Redhawk Caldera rosebowl

Wraen. Still it made his heart squeeze painfully to think of her. A fondness shone in his eyes for a moment. "Wraen. I miss her," He said, softly. "I was living here, with the Redhawks at that time, I think. I used to go to Wraen all the time, for advice, or stories," He said. "Has it really been that long?" He asked, though it was more rhetorical than anything. He begrudged the passing so so much time...He still felt like he was just a dumb teenager, still trying to figure out how to live his life. It felt impossible to think that he wasn't just a yearling anymore, and hadn't been for some time. 

Maybe that was his problem; maybe it was time to grow up. 

He grimaced lightly at the mention of the Saints. Not much had come from the rising threat of the Saints, he thought. Nor from Ursus. Stories, legends, warnings- but they hadn't brought war, and he was thankful for that. "Glad to be rid of them," He said. 

Akashingo was still a novelty to him- he'd make a note to try and visit some time, if they were on such good terms. If felt right to mention Mereo, though, given both its proximity and its importance to him. "There's also Mereo, just in the mountains to the north, in the canyon...They're...Military, so...They're pretty territorial." He shrugged. He didn't like militaries.  "But my son lives there. Which is kind of odd, because he's a total goofball, but...What can you do. Kids're just...Gonna do what they want," He said with a sad smile.

wraen. "i miss her too. she — help me. when i was angry." and teya had been angry for a long time that year. now her eyes smarted, and she looked away from him, not wanting to glance upon into the golden whiskey of his eyes and have him understood they shared the same pain of the moment.
to his question, rhetorical or not, the raven bobbed her head a little. time flies. time flew. time raced. killdeer. she knew that name; she remembered he and caracal stumbling across she and reyes. and reyes — good god, this conversation kept going around and around into things that hurt.
and it wasn't bronco's fault. it wasn't even hers, how things progressed. but she wanted it to be her fault that she wanted to end the talk and run off to put the hard things back inside her chest.
"mereo. yes. i not meet them yet. only germanicus, but before he was leader of mereo." moving to their allies was easier. teya enjoyed his company, despite the turns the words had given. "sorana not puppy anymore. i look at her and realize. and one day, maybe she will go explore world too."
it felt dizzy.

Angry? He glanced at teya, but not for long when she saw the grief in her eyes. He couldn't picture Teya as an angry wolf, but that was the magic of Wraen's counsel, it seemed. He'd once been an angsty teen- still was, some days- but Wraen had helped him through a lot. He reached to touch his nose to her shoulder, but said nothing. It would be too easy to stop and grieve, even when he knew that Wraen would much rather they smiled and told fond stories of her life. 

He wondered briefly if Germanicus had had less of a stick up his ass when Teya had met him. He decided for the sake of maintaining some sort of civility between the two packs, that it would be best not to ask, even in jest. 

Sorana was easier to talk about, and brought a smile to his face. "Pirate Queen Sorana," He chuckled softly. "It's hard to know what they'll want, when they grow up. Is she your first?" He asked, hoping he wasn't prying into an uncomfortable topic.

his touch was enough. it reminded her she was starved for it; aside from the usual familial brushes of her daughter, teya lived life largely isolated in that regard. she almost fumbled, cursing internally even as her coolwater eyes blinked in soft surprise. 
brecheliant loved her. she was well-tended here and highly respected and yet a simple touch of encouragement unraveled her. 
pirate queen sorana. now her lips did twist and she nodded with a rapidly distancing look. "first." and the bitterness struck her tongue; "only."
teya realized she was losing control; she looked finally and openly at bronco with sincere apology in her expression. "it been a hard day," she murmured, trying to salvage how badly she was fucking up the end of their conversation. 
"i want —" she said suddenly, then bit her lip, searching his face. "i want — to talk. again. more. another time."
but not now; now her brow was knitting and with a final helpless look, teya cleared her throat and started to stalk away, hoping he would not come after her, as much for her own dignity as the tears racing hotly where bronco could not see.

Only.

Said with such abruptness, he concluded that she must have had another- more than one, perhaps- but that now, Sorana was the only one left. 

There was a plea in her eyes, and he moved toward her, brow furrowed with concern. He had crossed a line, he could tell. Something he'd asked her about had rattled her, and she wanted to go away. She apologized, and promised him they would meet again, and then turned. He had a déja vu- or perhaps it was a memory- when he watched the golden-furred woman walk away from him. He closed his eyes for a moment and in a flash, her fur turned a shade paler in his mind's eye. His eyes flew open and he bounded toward her, out of habit more than anything. 

Too many times has the golden woman turned her back and walked away from him. 

But this was a different golden woman, and she was not his golden woman, either. He didn't have one, anymore. He realized that perhaps a moment too late, and he'd drawn even with her, balking when he saw the tears flowing down her cheeks. 

