Broken Antler Fen Now you've got to work for a living.

Reyes Rivaini had faded in to the background of Brecheliant. 

When he wasn't busy on a patrol or scouting out any resident herds, he was busy with @Teya, or minding whichever child of his had come to visit. They grew so fast — himself and Teya, whatever relationship they'd built in the aftermath of his divorce; but also the children, who had become so accustomed to their visits to the fen that half the time, Reyes found them strutting about without supervision like they owned the place. Such was life. Thankfully Towhee had not come by to rage at him about it, so either the children were good at keeping secrets, or she didn't really care - which was good enough for him.

It was quite late now. The sky had since transitioned from a deep shade of purple to something empty, with a dense cloud-cover pushing its way in from the north. It was cold, not quite winter cold but trying hard. Most of the trees dotting the fen had stripped down to bare bones. If one of the kids had come visiting earlier in the day, they weren't here now. Reyes had done an extra sweep of his shared space with Teya, before finally seeking her out and stalking after her, to spy upon whatever had caught her fancy.

She'd become quite a busy creature too, come to think of it. Keeping everyone together, himself included. There had been talk of Eljay and Maia taking a vacation of some kind; personally Reyes was against that, because it would leave their horde of kids at his mercy, and he'd already neared his limit with his own - temporary though his visitation rights had become. 

Teya didn't appear tired when he came across her; she was roaming the more open patches of the fenway and watching the sky while the wind pulsed up and down her back. Reyes crept up alongside her but didn't look up; he was more interested in watching her face, the angle of her body, the curves he had come to know so well, and felt a warm tremble up and down his own spine.

teya watched the water and thought of bridget.
the other woman had disappeared, and it had at last shaken teya from the selfish bubbling she had spun like a fish around she and reyes.
but somehow she realized she had come to love the man, to treasure the scarlet handsomeness of his face each morning, to wake with him, to bed down with him at night. reyes had become another point of stability for teya.
this frightened her. 
she knew the touch of his eyes by now, and knew that he was near, introspective in the way of a man who had seen more.
teya turned to welcome him, and for a stunning, shocking moment, she realized how restless she had become.
the raven crooned a sing-song note to him and pressed her lips against the side of his neck, tail revolving softly behind her hips.
"brecheliant would not be same without you, reyes."
behind the pair, the darkened sky spun with wind that carried the promise of cold to come. she watched it lift the hairs along the man's shoulders, and closed her eyes, laying her head against reyes' hackles a moment.

She moved to kiss him.

Anyone else would have earned a flash of teeth without any consideration. For Teya the man held firm and welcomed the closeness, the touch of her so soft against him. The way she moved to welcome him close.

Reyes is quiet even after she has spoken. There is something brewing in the sky overhead but also nearer, behind his eyes, which only deepens as Teya rests her head against him. He doesn't want to move lest he betray her comfort, spoiling the moment. If he could hold on to this forever he would, gladly.

Why hadn't things been like this with Towhee?

He refused to keep that thought in his head; it didn't matter, she didn't matter. He knew that the relationship he had with Towhee was like this in the beginning - maybe that was why he coveted moments like this so desperately.

Teya, he finally murmurs her name close to her ear, not quite a whisper.
Will you... he wanted to ask something that he knew she wouldn't like, and hesitated. His tongue felt heavy. Rather than risk the possibility of a denial - or a repeat of what had happened with Towhee - his mind redirected; Reyes went on after that pause to ask, Come to the coast with me?

It wasn't what he'd wanted to say.
I wanted to take the kids for a visit, so they could meet their grandmothers. If I can't, if Towhee denies him such a request maybe... We could go, for a few days.

she basked in reyes' nearness.
his words hung beside her ear, weighted with something inexplicable. the coast brought her again to mind of her former lover. bridget had gone and had not come back. she must look, she must —
reyes wanted to take his children to meet their grandmothers. and for a surging, sinking moment, teya realized how her feelings of wildness had turned slowly toward domesticity.
"yes."
she slowly pulled away to find his eyes with her coolwater gaze. "you want to take me to visit mothers?"
reyes meant this. he meant them to travel as a family — or as a pair.
her heartbeat thudded so loudly she felt it might leap into her throat.

The way she looked at him now was so familiar. It almost hurt, being reminded of how close he had been with someone else before her, and how distorted that had quickly become. Reyes did not want to lose what he had with Teya.

The sound of her voice - interest, maybe surprise, - made him think only of doubt, and he dropped his eyes from her own. Maybe she didn't want to go. She had never expressed any desire for children of her own. Her freedom was important to her. Reyes wouldn't force her in to some sticky situation; things could be tense with the Redhawks and the last thing Reyes wanted was more stress.

He shrugged, watching the grass. I do. I think you would like them. It would give them both time away from Brecheliant at any rate, and a break from everything. But - only if you want to, Teya. Its alright if you'd rather stay here. A glance up at her eyes, feeling as though he might choke on his own words.

"i want to."
she stepped closer, nosed around his cheek, his ear. 
"i want to go where you go, reyes."
she had not stopped to consider children. already his had become part of their life together, even if it was one she somehow feared.
but it did not matter in this moment, only them, and the way she kissed him softly then, giving fully in a way she had not known to do before that second.