The day had a heavy atmosphere, Matteo noticed early on. He'd been preparing breakfast, actually, when he'd had that cold chill up his spine telling him something bad was bound to happen. He thought he'd figured it out when Miwa had gotten into an ink well (luckily made out of a washable substance, so it didn't stain her fur after a good bath). Nope! The moment things had settled after that, in the evening, he still felt that chilled feeling.
Come evening, he had to get some air. Everything had been grinding his nerves and he felt his temper biting at the back of his mind. He knew there was no reason for any drama between his mate, his friend and his family, so he left to take a long walk.
The tide was out but the rocks were slippery enough at this time of night that the veil simply wasn't safe to visit, so he took a longer walk to the Serene Sands beach. He knew the moon would be visable there behind the occasional clouds, but by the time he'd made it to the beach, the clouds had hidden any lights from view up there. No stars. No moon. Just a gentle glow from a storm brewing.
He trotted up to the beach in his optime form, bundled in a long coat but only a pair of jeans underneath, having been too worn out to bother with getting fully dressed (another habit he'd picked up from Alaki). As he came onto the light sand, a figure caught his eye.
At first he thought he was seeing things. As he took a closer look though, he realized that it was Gemma. What had she done to herself? The scent of blood drifted to him and he didn't waste another second standing there.
Gemma! He called in a worried tone, sliding to a kneeling halt beside her, hands hesitantly reaching for her shoulders, stopping before touching her. He'd been about to turn her to face him but the sight of an overly still Jaden stopped him cold; why wasn't he breathing? ...shit. Not again.
His arms started to lower to his sides but he stopped them midway, bolding moving to tug her into a (somewhat forceful) firm embrace, the still child between them but not smothered despite his condition.
He said the first thing that came to mind, It's not your fault. and left it at that. There was nothing more he could say. Not until she'd had a chance to at least react to his actions, his being there.
