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+--- Thread: Redhawk Caldera Yeah, I reckon we were heathens (/showthread.php?tid=66589)
Yeah, I reckon we were heathens - Hotah - November 26, 2025
continuing after the buck hunt.
Hotah and @Towhee Jr hauled the buck up the slope in steady, practiced pulls, the early light just starting to burn through the fog. When they reached the Hobbit Hole, he set his end down with a brief exhale and gave Jr a small nod of approval.Then he got to work.
Hotah lowered himself beside the carcass and took the hide between his teeth, making the first clean pull down the buck’s flank. The lean cuts came first, always—his motions smooth, efficient, the quiet rhythm of a hunter who’d skinned more kills than he could count.
He glanced toward the den once, checking for any stirring inside, then continued peeling back the hide, giving Jr space to join in as she wished.
RE: Yeah, I reckon we were heathens - Towhee Jr - November 26, 2025
grateful when they finally reach the hobbit hole, jr lets her half of the buck go with a pant, wondering how something that lean looking could be so heavy. she lets herself bask in the pride of their accomplishment(s) as hotah gets to work skinning the buck. she admires ( again ) for a prolonged moment, noting that his movements were assured. skilled.
she was more of a fighter than a hunter ... at least in the respect of the trade itself. it shouldn't have been so interesting — it was motions she'd seen repeated thousands of times but for some reason, it was.
until she diverted her gaze and joined him, taking to the hide, thinking that when sun-dried it might offer a nice pelt for the children. though the bodies in the hobbit hole was more than enough to keep the newborns plenty warm, and though they were her siblings and not her own children, she cannot help the maternal instinct that made her want to help provide. food. warmth. attention.
the first strip of hide is set to the side, lain flat on a large boulder before she returns to hotah's side to assist with separating the meat.
RE: Yeah, I reckon we were heathens - Hotah - November 27, 2025
Jr slipped in beside him, taking to the hide with a steady, purposeful rhythm. He caught the way she watched his work, the brief flicker of focus in her eyes, and it pulled a quiet, almost shy curve to the corner of his mouth before he returned to the task.
As they began separating the meat, he nosed one of the cleaner, leaner cuts aside. Then another. And another—building a small, tidy pile.
He paused long enough to sign:
-These are for Towhee.-
A brief glance toward the den entrance followed, warm and earnest.
-She needs the best pieces.-
Then, with a small nod toward the other cuts:
-We share rest.-
He went back to work without fuss, but the meaning hung in the air—providing for Towhee and the pups wasn’t obligation for him.
RE: Yeah, I reckon we were heathens - Towhee Jr - November 27, 2025
what was meant to be a glimpse towards the best cuts of deer meat ended up being a longer stare; a thousand yard stare. towhee jr was physically there but mentally a lifetime away. something stirs in her chest, stutters her breath in her throat. a strange mixture of happiness that her mother had found a man as good as hotah — because he was a good man, she'd seen it before but knows it now without question — and a grave ache of sadness.
ears rest at half mast, a slip of the mask, the small twitch of her lips upwards holding shape for her profound sorrow before she looks away, back to the carcass they worked on.
she couldn't quite bring herself to look to hotah.
-i'm glad my mom has you.- she is earnest in this as she signs the words in ptero, gaze locked on the hock she would tend to as she begin to tear at it.
she'd become familiar with sitting with the strange mixture of joy and sadness, two things that somehow melded together despite that they should mix like oil and water. she felt it every time she celebrated tzar's accomplishments: happiness that she got to watch him grow and witness his wins, his progress, his shaping into a young man and grief that that her other three children knew only a brief life before death had stolen them from her.
-she deserves a good man.- she finishes, still not quite looking to hotah before turning back to her task.
RE: Yeah, I reckon we were heathens - Hotah - November 27, 2025
Hotah saw the shift in her— saw the ache slip through the cracks—and nudged her shoulder gently, steadying rather than prying.
He lifted his paw, signing slowly:
-Me and Towhee. Not together.-
Another, clearer:
-She wants me… see others.-
He let his gaze brush her face—not pushy, just honest—before adding:
-I am… interested.-
A pause, then the faintest dip of his head toward her:
-In others.-
Her words about her mother drew a soft breath out of him. He signed again, brief but certain:
-She deserves good. And so do you.-
And he went back to the meat, close enough for her to lean into if she wanted, far enough to give her room if she didn’t.
RE: Yeah, I reckon we were heathens - Towhee Jr - November 27, 2025
teeth release the hock she'd been working on pulling free at the nudge of her shoulder. her head turns towards hotah, touching upon his face before dropping to his paws to read the ptero as he signs ... only to glimpse back up in confusion when he signs that he's not with her mother. not romantically.
to towhee jr, this fails to make sense. he was the father of her youngest batch of siblings. he obviously cared about towhee. how could it be strictly platonic? perhaps for towhee jr, she can not reconcile the two things because she'd married the father of her children.
of course, her mother obviously hadn't stayed with the father of bushtit ... but towhee jr'd always assumed that had been a one night stand and it wasn't as if bushtit's father ( that she knew of ) had stuck around.
