Dawnlark Plains oh, my world is still

set a day after this

the storm continued to rage outside, showing no sign of abatement. imrathil had slept lightly, the heat given off by both he and blodreina enough to keep him fitfully outside of the range of "total discomfort", but not by much.

he had spent the hours he was awake telling blodreina of much of his life that he remembered; his unfortunate encounter with the bear, his rescue by wardruna, his untimely separation from the scarred warrior, to his eventual inception into libertine coterie; whatever blodreina queried, imrathil answered as he could, listening in rapt attention any time the subject switched from him to her.

he was stiff now; their time spent with little movement had begun to eat away at him, and he felt in his front limbs particularly an aching soreness; they were the most battered from the bear, and he attempted to chase off the sense of stiffness by stretching as unobtrusively as he could besides blodreina.

they'd talked a lot the night. blodreina was attentive, listening to his stories and feeling an unintentional shudder ripple through her as he mentions a bear. it reminds her of her own run-in with a bear ( little did she know it was the same bear ) and she shares that story with him in turn, gesturing to the scars left behind on trailing from her ribcage to her shoulder. she shares her own stories. of her mother, of heda — absent the story of her commander's suicide. that was a bit too personal and much too fresh for her to want to talk about to any degree — and of the war she'd recently returned from in sangeda. she's a bit embarrassed to have to say she's a homebody without actually coming out and admitting it but as he is undeniably candid with her, blodreina feels the need to be the same. naturally, her interest lay in learning about him though because her own stories were boring to her because she'd lived them.

at some point or another — it's a bit of a blur between sharing stories, the wail of the raging storm outside their shelter that did not seem like it intended to slow down or lessen at all — blodreina fell asleep. that she managed to sleep at all was surprising to her when she did wake, stirring to consciousness beside imrathil as he stretched discreetly beside her. she blinks sleepily, marveling at the fact that her claustrophobia did not keep her up as it'd been known to do in the past.

looks like we survived the night, she says with a slight tease, drawing her tongue over her paw to hide the slight puddle of drool she'd left there ( yuck ), not that she expected them to not survive the night. it was warmer huddled together, after all. she cast a look at the mouth of their shelter where the storm appears to have lost none of it's power. she stretches out, loosening her own stiff muscles as best she can in the small space. she wonders how long the storm's going to last, thinking she wouldn't mind if it lasted for days — she finds herself genuinely enjoying his company in a manner that had nothing to do with her estrus cycle — but the rabbit he'd caught before the storm wasn't going to last the two of them very long. a worry that blodreina tucks away for a later time. she was sure that they were built to survive without food for a while though she's never tested that theory.

still looks pretty nasty out there. she observes absently, fairly certain that imrathil probably didn't need the obvious pointed out to him.

imrathil's stretch was enough to wake blodreina - he smiled bashfully, feeling guilty to have been the reason for her stir from slumber. he didn't notice the drool (not that he would have cared - he had probably snored and left his own pile of drool overnight), but he did notice when she shifted how close she came to his body. he felt an electric current run through him, and involuntarily shivered.

blodreina's comment on the storm outside momentarily drew his attention - as his gaze trailed the gradually filled in mouth of the tunnel, he frowned. for the first time, he began to worry about their predicament -- what if the storm never abated at all?

feeling he was being unreasonable, imrathil tried a second stretch, this time less stifled. "i wish we could move around." he commented, realizing after if she had not been trapped so close to him, he would not have gotten a chance to know her. for that, he is at least thankful for the storm. "but i guess it's good given i couldn't ask for better company." it's cheesy, but imrathil was genuine - as he settled down next to blodreina again, this time he was not so timid -- it was almost as if he wanted their flanks to be touching, and felt a stir in his breast for the warrior woman that was far more than idle lust.

blodreina shifts to give imrathil some room as he stretches again. it's not much, but she tries to be considerate, at least. you mean you don't like being trapped in this small fox cave with me? ai laik led op, she teases, the tridgedasleng spoken in faux hurt. she understands what he means though: having a bit more room would be nice but that could have easily been her claustrophobia talking.

blodreina's never been bashful by any stretch of the imagination but his words, genuinely spoken, casual a small heat to rush to warm the skin beneath the fur of her cheeks and she diverts her gaze for a moment, unsure how to approach the compliment. she isn't used to receiving them — at least when they're about her. her skills? sure. but blodreina herself? well ...it wasn't like she let her guard down often. to most wolves she just came off as a hostile, salty bitch and, genuinely, she was ok with that. regardless, the feeling of being in good company was decidedly mutual. she got pretty damn lucky in the vein of company she could've gotten trapped in a small fox cave with especially given her typical nature around strangers.

you're not such bad company yourself. blodreina teases him, a flirtatious edge to her tone as he settles back down beside her, their flanks touching once more.

she was teasing, but it didn't cut the rush of embarrassment that flushed imrathil's cheeks. "what -- no," he blurted, falling short as she broke into a language he thought he had never heard before. he was, simply put, amazed by the amazonian the gods had seen fit to put in this cave with him. imrathil's jaws clapped shut, but a rueful smile played his features as he caught his error; she was only teasing, he couldn't help it he was so inept at, well, just about everything.

blodreina's compliment caused a warm flush to rise to his face once more, and his heart, which had already been beating quickly, spiked as he felt her flank press against his. he loved their proximity, but he felt so... inexperienced? inept? stupid? god, he was going to say something stupid, wasn't he?

