Redhawk Caldera Put your dukes up

set Jan 14

He hadn't heard the bellowing from the border, or any of the commotion- but he came upon the scene afterwards, where two sets of prints and scents mingled. He was horrified to recognize them both- and to see that they were both equally as fresh. He ranged over the pawprints left behind in the snow, feeling his heart pound in hic chest. There was no sign of blood- but the tracks still overlapped and it made his gut twinge. He gazed off down the slope- no sign of the red man, but the tracks he'd left behind when he'd left, and a lingering tension in the air. 

He sought out his wife, whose tracks led away as well, though she meandered along the borders. He had no reason to feel suspicious- she'd marked the borders everywhere in the area, and he knew defensive markings when he saw them. Instead, he felt concerned. This was stressful for him, so he could only imagine how much stress it had caused Teya. 

Her path crossed with Maia's tracks, and his heart softened a bit. He was glad that the two leaders had spoken, but he knew he was needed next. @Teya's scent was close so he called out, his voice gentle but urgent.

she wasn't surprised to find bronco coming after her, but she wasn't ready. teya, who had thrown up her breakfast and hadn't even attempted lunch, had gone down to the lake for a must-needed rest.
sorana had gone with bridget and that was just as well, she decided, feeling more than a pinch of guilt for her —
she saw the worry in his eyes and steeled herself as she came to answer a call. for a moment teya considered attempting a smile, but knew it wouldn't be genuine. there was nothing she had to explain, it seemed; he was here because he knew reyes had come by. "sorana going to hate me for throwing him out," she said, voice whisper-light.

Her eyes shimmered, shivering freshwater. He saw in them grief and turmoil and he uttered a sympathetic whine as she whispered. He approached, and would drape his muzzle over her withers, and pull her gently to rest against his shoulder. He couldn't help but feel as though he was responsible for this. After all, Teya might have been inclined to forgive Reyes for his departure and allow him to live in Brecheliant again for Sorana's sake if he hadn't told her about his own experiences with the man- second-hand as they were. 

"She will understand. Maybe not today, but she will." He tried to ease her fears. "Fathers can still be good fathers from a distance." He said, speaking from experience. He passed his muzzle over her temple, before resting his chin on her shoulders again. "This must feel....Pretty hard." After all, she had cut ties with Reyes, and had moved on. Seeing him again, alive, no doubt had rattled her. He paused.

"We can tell her I chased him off, if it would spare you her spite."

teya shook her head quickly and drew away, filled with a feathering of anxiety that made her shift back and forth in place. "no. no, she should hear truth. we fought. i not — wait to let her choose."
maybe there was a fear that sorana would pick her father after all.
brecheliant — did it even feel like — had she ruined it?
"i not think he would come back. he — was hurt. scared, maybe." she set her eyes on his. "something bad happened. that why he away so long. but i — all i say was he can't live here. and i not his wife. then he — begged."
her throat constricted; she shut her gaze and looked away.

He could feel her anxiety rise, and patiently, he let her say everything she felt she should tell him. They fought- he could see no sign of physical harm, but he would trust she'd tell him if Reyes had even touched a whisker to her face. Now, it seemed, another truth had been revealed. Reyes had been away, but not of his own choosing. If he'd been injured, scared...He felt his heart clench. 

It was too soon. It would always be too soon- but if the hunters had come this way...

He tensed his muscles to hold back a shudder. He sensed that she had some sympathy for him. She'd been begged, but she had pushed him away. Bronco frowned. At times, he found Teya difficult to read. What was she asking him to do? Assumptions wouldn't help him. 

"What can I do to make things easier?" He asked calmly.

teya inhaled. "nothing, i think." and that was hardest, that there was nothing to be done. "i think once he sees sorana, he will go. or, visit. until then, we watch borders." her daughter was too old to kidnap but not too young to pick her dad over whatever it was that teya offered.
"reyes — i not think he invade brecheliant. but he might, if he feels that i keep her from him." that was the part that rankled still, among all the rest: the idea that he felt she could have kept sorana back.
she shook her head, cleared her throat. "she with bridget, outside pack for now. when she come home, she will know."

It was discouraging to think that there wasn't something he could do. Sorana would definitely hate him even more if she thought he was the one who had chased Reyes off, and she might come to begrudge her mother for lying if Reyes ever told her the truth. Teya was likely right to push that they be honest, though he wished he could somehow shield her from her child's resentment. 

He wondered if Teya feared that Sorana would leave her, knowing that her father was alive. If she knew Reyes lived and hadn't been away by choice, she would potentially hold a grudge against her mother for pushing him away. It would be best, likely, for Sorana to be given the choice, and the freedom to see her father so long as he would do her no harm, and would leave the pack in peace. 

Bronco could only hope that he wouldn't invade the pack. He wasn't sure what he could do, if that became the case. Reyes was unpredictable and dangerous when pushed to the brink. 

