Dragoncrest Cliffs filtered through the interstices

Unwinding from it all had not been something the wocha could rush. Once he had settled back in and managed to shake the worst of the tension coiled tight in his every nerve, he had finally slept a great sleep. 

Only problem had been waking up afterward. As such, he had spent the hours in a haze, recovering.. laying low, minding injuries. He found he had to remind himself that it was done with finally, and now all that was left was to mend, then resume their proper standing here upon the Cliffs. He didn't have much energy to spare for much more than this right now, anyway, and was already peeved by how long it was taking him to start to bounce back.

Now, though, after taking care of a full bladder, he was already up, out, and loitering a short distance from the cave's entrance. Granted, he wasn't going anywhere fast as his stiff muscles resisted him every inch of the way, but he wanted to insist that some motion would do him some good on that front. He grit his teeth and moseyed on, wanting only to focus on how good it was to be back among his family and to smell sea on the wind again, not miles south of here at Blackfeather's strange bloodied forest.

@Portia (& @Dalia too if you wanna) <3

portia awoke with a start (from a nap or from a late night sleep idk what time this is taking place at). dio. where was dio. panic flooded her poor little chest, and she scrambled to her feet and out of the cavern, spotting him a short distance off. she scurried over to him, approaching him softly and slowly as to not agitate any of his wounds. heart fluttering, she whined as she approached. 

"are you okay, hun?" she asked sweetly, her ears lowering to her skull, "anything hurt?" she was hovering-- a medics habit and a wife's habit. but oh if she didn't love her husband with every ounce of her being... what would she do if something happened to him? she couldn't help but worry.

The haze of this fatigue seemed more difficult to lift. He couldn't count the days since they'd been back, or since this had all began. Months since the start, easily.. but now, his more recent times were seeming scattered. His hours had bled together in one way or another. It still felt good to almost unwind a bit as they healed. If only for a second.

He blinked to focus when she came to him, where his greeting was much smaller than usual with tail waves and a little chuff. He didn't want to pull at the worst of his scabbing gashes and everything still felt tender and sore, all over. His ears folded back to what she inevitably asked. "Just all over sore. Shoulder aches pretty bad," he answered with a heave of a sigh. The shoulder where that cut had gone pretty deep, then all the travel had only irritated it further. The one on his ribs wasn't much better now that he was thinking about it and sensing it itch. Often, he tried to just ignore it all. "Still feeling awfully tired.." the grit on his voice suggested he'd only just woken up too, but still, he couldn't seem to find any earnest headway on this exhaustion. "It'll pass," he griped, and gingerly reached to nose at her shoulder. The wocha knew she was keeping busy seeing to the injuries of all the others and hoped that was going as alright as it could--but he was a little out of the loop since returning.

the way he looked just... broke her heart. she was a medic, of course, this was her job, but to see all the wounds on someone as precious to her as dio? it just hurt. she sniffed at him as he responded, ears glued to her skull. "well we'll get you something for those... i know being cooped up sucks but i gotta get you back," she told him softly, rounding on him to offer herself as support if he needed it. as she began to corral him back towards the caves(he would listen to her, she knew best, after all), she tried to think of something to say-- something positive. her heart still ached, positivity was hard to come by when all she could think about was her poor, strong husband, beaten up after a war. what she wouldn't give to give one of those black feather wolves a piece of her mind... though that'd go terribly too, she reckoned. 

"wildfire was in heat," she told him, green gaze flitting to him. had he been told? dio surely would've told her if thuringwethil and wildfire asked again for dio to father children. truthfully, she was concerned that she herself hadn't gone into heat-- since she and wildfire had apparently been on the same schedule last year(is that how that works?), but now probably wasn't the best time for kids (or sex, whoops) anyway.

