Redhawk Caldera Wilted colors.

This is set a couple few days from now, so cue the vague!

Towhee sat at the northern borders, staring at Moonspear in the distance as she tried to process everything Meerkat had just told her. It was too much, especially given her current condition. The dizzy spells had passed but she still felt lethargic. She constantly ran hot, despite the fur falling off her swelling teats. She was most definitely pregnant, though it was presently difficult to take any pleasure in this fact as she watched the speck of sand finally disappear from view.

Meerkat would check in again soon, she knew. In the meantime, Towhee needed to get back to the cave and lie down for a while. She tried not to think about it as she made the slow climb, though of course, how could she help herself? @Hydra was presumed dead, along with many others, and Moonspear was no more. The fireflies were only barely hanging in there. It was all so unfathomable.

Just be glad Meerkat and Bronco are okay, she told herself, grunting a little when a cramp prompted her to stop for a moment. Maybe they'll come home to stay. They could help raise their younger siblings. The Sovereign clung to that thought, the only buoy in a bleak and choppy sea.

Unable to find Towhee at their cavernous hideaway, Reyes spent the better part of an hour tracking her through the territory until he spotted her sitting due-north of her usual haunts. He had a muskrat suspended from his jaws, the body having cooled during his search.

He did not know what to expect from her in the coming days. Sure, Reyes had plenty of familiarity with the tide-like shifting of a woman's moods thanks to growing up as one of the few boys born to his parents, but Towhee was different from anyone he had ever known, even so. With Meerkat's visit a strange mood had descended across the whole of the Caldera and it left Reyes feeling a bit out of sorts.

As he approached he sank to his haunches, dropping the muskrat across his paws and then licking the bitter flavor of its fur from his lips. He sat very close to Towhee, close enough to wedge their shoulders together.

Actually, it wasn't the only buoy. Another presented itself in the form of Reyes, who approached her with such casual affection that it soothed her wretched heart a little. Her orange eyes fell hungrily on his prey even as she pressed back, turning her head to comb her teeth from the edge of his jaw down the side of his neck. She snorted lightly when his soft fur tickled her gums, drawing away.

With everything going on lately, Towhee hadn't yet had the opportunity to discuss matters with him following her conversation with Phox. It seemed almost trite to bring it up in the wake of this enormous tragedy, yet it wasn't like there was anything else Towhee could be doing right now. The only thing she could do was focus on maintaining a healthy pregnancy and hopefully bringing new life into the world in a month's time.

"Well, I thought about it," the Sovereign said, apropos of nothing, turning her face toward him again, "and I decided I kinda like the sound of Towhee Redhawk-Rivaini. I could share it with the kids."

Her growing appetite was countered by a growing illness, or at least some form of nausea that occasionally put her off her breakfast; still, Reyes tried to keep fresh food around for the times Towhee would be interested. He hoped this was one of those times — except she began to nibble at his jaw and neck, and showed that she was hungrier for him than anything he could bring her. He was fine with that.

Reyes' mind wasn't on the far-off mountain, or even the more present situation that was Towhee's belly. He was thinking of their time together. Going through the memory of their plentiful trysts in the cave. This train of thought derailed immediately as she withdrew her attention from him and he leaned against her, nosing at the scruff along her shoulders, when she spoke.

They'd already had this conversation, he thought. Reyes did not want to be a Redhawk. He misinterpreted what Towhee was saying; she spoke only of the children that were brewing inside of her, that they should adopt the names of both of them. He drew back from her furs with a pinched look on his face. 

You want to hyphenate. There was no point in making that a question since Towhee couldn't hear the inflection either way. By the look on Reyes' face it was clear he did not agree with it. They'll be my kids, they should have my name. So should you. He shouldn't push this — knowing how close Towhee was to her family and how she felt about her name as per their last discussion on the subject, Reyes knew he shouldn't be choosing this hill to die on.

And, yet.

