Moonsong Glacier ayagaa

Ariadne couldn't get Kukutux's words out of her head, and she knew they'd stay until she talked to @Chakliux. She prepared a meal for the both of them, just as a wife would for her husband after a long day's work. She laid the salmon on two slate slabs and set them in front of her.

She called to him once the table was set, voice hollow, inviting him to come and eat. She looked distraught; her eyes were dull, and a permanent frown was upon her lips; her spirit was gone.

All she could do now was wait for him to arrive.

arrive did chakliux did, with an offering of last blackberries for her lodge. his stomach was at once filled with hunger, his veins with desire.
but when he entered the lodge, his brilliant expression grew subdued, to see that she was not her usual jovial self.
"has something happened?" he asked when he had set his berries beside the salmon and looked across the eating-place at her, brow furrowed.

She loved him, and that was what made this so difficult. She had realized this after Kukutux had left—it was why she couldn’t simply take her mother’s word and walk away from him and what they’d built together. The thought had crossed her mind to leave this all behind and return to Moonglow, especially since it meant leaving him.

There was no time for pleasantries, and he sensed that, too, when he asked, ”has something happened?”

Yes, she answered. My anaa came, and told me things of the past … about you. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat; it was so hard to breathe. And even still … I can’t shake my feelings for you.

I love you, Chakliux. But I do not know if your love is the same as mine.

ariadne spoke at once of love, which froze the man in surprise. love was not something discussed, for love did not always have the same meaning. his past; chakliux took this to mean that the moonwoman had spoken of aiolos and nasamik.
ariadne was upset, and this he could not understand. he was not a man for one woman and had not represented himself ever in this way. he was a good lover and hunter, but this was not what she wished from him.
"you want me as a husband?" he asked slowly, softly. a good part of chakliux had assumed that she would want attachments with he among others, as head of her own village. 
what then did she want to signify his feeling?

I do, she confirmed. But you have wives. I cannot make you my husband without making your wives mine as well, She refused to be a number. If he also loved her, and wished to marry her and be the father of her children, they would have to make things work. And if he didn’t? She didn’t want to think about that.

What are your thoughts? she asked.

his brow deepened once more. how could this be? tullik and nasamik would not be married to ariadne unless it was agreed, as with sialuk and elentari. "only if you speak this with them. otherwise, they are wife to chakliux. and i am husband to moonsong head."
but perhaps it was only this: a sunshine island woman wanted a husband, and not a man who would marry others.
it was not the way of her mother, after all.
"i cannot marry in the way you want, ariadne," chakliux said after a long moment, pain in his berrytone eyes and the set of his mouth. "but do not think it is for lack of feeling. i think of you always. i am — eager to be called by you. to bring you pleasure. to be chosen, ariadne, in any way that is your desire."
their people were only different. and he would not put aside his wives for the sunshine ways. he could no more see her as third wife than she could see herself, and chakliux was suddenly without hunger as he regarded ariadne across the fresh fish and glistening berries. 
"kilgitsuk is not a sunshine man. and he is not a seal hunter." the scarred shoulders lost some of their tension. "perhaps he knows how we best can be bonded together, ariadne."

Her heart was a sinking ship, falling further with every word he said.

Finally, at last, after a pause, she shook her head and looked away, feeling shame and regret. You and I both know he will not know, she said. There is not a way that will satisfy us both in the ways that we need.

She sucked in a breath, regretting everything. I should have not said anything.

"but i am satisfied to be your lover, ariadne." she did not understand that only she was unhappy with this. "i would be pleased to bring you my kills for a year if you bore my children outside my lodge. i would be happy if you took others for pleasure, so long as i am among them."
chakliux slid from the table; he came around its edge to press his forehead against her paw. "and i am glad to know these things, even if they hurt."

He was quick to explain a way in which they could make it work, and she now understood. She could still have him—just at arm’s length. Maybe it was for the best, for this allowed her to explore her sexuality as well and take different lovers for herself.

She pressed her lips against the top of his head. Then we will be lovers, she decided. We will keep this love alive—it is too strong to die.

The negativity of her shame and guilt began to melt away; this was a different outcome, but it necessarily wasn’t a bad one.

as they remained in this way, she poised above his bow, chakliux considered the women of his life. of course he had found nasamik appealing; not only for her beauty but for her status as northerner. even though she had not been a seal hunter she knew the dialects and the ways of many people. it was in this they were bonded.
vairë had danced in his eyes since that night in the glen, but she chose another. samani had been dazzling to his eyes but married, and his discourses with her might well have been part of her father's ire.
sialuk had commanded him entire since she healed him upon the mountain: if now she called for him, he would go away to her, if only because they had entered into a lasting bond.
now another moonwolf warmed the seal hunter, and he saw how those of that line had always called to his spirit in a way specific to nuiruk.
lovers; he kissed the inside of her wrist in contentment and looked up toward ariadne in adoration. love. theirs. he would study this; he would see what form love took. and from what root, though chakliux was content also in his worship of her.
"rest. heal. we will make our journey soon, heartbeat woman."

"Rest. Heal. We will make our journey soon, heartbeat woman." he said.

Yes, she agreed. I cannot wait. She was excited about many things —including this blossoming love!—but she would have to remind herself to be patient. These things did not happen overnight; time had to pass, making it all worth it.

They dined after some time, enjoying the fish and berries until they had had their fill. Once their meal was over, she settled into her furs and fell asleep as he took his leave to return to Moontide.