☁ Pierce hadn't been out a ton in recent days. When the cold finally reached the Ascendants' territory, and despite having grown accustomed to the cold after having lived in it for the majority of his life, it had taken Pierce's body a bit by surprise, it seemed. He'd been struck with what he assumed was a case of the flu, leading him to quarantine himself until it passed. It'd been a bit lonely, but now that he'd recovered, he was ready to get back out into the clan. Old red scarf tied around his throat, the slender man stepped out of his home for the first time in what felt like weeks. The soft morning sun was harsh against his eyes at first, freckled face scrunched up to block it as he continued out into the rest of the Observatory.

It was rather empty, though that shouldn't be much of a surprise- everyone who was up this early was likely already working or had never gone to bed, and everyone else was probably asleep. A small yawn escaped Pierce's jaws, and he blinked tired eyes as they adjusted to the light, though despite his impaired vision, he continued onward at full speed, which was probably part of the reason he walked right into bump into the slightly larger wildcat before him. "Oh, I'm- I'm so sorry," he murmured, clearly flustered as he took a step back and straightened his scarf before fixing his gaze upon the feline before him.  "Hey, you're that Clarence guy, aren't you?" If not, this sure would be embarrassing, but this guy sure did seem familiar. "I'm Pierce, if you, uh, never caught that. Are you settling in okay?"

"speech"

☁ Pierce knew what it was like to have your mind constantly clouded by thoughts and memories of those once closest to you, who were so far away and whose wellbeing was entirely out of your control. He'd made the choice to leave his family back in their old home, the one which's name was still lost to him. So many details of his life before Snowbound were blurred, or completely missing, but Clementine and Riddlersgame had always been constants for him - in his memory, in his mind, in his entire life. Not being with them was one thing, but not knowing if they were safe, hell, even if they were alive was another. The worry that had choked him day in and day out had been like nothing else he had ever experienced, save for perhaps the absence of his (ex)boyfriend only a few days after they had finally admitted their feelings for one another. Even Everett, however, had not been as constant in his life as Riddlersgame.

Riddlersgame.

He tried not to think of the man too much, for the last time he had seen him had been their short, curt exchange of grievances - and some shouting on Riddler's part - before the other tabby left him with his daughter in the middle of a clan he still barely knew. Heartbreak should have been something Pierce was used to by now, but he didn't think anything had hurt more than when he had been left by the one person who had always been there. Even when they both fucked up worse than either of them ever could have imagined, they recovered, and now, after just one mistake, he was left alone.

It had gotten to the point, however, that Pierce had decided he had to get over his wallowing in his sorrows. After all, it had been a good few months since the tabby had left. Maybe it was finally time to get over his past, no matter how much it hurt- to move on, and find someone new.

The dappled feline blinked large amber eyes up at Clarence, a pleasant smile finding its way to his features as he got over his initial surprise, though there was still a slight hint of worry for the other tom in his gaze. "Good to hear," Pierce purred, giving a slight, dog-like wag of his tail as he took another half-step back.

"Why're you out so early? I'm out often enough because I try to keep to a routine of sorts but I don't usually see many others."

The truth was, this was pretty much a normal time for Pierce - or, it used to be -, but he figured, with his having not done this in a long time and Clarence being new, the black panther would be entirely unaware of that fact. "Oh, yeah, uh, I actually used to always get up at this time- I was just kind of sick recently, and I didn't want to spread it around, or anything like that." He paused, before questioning, "So you're kinda a morning person, too?"

"speech"