Wheeling Gull Isle with gunmetal bones

to say that atausiq is absent nerves as hua's due date draws ever nearer, inch by terrifying inch, would be a lie. there is some familiarity in combing the area, in standing and watching the sea lion shores as if some mighty beast might arise from the sands. none ever do. the occasional loner but nothing that he genuinely needed to worry. the sea did a good job providing safety to the isle and the wolves that live upon it. still, he doesn't want to rely solely upon it. even still, it offers a distraction from what he suspects — knows — he's not really ready for. perhaps, he tries to assuage himself, no one really is regardless of age.

there's movement that catches his attention from the corner of his eye and his face swivels in her direction as she approaches. a stranger — but then many of them are. he studies the crab she has between her jaws with a small lip curl that would make elvis proud and studies it blankly even as she mentions its breakfast. for me? he asks dumbly.