The Absence tugged at his heart as it always did when she wasn’t with him. A longing for her closer, a fear at what might have become her, a need to find her again. Never were they parted long before the separation drove him to the brink of madness. Even with the secure borders of the Ridge was he willing to leave her wander for too long. His anxiety was heightened by Giselle’s absence. It had not been his intention to allow her to go, his half blind child who needed his protection above all else, but he could not forbid her.. as much as he wanted to. Losing a child earth shaking to the family-oriented man.

All such things set his light hooves to moving across the summer green grasses of the Ridge, whickering quietly as he searched for his smoky woman, his only woman. For all his failures he had done one thing right in returning to Aveline’s side. Somehow she filled the void that losing her had drilled through the very fabric of his being and for that he would ever be in her debt. In his own way he loved her though. This woman who had gone from a stranger to being the sole purpose of his being… It floored him.

Finally he happened upon her, seemingly doing the same thing as he, a joyous noise rumbling in his chest as he rushed to her side. He sidled up alongside her, burrowing his painted nose beneath her midnight mane and inhaling the scent that was wholly her. For a few moments he merely stood there, eyes closed breathing her in gulps as if she were the only oxygen he needed. Eventually he pulled away only enough to gently caress the defined structure of her cheek. “I was looking for you,” he mumbled quietly, his voice slightly husky with a mix of emotions.

He settled in, pressing himself gently against her side and enjoying the heat that quickly began to radiate between them. Momentarily his eyes turned skyward, the last vestiges of the sun’s pink and orange glow sinking on the horizon and the stars beginning to wink happy greetings to the world below. He lipped gently at Aveline’s mane, a smile forming on his lips as he spoke quietly, “Is the view as wonderful as I promised?”

stallion // mixed // fifteen.three // eight // bay dun tobiano [Ee/Aa/Dd/nT] // riley
beckett x summer