Heron Lake Plateau [expletive deleted]

Bat felt like a piece of shit: nearly the instant she felt capable of it, she left Lost Creek Hollow without a word of thanks or farewell. (To be fair, she still couldn't speak, although that wasn't really an excuse.) She began the westward trek, only partly certain she was going in the right direction. Fortunately, her sharply honed navigational skills remained intact and, in a matter of days, Bat found herself in vaguely familiar territory.

By the time she actually reached the plateau, she was definitely running on fumes. The reserves of strength she'd managed to build during her brief stay at the hollow were gone and she was about half dead all over again. With her final burst of strength, she dragged her sorry carcass up the northern slope and opened her mouth to call for @Tegan. Of course, nothing came out but a dry rasp.

tegan patrolled. cause that was his thing now. tegan the patrol man. he walked the borders and said wassup to outsiders and pissed on shit. it was literally the most boring thing ever. he had no idea how towhee did this all the time. but, also, kinda like... peaceful. if you didn't run into any fuckers on the borders then you just got time to yourself, and tegan was sorta into that. he had a lot of time to think. 

this meant that the last few days he'd been less stiff-bodied -- but certainly just as stern looking. it was becoming, honestly, for him to look so angry -- it made him look older -- but it certainly wasn't natural for him to lack his usual, strutting gait. there was good and bad in everything, i guess. either way, bat had missed out on all the theatrics -- and tegan would not be filling her in. 

but, hey! wait! it's a motha fuckin bat! 

she looked real bad. like, real bad. but tegan spotted her along his patrol and almost pissed himself. "mother FUCKER!!!" he h o w l e d, and began full speed sprinting towards her, only to slow down right at her to take her into the biggest wolfish embrace he could possibly manage. never mind she was so frail he probably could've snapped all her limbs. it was only then tegan realized he might've been shaking, but he couldn't stop the vibrations from wracking him. ears pressed to his skull, face buried in the hollow between her shoulders as he held her close, tegan muttered, "i though you were dead." 

and there you have it. tegan was never letting go.

Oogh, Bat thought when nothing but choked air escaped her. She sucked in a breath to try again, then captured it in her chest as she saw Tegan appear and run straight toward her. It burst out of her in an audible whoosh when he embraced her. It kind of hurt (her body ached all over) but she wouldn't have said anything even if she could. Fat tears squeezed out of her eyes even as she closed them and smashed her face against Tegan's chest. She couldn't articulate but that didn't prevent a ragged sob from rattling its way up her throat.

His words momentarily chilled her blood, simply because she could easily imagine what he must have thought when she'd disappeared beneath the ice. She had no idea if he blamed himself for that but Bat certainly didn't. She continued clutching at him for a long spell, unwilling to let go (and pretty sure he felt the same, judging by the tautness of his grip), though she eventually sniffed and drew back just far enough to free her limbs for some rudimentary signing.

-Bat home,- she said with shaking limbs, so caught up that she didn't realize she'd spoken in third person. -Tegan.- It felt almost as good to "say" his name as it did to look at his face.

he held her there for a minute, his big dumb green eyes watering more and more by the second. but only babies cry, and bat had no idea how big a baby tegan had been the last few weeks. so. keep that shit under wraps, okay? 

as she pushed away from him, tegan expected to hear words. he looked down at her expectantly, his ears cupping forwards... but all she did was sign. tegan stared at her, ears falling back. he tried to tease her, "tegan can see that," but it didn't really feel right. why wasn't she talking? why was she signing? what the fuck? "why are you signing?" he asked, voice hoarse as he strained to keep down the anger that was bubbling up in his chest. someone was gonna get their own fucking throat ripped out. "did someone hurt you?"

Naturally, he wondered why she was signing rather than speaking. She bit back a sigh of frustration, silently cursing Spur, even though she'd saved her life. Bat shook her head and made the sign, -No,- in response to his question, then paused, unsure how to convey the story to him. He knew plenty of ptero, of course, but she didn't.

She thought of Towhee, who could also read lips, and wondered if Tegan was any good at it. Terance hadn't been. But if her best pal couldn't understand her, maybe they could flag down the Beta as a translator. That thought made her hopeful, though first she wanted to give it a try on her own. There was so much she wanted to tell him.

"I," she began, the words mostly silent on her lips even as they smacked together, "almost drowned. Three wolves saved my life. They accidentally hurt my throat trying to get me to breathe again. I'm not hurt. I'm just weak." Bat paused there, trying to read his expression. Did he get any of that?

tegan got bits and pieces of her response, squinting at her as she tried to tell him something... about almost... and three wolves... hurt... my throat... breathe... not hurt... weak... that really wasn't all that helpful. he frowned at her, shaking his head. "no one hurt you -- but three wolves hurt you? almost hurt you?" he tried to clarify, and then tried again, "you're not hurt -- you're just weak?" that still sucked, and certainly didn't help. 

