Bearclaw Valley heavy on your heart

tags for reference, all welcome!

Ever since her roll-about with @Xan, Laurel hadn't spoken to him. She hadn't thought it weird until she talked about it with @Indra and realised they hadn't seen each other since. Now the scent was no long around her she wondered how he would look at her... Would he still like her, or would he be back to being his old indifferent self? Laurel had never cared about it, knowing that she meant nothing to anyone but Indra, but somehow it made her feel on edge now. She'd noticed a change in her body lately and wondered if she was getting sick. Laurel had never gotten sick easily but lately it was hard to keep her food in. She was hungry a lot but at the same time she couldn't hold in a lot of the food she ate, which was frustrating her. She hadn't told Indra about it, but was sure that her sister had noticed, considering they spent a great amount of time together every day. Surely when they were curled up asleep together it showed that more often than not Laurel got up a couple of times because she felt pressure on her bladder.

Today in the late afternoon Laurel was chasing a rabbit. She dashed through the snow, sending it flying everywhere as she followed it. What she hadn't counted on however was a log that she didn't notice immediately because of the snow. An obstacle seemed to come out of nowhere and it sent Laurel flying onto her face in the snow. "Fuck!" she called out angrily into the snow, causing her words to be muted, but when she looked up the rabbit was long gone.

Alexander was just returning from a short trip along the exterior walls when he saw a hare shoot out in front of him. Seeing no reason to turn down a snack, he took off after it, and the rabbit was eventually hanging limply between his jaws. He decided against eating it right there and instead proceeded deeper into the valley, leading him to stumble across Laurel. He hadn’t seen her slip up nor heard her curse, but the sight of the snow scattered and her standing there left little up to imagination; she’d had a run in with something, he was sure, though the scent was distinctly not wolf and she didn’t appear to be hurt, so he didn’t look much further into it.

Dropping the hare down in front of him, he looked her over before asking, “Are you okay?” Although she didn’t seem hurt—her pride aside, perhaps—he still felt inclined to ask, just in case. He was driven, too, by the memory of their last encounter. He had not seen her since then, though the avoidance wasn’t the least bit intentional. He’d been caught up in other matters, time taken by wolves and event in need of being sorted out—but now that he’d come across her, he didn’t intend to just leave.

Just as Laurel collected herself off the ground, of course someone came round the corner. "Do I look okay?" she snapped back at him as she gathered herself to her feet. The run-in with the dumb girl still lay heavily on her mind, especially now that the girl had gotten that weird thing 'round her neck and there was something distinctly different about her. The way she smelled, mostly, and it was somehow threatening to Laurel even though she herself did not understand quite why yet.. Not until she had seen her just recently, seen how she had swollen in all the wrong places. While she herself did not understand what was going on within her, her biology was already at works of wishing other girls but Indra out of the equation for her own brood. Laurel had been tense ever since, at least in the presence of anyone who wasn't Indra. It was perhaps also her uncertainties that drove her to snap at Xan now, as she instantly regretted it the next moment. But she knew in the light of the dumb girl's pregnancy that she had already lost him regardless, for he would always choose her and always choose her pups.

Soon, it would be time for her and Indra to leave, because there would no longer be a place for her. The thought made her sad and it angered Laurel that she cared so much about whether or not she could stay here with him. But no matter how much she tried to tell herself that he was just another nobody she cared nothing about something was different somehow.

After shaking the snow from her fur Laurel glanced hungrily at the hare he carried. Of course he would succeed where she failed miserably. "Is that for her?" she asked with a twinge of hurt and anger in her words. She'd meant to ask 'Can I have that' or 'Are you going to eat that' or something else that implied she was hungry and wanted his food, but somehow the words she really wanted to say rarely ever escaped Laurel's mouth.

The moment she snapped his posture straightened out, eyes narrowing into a glare. Having been under the impression that they were on good terms, he didn’t see the reason for her lashing out, nor was it appreciated. But before he could press the matter further, Alexander forced his expression back into neutrality, body relaxing; the tension in his muscles remained, but it was less apparent. He wanted to snap back, and the little voice in his head that nagged him so often insisted that he do exactly that, yet he stayed silent. With a clenched jaw, the male watched her collect and settle herself—given everything, wouldn’t it have been worse had he not asked if she was okay? Females had always been confusing but, for some reason, it seemed like it’d gotten a lot worse as of late.

As she spoke again, his brows pinched together and he glanced at the rabbit, oblivious to the hurt in her voice. “It’s for me,” he stated, looking back at her. The way she stared at it did not go unnoticed so, despite its original purpose being to fill his own stomach, he leaned down and used his nose to shove it closer to her. “You can have it,” he offered, lifting his head back up and away from the carcass. He’d just catch something else later.

He didn't seem to know what to do with her comment, though it surprised Laurel that he'd be taken aback by it. For a moment it looked like he'd agitate but then he relaxed again. Nothing happened until she asked about the food and he said that it was for him. Then he nosed it towards Laurel and though she didn't really want his hand-me-downs Laurel couldn't deny her hunger. "Thanks," she said though it was hard to sound well-meant as she focussed on the food and started to eat it. A bit too fast, perhaps, for after she'd eaten only a leg of the rabbit Laurel turned 'round and threw up beside her.

Embarrassed, it was hard to choose between simply ignoring it'd ever happened and saying something. Laurel picked the rest of the rabbit and dragged it a few meters away from the vomit so at least it was out of her nostrils; before she had to go again. She continued to eat, a bit more careful this time, while she watched Xan to see what he would do or say from the corners of her eyes.

He didn’t say a word as she accepted the rabbit, only watched her eat. He couldn’t help but wonder when she’d last eaten, given how quick she was. “Have you been ea—” His mouth shut immediately as she turned and spilled her guts, nose wrinkling as he unconsciously took a step back. She seemed far less bothered by it, though, as she continued to eat anyways—slower this time, hopefully preventing that from happening again. His brows knitted together for a second before he relaxed his face and moved in her direction, avoiding the vomit.

“Are you okay?” he asked again, gaze flicking back towards her mess before returning to her. “Do you want me to get Blondine?” She could heal wounds and everything, so he was pretty sure she could fix whatever was upsetting her stomach, too.

Shame crept up on her and she had hoped that he would simply let the subject hang in the air and eventually pass rather than emphasise it. As if it wasn't bad enough that it had happened at all, he asked her if she was okay and offered to get Blondine. She shook her head swiftly and said, "No, that's okay. It's nothing." She swallowed and looked at the remainder of the food, then glanced at Xan. "I'm sorry, I should — I should go." Her voice broke up a little as she grabbed the rabbit and stood up. She cast him one last brief glance before she took off in a hasty trot, giving him one last possibility to say something, anything that would make her stay.

*makes space for new thread* :D unless Xan says anything as she takes off you can archive this!