Blacktail Deer Plateau All I ask of you

As much as he'd been looking forward to seeing Hawkeye earlier, her sudden appearance made him jump and his heart burst into an unexpected sprint. "Babe, hey," he said in way of greeting, the tension reaching an acute point before breaking as suddenly as it had come. He turned toward her, stretching out his dark muzzle to touch the side of hers. "I was looking for you when this bonehead came up and tempted me with the rabbit, I swear," he quipped, running with the joke.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Hawkeye, his brother pardoned himself and Peregrine met Atticus's eyes and smiled a quiet, Thanks, bro. His attention then returned to Hawkeye and a happy little grin twitched the corners of his lips. Whatever mood he'd sunk into when he hadn't been able to find her initially had evaporated like a drop of water under beating summer sunlight.

"I miss you," he said softly but emphatically. "This is the first time we've been alone together since before the pups happened," he mused almost gaily, even though that was actually a rather depressing fact. "I was just telling Atti that children are the basically the death knell for a marriage. I was kidding, of course, but... Hawkeye, babe, I miss you," he repeated, pausing tentatively before caressing her cheek with his tongue.

He almost told her that he felt giddy and nervous, as if they were two young lovers on a first date, but something stopped him short. It was a cute thought, perhaps, but deep down, Peregrine knew that there were some serious issues to untangle here. And that feeling this awkward around his own mate was not actually charming or endearing; it was a red flag. He would enjoy the sweet bliss of reunion, of privacy, for a moment, but Peregrine knew they must seriously address the issue of their waylaid love life.