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It’s not the same meadow that Laios and Falin used to play in as children, but the flowers are in bloom and the grass is cool to the touch and still wet with dew. Falin clutches his arm as they take their morning stroll; clinging and content. He doesn’t complain about her making it hard for him to move anymore, because even though it’s still troublesome to walk like this, he wants to have her close. It soothes him to feel her warmth against him, to have a constant reminder that she’s here and she’s safe and she’s his.
“Ah, brother, look,” Falin says, moving one arm away so she can point towards a tall bit of grass. “A cocoon.” Laois obligingly steers them towards it, then squats down with her to take a closer look. Inside the cocoon, the caterpillar is melting, has melted, or is coming back together into a butterfly. The whole process seems a bit too gruesome for a surface animal, but butterflies can’t be monsters, because they don’t avoid Laios. Sometimes they even land on him, if he holds himself very still.
“Do you think it hurts?”
Falin frowns for a moment, then snuggles a bit harder into Laios’ arm. “Change always hurts. But… They’re changing for the better, so it’s worth it.”
“I guess they wouldn’t bother otherwise… That must be the case.”
They stare at the cocoon for a bit longer, then stand and turn back towards the castle.
Right now, Kabru and Marcille are probably fretting together over Laios’ earliest meeting. He sighs. If he had his way, he’d stay here in the meadow until lunch time. He’d lay in the grass with Falin and kiss her neck and talk about bugs and monsters and what kind of dessert they want with dinner. If he took that long away from his duties, he’s pretty sure Marcille would beat him with her staff. He’s certain that he’s already running late to some official signing or another.
“Can we stop by the bakery on the way back? I want something chocolate.”
“Now?” They really should hurry up. He doesn’t want to get scolded again. He looks down at Falin’s smiling, expectant, red-cheeked face and decides that getting yelled at by his advisors is a sacrifice he’s willing to make. Plus, maybe if he buys his advisors a nice treat, he can bribe them into going easy on him. “Of course we can.”
“Yay! Thank you, Laios!”
She leans up on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the lips. Definitely worth that potential scolding.