it couldn't be avoided anymore. her scent had been half-familiar upon arrival, and within days (hours, perhaps) of his stay in swiftcurrent creek, there was no denying it. myrren was here — but for how long? had she strayed from morningside, or scattered with the rest of them? had she been with these wolves since?
she was another weight on aditya's heart, another reminder of his failed past. out of everyone he'd wronged by leaving his post so abruptly, she might have been least affected. . .but affected, nonetheless. he wondered if she'd heard about his disastrous visit to undersea. he wondered if she thought he was a bad man.
the unmistakable odor of little ones was interwined with her smell; she must be a new mother. if he couldn't bring myrren to forgive him, at least he could ingratiate himself with her children, the future of this pack—his pups' playmates, presumably. he wandered near the rendezvous point, trying to track her down through scent alone. if push came to shove, he'd call for her.
at this point, leaving it so late, he'd rather bump into her by surprise.
i'll toss alessia in after a few rounds! <3 tags for ref
Of the many things the sprite has found a strong distaste for in his short life, noise is certainly among the highest ranking. More specifically, constant noise. So, of course the buzzing outside the den drives him mad. Of course he just can't resist inspecting the source, if only to glare at it until it stops — however long that might take. It's only a few steps past the entrance, he reasons, glancing down to glare briefly at his legs as if that might make them move faster. It doesn't.
Turns out it's more than a few steps, too. He pauses, blinking against the glare of the sun, and takes a moment to stew in his utter shock at being wrong as he registers the relative emptiness of the (somewhat familiar) area outside the den. Yet the buzzing continues, loud as ever, and after a moment his ears flatten. He briefly considers calling for @Helios, but hesitates — what if @Polaris and @Lainie come, too? The thought pulls his lips into a grimace, and after another moment he turns toward the direction he thinks the buzzing is coming from, determination in his step. He's never wandered this far from the den, and he half-wonders if he'll stumble across @Kavik somewhere in this vast... mess. It's such a mess, he realizes, glaring disapprovingly at a ragged leafy thing as he passes it; he hadn't really inspected things closely when he'd left the den before. The more he looks, the more he hates it out here.
He's so distracted by the discovery, he fails to notice the growing scent of something unfamiliar — someone unfamiliar. Even when his steps take him quite near the unsuspecting stranger, he's too busy sniffing an odd green growth at the base of a tree to see the man. It's a stupid looking little thing. Ugly,
He decides loudly, not quite sure himself whether it's an observation or an insult, and leans in to clamp his teeth around the growth. The plant seems to warp as he draws closer, stalk splitting to reveal a single golden eye in the half-beat before his jaws close around it — and it shrieks. Or maybe it's him shrieking; he can't tell for sure, but it wouldn't surprise him. Either way, the air flees his lungs entirely as he flails all the way to the ground, and all he can do after that is lie there and wheeze. As usual.
he was less prepared for the girl even than he was for myrren. the child said something in a tongue he didn't understand, and aditya was ready to ask about it before he realized the pup was talking to a plant. right? she was talking to that plant—right?
before adi could make a move forward, the girl had seized the stalk in her mouth and promptly tumbled backward, a shriek rising into the air. concerned, he approached with quick but cautious steps, like someone navigating a minefield.
are you all right?
he asked quietly, his brows nearly to the base of his ears as he spoke. he bent low, going to his belly to be able to look the smaller wolf in the eye. what's frightened you?
perhaps there'd been an insect nearby, or even a rodent. he really didn't know.
Hope this is okay?
She didn't feel too good that day. Growing had began to make her sickly health get better but still there were days when her tummy bothered her. She wouldn't have left the den at all if not for shrieking. Her brother's shrieking. Her ears went back as the sound gave her immediate anxiety, she didn't know why he was screaming but she wanted it to
stop. She stood up and slowly left the den, following his scent and the sound and soon coming upon the sight of a stranger standing over her curled up brother. Immediately she ran forward and with all her small might tried to tackle the man away from her brother
"No! Bad man!" she shrieked and tried to wedge herself between him and Zephyr.
I could NOT help myself, hope you don’t mind
The woman was still getting adjusted to the slight swell across her abdomen. Seeking to go for a walk and stretch her legs. Lie was just on her way back when she heard the screech of her daughter, and then the yell of her other daughter. oh god. She couldn’t stop the terrified expression as she dashed through the trees, narrowly dodging branches and twigs. Zeph and Lainie please be ok.
