[Well the breathing stuff ended up having an interesting conclusion. The doc thinks I have acid reflux so bad it's partially gotten into my lungs which is why they're burning so badly. SO I'm on a round of acid reducer to see if it helps, then I have to go to an ENT doc to get something with my vocal chords checked out which might be the long term breathing issue. FUN? @_@]

Charles let it pull at him, tug him along a current stronger than he, perhaps ironic for a man who used to regularly swim such heady rivers. Now, it felt like if he was not careful, he would drown on them, and not in the way that Aurus would wish. His fingers curled around leafy extensions of hair, though strange to the touch, simply came into his mind as Aurus and grew more familiar with each passing moment they remained together, as they shared the same breath.

Aurus was forging something new with him with every heartbeat, teaching him things that had once been learned but now in an entirely new light. Still, there was caution that lingered in the back of his mind, 'knowing' that was false but society and pain had beat into his unconsciousness. It was none of those that finally brought his head away, mouth tasting of earth and flowers, but the need to take a full breath, one that found itself on exhale turning into a soft laugh.

That... had been somehow the very expected and very unexpected outcome of coming up here.