lord, have mercy [watching the fire]

[aesior]

and they saw trouble in my eyes
"speech." . 'thoughts' . attack

The scent of smoke was not as distressing to him as it would be to others, nor would the sight of fire. He'd lost a life once to fire. It wasn't as scary as many others claimed it to be, not to him. Green-gray eyes narrowed and followed the swallowing of the fire, the action that Lucinder took. Grief was a bitch. A real bad one, and annoying too.

Stepping from where he'd paused in an unknown path, one that his paws took him naturally, having stopped by Corrupttimelines home, hoping upon hope that the other tom would have returned. Love was an asshole, he'd decided somewhere along the line. Love and grief often worked in tandem and its offspring of heartbreak was a cruel, cruel monster. Shaking out his pelt, he padded forward as he watched smoke begin to curl and the sparks to raise higher and higher into the night as he watched on, a silent vigil for the dead and missing. Casting a glance over to Lucinder, he exhaled gently, wishing he knew the words to console the young lion. Ares was gone as well. How was he faring?

Sitting down nearby the young man, he would attempt to reach out to his mind, "When I said we should take out old buildings and use them for tinder, I didn't quite mean a bonfire." He would offer him a smile with the impression of a laugh in his mental tone. Turning his gaze back to the building, he would raise a paw and guide the growing greenery around the old wreck away from the wood that the lichen clung to and the rain had swollen. Ears flicking at the sound of wood exploding, he swept his paw across the ground and with a low growling sound, pebbles and dirt would lift off the ground to form a small wall, a shield against any fiery splinters that exploded outwards. It felt strange, having the ability to interact with the earth again, but he enjoyed it. Truly. Looking to Lucinder to check on him, he would let the dirt slowly return to the ground in a pile, easily accessible should they need it, "How are you doing?" He would attempt to ask.

they were quick to recognize the devil in me.
aesior opheles of tanglewood. -- luminary.

credit @/teef