It was a dreary, rainy day. Although Peregrine would've liked staying in their den all day, his warm body curled around Hawkeye's, he knew he needed to track down some fresh meat for her. Reluctantly, he rose to his feet, nuzzled the Alpha female's cheek and then stepped out into the downpour, his black ears immediately flattening.
No more than ten minutes later, the swarthy Alpha male was forced to take shelter beneath a tree when a wind picked up, causing the rain to billow and blind him. Blinking raindrops from his eyes and shaking his head, he sat on the soaking wet ground underneath the scrubby pine tree and waited for the wind to settle down so he could get back to the game trail.
Blue Willow was out walking on this Rainy day, why she could not even answer. She had just felt like leaving her den. As a matter of fact she had been going rather stir crazy since, and she felt isolated. It had been a few days since she had seen members of her pack and it grated on her. She blinked as the rain flew into her eyes, blinding her for the most part so that she could barely see where she was going.
She saw another wolf in a similar situation and as she got closer she realized it was her Alpha Peregrine. She had grown to like him since she had started here and she was glad to be under his leadership, as she still did not know very much about Hawkeye it filled her with a little more peace to know at least one of the Alpha's was open and friendly, not that Hawkeye was not she just had not had the opportunity to get to know her well.
Blue Willow stumbled closer and with a slight whine she hit the ground beside Peregrine averting her eyes and taking up the submissive position and with a slight pant to her words said hello. "Hello Peregrine. What brings you out on this miserable day?
Suddenly, he had company. Peregrine raised no protest when Blue Willow appeared and took shelter beside him. Out of all the wolves in his pack, aside from Hawkeye and his siblings, he liked her the most. More than that, he respected her.
"'Lo," he said rather dully. "I was hunting but the weather's being a bitch," he drawled. "What about you? This doesn't seem like good herb-gathering weather or whatever," he quipped lightly, looking at her rain-soaked face.
Blue Willow would have been glad to know that her Alpha respected her. She certainly respected him, all in all she considered him a friend. Her only friend for right now as she did not know more of her pack mates. She would like to count Crete as a friend as they held a mutual love of healing and Hawkeye as her other alpha, but at the moment she could not.
Blue Willow licked at the rain falling from her face for a moment trying to keep too much from dripping and nodded. "Yes this weather is being.....well it's certainly not being nice. She could not bring herself to swear, though she did not mind that Peregrine did, it suited his personality her's not so much. "To be truthful I don't really know why i'm walking in this atrocious weather. I was just tired of being in my den and around and I set out to find someone to talk too. I was lonely I guess. How comes puppies? Is Hawkeye expecting yet?
A faint smirk appeared on his maw at her reluctance to share in his more colorful language. She admitted she didn't have a good reason for being out and about in this weather, though Peregrine would argue that cabin fever was as good a reason as any. In fact, his lips parted to tell her this when she inquired about whether his mate was expecting yet.
"Most definitely," he confirmed. "She's showing all the typical symptoms, including getting a little round in the middle. I haven't pointed it out to her, though, in case she bites off my balls." The Alpha chuffed. "If I wasn't afraid of castration, I'd tell her that it's a great look on her. She's so beautiful..." he murmured as if to himself. Of course, even a first-time mother like Hawkeye would surely know she was pregnant by now, though it was something about which she was teasingly coy around her mate thus far.
Shaking his head lightly, he remained silent for a moment before addressing Blue Willow again. "If I did my math right, she should be due a few weeks after the start of spring. We're having a boy and a girl, you know. We're both absolutely confident about it. So confident, in fact, that we've even named them already," he shared. Peregrine wasn't stupid enough to not realize they would realistically get any combination of pups, male and female, and he was more than all right with that. But if they came out exactly as predicted, it would just add another layer of magic to this whole thing called parenthood.
Blue Willow smiled at her Alpha's wistful tone about his mate. He was so enamored by her it made Blue Willow smile. She loved to see others in love, her parents had been in love and she had reveled in it. It was rare to find that one true love, but if you did ahh it could be amazing now if only she could be so lucky. "Does she need my assistance? Is she nauseous or feeling any bit off? I am sure she would not bite off any part of your male anatomy after all she needs that if she wants more puppies. Blue teased kindly.
Blue Willow laughed, "Well I suppose you could certainly guess right and I certainly hope there is one of each, that way each one of you can be driven crazy. What are you going to name them if I may ask? Blue Willow had to chuckle again when she thought of how Peregrine would act if he had a girl and once she hit her reproductive stage he would probably go Ape crazy on all males and demand they give his daughter a wide perimeter, the thought just made her giggle all anew.
The way Blue Willow took his humor literally earned a quiet snicker from him. In response to her question, Peregrine said, "No, she hasn't been sick, at least not that I know of. She's been very hungry and very tired. She sleeps a lot, which I think drives her nuts, since she always wants to be up and about." He paused and admitted, "She's moody too but I try to be patient in that regard." While he had a hair-trigger temper at times, he somehow managed to exercise nearly complete control over it when he was near Hawkeye.