She went very, very still when Reyes referred to them as his kids. This was perhaps the worst of Towhee's tripwires. Her eyes narrowed and she pulled away from him, just barely suppressing the urge to bare her teeth at him. On another day, she might've leaned more strongly into an angry reaction, yet just now, it hurt her more than anything. Quite abruptly, she realized what power Reyes already held over her, to be capable of that.

"They are not your kids," the Sovereign said brusquely, "they're ours." Towhee paused, then couldn't help but seethe, "Are you fucking kidding me right now?" She didn't think he was joking at all, based on his expression, and kidding around at a time like this would've been pretty crass.

Her immediate reaction was to correct him and he knew he'd overstepped, but in his mind there was no difference, and he voiced as much: Mine, yours, ours, its all the same. He draws away from her a little, not wanting to be lashed across the muzzle if he were to say the wrong thing again.

You know what I mean, Towhee. Did Reyes even know what he was talking about? He didn't know what to say that would diffuse her sudden (justified) anger at him. Its a bit of a mouthful. Why can't you take my name instead? You're so hung-up on being a Redhawk; would becoming a Rivaini be that bad? You'd still be both. The kids would still be both.

But he probably wasn't getting anywhere with this. Towhee could be as pig-headed as himself, after all. I didn't mean anything by it. I want to be a good dad to them, because in some part, yeah, they're mine too. As if that helped. It felt like Towhee was the possessive one; but they were growing inside of her and would be born from her, so maybe that was just the way the world worked.

Besides if we really wanted to hyphenate properly, I'm more of a Rivaini—Dahomey, so that'd be... A lot. Here enters a smirk, a cautious one that slides across his face and then off of it again, unsure if he's managed to diffuse the hormone bomb that was his lover.

Reyes argued in his defense, clearly trying to placate and reason with her. Yet Towhee could barely process anything after his accusation about being hung up. The fur along her spine prickled, wondering where this seeming sexism had come from all of a sudden.

"Why can't you take my name instead?" the Sovereign flung right back at him. "You're so hung up on being a Rivaini; would becoming a Redhawk be that bad?" She paused for all of a beat before demanding, "Do you see how that sounds? Except I'm not even asking you to change your name at all! So what the fuck?"

Another cramp passed through her, an acute ache through her pelvis. Towhee sucked in a breath and didn't want for it to ebb as she continued making her own case, "My surname is technically Redhawk-Blackthorn but I was going to drop the latter as a compromise, despite how much my godparents meant to me. That's how important our family is to me, Reyes."

Towhee's anger was beginning to affect the rest of her body. She looked pained and Reyes felt an immediate guilt over hat he had caused with his little slip of the tongue, but there was no way to go back now. He would try all the same — a good father should always look out for their children even when they're yet unborn, he thought.

Look, lets just drop it — he started to say, except Towhee was still yelling at him. He bristled a little as her shouting worked its way through him. If you won't take my name then they shouldn't either. Let them be Redhawks, then. Clearly they'd be better off. Wouldn't want anyone assume that I give two shits about my own kids.

There was real physical distance between them now, a chasm of cold air where once he had pressed himself against her. He knew this would happen. Towhee had only wanted him so long as his Rivaini dick was useful. Next she'd be telling him to leave, and he'd end up the dead-beat dad he'd always dreaded he'd become.

Sorry, I guess I mean our kids. Since it was such a hot button issue, he really shouldn't be making jabs. He was hurting now, though, and if Reyes hurt he wasn't going to be alone in it.

The more she pressed, the more Reyes seemed to begin losing his cool too. Towhee's eyes narrowed further, though that made it patently difficult to follow what he was saying. He suggested they drop the subject, not without several petty retorts that had that same queer effect on her: hurt, rather than anger.

"Reyes," she found herself saying emphatically. "I want them to be Redhawk-Rivainis. I want to be a Redhawk-Rivaini. We are taking your name, so I honestly don't get the problem here." And she was certainly irritated by that, though mostly she felt wounded.

