Redsand Canyon tametsi

it was late when germanicus returned back to the den he shared with his wife. covered in snow from his final patrol upon the high shelves of stone, the imperator was perceptive enough to shake the worst of it from his shoulders before pushing beneath the hide drapery and into the warm room beyond.

ruenna had put her details into the place. he looked around the room with a fondness only reserved for this space. his gaze settled on her. the eagle cleared his throat. "i caught glaukos returning from some liasion," he grunted, settling gently onto the bed.

his bed.

her own pallet lay near and neat.

"i have meted out my punishment to him. and arsenio soon will be joining the rest of the auxilia." small talk. germanicus rolled his neck. "how was your day, lady @Ruenna?"

Germanicus was finally in for the evening; his wife greeted him warmly, with a welcoming wag of her tail. She watched as he progressed through his evening metamorphosis, sloughing off the stony veneer that was the title of Imperator, not unlike the way he shook the snow from his pelt before entering the bedchamber. 

He mentioned the auxilia's liaison and his resulting punishment. So this was why Germanicus arrived home so late. His brand of discipline favored prolonged, laborious tasks over corporal punishment, which Ruenna found more palatable even though overseeing such trials often kept her husband late into the night. 

They had known this would happen-- that some of the auxilia would buckle in the face of temptation. Ruenna had advised Germanicus as much. They were prepared for whatever would come of this, even if Glaukos's paramour showed up on their doorstep with a belly full of trouble. 

The season seems to come earlier and earlier, Ruenna thought wearily. Winter's first snows had only just fallen, and already women were coming into their time. 

Oh, her day?

"It was good. I think the medic Aquene will remain with us," Ruenna offered optimistically. "..And I think she may yet be convinced to train as auxilia," she added. Aquene did not strike her as a woman who would long be content with life as a plebian, frozen in such a lowly rank with no option to ascend.

ruenna made it easy for the imperator to return to someone each night. he considered how many years he had grown accustomed to an empty, scarcely-used den. the shelters before were perfunctory, often nothing more than the lee of a tall stone and a scraping of grass.

he was grateful to his wife for having navigated him away from the idea that conception outside of marriage would not happen in mereo. the frustration remained however. and had he known that only a handful of days later the soldier kallik would also stray, it might have been anger on his calm face.

"i will meet with aquene in the coming week then," germanicus said quietly. "perhaps it might settle the men to have another woman in the ranks. their need for feminine company might be sated through feminine conversation." or maybe not. the eagle was uncomfortable, however. aquene, if she was the age for it, would feel the season same as any other she-wolf. was she to be sequestered somewhere for that time?

aquene and diesel were unmarried. "it would solve many things if the soldiers chose plebians for wives instead of being irresponsible with their see — themselves," he amended. propriety for his wife. germanicus did not want to bring coarseness into their room. 

the eagle felt that he might be more irritated than originally thought. he gave ruenna an apologetic smile, shifting over on the pallet if she would like to sit with him. "i am looking forward to the springtime," the imperator uttered next. his yellowpaint eyes rested lightly on her soft and inviting face, and for a moment he only met her gaze.

and then in the next he rolled his shoulders and leaned back upon his elbow. it was good to be still. the soreness of the long day had settled into his muscles.

It was one of Ruenna highest priorities to keep Aquene with them, for Rue was still far from capable of handling an entire army's worth of maladies, not to mention whatever additional medical necessities the mothers would require in the warm season. Ruenna did hope to be a new mother herself after all, and it would ease her mind considerably to know there was a professional available to assist her.

Ruenna was skeptical that it could be as Germanicus suggested. There were very few men, Rue imagined, whose need for feminine company might be sated through feminine conversation, although it seemed likely that Germanicus was one of the few. He had not yet pressed for his rights as a husband.

Germanicus made another statement that seemed to Ruenna an optimistic oversimplification. He believed that allowing each soldier to take a wife might channel their desires more appropriately. Perhaps it would, but then again, Ruenna had also known married men to stray and make mistakes. 

