Moonsong Glacier If we run into red full speed

His heart thudded unevenly when she spoke. He wondered if she felt it, and in case she didn't, he dared to press his muzzle just lightly into the thick fur at her nape.

"I hope that you will," he said, lingering in her space. "Simbelmyne," he said, his tone just a little more serious, and just a little regretful. "Chakliux and I will go soon on a hunt. We search for a man who attacked and harmed his wife, so that he will harm no others. I must be ready for this, in body and in spirit. But when we have done this thing, I hope that you will come to me. And if you cannot wait — well. I still hope you will come to me, after."

She would accept his touch, leaning against him as he agreed that he would fulfill her request. She pulled back in shock, however, to hear that one of Chakliux's wives had been attacked. Her eyes widened in horror. She knew the names Nasamik and Tullik- and assumed that it might be the latter who had been hurt, given the fact that the former had gone missing some time ago. She nodded; she could accept a delay in her actions, especially for noble purposes. 

She couldn't imagine the horror the woman had experienced. "Put an end to it," She said softly, in agreement. She paused, considering for a moment what he might be implying when he asked her to come to him even if she did not wait for him. "Do you have wives, Dutch?" She asked, then.

She understood — Dutch was glad that she did not feel teased or played with. His affection for her grew with his esteem, and he found himself hoping that hers would grow as well, when he completed this task.

Her next question, however, earned careful consideration, even though he answered it at once with a soft, "No."

He was wondering why she asked, mainly. If there were other questions hidden within it.

"Moonwoman — matchmaker — keeps my name," he said to Simbelmyne. "But I was surprised she said it to you, at first, because I have told her the path of my heart. I do not know if I will marry. But if I do, I think I will find kinship first with another man. I do not wish to care for a wife alone."

She realized how sheltered she had been growing up, with rules and traditions that has seemingly directed life in a very linear path. Find a suitor, and have them begin courting. Marry, and then have children- not the other way around. It had not done her many favours to live by such traditions, not when she had so many siblings who looked to be wed as well. Here- she had a matchmaker who knew her name, and at least two men who knew her intentions; both seemed willing to oblige as well. 

She was surprised to hear that Dutch might seek out another male companion- which she assumed meant a husband- rather than taking on a wife...Let alone, many of them. She hummed softly, considering how different the panther-man was from the seal hunter. Chakliux seemed insatiable in his desire for wives- and yet Dutch seemed to want for a husband- so he might not have to care for his wife alone. 

"You are different than Chakliux," She noted with a fond smile. She found it endearing that he might seek out another husband, so that his wife would want for nothing. "A wife would be spoiled, to have two husbands- though I think it must be so, both ways." A man with many wives might also be spoiled- with a full hearth, and many songs sung about his home. "Do you wish for children, someday?" She asked, then, wondering if he had considered his prospects as a father.

The panther's head tipped to the side when he was compared to the seal hunter — who he knew without doubt was very different from himself. At the same time, he thought this, their separate ideas of marriage, were not what set them most apart. He thought, in fact, that they had similar ideals as far as family was concerned, but he did not know how to express this to Simbelmyne.

"I think he and I both wish for large families to spoil," he replied, his tail giving a brief swish. "I should hope that any I align myself with will feel similarly. As for children — they will come to me, I think. Ariadne will whelp this year. I will do my part to raise them in love, though they will not be my seed. But perhaps I will make my own. I cannot say."

He had not thought much on the subject. It was a pain point, much of the time.

"Do you want children?" he asked her, although he felt he must already know the answer. "I know you want to marry. What do you seek in a husband?"

Did she want children? Her features softened and her tail at the mention of them. ”Oh, I do.” She confessed like a lovesick girl who awaited her first outing as a debutante. ”I wish to be wooed, to dance with feet painted red, and know the touch of man…And then learn what my bride-price should be, and  listen  for the names Kukutux will speak to me.” The whole process was exciting. 

”I want to see men dance before me, offer to pay my bride price, I want to-“ She paused. ”I want to be desired, and to be well tended by my suitors. A man who brings fresh kills and berries, who spoils my cheeks with kisses and fills my heart with children.”

She wanted a lot of things- but she had waited long enough for it.

These were not his people, and these were not his ways. Dutch listened with his head cocked, little phrases standing out to him as ones Simbelmyne must have heard before. He could guess at the context for most of it, and he was happy to imagine these things for her, for the most part. He hoped for that sort of adoration for her, and in his secret heart, toyed with the idea of being the one to dispense it.

But he couldn't be what she desired. Not all of it, at least. And he had not been raised with many male role models, and certainly, he had never seen his mother showered with the kind of attention that Simbelmyne hoped for. The ideas echoed strangely in his mind, appealing and natural but foreign somehow as well.

"You will have these things," he predicted, his tail sweeping the ice. "I will tell all that I meet of your beauty and warmth. Men will come from far away for the chance to be with you."

Dutch, like Chakliux, promised her that many would come. They would come and vie for her- to dance for her and beg for her attention. Such a thing brought warmth to her cheeks, and a fluttering to her breast. She could only hope that the men had more than just sweet words to give her...Her hopes had been pitched into lofty grounds, so high above what she had ever wanted or expected when she had lived with her family. Here, the men seemed to think she would actually be desired...She didn't realize how much she wanted to be desired until they had shown her attention. 

Part of her longed for him, then. She had looked into the eyes of the seal-hunter and had felt temptation, and she felt it kindle once more. If it weren't for the customs of the pack she had pledged herself to, she might have simply given in already, and requested that they tend to her- she sequestered the urges. She would follow their ways, and do this properly, so that she might become a desirable bride when the time came. 

"You are kind," She said, as a means of accepting his offer gratefully. "I will do my best to be a good wife, someday," She said.

A soft laugh escaped him, then. Not at her expense, but at the idea that Simbelmyne might have to put special effort into being a good wife. It was easy for Dutch to think such things simple, having never been married himself. But he said,

"I don't doubt you will," and smoothed a daring kiss across her cheek. "Let's get back to the sunshine. My paws are growing numb!"

Shall we fade soon?

She shuddered and giggled when he kissed her cheek. She realized as he pulled away from her how cold the air was, and that the cold had begun to seep into her paws. She nodded at his suggestion, taking one more long look at the beautiful, blue-lit cavern, before she followed the man back out and into the sunlight, to finish the rest of her tour of the Glacier.