Abruptly, she began to laugh, only it was a humorless noise. "I wanted us to be official. I wanted us to be mates." Towhee still wanted those things, more than she'd really realized until she felt Reyes slipping away from her. It was just ironic how quickly this conversation had gone off the rails in a direction she never could've anticipated.

Her counter did not ease his hurt or his agitation, but he managed to hold his tongue until he heard her dry laughter and her final comment, which hit him like a guillotine to the back of the neck. There it was — exactly as he'd expected.

You wanted to be a mother again, you wanted me to take part, you wanted to tack my name on to yours. Its all about you, all of this. Reyes fumed. That wasn't the real issue anyway, the real issue was whether or not she still wanted these things or if this one argument would split them up for good.

What about what I want? It really didn't need to be asked if they were a real couple, but at this point Reyes was doubting himself, and their connection, pretty hard.

I want to be a good dad for them, whatever they're called. Bonus points if they carry on my name. One day I'll be the only one to carry it — but fuck me right. How dare I want a legacy my mother could be proud of.

As if a hyphen would really be the end of the line.

This time, Towhee couldn't hold back the snarl, mostly because Reyes's accusation was simultaneous with a third, severe cramp that actually made warning bells start ringing in her head. Fuck you, dude, she spat, though only in her head. She couldn't even speak, her teeth grinding together as she rode out the pain. It took every ounce of her concentration to keep her eyes open and fixed on his lips as they moved.

"What do you want, Reyes?" she creaked out between clenched teeth, making no effort to control her agonized expression.

What do you want, Reyes? She shot at him, except her teeth were clenched around a snarl and her face pinched in to a contortion of pain even Reyes could not ignore; he had no answer anyway, not this time. He'd already expressed himself and she wasn't going to hear him. The irony of that was currently lost on him.

Just drop it. What's wrong? Reyes loosed a sigh as he spoke, deflating a little and lashing at her with his tone, not that she'd notice. Your face is all scrunched up. Besides the obvious strain between them currently, something else was the matter — Towhee's body had become more hunched as they'd argued.

Reyes sniffed at her, breaching that frigid border around her body to probe for anything he might be able to identify. No blood, anyway.

A flare of panic twisted his gut as he tried to find a reason, and found himself brushing across her side a little too rough, feeling the lump of something in the paunch of her belly.

"I'm not dropping it," she retorted. "Your kids are currently killing me, so the least you can do is humor me." If wolves sweated, beads of it would surely be pouring down her face. As it were, the cords in her neck began to stand out as she strained, though the cramp eventually ebbed away like the others.

Taking control of her face, Towhee relaxed her muscles, softening her expression. "I don't get you, or this. I don't understand what we're even fighting about. We can talk shit to one another but I know we both care about these kids. I want us to be partners, Reyes. If I didn't want you here, you'd know it. I wouldn't be standing here, telling you I want to be mates..."

Here came another cramp. She gasped and fell to her wolfish knees, exactly like she meant to propose to him, only instead of asking, "Will you marry me?" Towhee said, "BluuuUUUhhh."

Of course, during this moment of crises Towhee would refuse to back down from a fight. She cycled through more crap and Reyes had to tune it out to keep inspecting her; but she did mention something about the kids inside her causing a fuss — and there was nothing he could do about that.

Shit. Shit shit shit. Their argument was stupid. Not only that, it was dangerous — too much stress for Towhee's body to handle,  maybe. Reyes reasoned as much and hastily tried to diffuse this new threat to the little family.

FINE! He shouted while his growing terror siezed him; thankfully the volume level would not cause Towhee to spin out of sorts any more than she already was. Let's be mates. There, done, mission accomplished. Now will you lay down? Breathe, or something? God, he'd give anything for either of his mothers to be here right now, coaching him through what to do here.

What if the babies were coming? It hadn't been long enough, had it? Were they in trouble — was Towhee in trouble? God damn it. What was he supposed to do?

