He didn’t need to limp very far before the approach of one of the very mares he’d been thinking of entered his vision. Zevulun drew to a slow halt so he could watch Luna’s quick and happy approach, a little bit of the heavy pain he’d been holding onto momentarily subsiding. But the freckled mare took note not only of his physical condition, but the way he was holding himself - head a little lower, expression somewhat troubled - and he noticed the way happiness flickered off her face to be replaced with concern. It was a small moment, only a few seconds long, but it was enough to be visual proof of what he knew he needed to fight against. No matter how broken his heart, if Zevulun allowed that sorrow to consume him, others here would suffer. No one needed to suffer, not anymore, and especially not Luna. She’d already had enough in her lifetime.

He sighed as her lips brushed his cheek and briefly closed his eyes just to soak in the warmth of her sweet touch. Every inch of his skin was screaming for love and comfort now, even if self-doubt swarmed his consciousness and told him he deserved none of it. Zevulun opened his pale blue eyes to Luna and smiled softly. “You already are,” he murmured to her, though he knew she wouldn’t understand how, or why.

“I’m okay, I just overexerted myself a little bit, I’m not as young as I used to be.” He joked, but it was true. Maybe if he’d sustained this gruesome injury he would have bounced back more easily than he did now on the verge of his seventeenth year. “Come,” he beckoned, reaching out to touch her cheek lovingly with his own whiskered lips, “I’m thirsty; the pond isn’t too far from here.”

Just a short ways away was one of Zevulun’s more favorite places to rest, where there was a creek-fed pond with thick cattails and willow trees grown around most of its edge; it was tucked down in a valley of hills, only noticeable once one walked close enough to crest their tops. Among the rolling, open, vast expanse of the Prairie it was one small tucked away place where one could find some small semblance of privacy. Right now, tucked away at that pond, resting in the shade of the willows with Luna, was exactly where he wanted to be.

He nodded briefly off toward Mage, ever thankful for her continued residence here and that she now helped him look after Luna when leadership duties meant he could not. If she wanted she would be welcome to accompany them, of course, but the mare seemed to know when the pair deserved their quiet moments of privacy.

Zevulun walked slowly, but knew Luna would match his pace without pressuring him to go faster. He relished in that, in walking side-by-side with her, and her unwavering trust in him. He glanced sidelong at her and decided he wanted to listen to her, to fill his ears with her happy, loving voice, rather than have the barrage of broken thoughts playing on repeat in his mind. “Have you and Mage had a good day today?”