"i dunno, pup, we should get towhee and raven... maybe... maybe they can help. towhee is good at reading lips, if anything," he said, expression still dark, as he tilted his head back and called for their beta.

His rough translation made Bat's heart leap. She nodded eagerly at him (ignoring the way it made her head ache). It wasn't perfect but it was good enough for her. They would be able to communicate, even without assistance. But Tegan didn't seem satisfied. With furrowed brow, he threw back his head and called for his older sister.

Bat blinked at this, a lightly amused expression taking over her weary features. "She's deaf!" she mouthed, trying very hard to enunciate. She pointed at one of her own over-sized ears, then sat her foot back down on the ground. Nevertheless, it would be good to see Towhee.

It was good to be home. -Tegan,- she signed, eyes filled with dozens of unnamed emotions. "I couldn't just stay with strangers. I had to come back," she rasped quietly, trying to mime some of it, "to you. I had to come back to you." Bat repeated herself, saying it even more slowly the second time. She drew in a breath and locked eyes with him before exhaling, "'Cause I love you."

And then, because this was Bat and Tegan, she grinned at him and punched his shoulder (quite weakly, really) even as her heart thudded rapidly in her tired chest. "You hear that, you whackass? I love you!"

"yeah!" agreed tegan, "she's deaf! she's been reading lips since the day she was born -- she'll be good at it, swear." and then bat got real enthusiastic and tegan's ears pricked up in surprise. "bat," he returned when she signed his name, and he tried hard to read her lips. 

i...stay with... i... to... back... she had to come back -- okay, he got the last bit, at least. had to come back... to you. is that what she said? his ears flicked at the recognition of the words, but he didn't really say anything. especially when the next words she mouthed were i love you. oh no. dude. are you -- kidding me? tegan blinked, feigning complete oblivion, even as she repeated it. he forced a small smile at the word whackass, not quite catching the first bit of it. 

here's where it gets fucky.

there was a moment of silent pondering on tegan's end, which was easily interpreted as him trying to decipher words (but he knew exactly what she'd said). he was pretty positive he already knew this about bat. she'd hinted at it before, or something, and tegan had always done a fantastic job at playing dumb -- but tegan was not dumb. and he was also pretty sure he didn't really return those feelings. or, well, okay, maybe he did. but not right now. and, look, i know what you're gonna say, but hear me out. as perfectly perfect of an beginning as this is for bat and tegan's relationship, it totally wasn't right. tegan's spent all these weeks being sad and missing his very best friend. friend. f r i e n d. tegan hadn't once come to a realization that he loved her, or that he'd made a mistake not giving her a chance. cause, like, he never felt like that. and while he might've felt obligated to say i love you too!! just because he got caught up in the moment, it totally wasn't true. and it would've been way worse for him to half ass a fake relationship than to just play dumb...

right?

either way. tegan spent a few moments searching her features as he thought about what to do. bite the bullet and just tell her that he returned her feelings without really knowing if he did? this was such a shitty moment -- and a perfect moment -- for her to say anything. like, yeah she'd almost died. she should be saying this. and tegan should totally be eating it all up and like tilting her back and kissing her like in the movies. but... did you read that? tegan. tegan wouldn't ever do that. no matter the circumstance. even now, in the midst of a joyous reunion. he still hadn't changed.

"ah, i don't really understand what you're sayin, pup," he said weakly -- a complete and utter lie. he gave her a gentle nudge to the shoulder since she'd given him a little punch. "but, if you're callin' me a whackass," he said with a flick of his ears, "it takes one to know one!"

and without giving her any time to try to get her point across again, tegan looked around. "let's just go find raven -- i want her to look at you."

She didn't know what she expected. But, somehow, it didn't faze her when Tegan claimed to be lost in translation. Bat just rolled her eyes fondly at him before emphatically pointing at her eyeball, then her chest, then at him. "I. Love. You." Rinse and repeat. But even if he kept playing dumb, she didn't even care. There was something really damn liberating about just saying the words (well, sorta) and getting that out there. She had nearly died, for fuck's sake. Somehow, she had survived and come back here; she wasn't going to squander this chance to tell Tegan how she really felt, how she'd felt pretty much all along. Hell, Bat could die happy, even if he refused to acknowledge her. And would he even be Tegan if he didn't act like a (lovable!) idiot?

