Dragoncrest Cliffs deeper than any forest pri[m]eval, i am in love with you

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Rain drummed hard on the roof of their modest den as she and @Njord settled down for the night. Meerkat hadn’t shaken off her mercurial mood and she felt particularly pensive this evening, her mind wandering next door to the sound. She stared silently out the door, eyes glazed.

When Njord made a rumbling nose close to her ear, she surfaced from her deep thoughts and cast him a small smile. In some of her darkest moments these past few days, she’d considered leaving him. But that was absolutely absurd because—she only now recognized the depth of her feelings—she loved him.

She hadn’t told him yet. It was tempting to whisper it now, then ask him to run away with her. But, of course, that was absurd too. It was cowardly and selfish. His family—their family—needed them, maybe now more than ever. Meerkat just needed to be stronger, she knew, leaning against his familiar heat.

Njord slumbered deeply, his body interwoven with Meerkat’s like thread in a loom. The steady rise and fall of his chest was accompanied by the low drone of breathing. Peaceful. Dreams of his woman, his family, and the sea danced in his mind. A silver fish. Stars reflecting in the water. A gentle breeze as they sat in the sand.

He spoke a word in his dream, but it came out as a mumble in life. Drowsily, his blue eyes blinked as he stirred to find Meerkat’s slim face peering at him in the dark. Instinctively, his long legs spun around her to pull her close.

“Mo nighean donn,” he said, words slightly slurred, “ye canna sleep?” He had sensed some disquiet in her this past week. From the outside Meerkat appeared a social butterfly. He was unaware how cold she had been treated, too preoccupied by the settlers in Ankyra.

Her lips pursed and she held very still as Njord began shifting and snuffling in his sleep. She hadn’t meant to disturb him and hoped he might simply go under again. When that didn’t happen—when he began mumbling at her—Meerkat smiled despite herself, the simple sound of his voice soothing the edges of her ragged emotions.

Shhh, go back to sleep, she whispered, gently petting his face. Her voice trailed off into a murmuring croon as she abruptly remembered the time he’d serenaded her on the beach. Maybe she could return the favor, sing him back to sleep.

Longer than there’ve been fishes in the ocean…
Higher than any bird ever flew…
Longer than there’ve been stars up in the heavens…

She breathed wordlessly through the next line, her heart suddenly thumping. Was she ready to say it to him? Did she want to be the one to say it first? She had put her heart on the line for Atlas only to have it crushed. But Meerkat knew her heart was safe here, with Njord, and there was something easier about saying it to him while he was half-asleep. There was, she thought with a tiny smile, plausible deniability.

Continuing in the next breath, she very quietly sang,

Stronger than any mountain cathedral…
Truer than any tree ever grew…
Deeper than any forest primeval…
I am in love with you.

Lyrics belong to Dan Fogelberg.

Meerkat’s tender ministrations and cooing lullaby lulled him back to dreamland. Njord closed his eyes as he smiled contentedly. “You have a bonny voice,” the man mumbled as his paramour sang.

Her lyrics evoked wonderful imagery and each picture passed through his mind to the next. Mighty mountains with snowy caps. A bright forest of quaking aspens. The hushed quiet of a dark weald. This journey found its conclusion with the words I love you.

It was if he was suddenly hoisted out of a warm bath. Njord’s eyes shot open, roused awake by her proclamation. “Ya love me?” the red tail asked as he tucked one elbow against the ground to prop himself up. Had he heard her right? Or had it just been a musical coincidence?

Never the less, something inside him became uncorked. All he had ever wanted was a relationship as deep and meaningful as the one they shared. They had both given it time to grow… to make sure their compatibility was more than just attraction.

“Because,” his brows knitted, eyes darting across her features as he searched her face, “I ‘av fallen deeply in love with you.” Though Njord admitted it now, a piece of him had always known. “I love you, Meerkat.”

The song seemed to have the opposite of her desired effect, not that Meerkat could do anything but smile like a silly schoolgirl when Njord roused. Mm, she hummed, still stroking a paw along his chiseled brow, tucking a disheveled tuft of fur near his temple. She caught his eye then, the look on her face answer enough.