She let her full weight sink to the ground as the pain gripped her. Towhee groaned, the sound turning to a sharp hiss as she wondered, Is something wrong? Am I miscarrying? Her eyes squeezed shut against that thought, causing her to miss Reyes's, "FINE!" But they fluttered open again and she did catch the rest of the words, prompting a wry laugh that was part sob.

Towhee rolled her weight slightly to one side so her belly wasn't pressed uncomfortably to the ground. The latest cramp faded and she let out a sigh as she stretched out both fore and hind legs. Changing her center of gravity seemed to help. As she sprawled there, she waited for another wave of pain, but it didn't come.

Letting her hot cheek fall to squish against the cool earth, she looked up at the concerned, hovering Reyes. "What if all of us—you, me, the kids—became Rivhawks instead?" she joked weakly. "Ugh," she said in the next breath, "I think it's over?" To tentatively test that theory, she drew in her legs, curling.

That expressed a fart so abruptly that it startled Towhee with its sheer force. She didn't hear it but it sounded like a gunshot. As soon as it released, she felt even better... and squeezed deliberately, again and again, filling the caldera with the sound of rapid machine gunfire.

Finally Towhee began to relent, laying first uncomfortably against her bloated belly and then slumping to one side. Reyes was so busy watching her — like a hawk you might say — that he didn't really hear her quips until a second or two later. He grumbled in reply, The fuck even is a Rivhawk — as the first shot rocketed from his lover's behind.

The volley which came next made him flinch a few times, but he adjusted to the sound and with a heavy sigh, accepting that this was not a possible life-or-death situation and just a case of terrible gas. When Reyes thought it ended he tried to open his mouth and say something only to have his words cut short by another fart, and then another, gradually becoming more frustrated.

For the sake of everyone, Reyes looked down to the forgotten muskrat carcass and tipped it forward with a flick of his paw and watched as its limp body sagged down the hill, head over bum over head, and off a little ledge. Then he slanted a tired look at Towhee as if to silently say, "Are ya done?"

She felt a lot less bloated after shamelessly releasing the last of her flatulence. Towhee would've found it funny, though she wasn't feeling particularly humorous at present. She sat upright just as Reyes flicked the muskrat corpse away, causing her mouth to fall ajar. Now why had he gone and done that?

"I'm glad it was just gas. It was mega painful, I was worried that..." But Towhee didn't even want to give voice to those thoughts, or put them on Reyes's shoulders. "But I think everything's fine. Why'd you toss the food?"

Reyes scoffed at her question. I'm not putting the rest of us through that again. He made a motion towards her round belly and plump rear-end. 

You couldn't hear it but I bet you could feel it. Reyes snorts as he settles down beside Towhee, squishing in beside her again as if the whole argument had not happened.

Why were we fighting again? He asks the air, and shakes his head. Nevermind. I thought you were about to explode there for a minute, but at least it was just gas... Off trails his commentary, and Reyes sighs, resting carefully against the lump that Towhee had become.

Part of Towhee wanted to box him about the ears for throwing away perfectly good food when she definitely needed it. And when Reyes settled down beside her and played it off like they hadn't just had a row, she was tempted to punch him in the face. But both of these urges died a fairly quick death. He really did have some strange power over her and though she wanted to resist, she decided to just give in for once. Life was too fucking short for this shit.

"I'm glad too," Towhee said tiredly, snorting but not responding directly to his comment. She'd most certainly felt her butt cheeks clapping. She said nothing else for a few moments, snuggling against him with the same shamelessness that she'd so forcibly passed gas.

She started to fall asleep against him, her head weighing heavily on his shoulder. "It's not all about me. And it's not about you. It's about us," she murmured muzzily against Reyes's neck, lips twitching at the cheesiness of it. "You're gonna be a good dad, except for the part where you threw food away." Towhee sleepily reached up to nibble at his earlobe, whispering sultrily against it, "What. The. Fuck. Man."

As Towhee nuzzled in close to him Reyes felt a familiar warmth spread through his body, the kind of feeling that had become commonplace anytime they were alone together. He watched the rise and fall of her ribs, the slightest tremor of her rounded belly.