"The names we've picked are Tytonidade for the boy and Osprey Jr. for the girl," he told her without qualm, warmth in his voice. "We call him Ty and her O.J. for short. Because, you know, we talk to them already and such." Peregrine laughed, a sound which blended with the rainfall somehow. "I don't know if you've met Osprey—soon to be Osprey Sr.—but she's my sister. We're naming the girl for her because she's my closest confidante aside from Hawkeye. We've been close ever since we were kids, maybe even before then." His lips twitched, especially when he recalled how much Osprey didn't want him naming his daughter after her. Too bad for you, he thought, albeit fondly.
Blue Willow laughed and said quietly "Well Peregrine I did tell you that she maybe cranky. Pregnancy is very uncomfortable i've been told. Just imagine growing living things in your body where they push on your internal organs and they are constantly moving and kicking and such in such a small space. Also very normal to be tired and hungry as she is eating for more than one and she is sleeping so her body can produce extra things for the pups like blood and other things to help them form. She sounds like she is doing very well.
Blue Willow listened to the names and repeated them. It took her a few tries to get Tytonidade, but she did get it. " yes I have met Osprey or Yerpso as she introduced herself. She is very sweet. I have promised her a story one of these days. She smiled softly she liked Osprey and Peregrine and even Crete. She still had yet to meet the fourth brother, but she was happy with those she had met so she was sure that the fourth she would like as well. "I am glad you are giving them nicknames those names are a mouthful, but they suit you and Hawkeye. Oh i wanted to tell you that I had dug a medicinal cache near my den and i have to find place for another. I also have some herbs in my own den too. I just thought of it.
Although he listened patiently, Peregrine already knew these things. Although he couldn't empathize, he could certainly sympathize, and for this reason he treated Hawkeye like the queen she was. He did his best to take care of her, to pamper her, while letting any of her mood swings roll off his back.
"Yes, she's a sweetheart," Peregrine agreed. "That's cool. I'm glad to see you pursuing the Healer co-rank so vigorously, Blue Willow. Color me impressed. And I can be pretty hard to impress," he complimented, giving the subordinate a small, sideways smile.
Blue Willow figured that Peregrine would know all this about pups and pregnancy, but like most things that had to do with knowledge. Once she got a hold of something she knew stuff about she would spout off everything she knew. It was a quality that both exasperated and endeared her parents. Her brothers used to call her a little know it all, she really couldn't help it though. She loved to share her knowledge of things. She felt that knowledge should be learned and shared, and that it was one of the most important things.
Blue Willow chuckled and nodded, "yes she is sweet and has a large imagination it seems. Which is always a good thing. Blue Willow bowed her head sheepishly and pushed her paw in the dirt slightly "Thank you, I am trying to be useful and since this is the one thing I am good at I am trying to do my best to show and use it.
Peregrine didn't have much to say in response. With someone else, he might have let the conversation fade until the other wolf took the hint and left. He didn't necessarily want Blue Willow to leave, though, and while he hated forcing small talk, something did pop into his head and he decided to voice it.
"Do you know how to mend broken bones or serious internal injuries? I ask because... I've seen wolves get beat up pretty bad during big game hunts. As the resident Gamekeeper, I anticipate an injury or two at some point in time. I want to know if I'll be in good hands when that happens."
Blue willow herself didn't want to really leave, but she was unsure of what to talk about. She was not used to small talk. She had traveled with her parents and told stories, and healed, but for the most part she kept to herself and her family. Her parents told her it was easier that way, to not form attachments so that when the time came to leave she was not sad. So she had always done that.
She grimaced at his question, not because she did not know but because those two things were awful to fix. Internal Injuries there was really nothing you could do other than give the wolf something to eat for blood the broken bone would need set and it hurt like a bad word.
"Yes and No. Internal injuries there's really nothing you can do for them. You can certainly give the wolf something to eat that will lessen blood loss, but for the most part those have to either heal on their own or not, that is the unfortunate truth. Milk Vetch would allow for them to throw up the blood so they are not choking on it, but it may also irritate the internal injury. Another good herb for internal bleeding is stinging nettle. With stinging nettle though you have to be careful and carefully shave off the little pricklies it has. That is all you can really do. As for Broken bones you would need to set them and well setting them hurts like a...like a...well like a curse word. If she could she would have blushed she just couldn't bring herself to say the word. "You then have to use a stick and hold the bone straight and bind it with seaweed, seaweed is best as it shrinks and tightens as it drys.
Peregrine listened to everything Blue Willow had to say, his lips twitching at the sheer volume of her reply. Her soft voice, in combination with the soft rain, suddenly made him very sleepy. He eased forward onto his belly and just barely stifled a yawn; he didn't want to be rude.
"A bitch?" he supplied when she paused. His tail gave a single thump on the damp ground. "Well, it sounds like I'd be in the best possible hands if something did happen, even if there's a limit to what you can do. That puts my mind at ease, Willow. Thank-you."
He didn't see a point to forcing conversation, especially considering how tired he felt suddenly. "Think I'm gonna catnap. You're welcome to stick around and wait out the storm, though don't feel bad if you'd rather go do something else," the Alpha male said, giving her a friendly look before letting his chin sink onto his paws and his eyes drift closed.