"Fox seems.. Nice." Proudheart suddenly remarked, and Njal paused in his playing. Their initial meeting had been rocky and it had been his fault; but he would seek out Fox and apologize. It would be better for everyone if he accepted his zeal as a fault (at least where Proudheart was concerned). Njal quietly nodded a moment later, sending a few more playful nips and nuzzles towards Proudheart's toes and forearms before resting his head upon her closest tuft of fur. "I never imagined.. That she would take the role."
It was mutinous perhaps, to say it aloud. But he felt safe with Proudheart. It was a sentiment that many of the pack probably shared; Fox was young, after all. She was a fighter but not as strong a fighter as himself. Njal quietly breathed in Proudheart's scent as he lay there, his eyes blurry as they watched his wife's breathing. As if reading her mind, he said what they both had been thinking: "I could have challenged her. But I did not. And that is the way of it." Njal had never considered himself to be a leader, or anywhere close to leader material. Up until Swiftcurrent he had been a wanderer in search of a way back to his beloved mountain - or, when his priorities changed, back to Proudheart herself. He did not think to rule.
Another thought did rise within him, and at first Njal was unsure if he should speak it. His head lifted suddenly, and he looked away from Proudheart to peer in to the den - this home that the woman had built, that they could easily populate. When he regarded her again, he had mustered up the courage to speak. "Did you want..." Alas, the words still caught. He cleared his throat and tried again. "How big should the den be..?" How shy he was, and so suddenly! Was the thought of children so strange, so taboo now? They were together. Yet Njal still found himself nervous of their future. Afraid of it.