raised on the edge of the devil's backbone

// and if i was the only thing you couldn't bear to lose,
i'd set fire to the wood, just so you wouldn't have to bury me too //

Her hand at his nose with the small little shake is well received, a snort of warm air passing over her hand as she departs. And he lets her explore, remaining still as her hands run along him, to his wings, to testing feathers and bones. There’s a few spaces that are still sore and likely would be given the fact he’s only just healed — his body having gone for months with overcompensating for the pain of it. But with it is relief, ease, comfort.

A wing extends and a wing withdraws, for however long until she’s rounded back toward his face. The kiss pressed right in the middle of a pale forehead has his eyes closing for a moment, before he’s withdrawing, ears wavering, his steel gaze casting over her before he steps out of her embrace to shift back into himself. “For once, hm?” He responds, reaching for her to close the distance, the edge of tri colored feathers drifting along his spine and shoulders from his neck.

He aims to pull her into an easy embrace, to catch her lips in a kiss full of both gratitude and apology.

SUNJATA