Redsand Canyon I gotta find a field

I'd like to go to Epoch soon. Mom would want to hear the news, I think. Is there anything you'd want me to do for you if I go? Fennec caught @Germanicus on his way out. She didn't want to keep him long, but it didn't feel right to just go without mentioning it. She wasn't sure how long the trip would take.

Epoch was close, but it was also to the north. So far she hadn't gone that direction since the mountains had it a little shut down and fenced in. It would be a job for her to find a safe path through but it was a route she needed to learn if she intended to keep in contact with her mom. She would be fine if she was careful.

Fennec waited for his answer, still seated in the place where they'd spent the previous night. Her eyes didn't track him but her ears did. They held enough anticipation to make up for it.

this can be short <3 and no rush

<3

he could think of several things he wished to do with her rather than her fulfilling his wishes. this was a thought that surprised germanicus. 

he felt it had a great deal to do with how their mutual starvation of touch had at last been answered. 

"i do not," the eagle answered. "only that you enjoy your time with towhee and maxim while you are there." fennec had not asked for an escort and she had navigated the world many years before she came to mereo. still he felt worry flicker. 

her ears were expressive. he brushed her forehead with his muzzle. "you will be close enough for i and the others to hear your voice should there be a need." he wanted to walk with her. but there were tasks. and so the eagle only hovered close for a moment of companionship.

---

This would be his last chance to back out of their agreement before she shared it with someone outside of the two of them. She knew, rationally, that he wouldn't. Yet she was still relieved when he didn't argue or bring it up at all. Something in her settled ever so slightly.

She's going to be insufferable about it. She told me I should just get married weeks ago. She knew his touch only came so often because she asked for it but that didn't lessen the impact at all. He was never reluctant in a way that made her feel guilty for needing it. Fennec leaned towards it, letting her cheek brush his.

I'll call if anything happens. She wished he could come but hadn't asked because she knew he had too many things to do here. She was going to end up rushing home as soon as she could, and it was welcome to find that to be the case. This was already home.

Pride wouldn't let her ask for an escort when no other Mereo wolf would need one for a trip this short. The mountains nearly made her reconsider, but if she was going to claim a home here long term, she needed to learn every inch. She would explore them until she found a route safe for her to take.

germanicus smiled wryly at the mention of towhee. he suspected she would have comments of a certain variety to make upon the subject. and while he would have liked to hear them despite himself, out of respect for arsenio the eagle kept from epoch.

he enjoyed the way his attentions warmed fennec. "i am certain she will be surprised by your choice." there was a faint humour in his eyes.

"when i travel toward the vale, i move past the tablinum and turn left. a path is there. you will know it by the single tree after fifteen steps. however," he went on, "there are many routes to epoch."

the eagle would not insist. however it was a safer trail and traveled by mereoans before.

"when were you considering your trip?"

Fennec wasn't sure that anything she did could surprise Towhee anymore. The choice wasn't the surprise here anyway - the happiness though. This was the biggest shock.

She'd never felt this kind of respect. It wasn't just the way their bodies met - it was the way he spoke to her. It was the implicit and immediate trust, and the way he simply told her the way rather than doubting she would make it. Penn had never made her feel like less... but he'd also never made her want to be more.

It was like Germanicus spoke a language she hadn't known existed. It had to be that she was desperate and feeling some kind of intensified honeymoon phase. This isn't more than what it is. But she couldn't deny the swell to her affection when gave her a starting point. It was the kind of casually thoughtful act she'd have never thought to even ask for.

Fifteen steps, then a tree. She confirmed it, resolving to try his path first and see where it led. Blind exploration would lose her time and it wasn't like her pride was tied up in finding the route herself - she just didn't want to waylay another to play babysitter.

I thought tomorrow. Unless there's a better time? One more night here first, then an early start. If she was lucky the trip would only last a few days at most.

"yes. on the righthand side of the path." as he spoke his worries intensified. at least one wolverine had been sighted on the other side of the canyon. coyotes roamed, and bears would be finishing the last of their meals.

there were many dangers. but assuming fennec's weakness was also one of them. the eagle chose to respect her ability despite the fact he did not want her to go alone.

the sense of honeymooning was also felt by the imperator. however for him it was in the reestablishment of a routine that completed the structure of his day.

he worked. he hunted. he lay with his wife. the consistency of sleeping alongside fennec and waking with her allowed him to focus on the hurt more when he was alone. he cleared his throat and sought the words for a sentiment half-formed. "i will await your return."

Fennec had been in and out for weeks on supply runs but found herself extremely reluctant to leave now. Only a few days and they'd be back to this. Unless he changed his mind, without her here to remind him why he'd done all of this. It was a stupid fear, but knowing that didn't stop it.

She stood up and stepped in closer. Would you believe that I'll already miss this? It wasn't hard to, she hoped. I'll be back as soon as I can. He left sometimes too, she remembered, but she wasn't sure how often. Fennec hadn't thought she'd mind but now knew it would be just as strange, the prospect of sleeping alone. At least it wouldn't be permanent again.

Tonight she'd be sure to leave him with something worth holding over those few days. And in the early morning she'd depart.

can be my last! <3

<3

there was selfishness in the way he had not worried before and did so now. it was intensified by the fact that perhaps while away she might think less of him. not possession, but wariness.

it was quite an ease to have lost themselves in one another, the days of closeness never quite ending. but while away she would have time to truly ponder. and there was also the influential word of towhee. suppose she cared very little for how swiftly he had remarried after he and ruenna's relationship had been dissolved.

but it was best that his wife have those considerations. he would not fault her if she reconsidered, though the prospect added a silent tension to the back of his mind.

germanicus gave a quick smile when fennec said that she would miss their companionship while away.

later, the eagle watched her unfurl and disappear into the gentle softness of the tiny morning hours, still thrumming and tantalized by her ministrations. he lay his head back and wondered with much less perturbance if this also was witchcraft.