-oh,-
towhee jr lets out a low, thoughtful hum as her paws still and he turns away, trying to process all of that as she places her paw on the torn flank of the deer and grips the hock, giving it a fierce tug until she finally frees it, setting it to the side.
RE: Yeah, I reckon we were heathens - Hotah - November 27, 2025
Hotah heard the quiet oh—felt it, really, in the way her hands slowed and her focus dipped inward. He worked another strip of hide loose before glancing back toward her, catching that confusion written plain across her face.
He nudged her shoulder again, lighter this time, enough to pull her attention without demanding it.
Then he signed, -Towhee… talks about you.-
Another sign, clearer: -A lot.-
The corner of his mouth tugged up—not teasing, not pitying, just warm. He looked at her with the same quiet sincerity he always offered her mother, but softer around the edges.
He signed again, adding with intention:
-Good things.-
His eyes flickered over her expression, reading the way she held that hock like an anchor.
-She proud.-
RE: Yeah, I reckon we were heathens - Towhee Jr - November 27, 2025
gaze lifts from deer to hotah at his second nudge, attention focusing on his expression and then the movements of his paws.
his next words bring another look of surprise to towhee jr's expression. she had many siblings so she is a bit surprised to learn that she is the topic of OG towhee's conversations. a small tilt of her head given as she wonders why specifically she is a topic of conversation between her mother and hotah.
her paws are still for a moment, contemplating. -is that so?- she finally asks before hotah offers that it was good things and that her mother was proud of her.
small smile twitches at the edges of her lips, not bashful but a small crack in her armor. -she kind of has to be, as my mother.- it wasn't true at all, though as a mother herself, she often found herself incredibly biased when it came to tzar.
RE: Yeah, I reckon we were heathens - Hotah - November 27, 2025
Hotah snorted a quiet laugh, shooting her a sideways look that was all mischief and warmth.
He lifted his paw, signing with exaggerated slowness like he was letting her in on a secret.
-Yes. You.-
Then he added, with a dramatic roll of his eyes:
-All the time.-
His grin widened as he signed the next part, humor brightening his gaze.
-Rather annoying how much she talks about you.-
He huffed a laugh and nudged her shoulder again, a little firmer this time, clearly enjoying her reaction.
When she signed that Towhee had to be proud because she was her mother, he shook his head, lifting his paw once more.
-No. She chooses to be proud.-
Then he leaned in slightly, lowering his voice with mock seriousness.
-Trust me. She complains about everyone else plenty.-
He signed the punchline:
-Except you.-
RE: Yeah, I reckon we were heathens - Towhee Jr - November 27, 2025
towhee jr lets out a low, amused snort, unheard by her but felt by the forced push of air from her flared nostrils. -i wouldn't blame you if you were sick of me already,- towhee jr signs, with a playful roll of her eyes. a pause to tear a fatty chunk of meat from the thigh.
she places it beside the hock and turns back to hotah before she can miss the next signing of his paws.
-i'll be sure to tell her to stop yapping about me to you when i see her next. i've got plenty of other siblings and nieces and nephews to hear about.- a small pause. -and i guarantee they are all a lot more interesting then me.-
RE: Yeah, I reckon we were heathens - Hotah - November 27, 2025
I'm kind of obsessed with them
Hotah scoffed softly, a quiet puff of amusement leaving him as he leaned in without thinking. She could not hear him, but she could feel the warmth of his breath against her cheek before he pulled back just enough to sign.'And I guarantee they are all a lot more interesting then me.'
His mouth shaped the words anyway, low and amused. He signed, as well. The movement probably the best he's done.
-I wouldn’t bet on it.-
With that, Hotah began gathering the leaner cuts they’d set aside earlier, stacking them neatly before gripping them in his jaws. He shot her a small, approving nod— part gratitude, part farewell for now.
He signed one last thing, quick and warm:
-Don't be a stranger.-
Then he turned toward the Hobbit Hole, carrying the best pieces back to Towhee and the pups.
RE: Yeah, I reckon we were heathens - Towhee Jr - November 27, 2025
me toooo.
the whisper of his breath upon her cheek as he leans in causes a small uptick in her heart rate, made only worse by the ptero he signed. for once, she has nothing to come back with. in a rare instance, towhee jr's stunned into stillness.
her recollection is quick, a twitch of her tail against his haunches as he leaves her to sit with that and telling her not to be a stranger as he takes the meat to her mother.
for a moment, towhee jr watches him go before she collects the meat she gathered and takes them to the caches, finding herself replaying their conversations in her head.