"Teya," he said, softly, ready to balk and bow away at any instant, but still compelled to stay near her and atone for the sorrow he'd caused.

but bronco did follow; he did bring his warm presence to her side, and it was unexpected and romantic and a thousand things she didn't want it to be. she didn't even know him. he didn't even know her, and she wasn't wanting to be known. she had reyes. she had sorana. she had bridget, and maia, and eljay, and all their children, and makan — why wasn't she happy? she hadn't been that way before him and she wasn't now.
her jaw tightened with the force of her refusal to sob, even as her throat thrummed with the effort. "not you," she said in a monotone, fearing she would break if she let him hear anything else. the tears went on, silent and almost mad. "sorana dad and i, uh — not great." an understatement. "it my fault, really, but — he love sorana. i love her. so we stay." she shut her eyes and drew a long breath. "so. that all. just — i — was afraid you wanted to ask. about reyes."
she worried her lip again; her eyes spoke her willingness to flee.

He didn't believe her even when she tried to assure him that it wasn't something that he'd done. His hangdog, apologetic expression changed when she parted with the real reason. Reyes. Their relationship wasn't good, but he wanted to be around for Sorana- Bronco straightened, and realized only then that his hackles had lifted slightly. This wasn't something new; but he only had part of the story, and a lot of history to fill in the blanks. 

"Reyes," He said, and his voice was grim. She'd tried to leave before, to escape all mention of the man. Bronco hadn't been aware of their marital issues; he hardly saw the man at all, given the fact that he preferred to avoid him. "Teya I...I'm so sorry, I didn't know. I know you don't wanna talk about it, but...He's not hurting you, is he?" His voice was low, serious. Bronco was slow to anger, but the thought of Reyes hurting yet another woman, failing another family, made him fume.

"no."
she shook her head emphatically, even though she could no longer look at bronco. the shame of everything clung to her; the men she'd slept with, the way she had abandoned sorana for weeks on end.
that was when he'd stopped loving her, right there.
"no. i hurting him." because it was true. because he'd broken her heart and then she'd broken his. they were even now; they didn't need to keep doing this to each other.
she sniffled and swallowed, breathing deeply. bronco cared; he cared because he was her packmate. but the way he moved to anger for her made teya want to weep. she didn't deserve it. and he didn't know that.

Relief didn't quite soften his concern. Teya might not have wanted to tell him the truth if Reyes had been hurting her, they were little more than strangers still. He hated coaxing confessions out of someone he barely knew, but he needed to make sure that she was safe. 

Teya's confession didn't make him believe that she was responsible for their relationship being rocky. From what he knew of Reyes, and the impression he had of her, he assumed she was perhaps hiding something, or being modest. Her tears were real, and there was guilt in her voice, but he chose to empathize with her being the victim. "I know a bit about what that's like." He said, softly. "But...Staying with Reyes, for Sorana's sake...Maybe it is what's best for her, I dunno. But when my mate and I broke up, I think it was the best thing we could've done for Killdeer. The last thing I wanted him to do was grow up an' end up staying with someone who....Treated him bad, or who he didn't love." He said.

<3! mayybeee we can have another one post-wedding/post fennec's visit? <3

bronco meant well. but all teya could hear was criticism, and she wanted to tell him that bridget had already set her to rights in the same uncertain way. "a year," was what she said, voice gone deadened once more so she wouldn't lash out at him for being concerned. "not forever."
bronco had his own pain, and some part of teya was desperately grateful that when the end came, she would not be alone in the experience.
the bitter irony was that after this talk, reyes would indeed go missing from the caldera. for now teya blinked, apology still lining her features, and then turned away. 
this time she quickened her step, refusing to run but with no other words to give. and nothing to let bronco have in return; she had no capacity to offer her sympathies to the end of his own relationship.
what he said about sorana's future stung, and not for the first time did she consider how maybe eljay and maia would have been better suited to give the girl the stability teya had failed to grant.

100% :) I have no idea how that thread'll go, but I'll tag you when he's good to have another thread.

His words stung, he knew it. It was tough advice to give- especially to someone who was a stranger...He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he did think it was a message that had its reason, as well. Nevertheless, it wasn't consoling, and perhaps the unsolicited advice was unnecessary. She said something that surprised him next- and made him realize that he probably should've understood the situation better before trying to tell her what to do. 

She already had a plan. She was already well aware of the fact that their relationship had an agreed-upon expiry. That, he hadn't expected. She turned and moved off with a brisk walk. The tone of her voice warded him off and discouraged him from trying to follow her. Feeling like he should have just stuck his own foot in his mouth, Bronco sighed, shook his head, and slunk off, to tidy up the reeds he'd plucked for his bed, and then lay on them, basking in his own foolishness.