When he told her how he felt in turn, his voice a sleepy but sincere burr, Meerkat’s heart skipped a beat. She leaned in to nuzzle their noses together, then licked that soft patch of skin on his upper lip. His whiskers tickled her tongue. She angled her snout slightly to press a smile to his cheek, breath warm as she finished the song.

I’ll bring fire in the winters…
You’ll send showers in the springs…
We’ll fly through the falls and summers…
With love on our wings.

Through the years, as the fire starts to mellow…
Burning lines in the book of our lives…
Though the binding cracks and the pages start to yellow…
I’ll be in love with you…
I’ll be in love with you.

Lyrics still belong to Dan Fogelberg.

Njord basked in Meerkat’s warm expression and soft kiss. He reclined as she continued her song and felt himself melt from her intimate attentions. A sense of security and connection was like calm waters in his heart. When Meerkat pressed her cheek against his Njord raised a paw to cup the space between her crown and the bulb of her ear, and planted a kiss in the corner of her eye.

The air around them was dream-like, as if a waking reverie. Njord felt the tug of sleep as they held one another, and his lids become heavy once more. “That is a sweet song, mo leannan,” Njord hummed in his baritone timbre.

I can’t take credit, she whispered in the close darkness of their home, but I’m glad you liked it. Meerkat hummed under her breath again when he kissed the corner of her eye, her ears quivering ever so slightly as the rain fell faster, harder outdoors.

He seemed to be drifting and for a moment, she shut her eyes and found herself tiptoeing through a memory. It was night here too, but it was snowing rather than raining. Everything was hushed. There was a heaviness inside of her, a sort of desperation. She was afraid. Tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed. She couldn’t wait for the sun to come out again…

Drawing in a sharp breath, Meerkat opened her eyes. The memory seeped away into the darkness and she pressed her crown beneath Njord’s throat, suddenly ready to say words she’d once said before, in a very different time and a very different mindset. Even with life’s little hardships—looking at you, Njord sprogs—she was happy now, and less naive.

I want you to be my husband, Njord. Gently, she slipped her head free, not entirely sure he hadn’t fallen asleep on her. Meerkat chortled, pecking at his cheeks. Wake up, I’m telling you I love you and I want to marry you and have your babies. She smothered a titter against his neck.

Meerkat was like a warm weighted blanket and, with her crown pressed against his jaw, Njord began to drift back off to sleep perfectly content. His breathing became rhythmic, heart swaddled by a blanket of new love. A dream began to play in his mind, but Meerkat’s voice permeated his reverie.

I - want - you - be - Njord. Only a few words landed, her soft voice hummed in his ear.

“Whasstha?” he mumbled incoherently as his head rocked to one side. Suddenly, Meerkat’s aggressive kissing stirred him wide awake.

Wake up, I’m telling you I love you and I want to marry you and have your babies. Njord’s face went blank as his slow, half-conscious mind processed his lover’s proclamation. But this time there was no denying what he had heard.

He smiled. Then a confused look. Blank again. Back to a smile. A bit of whiplash. Meerkat had floored it from 10 to 100mph. To jump from I love you to let’s get married and have babies was no small step.

All roads led to this end, anyway. Did it matter how it happened? An image of Meerkat decorated with a wreath of lavender sea heather crossed his mind

“Nothin’ could make me happier ta be your husband an' have you by my side forever. Have children together,” he said as he smoothed the hair of Meerkat’s cheek with a soft touch. A flicker of concern painted his visage as his paws moved to clutch Meerkat’s. “Are ya sure you want that? Ta be my wife? I dinna doubt your heart but… well,” he chuckled, “it’s tha middle of the night, mo chride.” There was a serious tone to his voice. Njord didn’t know if his heart would survive should Meerkat choose to rescind her offer.

He seemed a little stunned, particularly by her timing. Meerkat chortled and stroked his face again, clicking her tongue contritely. She bent her head closer to his, their foreheads nearly touching now. Despite Njord’s perfectly understandable sleepy confusion, he seemed delighted, and she smiled.

