Restlessly, she paced under the thick canopy of her home. She had not strayed far in a while. Not with Lote and her newborn, Fjall, still vulnerable. The Tundrian often was found at the dove's den, assisting where she could and doting on the child, if Lote allowed it.
Just looking at the two of them made her gut stir with yearning. Just as she had done in many nights prior when she could not sleep, she shoved the feeling away. There was another, she noticed, who also saw the change. Who may have felt left out. She had been able to tell just by the look on his face the day of the birth.
Rising from her post at the den side, she shook out her furs and turned in the direction of the border. She kept her exit quiet, so as not to wake the mother and son duo within. She wasn't usually so uptight, but this year was different. She wasn't in the mood for any unwelcome surprises.
He was here.
He was always here, dotting along the borders when not driven to a point of exhaustion worth sleeping.
In the dark was always easiest. He blended in, he moved nimbly with no surprises halting his tracks. Except for tonight.
A pale figure, a wraith in the woods. But she was no surprise. He had seen her face here and in Moonglow. She was one of them, allowed to linger in their claims. He would not chase her off or encourage her back to sleep.
She smelled heaviest of Lótë.
His gut churned.
He rumbled out to her, warm and welcomed.
Through the dim light and the weaved shadows of her home, she spotted him. Again. The telltale dark fur and mysterious blue eyes. He smelled of the forest, of Lote and even faintly, of Moonglow. His rumbled greeting was met in turn, with a low and pleasant chuff.
Tail held loosely to further convey her amicability, the Northern woman shifted her path towards him. She came in steadily, huffing softly through her nose. She smelled heavily of her sister and Fjall. If he permitted, she would skim her nose gently along the edge of his ear. "Makan." She breathed warmly. "I greet you."
She was close, the warmth of her on his ear.
His body dared to tremble beneath it all. Confused, flustered, frustrated. Not anger, he remembered telling Kukutux.
That had been about Lótë, but here was Keyni.
Never anger.
He did not have words for her. He never had the right words and slowly but surely he wondered if words had ever been worth learning.
Tentatively, he moved to brush a shoulder along her side. Invitation and acceptance all in one.
She did not know this man well. Nor he her. But his ties with Lote and Kukutux were what mattered. For this simple reason alone, she treated him with just as much warmth as she did both of her sisters. With an ease the came naturally, never forced, she pressed her side against his. A show of unity. Of comradery.
"I am Keyni." She offered openly, sparing him a glance with softly raised brows. Just in case he did not know her by name already. She fell silent again, but walked with him along a worn trail running parallel to one of the distant borders. She was happy to continue this way until they reached a rocky formation, the jagged ledges offering a shallow recess in which to lounge. "Something troubles you? With Lote." She stated as an observation. Openly, she gestured him to come sit with her. If he needed someone to listen...then she was here. But Keyni would also never press on delicate matters.
Keyni,
He rumbled warmly, committed it to the rough pattern of his tongue.
Makan,
Croaked in return, blue eyes turned towards their path. He would have preferred to continue on in silence. To walk until he could no more and return back to the grasp of slumber.
Instead they found somewhere to settle together. Her question rough against his brain. His brows pinched sharply, position sphinx-like.
No trouble.
He told her, tense and aloof for it. Why ask?
Ever aware, she noted the tension in his posture. His reluctance to sit idly. She moved on, veering away from the spot. She was just as content walking throughout the labyrinth like forest of their home. She cleared her throat softly, licking her lips.
"Only out of concern. I noticed you the day Lote went into labor. I just...got this feeling. Like something wasn't sitting right." She tried to use her words delicately. Tried not to make them sound forced. And quickly, she added on. "Do forgive me if I am wrong, for any assumptions." The slight smile on her lips and the look in her eyes would hopefully get the message across. She cared.
He hated the spotlight.
He hated being positioned in a way that left him so exposed, but Keyni was kind like Kukutux. Like Lótë.
Hard to...tell.
Explain. He hated his stunt speech, he hated how elegantly everyone spoke around him. New feelings.
He croaked instead. A soft lash of his tail behind him.
More frustrated with himself than anyone else.
Through jade eyes she examined him closely. Listening, while the air around her grew quieter. In these few, yet significant seconds, she understood that he was a man of few words. Not by choice. More so by nature. Keyni was more verbal, not as feral. But that didn't mean she could adapt for him.
Lightly, she bumped a midnight shoulder with her own again. A show of support. "Believe it or not, I understand." She muttered softly, quietly. "The season has a way of showing us new feelings." She would know. Her mind had been on much more...personal matters lately than was typical of her.
"You care for Lote greatly. Her and I...we are like sisters. She asked me to watch over and raise Fjall, like a second mother." She offered. Well aware now of Makan's preference for non verbal communication, she looked at him another time. "Do not feel the need to respond to all that I say. Sometimes...just listening is more than enough." She provided, hopeful she made him feel eased, not forced, into engaging her while she conversed. A spark of energy flew through her. Dropping down slightly, quickly, she tried to invite him into play. To run with her through the dark.
I listen well.
He told her sheepishly, uncertain of how he fitted into the dynamic relationships of this new world.
Not talk well.
Although she accommodated him greatly and her body language seemed to indicate this. The time for talk seemed to be over.
Her body language conveyed a more playful intent now. He offered a thoughtful rumble before he aimed to pounce near her, a soft nip of teeth at the air between them. As if he might rush her off so he could chase.
OOC: Wrapping this up. <3
Sometimes those who were better at using their ears rather than their tongues, offered so much more in communication. There was a completely different level than just speech. Keyni accepted Makan, her pack mate for who he was. She did not force change on others.
He took up her invitation to play, leaping in with a clack of teeth on empty air. She reeled and hopped back, her tail a blur of silvers and muted fawns. She nipped at only the outermost hairs of his ruff; barely a graze, before she sprinted ahead.