He cupped his ears back, settling on some look halfway between tired and vaguely dismayed at the state of himself, although on him, maybe the finer details were lost right now as he peered to where his wife suggested: towards the caves. "I know.." he agreed with a reluctant sigh, and moved off slowly as she encouraged of him. He wasn't missing anything out here, it seemed, and needed the rest anyway.. whether he liked it or not. 

A moment after, he caught himself considering--was it worse than he had first thought? Something.. was heavier this time, and he did not know exactly why. Stubbornly he would force the belief that it would just take some time to mend up properly

As for Wildfire and her heat, through his mental fog, he was decidedly nonplussed. Maybe this lack of reaction didn't feel right, either, but he soon sorted out what exactly to do with this information. There was more to it than just that. He wasn't about to forget about last year, how all had lined up, how both their litters were born days apart. "Was that the reason she came back so early...?" he half-asked, half-guessed, having not bothered to key himself into that exact detail when they had been returning in the aftermath and they had injured to see to. All he had known was that Wildfire was not with the others left behind with the Redhawks, and instead, ended up here before the rest of them--well after the fact of her heat was said and done. "But.. no, if that's what you're thinking, I've had nothing to do with it," he assured her quietly as he limped on.

a small purr erupted from portia's throat at his comment, and she very gently nudged his shoulder with his nose-- not wanting to disturb his wounds. "it was, and that's not what i meant, i was just sharing. i think that means drageda will have some more pups to care for this summer," she told him with a wave of her own tail. she was very happy to coach wifi through another round of pregnancy and birthing, and the thought was very pleasant to her. 

"i just, it'll be some good in the pack after so much hardship," she added softly, a small frown twitching onto her lips.

With all of this war business, then mending, then getting the home back up to par, he'd had his nose busy in other things that were not Wildfire's heat. His tail swayed gently, though, happy to have some semblance of good news finally too. "Yeah. It will be nice." he agreed through a relieved-sounding sigh. "I'm just happy to move forward.. past all this other stuff that keeps weighing us down finally," he said, eyes narrowing at nothing specific. Drageda deserved bright days ahead.

The last few months held little to look back on favorably to him. Even their overall victory in the war was more of a relief than an outright triumph. In time, he hoped he'd feel differently. It still had to settle in and they were still getting back to normal, too. 

Anyway, despite the aches and the exhaustion and the still-lasting dour mood about the actual fight itself.. she had brought up Wildfire's heat and he wasn't forgetting about last year, either. Two litters born mere days apart had kept him on his toes. While he was plenty alright without repeating that, he did have to wonder: "Do you think.. yours will come soon, too?" he asked outright with a tilt of his head, and worked his nose a little harder then. Maybe he had managed to overlook any subtle signs to answer that very question. He had been very caught up in just being glad she was here and that he was home where he could find her company practically whenever he wished.

portia grew quiet for a moment, a soft shrug gracing her features. "do you want it to?" she asked quietly. she certainly did. she'd already told hvitserk about her hopes for a new litter this year but... what did dio want? she hadn't had any tell-tale signs just yet-- but she linked that to stress. it took tolls on the body and mind, and if she was so stressed out it was probably possible she wouldn't show any signs until it just... happened. she knew better than to tell dio that outright, in case he really wanted it to happen and it just... didn't. she looked to her mate with a small smile, wondering what he was thinking-- hoping he'd tell her.

When she turned a question back at him, he just nodded at first because gut reaction was key. It still didn't take him very long to answer with a bit more detail. "Well. I wouldn't complain.." he replied, mustering a thin grin and matching sliver of the humor usually shared between the two of them. How could he? A perfect opportunity to sequester away with her, all to himself, and without concern of the outcome--should that come to be. "But I'm in no hurry.. if it does." he added. "There's been so much, with the war, neighbors, and then Sirio having ditched, too? I guess I haven't really thought about it much before now," Dio sighed. Through no fault of theirs, really. His head had been busy in a million other places lately, and with one disappointing son at large already.. he had enough to deal with and was still tired.

