[div style="width: 360px; font-family: verdana; color: #325C74; text-align: left; padding-top: 15px; padding-left: 10px"]STARDUST IN MY EYES

a breath in, a breath out. one, two, three, four. raizen found his thoughts occupied with keeping the rising and falling of his chest in line, paying less focus to the border that they were quickly stumbling upon and more on every gust of air that filled his lungs. to say that he was nervous would be an understatement. raizen was scared, if he was being honest. anxiety gnawed at the back of his mind, whispering irrational thoughts, that they would turn them away or that if he didn't focus on his breathing for one second he'd forget to altogether and die right there.

what was he thinking? he was supposed to be the calmer one, the one to counter rhys' stubbornness and sharp tongue, and here he was, panicking over something so simple. what was the most he would have to do? answer a few questions? he'd still be better than rhys; he knew that if it were up to his brother, rhys would have just offered that they go on their own and becoming travelers in general. now, as they drew closer, the thought was becoming more and more tempting. the thought of joking, asking his brother his thoughts on just traveling, crossed his mind, but he shooed them away. rhys would be all too happy to do such a thing, and they were too close to the border by this point.

a few more small steps, and they were there. raizen's jaws parted to take in the scent as he came to a halt, and he turned, just slightly, to face his brother. "we're here, rhy." his voice wavered, and he hesitated, making a soft noise in an attempt to hide the nervousness he felt. "Guess there's no going back now, is there?" His weak attempt had only made his voice sound worse, but he forced a weak smile before turning his gaze downwards, worried that anyone who approached would be able to see just how nervous he was even if his voice didn't give him away.

    && please don't reply until rhys has, thank you!

© MADI