Touch has always been his preferred language. Over the years, he'd learned to use words to his advantage as well, but it was never his first choice. What pleasure could words offer in comparison to the sensual slide of Feray's spotted coat against his mottled muzzle? What relief could he find in speech that he could not find in the way that she yields to him, or in the way she curls naturally around the embrace that he offers?

Words will never be enough to match what the touch of his glass-girl can accomplish.

For long moments they simply stand intertwined, lending each other comfort for the things they could not yet say. For the apologies that Solomon didn't know how to voice, or the secrets that Feray held in her heart. Her tears leave dark smears across his chest, staining the champagne hue of his skin the same dark amber as his mane and tail.

This is not the happy reunion he had dreamed of. He'd lost count of the numbers of times he'd spent time dreaming of the day that Feray would emerge from the ocean, child in tow. Far too many times he'd imagined what would come after -- the fights that they would make up after, and a continuation of exploration. It had occurred to him that he did not know if she would prefer the lower, warmer valley where the herd gathered, or if she, like Banshee, would take to the mountains for the privacy that they offered. Would she linger near the lake as Columbina did, or would she walk amongst the herd as confidently as Golden Illusion?

Did she lead for the sake of pride like Marzanna, or for the sake of doing what was right, as Ysabel did? Had her queenship in the Badlands come to her by fortunate happenstance, or was she born for it the same way that Daciana was? There was still so much that he did not yet know about her, and he longed for the day that he would have a chance to explore it all with her. The odds of such a thing had always seemed laughably small, even after they had found each other on the crossing. Feray had never given him any indication that she intended to take his offers seriously, and yet here she was. Not that the Forest was the Cove, by any means. But it certainly wasn't the Badlands either.

And while Solomon was good enough to feel bad about the pain that she was now in, he was not good enough to want to take any of it back.

When Feray pulls back with the intention of speaking, he attempts to meet her bi-colored gaze again, doing his best to will her not to send him away. She had every right to ask him to leave. To disappear from her life and never complicate her life again.

All he had was the hope that she wouldn't.

A daughter, she says and he inhales sharply, unsure how to take those two little words. It was not that he was unhappy with a daughter by any means, but the way that the words seemed to stick in her throat made him fear desperately that their daughter - their daughter! - had not survived her delivery. It is only when she elaborates, and speaks of their baby in the present tense that releases that same breath and a smile steals over his face as if a cloud had been lifted. It broadens until it sets his whole face alight, but he stays quiet as she speaks, his heart thundering in his ears.

She has your eyes, his glass-faced girl confirms and Solomon's heart swells. He had known that he would love the child anyway, even if he never learned the truth of their parentage, but to hear Feray confirm that it was their daughter filled his heart in a way he could not explain. It was not as though he would ever forget the time that they had spent together on the Crossing, but this child was a blood tie that would link their fates together forever. And as much as Solomon had tried to escape his past, a part of him could not help but celebrate the long-held truth that children brought parents together.

I love her just as I do y-, Feray cuts herself off but it does not matter. Despite his distaste for the limitations of words, they did occasionally allow slips of the tongue, and he was fairly certain he understood what she had almost admitted. Solomon freezes in the wake of her admission, too shocked to respond at first. Even in his wildest dreams, he had not allowed himself to hope that her fondness for him transcended just that - fondness. He knew of his own weakness for his glass-faced girl, but he had always assumed that she kept her heart safely guarded from him. Even when they had joined together, a part of Solomon had simply blamed it on the hormones and a moment of weakness from them both. To know that she felt so deeply for him gave birth to a new resolve in his heart to keep her safe and protected from this moment onward... Roheryn be damned.

Before she can continue or take back the admission that pings back and forth in his mind, he stretches out to brush his lips across her cheek again, doing his best to reassure her that he understood and that she didn't have to say more now. They would have time enough to explore this feeling later, he would make sure of it.

Her next words steal away his breath again, but he exhales again with a smile. Chuckling softly, Solomon nods. "Of course I would, Feray."

His heart still thrummed excitedly in his chest, and he couldn't help the way his muzzle traced briefly across the elegant curve of her neck fondly in passing as he made room for her to move. He could not get the thought of what she'd almost said out of his mind, even as the moment of meeting their daughter grew closer.

But the sight of their daughter wiped even this from his mind momentarily, and a soft exhalation puffed from his lips as she stepped shyly closer. The girl was beautiful, her coppery body filigreed with the same delicate speckles of white that covered Feray's body. His own white patches sprawl across her slender body and he saw now why Feray could not doubt the girl's parentage. The filly stared back at him with the same vivid green that he'd seen in his own reflections.

"Mama?" Esmeray asked softly, as she entered, clearly drawn in by her dam's voice. A gentle smile curled at the edges of Solomon's lips as the girl sought the side of her mother for comfort, peering up at him from Feray's shoulder with wide-eyed curiosity. Moving slowly so as not to startle their young daughter, Solomon dropped his head to her height before speaking gently. "Hello Esmeray," he said gently, unshed tears prickling at the backs of his eyes.

Solomon was not often a man prone to crying at the sight of his children, even though he loved each of them dearly. But he'd spent so long assuming that he would never meet this child, let alone be able to tell her that she was his, that the emotion behind this moment was too strong to ignore. He stretched forward to offer her his muzzle, and exchanged his first soft breath with their daughter. He pulled away reluctantly from the tickle of her milk-scented muzzle to speak gently again. "I'm Solomon. I'm your dad."

Esmeray continued to stare at him silently, as if judging whether or not she could accept this turn of events. Eventually, as the filly stepped away from her mother to nuzzle at his chest in exploration, he stayed still, but allowed his gaze to rise to Feray. A million questions jostled for position in his mind. Did she mean what she almost said? Did this mean she would come with him, or did it not matter? Was this connection, this undeniable and nonsensical bond that they shared enough for her? Or was the call of her past too strong to ignore?

Was he doomed to watch her walk away, back to Roheryn?

The questions chase each other through his mind, but he can't bring himself to ask them. He will, eventually. Bur for now, he chooses only to be thankful for this moment. To enjoy this small slice of life and to relish it for what it was - a step in a new direction. Again, Solomon reaches across (careful not to move his feet) to nuzzle gently at the slope of Feray's shoulder.

"Thank you," he murmurs, intending for the moment to be sweet. Their daughter, however, has other ideas and her small muzzle prods jealously in between, her fuzzy ears tipped back in annoyance. The meaning was clear. Feray was very obviously her mother, and she didn't intend to share. Appeasing the filly, he playfully tosses his head and takes a short step away before dropping his head to stage whisper a response for their girl. "I don't blame you, sweetheart. I'd do the same thing if I could get away with it."

Solomon