But, at the very same time.. he could see Dalia fitting nicely into the role of an older sister. Along with that, Artaax, Blixen, and Robin were good role models too. His thoughts wandered a bit for an instant, teasing through the possibilities just enough. Maybe, should they ever have another son between them, he would not prove to be such an outlier to their family here on the cliffs.

portia nodded at the mention of not being in any hurry. neither was she-- or her body, clearly-- but it was nice to hear that dio was on the same page. like him, pups aside, the idea of just the two of them holed away just with each other for a while... it sounded nice. and this time around, it seemed, she wouldn't have to share. she hadn't been fully okay with the idea of it last year, but let it slide for wildfire's sake-- and truthfully, this year, after seeing how well her friend had raised her three... portia probably didn't mind if it had happened again this year. but again, it was nice that she didn't have to share.

the thought of sirio made her heart hurt-- but only barely. he'd hardly been a son to her the last few months. it was dalia who was favored, who thrived and grew and learned. she preferred her daughter anyway, sirio was simply... not family anymore. that was his own decision. "there's no rush," she said sweetly, tongue sweeping to gently lick the side of his muzzle. "maybe we'll have a batch turn out like dalia, this time around. good, i mean."

There was no rush, and they seemed to agree on this--or at least find peace in the matter. He knew, and on some basal level, he took some solace in this. It was in true Drageda fashion to keep it going one thing after another, however he wasn't sure if he could rush it even if he tried to. Factors far greater than he were at play, and no amount of what he wanted would make nature's will bow. They were just getting back to how it was--how it should be, and so, everything else would follow suit.

"Yeah, really. That'd be nice," he agreed readily enough. "I think Dalia would be a good big sister to them, too." he mentioned.. and found he missed her at the moment even if it hadn't been that long since he had seen her last. He still felt like there was so much catching up to do after all the wartime nonsense had consumed his every fiber, but that feeling was getting better slowly.

Nevertheless, seeing a son like him in their next batch would be nice, or at the very least, one he could get through to and relate to in any way beyond outward appearances (because he did have a tendency to share that). The wocha did not want to see a repeat of the whole situation with their first boy.. or else he would have to make otherwise happen before it ended up like this first go around did. He wasn't sure if he could just let it ride and hope for the best for that long when the inevitable only loomed; he wanted to raise a son of theirs up to a best potential if he could only have the innate ability. Anyway, with a moment of quiet thoughtfulness, he sighed again and nose back gently against her. With that, he went to shelve the sourness over his son's absence to instead focus on what they had.. what thrived, and maybe even what else was to come. "Whatever they're like, or whenever.. I'm hopeful, though." he added. "I've had enough of the bad luck too." It was time for something good.

portia was thoughtful for a moment, and then she bobbed her head once in agreement. "i think she'd make a wonderful sister," she replied with a small smile. after a little bit of silence-- portia was still thinking-- she offered a small shrug. "i guess we'll have to see what the season holds for us, won't we, hun?" she commented quietly, and then nosed his cheek. 

"we should get you back, i don't want you to overdo it," she added with a firmer tone. dio hurt was one thing, dio permanently injured because of her own malpractice? bad bad bad. portia wouldn't have it.

His thoughts wandered over the possibilities as she agreed about Dalia, and once again, she was right. They were at the disposal of nature here, but he had an inkling to be hopeful--if time didn't continue to get away from them and the window of opportunity pass them right by. Whatever it was, and whenever it may be, he would just have to wait and see. "Yup, guess so.." he said, although his tail waved slowly. In the meantime, they just needed to keep things on the upswing, and invite the good vibes back to their days as spring hopefully got comfortable.

As for the thought of heading back, reluctantly, he would agree fundamentally as the idea of a real earnest rest appealed more by the second. "Yeah yeah.." he gruffed. With that, he posed no further objections and went willingly at her side towards the cave to settle in there for a good while, content with the company.