"can i.." he began, his gaze sheepishly meeting blodreina's sea-glass gaze and promptly getting lost in them. fuck it, he decided -- sucking in a deep breath, imrathil tentatively reached for the soft fur that graced blodreina's neck in a grooming gesture, hoping against hope she couldn't hear how absurdly loud his heart was being as it pumped wildly against his ribs.

blodreina can't help the light-hearted laugh that escapes her as imrathil blurts out a denial at her her words. blodreina being teasing was a rare occurrence indeed, and she's not surprised she's taken so seriously because frankly, she's used to being taken seriously. in most occasions, she enjoys being taken seriously; but this is the furthest she's let her fortress walls down in well ...in a really long time. there's something about imrathil that reassures her that it's ok to let him in, to let him see that she is not all fight and fury ( though she's got enough of that for at least two, maybe three blodreina's ). the last time she felt so comfortable with someone she hadn't known for her whole life was kendra ...and that felt like three lifetimes ago now. it was long enough that blodreina could no longer recall what she looked like, or sounded like and there are some times that blodreina wonders if her name is enough to keep her memory alive.

those thoughts are blissfully shattered though at imrathil's can i? which was left unfinished as their eyes meet. blodreina's curiosity is piqued, lips parting to ask him what he was going to ask her, but she thinks it becomes unnecessary as he reaches for the fur of her neck. though every war honed instinct in her rallied for the splice of teeth into her flesh she recognizes the gesture as grooming and not a threat. it strikes her as a tender touch and she lets out a soft sigh and admits in a low, slightly breathless voice: that feels nice.

subconsciously, blodreina shifts closer — if she could physically shift any closer — because it does feel nice but it also stokes that newfound, restless desire for more. close doesn't really feel like it's close enough anymore.

every fiber in imrathil's skin was on an electric current then, crawling and alight -- he half expected his advance to be met with teeth, and who could blame her? instead, blodreina shifted closer under imrathil's ministrations, eliciting another thrilling jolt of sensation through imrathil's frame.

he felt shaky, lightheaded -- but in the good way; like a river, or some strong, benign current. for the first time since he can remember, imrathil was happy. there was something else too - excitement, anticipation? slight terror and/or trepidation he might say or do something stupid?

he continued to gently groom the velveteen fur behind her lobes, breathless and full of something akin to euphoric wonder that she would let him be so close, so intimate. he couldn't help but shift himself closer to her in response, tentatively leaning so that his body is entirely flush with her and his neck draped across her shoulders. again, he felt that thrilling current surge through him, and something else too -- an intense need to be close, to be touching -- overwhelmed him.

provided she did not protest, imrathil continued his grooming, carefully moving further up her cheek until at last he was pressing his muzzle to her cheeks, a flurry of shy but firmly desiring kisses placed along her slender muzzle.

this is all new to her, from her heat cycle all the way to ( almost ) entirely opening up to someone new; and it's not half as bad as she thought it would be. not anywhere near as half as bad as she's had herself convinced it would be for years. they might die in this cave so what did she have to lose? nothing. as far as blodreina was concerned she's lost just about everything she had left to lose in her life ( little does she know she will lose drageda too soon as well ). she subconsciously preens beneath imrathil's ministrations, trying and failing to recall the last time she'd let someone touch her. grooming wise? definitely probably gyda when blodreina was a small pup and these days that felt like a thousand years ago.

blodreina is content to enjoy the grooming, the small shivers that slither down her spine in response, enticing and reaffirming that need to be closer, that ceaseless want for more that only grows stronger when he leans flush against her, coupled as it was with the flurry of shy and desiring kisses imrathil peppers her muzzle with. the breath she draws from somewhere in her lungs is uneven, ragged and she feels hot all over, her heart beat a rapidly beating war drum in her face, threatening to break out of it's cumbersome prison of flesh and bone.

imrathil, his name passing between her lips is breathless, rasping; an unspoken plea and an invitation.

truth be told, imrathil had expected to be shooed away like an annoying fly prior to this: when he reached blodreina's slim cheek, he felt wildly and uncontrollably out of his element. but what did he, or they, have to lose? he reveled in the moment, feeling her skin against his, her fur and heartbeat and breath all stirring his senses. 

she spoke his name and his mind swarmed; he pressed to blodreina almost urgently, his touch tender yet filled with yearning. he could scarce hear the wind over the sound of his racing heart, and he could scarce feel anything at all save for an overwhelming, urgent sense of desire.

that he could be allowed so close, that he could potentially have her -- it rocked his world in an indescribable way.  he was careful as he gently rose, his heart still hammering -- and if she would allow he would bring his paws and then chest over her, all the while preening the back of her ears with savored nibbles, wanting more than anything to be wholly embraced in her.

and should his advances remain unspurned, imrathil would do what came natural to any wolf -- all the while in a surreal trance that he could be the one to take her.