"I will let the plebians know that they may marry within Mereo, if that is their desire." In a previous conversation, Germanicus had indicated that he wished for Ruenna to address the expectations for comportment during the breeding season in some sort of announcement, and Ruenna wondered if this speech ought to be delivered soon. 

Germanicus shifted on his pallet to make room for her, and Ruenna moved to settle beside him. Her tongue moved over the cold, damp fur on his neck and back as she worked methodically to remove the chill from his coat. 

He mentioned hat he was eager for spring, causing Ruenna to pause her efforts. He leaned back upon an elbow to regard her, and the pair found themselves face to face, with Germanicus's rather loaded statement hanging between them. 

"So am I," Ruenna answered softly, an almost-shy smile finding its way to her features. She leaned forward to place a small, chaste kiss on his cheek before pulling back to settle into a reclined position. Her chin rested upon her paws but her eyes were still fixed on Germanicus.

constant touch by ruenna had revealed to the imperator how starved he had been for it. his was a world of men and hard days. there was little reason to reach to another. each man nurtured or repressed himself. it did not fall to his fellows to support him, only to enforce that he be alone.

germanicus was warmed by the efforts of his wife. her gaze was velveteen upon him, and his cheek brimmed with softness where she had kissed him. the imperator was only a man, but he heard the answer to his own silent question offered in her tones. 

so there would be children. this time the thought did not make him balk so much. the eagle had followed and followed the root of his reaction down into its tendriling wires. he found now it had dissolved. perhaps it was her dutiful nightly care with him. perhaps it was the fact that she had slept in her bed and he is, all these weeks between them.

he did not speak. his eyes observed the cast of her jawline, the way her timidity showed itself in a small and beautiful way. he looked at the juncture of her neck to shoulder, how she lay beside him. how eventually the twining heat of their bodies formed a small cloak in the closeness.

his cheek still seemed to ache. germanicus shifted his weight to bring them closer, kissing her forehead softly. it became more; the tracery of one ear, his lips at the corner of her mouth, the lingering press of his muzzle at her collarbone. it was a man realizing that he was allowed, after all, to touch his wife. "ruenna," the eagle murmured quietly, voice slowly stirring with want, "will you come to bed tonight?" 

they had time enough for the planning of mereo. it was endless. this was something to be explored.

Germanicus moved to close the distance between them again, placing a tender kiss upon her forehead. Although it was not a common gesture of his, it was not the first time he had done so, and Ruenna expected him to leave at that, as usual. Instead, he lingered close, layering more delicate kisses around her ear and drawing downward, until his muzzle rested in the curve of her throat. His breath on her neck elicited a shiver, and her pulse quickened with anticipation. 

Perhaps it had taken the dalliances of two of his soldiers to remind Germanicus of the privileges he might freely enjoy, as a married man. So often, when Germanicus asked a question it was with the tone of a man who knew the reply would come quickly and directly. This time, his question hung with more uncertainty. More hunger. 

"I'm already here," Ruenna answered him, lowering her muzzle to whisper into his ear. Her tail thumped against the pallet-- Germanicus's pallet, as she had just reminded him. She wriggled closer, tucking herself against his muscled body. She could feel the rise and fall of his chest and the steady beating of his heart. She reached her muzzle up to ruffle the fur under his chin with tiny kisses.

feel free to reply once more or fade here <3

ruenna's words touched his ears and she mouthed below his chin. germanicus shut his eyes, a long rumble of pleasure sounding in his throat. he allowed the sensation to sweep through him and did not apply the usual hard restraints upon it. 

the eagle was cautious in all things. but ruenna evinced no resistance. her own desires were manifest.

he did not hesitate after that to pull her closer until he too could feel the cadence of her heartbeat. 

germanicus hoped that his wife would find him intuitive. giving. he was fully present with her now, the tactician's mind working exploratively in the matter of body and breath and tension. and all the while he was warmed through by her affection, wondering, marvelling at her as the glissade came to rest lightly upon his heart. in the semi-dark his gaze was radiant with many emotions as he held her, unguarded at last.

later germanicus lay with ruenna in the crook of his arm. time had come to a standstill and he did not seek the hour. 

mereo slept, and soon the same found the man, a contented slumber and one more relaxed than he had enjoyed for many years.