We don’t have to do it right now, she assured him with a little laugh, murmuring, I just wanted to tell you. I needed you to know. She rubbed their noses together, kissed his cheek, then slipped away to resume a prone position beside him, whispering, I love you. Go back to sleep.

The rain quieted down to a soft susurrus as Meerkat snuggled against Njord’s solid warmth. It was so unlike that night with Atlas. It was more like that very first night when they’d tentatively shared their attraction for one another. It was wonderful. She smiled, resting her head beside his and closing her eyes.

Longer than there’ve been fishes in the ocean…
Higher than any bird ever flew…
Longer than there’ve been stars up in the heavens…
I’ve been in love with you…
I am in love with you.

Lyrics still belong to Dan Fogelberg.

The seafarer’s brows unknit themselves as Meerkat soothed his serious expression. Njord was prepared to drop to his knee right then and there, even if he had been caught unawares by the topic. It seemed, however, there would be time to craft a proper, romantic proposal. He quietly reclined, shocked by how deep his love for her already ran… yet he did not balk.

Njord wound an arm ‘round Meerkat’s waist as she settled in besides him. “I love you too,” he whispered – only audible because of their proximity. Something about saying the phrase made his heart race and, now, he could scarcely sleep because of it. His nose nuzzled the silky hair of her throat.

Though his eyes closed while Meerkat concluded her melody as the rain poured outside, the red trail found his imagination more roused than ever. A few silent moments slipped between them before he asked, “what do ya think our children will be like?”

She didn’t think she’d be able to fall asleep, not with this pleasant energy humming in her veins. I love him… and he loves me. It was incredibly sappy, but Meerkat clutched this knowledge close to her heart. Despite that, she drifted, jerking minutely when Njord’s voice broke through the rainy hush.

Opening her eyes halfway to look into his in the dim, she felt her heart flutter all over again at his question. She took a few minutes to ponder, her insides going molten as Meerkat thought about what it would be like: going into her first season; making love with the intention of making life; then carrying his children; and eventually bringing them into the world.

I just hope they like me, came an unbidden thought, which Meerkat quickly discarded before it could befoul this moment. Well, I hope they’ll listen to me when I tell them to go to sleep, she joked, huffing a laugh and pressing her nose against his cheek, feeling the gentle cut of bone there.

When she spoke again, it was a bit more earnest. I daydream about them. I think about whether they’ll be boys or girls; what they’ll look like; what we’ll call them. But I don’t care about any of that. I just want them to be happy and healthy. I know that’s a cliche, but it’s true. And I know we’ll both do everything to love them and keep them safe.

That’s all they could do, right? Meerkat had never felt shortchanged about her nontraditional family, though she wondered what it would be like for them, being raised by two parents who were, quite frankly, disgustingly in love. She actually snorted quietly at the thought, which reminded her to plant yet another kiss on Njord’s muzzle.

What about you? What do you think, she whispered, taking shameless delight in tacking on, husband-to-be?

Njord laughed with Meerkat as he imagined the vision she cast. He appreciated what a deep thinker she was and how her values lied in the heart. Purity radiated from his sandy lass. She only wanted to be a loving mother and provide their children with the best life possible. Njord squeezed her a little tighter, and said a small thank you to the universe for giving him such a rare woman.

His paw drifted up and down her back, tracing her spine with a featherweight touch. On one occasion a digit roamed over her belly as he reflected how this would all be new to Meerkat. In an objective way, he had been through the ringer already. For that, he felt some guilt… but on another hand, he was glad to have some experience. He felt prepared knowing how to be the best man for his bride-to-be.

“Tha is verra sweet,” he said, “an well put. I wish for that too.” He hummed in thought. “When ya ask me that question, tha first thing that comes ta mind… is pictures. Vignettes of watchin’ them grow. Teachin’ and leanin’ …playin in a brook or trackin’ down a beetle.” He recalled little Sobo having a fright over a bug. “I can see it now… watchin’ you in tha distance. Sun on yer hair. The bairns – babes – playin’ in tha heather.” It was a wonder how their minds worked differently, but beautifully. “I ken you’ll by a bonny mother. Even on tha days they wail and dinna let you sleep,” he added with a chuckle. “But dinna fash. There's two of us, now. I'll be with ya.”

