The Sentinels Time to take a little from this world we're given

Dante was happy Osprey had returned without harm and thrilled to have her sleeping beside him again, however broken a sleep that might be. It had become increasingly obvious in the time after she returned they would indeed likely be parents in a few short months.

He was nervous with her nausea and he'd be lying if past events didn't have him a bit freaked.  It would only grow worse as time went on.  Pregnancy was a dangerous thing.

All he could do was try to provide and wait. 

There was definitely excitement too.  A deep, thrilling joy at the thought of being a father along with the terrified notion he might completely fail at it.  He hadn't spoken much with his mate about any of this, wanting to sort out his own thoughts before troubling her with them.  But there was at least one conversation he wished to have, perhaps once the time came a little closer.

This was what he thought about as he walked along the stream's edge, keeping an eye out for any small critters.  He paused and bent down to take a long drink, then raised his head.  Licking water from his muzzle, he glanced at the branches above.  Spring was definitely in the air.

fear had receded from her at long last. the internal scar wednesday had dealt to her was thin indeed, and would only effect faces entirely new to her. having spoken with her father about all of the inhabitants of donnelaith, she felt safe in knowing those her father trusted by name. the cub had not seen the silver man since the day she had fled from him, though she thought of him from time to time.

the familiar scent of him wafted toward her in her small bed of lavender. her emerald eyes blinked slowly as she stirred, her mind shifting from rem to contemplation. she waited no more, however. something compelled her to rise and follow that scent, and so she did. it took her far longer than it would take a wolf who knew how to track, and she was not quiet in doing it, lacking the experience of a true hunter and playing no game at all that provoked silence. but deirdre was always careful to avoid stepping on branches, because she did not wish to cause the deadwood any pain. to deliberately step on one seemed an insult to donnelaith, though she loved the forest as she loved her family.

in time she heard the stream, and the scent of dante was at its strongest. she ducked beneath a low bough and moved to step into the open, and her lilting voice spoke before she could command herself not to: dante??

The child snuck up on him.. the river's sound masked her own despite her youth and inexperience, and Dante's mind wandered too far in the realm of 'what-if'. When her small voice came, he stepped back in surprise, and momentarily thought perhaps he should depart.

When the initial reaction calmed, however, he noted she didn't sound fearful.  Perhaps Lasher had straightened things out, or maybe she had just calmed down, but she knew his name when she greeted him.  This was good; he was hardly of a mind for a repeat episode.  

"Deirdre,"  he greeted her back, though he didn't move to go closer.  Instead he stayed at the water's edge.

she perceived something in the air, though was not yet wise enough to know it was tension. her innocence on the front of these matters caused her to be a warm knife against thick butter; she could not rightly acknowledge something she was not even sure existed. for she could see spirits, and hear them, but here was something that she was not sure was there at all! so she slowly drew nearer to him, maintaining eye contact all the while. hello, she greeted gently, and then paused before him. can... can you help me with something?

She approached directly and with little hesitation - all of this serving to ease Dante even more.  There was little chance at this point she would scream and run again, though he would never claim to know the strange minds of children.  Gods help him when his own arrived.

"Sure," he said, head turning somewhat curiously.  What could she need of him?  He would not have expected himself to be her first choice of assistant, not with Lasher, Tachyon, and siblings to turn to.  But perhaps he was simply conveniently close by.  "What do you need?"

it was that he was so near to her at the time that she felt he could help her. surely she could find her father, or tachyon--but her father had spoken with her of dante, and osprey loved this man, so why should she not come to? he was pleasant, though succinct, but even this she appreciated as he accepted.

i wish to decorate the garden my sister, aria and i have been working on--but the fallen branches... they are a bit heavy... they had fallen due to age; they were assuredly dead, but would make a good makeshift fence for deirdre to wrap around the garden... at least, some of the ways given there was not enough branches to bring with them. but they were heavy, and she could not do it alone.

She wished his help in moving branches.  Now that was something he could do.  He nodded immediately, his lips breaking into a smile.  He wasn't sure what had happened to bring her around, but he was willing to forget their past meeting if she was.

"I'll see what I can do.  I'd love to see this garden."  It made him happy to hear she, Emaleth, and Aria were bonding in such a way, and that their shared interest could be a huge boon to the pack as a whole.  Seemed both she and her sister had inherited their parents' cultvating nature.  "What are you planting?"

dante willingly aided her in her quest of decorating the garden, and on this day the two mended their relationship. deirdre had ceased in fearing him as she listed off to him the many plants she, eilidh, and aria sought to plant--but this was simply a day for decorating. he obliged each of her silly requests, which she was thankful for, and before nightfall they had finished! she thanked the man before they both went their seperate ways; she moved to find her father, so she could tell him of this day.