Reyes twisted a little when she moved to grab at his earlobe but he didn't fight back for long. Hey, I was saving the universe man. Out of all your faculties your nose still works, right? D'you really want to subject everyone to that? It wasn't a real question.

Craning his nose down, he began to playfully nibble at the underside of Towhee's jaw, which was easy to reach since she had previously been going after his earlobe and all that. He purposefully snuffled loudly against her throat; she'd probably feel the vibrations and the obnoxious quality of the behavior. It was childish play, the antithesis of the very serious argument they'd been having earlier.

Towhee didn't catch his retort, though she knew he was saying something, as she could feel the vibrations against the side of her face. "Mmm," she replied, tipping her muzzle upward and repeating the breathy croon of pleasure as he nipped down her throat. It wasn't necessarily a sensual sensation, though it felt good. She even shuddered a little.

Eyes closed, she said skyward, "We should go back to the cave, Mr Rivaini." It was a gentle jest aimed at their heated exchange moments ago. Towhee slowly reopened her eyes, wondering if he would catch it and how he might respond. His surname seemed as significant to him as Towhee's did to her.

With a groan, she hoisted herself to her feet, shaking off some of the sleepiness. "I'd love to hear about your family and your history sometime, if you feel like sharing," she'd told him not so long ago. "While we walk, will you tell me about your family? I want to understand you. Where you came from. Your legacy." If it was important to him, then it was important to her, especially if...

Towhee thrust out a foreleg, holding it against his chest as if she hadn't just invited him to start walking. "Hol'up." Her orange eyes sought his gaze. "I'm pretty sure you were talking out of your ass right before I was talking out of my ass," when Reyes thought she was dying. "But I really want that... if you want it too."

They started walking and Towhee had questions — but she stopped him short with haste and spun to stare at him, eye-to-eye. Reyes thought that he was in for another earful, or maybe a smack to the head. He'd certainly deserved some of that for what he'd been saying earlier. 

You mean the mate thing? He murmured with a little wave of his own paw, and grimaced. I mean, I thought you were dyin'. Or maybe those things inside you were gonna chest-burst outta you, and then I'd have to clean up a mess and I'd have to explain to your brother what my little crotch-rockets did to you, and it'd be a whole thing...

Okay, he was milking this a little more than necessary. Eventually he stopped and with an exasperated laugh he says, I want it. I want you. Besides, Towhee Rivaini has a good ring to it. Was he ever going to stop? Hell no.

It happened again. Her heart sank when Reyes mentioned he'd only said that because he'd feared for her life, after all. She drew in a breath, trying to metaphorically square her shoulders a bit. Maybe she was just being oversensitive because of everything else. Honestly, that was very likely.

But then Reyes laughed and Towhee realized he was fucking with her and not in the good way. She had half a mind to slap his ball sack with deadly force but, heck, if they were in this, then she would need those next year, and the year after that...

Besides, she was too weak with relief to feel mad. "I want you." She didn't even take the bait when he called her Towhee Rivaini. Fuck, she thought, I kinda like that. This discussion wasn't over yet, though Towhee would have to do a whole 'nother round of contemplation.

She marched past him, bumping him with her hip and tossing over her shoulder, "Does it? I wouldn't know." Towhee glanced over her shoulder with a slight smirk. "C'mon, you. I want you too. In my bed. Right now." Onward, she proceeded, though she did think to clarify even as she faced forward, "For naps."

The promise of their little love nest, even if it was used only for naps, curtailed any more discussion on the naming of things. She sauntered along and Reyes, not needing to be told twice, kept pace. Okay but I'm outtie at the first toot of that ass trumpet!

Oh, right, the deaf thing. Well, someone heard Reyes shout that behind Towhee, which was good enough for him. Once the cave came in to view and the two ducked inside they could hunker down for a while, maybe even come to an agreement. Or just cuddle madly.