Moonspear watch them build a friend just like you

When she awoke on this day, nausea overtook her and rocked her to a swift stand. Seconds ago she had been asleep, but now she awoke with a drunken stumble and then, she wretched. Last nights snack lay before her in all its slimy glory, and Hydra felt another wave of nausea roll through her. Hydra succumbed to it, and once she was done she was able to catch her breath and gather her bearings. 

It was over as quickly as it began and she felt a little better for it. Moving to return to the side of her mate, Hydra slid to her belly again and rest her chin upon his shoulder, looking into the distance with a thoughtful expression.

He should have been thankful that she missed retching over him.

But Dirge was none the wiser, blissfully asleep. It was the sort of sleep that framed him best, portraying him being no better than a lazy cat, undisturbed by the goings on around him. Even once she settled down, in and against him, he barely stirred beyond a twitch of his muzzle. With all the chaos that had been brewing, sleep was certainly one way of escaping such things, and the nights were still chilly upon the mountain, so another body close by was a bonus. He took advantage of these comforts, unconsciously aware that they too were fleeting.

His restful breathing soothed her. Each inhale and exhale served to cause her own eyelids to flutter, until eventually they closed. Times had been more tumultuous than typical as of late, but Hydra was content for the time-being. Speedy had said they had done nothing, and the truth of it was that like Arcturus, Hydra wanted to believe this—for the very same reasons as he, and then some. All that was left to do was wait and see, and she had all of the patience in the world. She knew the truth would come, whatever it was—but she clung to the idea that her father was strong in will, and mind... and that Speedy herself was not a selfish strumpet that swooned and egged her father on in any capacity. 

Whatever the semantics were, they mattered not if they did not even exist. The Beta sighed through her nose, trying to fall into her mates rhythm of breathing. She adjusted her chins placement, and huffed a little—a frustrated sign that thus far, her efforts were not working.

Slowly he was being tugged out of the depths of a dream he would not remember upon waking. It was hardly any fault of anyone other than the uncomfortable shift and toss of Hydra over him. She had done her share of this before, perhaps moreso as of late, and inevitably it would wake him. Whether it was intentional or not he would discover when the drowsy fog lifted; it was spurred into going faster at her frustrated huffs.

His brow furrowed as one particular huff seemed to be directed more into an ear before he felt her muzzle slide the other direction. His head craned after her, sight blurry and unfocused as disorientation took over. He tried to figure out the orientation they had either coiled into or simply made up; a leg tentatively probed open air ahead of him before he realized that she was behind him.

Still, the restlessness that imbued her was easily felt.

Something had disturbed her, but what?

Instead of finding words he could only exhale tiredly, propping himself up and surveying wherever it was that they had ended up making their own bed for the previous evening.

She sensed her mate stirring, and Hydra tried to be still then—but it was of no use, she knew, when she could feel him shift. Her eyes opened again, and she watched as he came to consciousness, and knew in the fog of his waking he was gathering his bearings. As he propped himself upward, Hydra lifted her chin from his withers and moved to nose him gently, should he not wiithdraw. 

The sky was open above them; the night had been clear, but she could smell rain on the breeze that rifled through the trees that circled the duo within the clearing. That did not disturb her, and she did not think to find cover. Being exposed to the elements had never been a bother to her. She yawned, then, in an additional effort to fully wake now, still resting comfortably behind him as she sorted through her thoughts.

He felt her touch against him and drew in a breath; he too could smell the rain on the wind. Now was the time for shifting seasons yet again, where perhaps the first kiss of summer would usher in a warmth that had yet to come rushing back in. He too was not bothered by the change of weather, but it was good to know what would come.

A yawn split his features evenly and the world darkened yet again, briefly.

He exhaled it with gusto, full of noise as though that would chase the last dregs of sleep out of his system. A futile effort—movement would clear it out much faster. But he wasn't ready just yet to commit that cause and instead turned his attention to her, returning the gentle touch with a content sigh. Whatever had troubled her seemed nonsensical now; he suspected she had only wished him to wake than sleep the day away.

Preening at the downy hairs of her ear, he thought he would steal quiet moments instead.

Perhaps a run might clear her head, she thought; she was distracted for just a moment as her mate returned her affections, and after basking in them for a minute more she rose to all fours again. Her stomach had settled, and she stretched briefly before shaking out her furs. Glancing to her mate with a small grin, she slapped her forelegs to the earth abruptly then, tail waving in slow arcs.

Think you can catch me? She teased playfully. Hydra had not once given up on her physical pursuits throughout her pregnancy; she would hunt, run, and chase for as long as she was able to.

She did not last there long, instead breaking away from him with his tongue caught between his teeth and nothing else to preen after. He could have groaned, almost anticipating what it was that she would do next when she switched it up instead. The playful bow was unmistakable; it piqued his interest as he huffed a lighthearted response.

If she had wanted to wake him, she had now.

”Need you ask?” His question was as rhetorical as hers, but it was enough to get him up on his feet with the wave of his tail. Dirge had little doubt in his mind that he could catch her one way or another. He had caught her heart eventually, after all, so why not her body too? Eyeing her roguishly, he began their chase by starting after her.