coffee black at three

Pliant and timid, his sister did not resist his embrace. And so he did not release her, the ghostly titan suddenly anxious to lose her again. His heart twists painfully within the confines of his slender ribcage as she chokes out a terrible sob, his tactless admission of their losses rendering her as teary eyed and frantic as he was. She managed to choke out that she encountered Elle in the north recently enough, and it feels as though some weight of his mounting failures tumbles free from his shoulders. He nods solemnly, but does not speak. She asks about the rest of their siblings, and he lets loose a soft sigh. "Barghest and most of our older siblings have joined up with our elder sister Scylla, she took a pack recently. Obscura, it's called." he assured her, the gentle rumbling of his vocals impossibly quiet in the wake of his outburst. "Phobia and I are still in Elysium, though. Not sure about Selkie or Arachne, I haven't seen them since the move either. Dad has begun to recover, but I am not eager to leave mum alone quite yet. I worry about how she might find herself overwhelmed again if he takes ill again, and she has to tend him all by herself again." he spoke the words with a furrow in his pale brow, unconsciously shuffling his forelimbs to curl a little tighter around Gem's small form. He doesn't want to lose any more family, and he doesn't want to let anyone else down. Ever.

"Mum and dad held out hope that you were alive- we never found a body, after all. I know they worried about you and Elle, though." he added, noting the hesitant start of a second avenue of questioning that died on her lips. It was easy enough to guess what she was trying to ask, after finding out their other sisters were dead. "You ought to go see them, soon. I think it would do them well to know you're alright." the champagne prince admitted, lowering his skull as he sought to press a gentle kiss to the top of her head unconsciously. Seeking comfort in her presence.

"Where did you go, Gem? Were you safe?" that ugly, possessive streak manifests under the guise of concern as he looks earnestly upon her features, brows knitted together and mismatched eyes searching.