Broken Antler Fen You Set My Heart On Fire!

Backdated to right after this thread

Aduin went right out into other parts of the territory to find @Brandy. He needed to talk with her. After his talk with Ambrosia, there were things to discuss. "Bran?! You around here?!" he called out after arriving at their secret spot. The place was mostly barren still after the locust swarm passed through.

Gotta keep this vague since she and Seb are still in a thread

Brandy was just heading back from her time with Sebastian, and only just within range of her mate's call. He didn't sound too happy, and the copper female took off at a gallop towards their spot. It didn't take her long to arrive, fixing her worried lemon gaze on him in curiosity.
           "Everything okay, Addy?"

He was relieved to see her come to him. He ran up to her and nuzzled his face against hers, enjoying her warmth. "Bran, she told me everything. And I..I'm sorry you had to go through with that. Really, I am." Aduin truly felt sorry for her, that she had to go through that. He didn't even think that she wouldn't be happy about her mother telling him.

It took Brandy a good couple of seconds to figure out what he even met. Who had told him what? There was only one thing she'd ever "been" through, and it finally kicked in when she smelled Ambrosia on his pelt. At first, she was thrilled that her mother was home safe and sound, but then his words finally sunk in. He knew? Well, she hadn't been HIDING it, but she wasn't sure if that was a thing they shared. Aduin, after all, had not shared his story either, and had never asked of the scars upon her face. 
          "I-It's not something I remember much, honestly. I might have the physical aspect of it all, but she's the one really effected. I've never held it against her, or blamed her, or thought bad of her for it. How could I? She made right by them in raising me."
She ignored the fact that Ambrosia, too, had scars, from Midnight along her flanks. Her fur covered them, until she was wet, but it was mostly forgotten.

Aduin stepped back to let her talk, his tail standing still. She seemed all right with Am having told him, even though he didn't think about it being all right or not. "Still, I am sorry..I am also sorry for not telling you what happened in my past. Why I am so jumpy." He took an inward breath, then breathed out softly.

"I had three sisters and a brother. A loving mother and father...We had a happy life at a place called Ivory Woods. B-But then a..a fire came through." He started to get choked up, his vision slowly going back to imagining that day. The same warmth he felt that day going against his skin, even though it was not truly there.

He seemed more bothered than her about her past, but she really didn't even think of it. In her opinion, Ambrosia wasn't to blame. Aduin launched into his own tale, one that glossed her lemon eyes with sadness. This was something to be sorry about, something he'd been through.
      "Aduin, I'm so sorry. What
happened to your pack?"

He shrugged. For all he knew, they all got split up or burned alive. He hadn't seen his brother since the fire, or his third sister. Only two of his sisters, Haven and Maja. "I'm not so sure. I only saw two of my sisters after. One of them, Haven. She fell for Sebastian, and that's how I met him. They disappeared soon after, and Seb kinda took me in." And that show of kindness brought him here. Without Sebastian, he would probably be under the ground by now. And not in the good way.

So without that fire, Aduin never would have come to her? She was glad he did indeed meet Sebastian and come to the pack, but his poor family... 
       "Where did your sisters go?"
Why just leave him? Especially if all they knew, he was the last of their family. It was confusing to the copper female. If she one day realized that a sibling had survived, she'd never let them out of her sight!

He sighed. He was unsure why they left. Last they saw of them, he was at Redhawk. But they would sought him out, and found him here. Maybe they still looked. Or they just stopped. Or worse. Overall, he was unsure.

"I don't know, but I wish they would come here someday...I miss them" he added, his head hanging low close to the ground and his ears falling.

Brandy stepped closer and sat, pressing herself into his chest and breathing in his scent. 
        "Maybe one day, they will. But you've got me, now and forever."
What would she do if Aduin was separated from her? Something inside told her she wouldn't ever stop searching, hoping for him to come home to her. The copper female whined slightly, anxiety spiking out her pelt slightly. 
                   "If we ever get separated Aduin, I'll never stop looking for you. Never. Promise me you won't ever go anywhere?"

Yes. Maybe one day. There were so many 'one day's' in the world to wait for. Aduin couldn't possibly wait for all fo them. He didn't think that they would never come at the time, but he did at other times. And he was coming to accept that.

He put his head to touch the top of hers just before she spoke. He didn't want to think they ever would. "Never." He would never let that happen.

"Cross your heart?"
Brandy smiled and looked up to her dark loves bright face, beginning to groom his neck and shoulder. Never could she ever let this go, this feeling of happiness, and the warmness that spread through her everywhere as she so much as thought of him. Already, they were mates; one day, they would be lovers, and that would lead to parents. The fine details of that, of course, didn't process in her mind. The complications, the steps taken to get to those things. 
All in due time. Ignorance is bliss, yes?

"Cross my heart." He stood there, letting her groom him. He didn't want to stop her, for it felt nice. After she finished, he went to groom the back of her neck and the shoulder on his side in return. "So, your mother brought something else up when I met with her. It was actually..embarassing" he said, feeling his face grow warm. "She asked if we had m-m-mated yet."

Brandy accepted the grooming when she'd finished, rumbling happily deep in her chest. His comment brought the sound to a stop, but she didn't comment right away. Damn that mother of hers for being nosey: or perhaps she'd done it just to embarrass the young girl. 
However, it was something she was curious about: was mating something done only in heat, or did others do it any of the time puppies were a chance?
                "W-Well, what did you tell her?"
She didn't want to ask what his thoughts were on it, but perhaps he would share on his own?

Aduin flushed deeply. He was embarassed to answer, but did so anyway. "I-I said no." He lokked away, trying to hide the embarassment on his face."I-I said I wasn't ready! Or you!" In a way, he had said that. Just not those exact words, but it was close. And now that question pried again. Was he ready? And was she ready?

Aduin's reaction made her shy away from the topic, though she did her best to keep a calm demeanor. So he wasn't ready, that was okay. Never would she rush him into anything.
      "That's alright Addy, nobody is pushing for that right now. I'm sorry my mother brought that up."
Her lemon eyes fell to their paws, ears wilting down and wishing time could skip forward a couple months.

Aduin let off a comforted smile. He was glad Bran was here, to calm him when he got flustered or nervous. Or scared. She was there. "Thank you. That means a lot." He nuzzled his face against hers lovingly, his tail swaying slowly in joy.