply disappeared without a trace, and he found that he couldn't hear any buzzing of wings as they floated by. Mercury eyes reflected the cool hues of the never waning moon as he reached the highest point of his climb, flanks shuddering with mild exertion. He only realized that he'd been unconsciously following Balthier's scent trail when he found himself staring at the other boy's silhouette on the cliffs. "I feel like I haven't seen you in months," he rumbled absently, striding up to stand by his brother's side. After a beat, he lifted his snout to snort softly at one of the creepy blue fireflies that had floated too close to his face. It faded into nothing, where an ordinary bug would have moved as his breath buffeted its fragile wings.

"do you think the moon is going to simply disappear soon, and it's been staying full so we can enjoy its last rays?" his deep vocals offered the question up at almost a whisper, wide eyes fixed on the pale face of the moon as it rose overhead. Tentatively, he dropped onto his haunches beside Balthier, and gently leaned one muscular shoulder into his. Both of them had been like ghosts for the past few months, aimlessly following their routines without truly thinking about it. He wanted desperately for that to change- he longed for the simplicity of their youth, and the laughter that he used to hear so often.