Forgraves had practically ran home, honestly. he had tried to shake every ounce of the spores off him on his way, but there were still many coating his thick fur. the fur arounds his cheeks were marked with tears and ruffled from forgraves repeatedly trying to wipe them off so azrael didn't worry. all he hoped was the fire wasnt on when he got home.

he padded in, breathing heavily, falling into his corner of the den and immediately proceeding to hyperventilate, despite how hard he tried not to. he froze out of pure frustrated misery and could barely keep his breathing steady. "it wasnt real, its okay, it wasnt real, youre safe" he tries to whisper to himself but it comes out strangled. he covers his eyes, he can't let azrael see him like this, what would he say? he directly disobeyed one of the first bits of advice he ever gave him? because he was just 'curious'? that of course it resulted in disaster? that, worst of all, during it, he accused azrael indirectly of attempting to kill him? even if he knows now it wasnt real? azrael wasn't good at handling when other people were upset either, so what would even happen if he saw him like this?

he curled in on himself. he just wanted it all to fall away.

@Azrael

Azrael was still seething with his loss when he returned to Canis. His throat hurt from the flames and he was exhausted from all the running and chasing and spellcasting he'd done. He just wanted to curl up in his den, now, and sleep for a long time. Well, eat first - he'd caught a rat on the way back and was dragging it by its tail.

He didn't immediately realize that something was wrong when he returned. Forgraves was curled up in his nest. Dreaming, probably, so Azrael fell into his with a growl. Banshy wasn't here right now, probably off hunting somewhere, but Azrael wasn't worried - the child was strong, independant. If he needed help, Azrael would come running.

He sat back against the wall and picked up the rat, beginning to tear into it whole, trying not to think about that damn beast and its stupid face.

@Forgraves

as azrael came back he could practically feel the rage radiating off of him, and flinched, was he upset with him? no, that couldn't be it, he must have gotten back from a fight, he smelt-

FIRE

he jolted, almost screaming, but only letting out a strangled yelp, hoping to whatever god that may be he didn't hear him. nothing was wrong, he was save, *nothing was wrong*, and yet somehow, that brief nightmare was sticking with him so hard, why? is it because he could still feel the burn of the flame taking hold of his entire body? was that it? was it that he still felt like he was being held by his throat, just to not cry?

as he tried to bury his face into his own fur he breathed in more spores, head spinning again, jolting his head up with a startled wheeze, shaking, words dying on his tongue, though to anyone who listened, it could've sounded like he was about to scream 'NO'

@Azrael

Azrael was halfway through a bite when Forgraves suddenly yelped. He flinched and whipped his head towards the fox, totally forgetting about his rage for a moment. Without hesitation, he dropped the rat and stood. Now that he was taking a closer look, Forgraves looked terrible, curled in on himself, breathing fast, and flinching every so often. Carefully, he padded over and kneeled next to him, unsure of what to do.

He wasn't a creature of deep emotion, he didn't understand what Forgraves was going through, but he couldn't just watch. Carefully, he reached out a hand to gently touch his shoulder. "Forgraves?" he rumbled, softly. "Are you okay? What has happened?"

@Forgraves

forgraves nearly jumped 10 feet in the air when azrael touched his shoulder, instead flinching so violently his bones hurt. he snapped his head to turn and looked at azrael with genuine terror in his eyes that he had never had in them before, even as a hatchling when he was so new to the world did he not look terrified in such a way like this. sure, hesitant and scared, but not this. this was so much worse, and wasn't accompanied by an urge of curiosity, but of one to avoid something like a violent plague.

ontop of that, as azrael touched forgraves shoulder, horribly, because the universe probably hates him, spores would come off like bright pollen, if he had rolled around in a field of flowers, but if he had, why would he be so scared?

"i-i" he stammered, unable to form the sentence at first. "i had- i was- eridanus- i just wanted to see it- i didn't-" he chirped pathetically in broken stammers. "t-the monarch, i just- i just wanted to see it-" he shivered, he couldn't recount the events that followed the monarch well enough to make sense either.

"fire, falling, b-burning, s-screaming, i can't-" he choked, tears waterfalling down his face with seemingly no end. he broke until an almost peaceful sob, peaceful in comparison to what had become of him before, guilt washing over him. "i thought- you- i thought it was you- i was DYING, why did.. you would never-" he cried. he didn't even know if azrael would understand, but he couldn't get anything else out


@Azrael

As soon as the spores came fluttering off of Forgraves, Azrael jerked his head back with a loud snort, careful not to breathe them in, in case they were poisonous. Also he just didn't want to start sneezing. He looked back down at Forgraves, eyes narrowed, not in anger but deep concern. He was spooked and disturbed and that worried him. If he found out that someone had harmed his son, then they would burn.

He growled lowly at the thought, but stopped a second later when Forgraves admitted that it wasn't a gembound that had got him in that state - it was the monarch. "You went back there?" he rumbled with disbelief. "After what happened last time? That was foolish!" Anger rose up in his chest at Forgraves' foolishness. Could he not believe things that happened right in front of his eyes? Could he not take Azrael's word and fear, that he had been lucky enough to see, and stay away?!

"What are you TALKING about?" he growled. Perhaps he should be gentler and more sensitive, but it wasn't in his nature. He was a beast and he was angry, with Forgraves and with the Monarch. "Did it show you fire? Is that what you fear?" And that was a bad thing too, considering his own affinity for heat and flame.

@Forgraves

orgraves understood Azrael's reaction well enough, he had directly disobeyed him, all because he was 'curious', but curiosity killed the cat, he supposed. better safe than sorry. "i-i- i know- i'im sorry-"

he yipped at Azrael's tone a moment later, however, closing in on himself further, hiding his eyes back under his paws. he knew this was a bad idea. he should've just made up some dumb excuse, that he was exploring eridanus and fell asleep in a patch of mushrooms or something, that he and venti had talked again and thats where the spores had come from, or that he just ate a fairyfly or something, but no, he had to open his dumb mouth because of course he could bring up the courage to go to the monarch but not to lie to his father, what a joke. or atleast, thats what forgraves thought.

"n-NO, i d-don't- m-maybe, i d-dont know-" he stammered quickly. he'd honestly rather be at the monarch than here, at this moment. he was never afraid of fire, until he supposed now. no more than any other person would be. fire hurt, and even killed if given the chance, why shouldn't he be afraid, cautious atleast?
"i-im sorry, Azrael, i-i-i w-wont do it ag-gain, i-i promise!" he mewled. it had been a while since he'd called azzy anything BUT azzy or dad, if he remembers right.

when he thinks about it, was DID he see fire, or assume it was azrael? was it because azzy was the only one who used fire enough to be normal? or was it just playing on his natural anxieties of everyone around him, or was it one of those nonsensical nightmares where nothing looks like everything? he hoped it was the last

@Azrael