Bairns, Meerkat thought, letting her eyes drift closed as Njord painted pictures in her mind. They opened again when he assured her she would be a good mother and that he would always be there with her. There was so much love inside her, there wasn’t even any room for doubts, or pessimism, or skepticism. She wholeheartedly believed him. They would get their happily ever after.

The feather light touches against her back and belly left a trail of tingles that made her insides swoop and tighten with surprising intensity. Really? Meerkat scolded herself, without any heat whatsoever. We’re supposed to be sleeping together right now, not sleeping together… She snorted. She couldn’t bring herself to feel even the remotest shred of guilt now for waking Njord. Talking to him like this had made her feel so much more hopeful about both present and future.

But the pressure on her abdomen, gentle as it was, made Meerkat suddenly aware of another of her body’s demands. Mm, will you hold that thought? Nature calls. As she pushed upright and reluctantly slipped away from his warmth, she nuzzled Njord’s brow in apology. She then hastened out into the rainy night.

She gasped. The raindrops were frigid enough to make her shiver as she hurriedly squatted to do her business. Strangely, her skin remained hot and tingly beneath the icy onslaught. Meerkat fancied she could even see steam rising from her fur, but that was probably just a trick of the eye. It was a very dark and very rainy night, after all.

The instant she finished emptying her bladder, Meerkat stepped back into their humble quarters, resisting the automatic urge to shake out her pelt. It was bad enough she’d likely brought the smell of wet dog into their home. Sorry, she murmured to Njord, wondering how to effectively dry herself without flinging cold water all over her intended.

She stood there mulling, shivering, dripping, her body flushed despite the chill. Was she coming down with a fever? She felt fine otherwise. She bit at her lip, still ponderous, eyes drifting to Njord, the sight of him supine in the dark causing that earlier tug of amorousness to spark like dry tinder and catch flame abruptly. Something hooked low in her belly, pulling her closer to him despite her dripping coat. It wasn’t an illusion; steam was rising from her soaking wet body as her own scent—enhanced sharply by the moisture—filled the small room like perfume. And it wasn’t wet dog.

Post #400 for my future baby momma!

Meerkat slipped away to do her business and Njord waited for her return, stretched out and staring at the dirt ceiling of their humble home. Both contentedness and excitement found their place within his heart – the feeling that all he had manifested was finally coming to fruition.

She returned mumbling an apology, the outer guard hairs of her pelage soaked with winter sleet. Njord would have beckoned her back into their bed, would it have not been for changed scent she carried. Abruptly, he stood up. It was as if mother nature had eavesdropped on their conversation and wound Meerkat’s biological clock to the perfect minute. The Redtail closed any distance left between them and began to lick away the wetness on her pelt as he savored the ripe tang of new pheromones.

“Meerkat, yer flux… it’s…” he mumbled with a throaty growl. Though Meerkat ‘s presence alone often roused his body, things were different this time. He absolutely burned for her, and made it known by craning his neck over her back possessively. Njord’s teeth raked through her fur like a comb and ended with a sultry nip. Every fiber of his body felt taut and a deep wanting pulsed through his blood. His blue gaze passed his paramour a knowing look. The man would wait only a moment longer, should Meerkat change her mind at the eleventh hour, before sweeping her into a lover’s embrace.

Njord rose abruptly to his feet, pressing closer with a possessive growl. Feeling slightly stunned, Meerkat swayed into him as his head hooked over the slope of her back, the tips of his teeth gently pressing into her damp, overheated skin. She responded with a noise that could only be called a purr. Head bowing, ears sweeping backward, she arched her neck around, their eyes meeting as they shared a moment of mutual revelation. Was this really happening?

She wanted to say something to mark this moment, herald the utterly serendipitous arrival of her heat and what it meant for them. But no more words came. Now was the time to act. Feeling drugged but floating much higher than poppies had ever taken her, Meerkat molded herself to Njord. His heart beat solidly against her back as they embraced, her own syncing with its rhythm as he pulled her as close as two could ever get.

Felicitations on 400! Want to fade and have a followup soon?!