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The grey stallion woke before dawn, squinted at his darkened surroundings, and laid his head back down again with a sigh. For several minutes he lay with eyes closed, searching for sleep - but in vain. The peace of dreams was eluding him, and he had an uncomfortable feeling that even if he slept, he would find no peace in his dreams. After all, it had been no external disturbance that had woken him.

Meleager shook his head, failed to clear it, and got up to walk down to the lake to take a dip in the cool water instead. A few minutes later, bathed and somewhat more refreshed, he left its shore, but headed in no particular direction.

The herdleader was on edge and not sure why. He had thought he was completely happy - relaxed and content for once - but recently, he had had the nagging feeling that something was... not right. Missing, or damaged, or corrupted - he wasn't sure what to call it. It was nothing physical, nothing straightforward - nothing he could deal with. It was a combination of things, he admitted to himself in the still air of the early morning, and thought that he could name some of them.

That train of thought was arrested by the realisation of where he had come to. A soft smile spread over the herdleader's face, and he slowed his steps, coming to a halt at the edge of the clearing he had gifted to Castor, for just a second. Then he pushed onward, parting the branches that screened it from the outside world.

"Castor?"

How was it that just seeing Castor - seeing him smile - helped with almost anything? Meleager's mood was lightened instantly, and he stepped fully into the clearing, letting the brances return to their former positions and screen them both from the outside world. "Yes," he said, after a moment's pause, adding with a frown and a shrug, "Although I couldn't sleep."

The muscled stallion studied the taller stallion for a moment, finding him as gorgeous as ever, even in the early morning and surely not long awake. "And how are you?" he asked. His previous train of thought was gone, now, but he didn't mind so much. It would be nice to just spend time with Castor, talk about nothing in particular, or at least nothing important, until he figured out what it was that was bothering him. Maybe Castor would help with that - his feet must have led him here for a reason. Meleager smiled to himself at that thought, because he didn't need any excuse to want to see the pale crossbreed.

The herdleader lifted his gaze to meet the tactician's again, and, shuffling his hooves with an air of slight awkwardness, he commented belatedly, "I hope you don't mind..."

Well, that was good that Castor's day didn't look like being too busy. His own was looking to be rather more full - in fact, now he thought about it, this would probably be his only free time until late that evening. Better make the most of it, then. Meleager smiled, and explained, "I was hoping you didn't mind me barging in on you this early, actually. But obviously you don't, so that's good. Especially since I don't think I do have any other free time today," he added with a sigh.

"What would you like to do?" the herdleader asked. He didn't mind - he wasn't particularly hungry, had already bathed, and was awake enough for conversation. Anything Castor wanted to do was fine by him - he had a feeling his thoughts would fall into place by themselves, and then he could talk to the slim Ichsa-cross about whatever they turned out to be. Well, hopefully that was how it would work. Hopefully.

"That sounds like a good idea, yes," the dapple grey said with a nod and a smile, and took the opportunity to lead the way out of the clearing. He paused a moment to make sure he was not leaving Castor behind, and then headed off in no particular direction. For now there was no urgency about heading to where he needed to be later, so they could afford to wander aimlessly for a while. Not under the trees though - the sun had surely risen by now, and Meleager was not in the mood for shadows.

It wasn't long before he led his companion into an area where the trees thinned and the plains of D'ob began to open out ahead of them. Pausing, the muscled Reya glanced at his companion with a soft smile. The sky was still dull, the sun glimmering faintly between clouds, and the scene before them was not as beautiful as it might have been, but that didn't matter...

A flash of movement in the mid-distnce caught his eye, and the herdleader looked back, frowning slightly. A trio of foals, breed and gender indistinguishable at first sight, were playing tag on and above the ground. Meleager watched them, and began to frown.

It wasn't until Castor spoke that Meleager realised he'd been staring off in the distance. It took a moment for the voice to enter his conscious mind, and he missed the first few words that the pale stallion said. Belatedly turning to regard the tactician as he spoke, Meleager nodded. "Makes sense to me," he commented, "they're the sort of games that need tactics - and speed." Smiling, he continued, "I wasn't brilliant at those sort of things, actually, but I could always persuade my friends to play the sort of games I was good at... Helen was good at them, though," he added, almost without thinking.

At the sound of his late daughter's name, the herdleader swallowed. How long had it been since he'd said that aloud? How long had it been since he'd talked about her? ...Too long. Or maybe not long enough, although he thought of her almost every time he saw foals. Helen, and Melantho...

The muscled stallion shook himself back to the present moment and shot Castor a guilty smile. He didn't add anything; couldn't think of anything to say that didn't mention either of them, or the fact that he'd figured out one of the things that was bothering him. With a sigh, he looked down at the grass beneath his hooves. Bugger, he thought.

Meleager was about to make a joking comment about what potential Castor saw in these foals when he was halted by the crossbreed's addition. "...Yes. She was," was all he could say, voice filled with quiet, aching pride. He missed her - godsdammit, she had been perfect! Why --

With an effort, the muscled herdleader stopped himself from following that train of thought any further. Not again; not now. With a sigh, he turned to Castor. There was no easy way to say what he had realised, and Meleager knew the tactician too well to think he could get away with hinting - that would probably just confuse him. As smart as he was, Castor didn't follow allusions well. That was a good thing, though, since Meleager didn't do allusions well himself. Stop putting this off, he told himself, and said, "I think I want more children."

As soon as he heard the words out loud, Meleager realised how much truth was in them. There was really no 'think' about it - he loved foals, and he needed an heir somehow, and... he wanted to have children. But Castor... Meleager wjust didn't know how he would react.

Meleager opened his mouth to reply, then paused and looked at Castor for a long moment. Eventually, a grin spread across his face, turning into quiet laughter. He stepped forward and nuzzled the other stallion's shoulder briefly in a gesture of appreciation. Then, smiling, said slowly, "You're... wonderful, you know that? Almost anyone else would have taken that as a huge insult. Any mare I know would definitely..." Meleager shook his head. Never mind that. "Um... no? In answer to your question, that is - I hadn't really got that far..." He trailed off, thinking.

Since he couldn't have children with Castor, he would have to actually put some thought into choosing a mother. It was a very unnatural idea, Meleager thought, and not something he would be any good at by himself. To go by looks was a bad idea; to go by love a dead end. Logic... was Castor's speciality. The herdleader looked up at the pale-coated tactician again, and his smile widened. He really was lucky to have him.

Meleager frowned. "I think... purebred might be better. Not meaning any offence to you, of course," he explained with a smile, "just that it'd be... I don't know, more normal? Not that this is at all normal anyway." The Reya sighed and stretched out his wings, settling them back into a slightly more comfortable position. "Once I have an heir, or at least possibilities for an heir, I think the herd would take the news that I've taken a male mate much better than they would otherwise," he added, smiling again. "Which reminds me - whichever mare... she would have to be discreet."

This was all rather complicated. But worth it, he decided, looking back out at the trio of foals. They seemed to have given up on playing tag for now, and were trotting off towards one of the many streams. The soldier-stallion's expression softened as he watched them - most of the herd would have been surprised to see him look so sentimental.