Stone Circle Feeling Hotter Than a Glue Gun

For a while the only sounds that could be captured were those of his own mixed with those of the small creatures who watched from the shadows, lingering from the tops of the trees and dense undergrowth. Between his blurry eyes and sniveling, it felt almost as if he was alone in the woods. Maybe he was alone. West wouldn't be surprised if Polaris really did leave, pissed and uncomfortable by his groveling. Wasn't he supposed to be a man now?

"w-west"

"sstop i didn't mean- you shouldn't be sorry you-"

So she hadn't left after all. Honestly, he wasn't sure what was worse, her leaving or staying to watch as he continued to make a pitiful display. Never had he burned himself so bad, and now the barriers that had held him together were flooded and crumbled. It gripped his chest and twisted like a knife but...admittedly, as painful as it was there was some relief with each trail of tears that cut through his fur.

At some point something pressing into him, a weight that shivered against him despite the warmth it offered. A loud sniff came as he swallowed, the lump in his throat finally going down allowing him to breathe just a little bit better. A whisper graced his ears, soft and melodic beneath the pain that seemed to be etched into her words. The gaps seemed to connect that it was actually Polaris now leaning into him, and while he was surprised he didn't let himself linger on that fact.

Right now, it held him together. It was the last stone standing in his wall, but it had stayed despite all its brothers falling into the waters that waited. The touch warmed him in a different way, it seemed to fill a gap that he hadn't realized existed until now, but she filled it perfectly as if she belonged there from the start.

His eyes burned, bleary, and red from his past efforts to make his tears disappear, but now he could see her. West couldn't tell what look painted her face, but it didn't belong there. It never did, just like so many others. He only wanted to see her smile. Perhaps that was why her next words hit him like a tree. W-What?— His voice creaked, distraught from the yelling and crying despite the soft tone that now follows.

Surely he had heard her wrong, how was it even possible? After he had hurt her time after time again from picking the wrong words to straight-up trying to abandon her and their home. Why would she love him back? Furrowed brows rose as he stared in disbelief, what was he even supposed to say? What...what happened now? She loved him? Somehow despite everything, those words were enough to put a pause on everything else. All his other worries melded into the static of his brain, a simple buzz tuned out by the present. 

West could feel his heart swell in his chest, the rapid beating no longer anxious just...shocked— I— I don't know what to say— Did...did that make them mates??? Maybe he was getting ahead of himself, but a new buzz filled his head. You...want to be with me? Even after...this. He couldn't help but shrug his shoulders as he gestured to himself with his snout. Another sniff escaped him, but otherwise, he just stared speechlessly.