Broken Antler Fen give in to the lonely

He had slept. Restless nights had given away to the breaking of dawn, and the small hollow that Akavir had settled himself to—away from all the others—tried to greet him with the promise of budding spring and what would be a beautiful day. He turned from it, tucking his muzzle beneath a forelimb, blocking the light to once more welcome the dark.

He dreamt, but none of it was something he wanted to hold on to and remember. A rumbling growl would slip past his lips in his sleep, though he did not stir further. Hours passed, and only when the sun began to sit did the man finally begin to unfurl from himself. Champagne eyes skimmed the lands without interest, his teeth glinting as a yawn escaped him.

The swarthy wolf rose, bowing low as he stretched, ignoring the flare of pain in his flank to the old injury. It paled in comparison to the ache in his chest.

Ibis wanted space—he would give her that. For now, he actually had nothing to say to her, nor did he know what to think. Lilitu was gone, she had said—looking for him. He prowled to the marked borders, ignoring the squirrel that dashed out in front of him. A better man might have tried to capture the morsel to feed the new mouths his mate was feeding.

His mate? Or his ex-mate? He didn’t even know any longer. She had given him an ultimatum that he hadn’t understood, and still there was now a lingering doubt at her final admission. Had she only meant her new whelps that were not of his blood? Or…

He was lost in his thoughts, and as he made to do a round along the borders, Akavir idly wondered if it would simply be for the best if he cut past them… Maybe never even look back.

About a month and Maia had still shown few signs that anything had taken. She thought, maybe, once or twice.... but every time she began to get excited, she couldn't quite manage it. It felt like there was too much of a chance for that to jinx it.

Still, spring was in full force and it was a gorgeous day. Maia breathed in deep and sighed, enjoying the sun and the quiet. She'd been thinking on and off on that story, but she still hadn't found her villain yet. Normally she didn't have this much trouble.

The sound of someone nearby broke her from her thought train and she looked up, expecting to see Eljay, or maybe Wraen or Teya. Ibis was probably busy with her pups now and the others Maia tended to see less of. Instead, she was surprised to see a familiar but unexpected face.

Akavir?! You're back!? She smiled huge, tail waving in greeting. That's so great, oh my gosh! When? Are you?... She caught herself launching into a question tirade and cut herself short, but still waited expectantly. She was too thrilled, and distracted by both surprise and her own thoughts, to notice anything off about him from first glance. Naively, she imagined Ibis had to be thrilled to have him home and that made her excited as well. She hadn't spent a ton of time with him before he left, but he'd seemed both important to her niece and like a genuinely great guy. She was happy to see him okay and back home.

cameo unless she's noticed! in which case just tag me :D

teya did not know this man, but the fact that she had found his scent too close to ibis' own had sent her into a paroxysm of jealousy.
yes, she knew him; he was the dark akavir, and he had come back just after ibis had given birth to another man's children.
but more than that, the raven did not know his designs upon the delicate auspex herself. akavir had broken her heart. teya was disinclined to let him near the den, protectiveness rising in her gorge.
from behind the slender tall trunks of an elm grove, teya watched maia greet the man with joy. naive maia. how could she not see what sort of chaos might be introduced into brecheliant now?

Unnoticed was the observer from afar. Instead, the exuberance of Maia was what drew his focus and the swarthy wolf regarded her with warmth, champagne eyes sweeping over her smiling features. Given Ibis’ wavering reaction to him, he hadn’t been sure how well his presence would be taken by others.

He hadn’t gotten to know Wraen, Arcturus or Maia well before he had left to look for his daughter, but it was still good to see at least one of the trio was here. Hey Maia, he greeted, his muzzle giving an idle nod in recognition to the girl, trying to push past the bitter realization that his place likely was no longer among them now with Ibis’ rejection. It’s great to see you. Just got back the other night. He paused, studying her. How are you? How are the others? Right then he would give anything to not talk about him or Ibis.

He seemed quiet, and Maia tried to remember if that was just how he was. She thought so? He didn't seem to mind her stopping to say hey, at least, and her tail set to going when he asked how she was.

I'm doing really well. Eljay's good too. Oh! He wasn't... he's my mate. She added quickly, flushing a bit when she realized Akavir likely had no clue who she was talking about. He'd left before Eljay came.

Wraen's been good too, and pretty much everyone! Her sister's health seemed to bother her pretty consistently, but Maia had nothing but a forced and cheerful optimism to give on that front. It's been quiet, which is awesome. Probably pretty boring, though, compared to wherever you were! How was the trip, and traveling?

She wasn't aware of the details around his leaving, but she did know it was to look for one of their daughters. She didn't want to pry in that direction (she knew how hard it was, coming back with that kind of news) but she was interested in what had happened while he was away. So long as he wasn't already tired of the story!

Bubbly in personality, Akavir could feel his gaze soften on her, though it wasn’t her charm his thoughts drifted to—to remain in such spirit, how unmarred was Maia? Coddled, perhaps, by Wraen? Brazen, even, if only in the most naive way… He could only hope his daughters remained untouched by the world in the same way Maia seemed to be—or their optimism remained as strong.

With his mind wandering, he forced his attention back to her, the feeling as if he was simply a spectator of the world currently pulling heavily upon him. Perhaps he had drowned in that river—maybe, he lived in a weird state of purgatory.

“Congrats,” he offered, his tail giving an idle flick as he tried to offer a smile—half-hearted, at best. “I uhh… got held up. Fell into the lake further north of here… washed up on a shore and got patched together by a miracle worker.” He paused, considering tagging on his resentment for coming home to his mate’s pregnancy and being discarded—but nah, too personal. Too much. He definitely didn’t want to think about it.

And then, to try to interrupt the awkward silence — “It’s good to see everyone is still around.”

Oh wow, that sounded like an adventure! And, honestly, the start of a pretty traditional romance story. She didn't want to offend him by teasing about it since he was married and all, but she couldn't help the thought. Maybe she'd been old? Or maybe the mysterious stranger had fallen desperately in love with him and he'd been forced to break her heart. Oh, that was good stuff.

Oh wow! Lucky they were there! What were they like? she couldn't help herself. In fairness, it might have been a guy, but Maia had the tendency to think of healers as female by default and wasn't much for that kind of self reflection. (You'd think her own mate would change that.)