Coming around to see her children facing down by a man she hardly knew. A harsh bark and fierce snarl held great warning to the man. “Get away from my children.” She couldn’t think of the words she assaulted him with, only thinking of her daughters. Coming to stand almost a top them, glaring at the man despite her small stature.
Everything happens rather quickly. The approach of a stranger startles him, and for a half-beat he prepares to snarl — but then he actually sees the man. His gaze widens and he goes still, gaze tracing the stranger's rippling coat before settling on his eyes. They look like the creek. His words register belatedly, but before Zephyr can open his mouth to respond, his sister is barreling onto the scene. Her arrival startles him again, this time to his feet, and heat flashes through his face. Then maman shows up, and it turns into a mess.
No!
He shrieks at Lainie and maman in common (encouraged by their use of the language), fur standing on end as he turns to glare at them both. His breathing is uneven, pulse beginning to race as adrenaline floods him, though he does not quite understand why. All he understands is that his family members have ruined the interaction, and he is very upset. His next words are breathless and slightly desperate, marking the beginning of stinging hot tears gathering in his eyes. Go away!
After all, this strange watery wolf is his discovery — his new friend.
The absence of her lover and two children has not gone unnoticed, though Alessia is not truly concerned. She assumes Rosalie has taken their daughters to explore, so her own pace is leisurely as she trails behind them — until she hears shouting. Her heart jumps, pace picking up until she arrives on the scene at a run.
Rosalie,
She calls first, gaze sweeping over Aditya. Kavik had mentioned the possibly-expecting couple entering their ranks; she'd meant to seek him out, clear the air, but something had held her back. It seems it matters little now anyway. He's — a friend.
She hesitates only a moment on the word, glancing briefly between her lover and her subordinate before her attention turns to her hyperventilating child. Zephyr —
She murmurs, but the silver girl turns away as if to hide her tears. Slightly exasperated, she glances up toward Aditya again. I... apologize for the strange welcoming party.
well, this was a clusterfuck to beat all clusterfucks. before the strange girl could respond, another of her littermates (ostensibly) came rushing up, barking fiercely at him. aditya did his due diligence in stepping away, stammering out an apology, an explanation. a woman came next, her words more coherent but no less fierce. adi grimaced, stepping further back, shaking his head.
sorry, i wasn't—
his ears splayed sideways, awkward and sheepish. i meant no harm. it was a misunderstanding; something frightened the girl. . .
and then, as icing on the cake, alessia appeared, and he turned his gilded gaze to her, lowering his posture in further submission. that's. . .quite all right,
he murmured in response, dipping his muzzle in a nervous nod. i'm a new face; i can understand why things were a bit confusing.
his eyes darted to the crying pups, to rosalie's snarling face, and then back to the alpha female, studying the lines of her countenance.
it had been a long while since he had seen her. aditya had never really known the dynamic between them. friends, surely, but there was more to it. they tended to stumble upon each other in the worst of times; this small chaos was no exception. how are you?
he asked. the words were wholly inadequate, but at least it was a start.
omg i cannot state how sorry i am. Im gonna write Lainie out
Everything went to heck and Lainie stood frozen in confusion and embarrassment as first Mamam showed up and protected them which made her look weak and then Zephyr protested her appearance. It was all a bit much and her eyes filled with tears as her mother showed up apologising and calling the man a friend. She shot the stranger a tear filled glance and then looked at Maman and her mother, clearly at her emotional limit already when Zephyr screamed for them to go away and she whirled around and screamed back
"crybaby!" and without another word bolted back to the den before she could be embarrassed further.
Lie hadn’t expected Zephyr’s reaction, and grew even more confused by Alessia’s arrival and words. Relaxing slowly, she lowered her head to Zephyr, giving her a nose. Apologizing silently for ruining her fun, keeping an eye on both her lover and their new packmate.
She wasn’t at all surprised by Lainie’s flighty disposition, apparently all of their children were runners. Shaking her head slightly, Lie promised to go and talk to her later. “Come on Zephyr, let’s find something else to do.” The situation wasn’t at all as she had thought it to be, and yet she found no reason to apologize for her reaction. Instead she thought a proper introduction would need to be conducted later. When she wasn’t so apprehensive. For now she thought it better that the two friends catch up alone.