She did hope she didn't die though. When Tegan tried to change the subject by saying they should go find Raven, Bat raised her eyebrows at him. "Call her," she mouthed, then made a show of oozing onto the ground at his feet. She could definitely use a checkup, though Raven would have to come to her, not the other way around. "Call her, like you did for..." Bat paused thoughtfully. -Towhee?- she signed, getting it mostly right. "'Cause, you know, Raven actually has a chance of hearing it."

she repeated herself, and tegan just shook his head to show her -- once again -- that he didn't get it. still lying. she didn't seem too phased though, so tegan figured he was a fantastic actor. world's best. either way, she melted into a puddle at his feet, sending a jab his way (tegan only caught half of it, but he got the gist of it). -towhee- he corrected as he scowled at her, then using a single forelimb to step protectively over her. "the fuckin' bird has ears, and phox... if i howl for towhee there are like twenty wolves who will get her over here," tegan reminded her. this was the way it had always been, duh. 

tegan had also meant to call for raven, but his writer didn't write that out cause she's stupid. so he just stared at the satellite eared wolf at his feet with a faux annoyed expression. gently, the yearling sighed and lowered his head to give her cheek a nudge. totally sending mixed signals but let's ignore that. "i missed you, pup," he muttered. and after a few seconds of basking in the moment -- which was that his best friend was alive, and that he could seriously hardly believe it -- tegan raised his head back up and called for @Raven.

She smirked tiredly when he chastised her. It was as if they'd never missed a beat. Oh yes, it was good to be home. Tegan might be thick but the two of them were thicker—than blood, than thieves, than peanut butter and jelly. She sighed, feeling utterly worn out but happy. And when he told her that he missed her right before tossing his head back to call for Raven, Bat nodded sagely and mouthed, "And you love me."

While they waited for the caregiver to arrive, Bat curled closely to Tegan's feet. She meant to make a joke about it but she must have dozed off despite herself because the next thing she knew, a cold nose was poking at her cheek. "Hey," she grumped inaudibly, gray eyes peeling open slowly to lock with a familiar set of electric yellows.

I figure we can tag team Rave? :P

if bat had fallen asleep, tegan hadn't noticed. and her certainly hadn't noticed her mouthing of words moments prior. he stood stiffly over her as she curled up by his feet, his nose twitching as he awaited the dark healer, keeping a watchful gaze on everything around them, ready for danger. as if danger had ever been afoot. well, titmouse. i guess his paranoia was justified. 

raven! chirped tegan as the healer appeared through the underbrush, his tail wagging quickly with relief, it's bat -- she's alive -- right here -- you see that -- i need you to look her over, please -- make sure everything okay. he stepped back as raven bent down to give her a prod to the cheek, which at this point was tegan's realization she might've passed out. whoops. his ears pricked upwards, flicked down, pricked upwards, flicked down, numerous times as raven began to check her out. "what happened?" she asked, maybe to bat but tegan, knowing she couldn't speak, answered for her. i think someone rescued her and saved her -- she said no one hurt her but... i think she got hurt somehow, cause she can't talk. his nose twitched as he looked expectantly at raven for some sort of diagnosis. or something.

Bat was no lipreader herself, though the question Raven posed was rather unmistakable: "What happened?" Bat mustered up the strength to mouth the story when Tegan answered on her behalf. She threw him a grateful smile, then nodded as if to concur. Sometime later, she would straighten out the details. For now, she just needed to rest and recuperate.

She drowsed as the caregiver gently poked and prodded her. "I don't see any signs of injuries, although maybe there's some internal damage," Raven assessed aloud. "If she was pulled from the water, her rescuers might've pressed her chest and throat to help her breathe." Bat twitched awake and nodded, murmuring, "Yes." She then drifted off again.

"She looks like she'll be okay, Tegan. Take her somewhere sheltered and then keep an eye on her. I'm going to go gather some herbs that might help, along with something to eat. But what she probably needs most is simply rest," Raven concluded.

Accurate, Bat thought dreamily, eyes still closed.

tegan have a heavy sigh, exhaling a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, when raven gave her final verdict. all was fine, bat was passed out again, and tegan felt a lot of the weight he'd been carrying around on his shoulders the last few weeks completely lifted. silently, tegan felt a twinge of regret he didn't spend more time looking. he wondered if he could've found her traveling around with whoever -- or all alone -- on his own. if he'd just stayed out a little longer. to be fair, he had been gone a week, and was pretty weak himself when he returned. maybe this was for the best. 

maybe he'd done the right thing. she'd turned up, after all. what if he never found her? just stayed out looking for her -- or for a body -- and she turned up back at the plateau. yeah, no, he'd done the right thing. he wondered if clover would say anything about it when she heard the news. he figured she would. 

bitch.

he nodded to raven, looking a little frazzled but certainly relieved. yeah, he returned, stepping back from bat only to duck down and use his nose to scoop her body to hang over his neck like a scarf, i'll do that, thanks, rave. for real. thanks. shifting -- because despite bat's small size, tegan was not the bulkiest wolf in the world -- the blackthorn yearling gave a gentle huff and word of goodbye to raven before he began trotting off towards his most recent excuse for a den to put the sleepy bat. she was safe now.