Emberwood Girls, they wanna have fun

Whenever you have time/muse, no rush <3

It would never get any better.

It just wouldn't, not as long as there were others around. Others; those who existed outside of the small, fragile family unit she'd constructed. Reverie was beginning to realize she could trust no one else. @Dusty Rose was right.

She had nothing else.

So though she was not yet healed, not even close, Reverie began to pack her things in secret. She urged her girls to do the same, not stopping to share a word with her mate until they'd settled for a nap. We're leaving, Reverie told him in a voice whisper-thin with pain and weariness. I - I'm done with all of this. I want to leave. You and me and the girls.

Dusty Rose was quiet for a long moment. This was what he wanted, but he worried Reverie would come to regret it. She cared about her family. Wouldn't she miss them?

The coywolf supposed she wouldn't miss all the violence they seemed intent on exacting on her.

"Okay," he said simply. But a flicker of misgiving clouded his features. "But maybe... Maybe just for now, we can take the healer with us. The kids are still young, and I know you know a lot but..."

He let out a soft sigh.

"Okay, I lied. The healer is for you."

Jealousy flashed openly in her expression as Dusty Rose spoke of bringing another woman with them. Now it was Reverie's turn to go quiet, looking away to fuss over some herbs in a pathetic attempt at distracting from just how much Dusty Rose's suggestion unsettled her. It didn't work. After a moment she took in a slow breath, lingering over what she might say.

I... I don't know, Reverie hesitated. A no lurked under the words, but she did hate saying no to Dusty Rose. It was just... the healer was pretty.

He heard the no, and and he slanted a narrow-eyed look in her direction. It was impossible to be mad when she was still speaking so softly — oh! the frailty of life! — but he wished she was well enough he could shake her. Only then he wouldn't have to, because what he wanted to shout in her face was, "YOU ARE NOT WELL."

Ah, young love.

"Then we need to stay," he told her, his tone very reasonable. See how reasonable I am being? Try it, babe. It's so much fun. "Until you're well enough I can sleep at night, at least."

God, he loved this woman. She was just so stupid sometimes. Like — how could she have just jumped in the way like that? How could she do that to him? How could she be so reckless, so brave, so selfless —

"You scared me, Daylily," he told her, his voice as quiet as hers. "I need you to be selfish, now. I need you to want this woman at your beck and call."

Daylily. Oh, she hated that he always knew how to melt her defenses away. She hated it nearly as much as she loved him. Reverie sighed softly, creeping closer to press her forehead against Dusty Rose's shoulder.

That's my middle name. Daylily, She murmured. A second, slightly more drawn out sigh slipped from her before she added: Alright. We can take her. But if - if she tries anything - or if she even stares at you too much, I'll eat her face. I will. Perhaps not the most menacing of threats, coming from one whose throat was still a bloodied mess, but Dusty Rose had surely seen enough of Reverie's stubbornness to know she meant it.

She tensed slightly as another thought struck her. Where - where should we go? I know of a few places, I think, but... I want to go somewhere no one will bother us. The desert, perhaps. Boone had hated it there, but maybe Dusty Rose would welcome the familiarity.

A sigh of relief escaped him when Reverie reluctantly conceded. Now he would have to actually convince the healer to come along with them, but that was a worry for another day.

"Think of her like a pet," he suggested, his tail whisking. He kissed her cheek as gently as he could, still wary that touching her wrong might cause her to start bleeding once more.

The question she posed was a good one. Dusty Rose laid back, inviting Reverie closer while he stared up at the canopy.

"Let's go somewhere hot," he told her, his voice still soft. "I met someone who smelled like the desert — we oughta go the way she was coming from. We can teach the kids to call down the rain. We can teach 'em to dance in it."

Reverie arranged herself carefully against her mate, letting the tension fall away from her as she rested her head on him. Somewhere hot, he said. The desert. She smiled to hear his thoughts echoing her own.

That's what I was thinking, too, She confessed happily. I've been there before. There's a valley - it reminds me of The Gilded Sea. I could show you... Already her spirits were lifting at the prospect of leaving. Just the two of them and their children. That was all they really needed, wasn't it?

We could make our home there. Or anywhere you like, Reverie lifted her head to meet Dusty Rose's eyes, then. I think - I think we'll be happier this way.

He smiled, settling once more. She sure painted pretty pictures. But — "I thought you wanted to travel?" he reminded her, steering her back on track. They were gonna take those girls all over the place before they really settled down.

He turned his head to kiss her face, thinking that he was more in love than he'd ever thought possible. All it took was thinking he might lose her for him to realize how much he needed her in his life. She was everything to him, but everything to their kids, too. He'd be useless as a parent without her, but together?

"We could make their childhood somethin' real special," he told her, equally happy to be painting castles in the sky. "We could take 'em south and show 'em the desert, and then north again so they can see the beach. Then the mountain in time for summer's end, and someplace else for the wintertime. You only get one first year — and sometimes that's all you get with your kids. Let's travel. Let's go all over the damn place."

Every time she thought she couldn't love Dusty Rose more than she already did, he went and opened his mouth again. Reverie sighed softly as he spoke, brimming with affection and desire. The only thing that kept her still was how tired and fragile she felt in the aftermath of her injury.

Have I mentioned that you're perfect? She mumbled, returning his kiss with several of her own peppered enthusiastically across his cheek and temple. I wish -

This time her sigh was a quick, frustrated thing.

I wish my family could see it, too. How amazing you are, She tucked her muzzle along the side of his neck, closing her eyes to marvel for a moment at how wonderful it felt; to let herself really feel that, just for a second, before her confession inevitably darkened the air between them.

But it was important that he knew.

They - they hated coyotes. My parents, Reluctantly she surrendered their contact to meet his eyes then. I never really knew any coyotes or - or half-coyotes until I met you. I just thought - Reverie let out another small breath. I thought my brothers weren't like that.