"He'll come back." Bronco said. He knew what it was like, to be held at a distance. It was infuriating- but he weathered it relatively well. Reyes might not be tempered as easily. "But I'll make sure he knows not to cross our borders. You're alright with him seeing Sorana, though?" He asked.

she nodded. "yes. both of them need it."
sorana was her daughter, always on her attention even if she did not show it. or show it well. but reyes was another; reyes was a red smouldering that forced itself through the cracks of her happiness and insisted on pulling her back.
she thought; she balanced her mind. "when you see — fennec," the woman began hesitantly, hoping she would not start something else, "is it the same? does it hurt?" 
teya could not recall if she had ever asked bronco about this.

He agreed. It felt like the only way to reconcile the rift between mother and daughter was to strike up some balance so that Sorana could see both of her parents. The only tug of jealousy he felt was when he considered how much Sorana pined for her father, while she shunned him, or rolled her eyes whenever they did interact. He couldn't want to replace Reyes, or take up the place she had in her heart for her father- but he did hope at least that she might stop avoiding him so much. 

He blinked when Teya spoke Fennec's name. It wasn't often that they spoke at length about their previous relationships, save for where their children were concerned. When he spoke of his son, Fennec's name was often omitted from the conversation. It was a gentle way, he thought, of shutting the door on their past and moving forward while keeping Killdeer close to his heart. With that door shut, he was able to think about her, differently, and talk about her. 

"No," He said, thoughtfully, the nuance in his voice leading toward an explanation. "I don't see her anymore, either, so...I think maybe it's a bit easier for me. We decided not to be in each other's lives, and I don't think either of us regret that. Killdeer tells me she's moved on too, so...Honestly, that's a relief. I don't...I don't really worry that it'll ever be hard to see her again, if our paths cross. But...I think it did hurt, for a bit." He said. He wanted her to know that he understood the struggle. "It hurt until I realized that it would only hurt more and more if we stayed together. Then...It just got easier, and I started looking forward. Only forward." He said.

when bronco blinked, teya felt herself start to tense, wondering if he was going to close. but he didn't, and he began to speak with the same cadenced care he put into all of their discussions.
and she heard the message underlying: walk beyond this with me. beneath her facefur she flushed and felt a small smile unfurl across her mouth. "it does hurt. not for reasons i thought. and for some i did." the honesty was refreshing; she was grateful to him for providing such a safe place when she needed it.
abruptly teya straightened, swinging her tail as if to dispel all the cobwebs of her ex-husband. "have been sick in mornings. too early and i think it is only all — this. but," and her mouth quirked, "i tell you if it still around in another two weeks."

She seemed to slip from her nervousness when she was given a place to feel validated. It was a relief to see that she did not bristle or recoil; she was graceful when presented with security. He learned from this, and while he knew he would never have all the answers to the things that troubled her, he would remember that sometimes, an answer wasn't what was needed. Sometimes, she needed a question. 

He was about to ask her if she wanted to explore her feelings more- but it seemed her fears had been tamed, now that she knew she could have them without feeling pressured to fix them right away. He was caught off-guard by her sudden repair, and the way she seemed to flick off her worries with a sweep of her tail. It was a bit abrupt- but he was swiftly side-lined from his concerns when she admitted to being sick. 

He bristled lightly with concern and he drew in a breath. Bridget was away, but Eljay perhaps would have something to ease whatever it was that was bothering her stomach-

-oh. 

Oh.

"Oh!" 

A bit of a delayed reaction, due to the slight whiplash he experienced. Her emotional shift was fleet, and left him floundering for a moment until he realized what she was hinting at. Of course, he hoped she would conceive, but he hadn't realized that her symptoms might appear this early. It'd only been...Well, how long had it been? Long enough? Why wasn't he better at this? (Probably because discussions about reproductive health had made him sick as a child.)

"Is it-" Too early? He wanted to get his hopes up, because children were exactly what he wanted- but he also didn't want to get too excited too early, just in case. She would know, though- she'd know herself, and how her body felt, having been through this before. "Two weeks?" He asked, with a light laugh, his brow furrowing. How the heck was he supposed to wait two whole weeks to know, now that there was a chance? He'd spend every waking day hoping, looking for signs. It was time to start nesting, feeding her, protecting her- 

Dad mode engaged. 

He laughed, and reached for her with a soft whine. 

Their worries could be tossed aside. He could flick his concerns off as easily as Teya did- now that he knew there was a chance they were expecting children.

teya laughed as bronco slowly realized, and then exclaimed. her face was bright, the unshed tears burning away to something else, something more hopeful; she slid her arms around his strong shoulders and let the hope grow, unfurl and blossom until it lodged like sunshine in her belly.
"two weeks. we know then. in meantime, if i keep sick, i go to eljay sooner," she reassured him, grateful in a sudden fierce love for the pack's midwife and healer.
bridget lingered on her mind, her face appearing beside sorana's which always remained behind her right eye — that was unexplainable, a mother's vision.
she wondered, she feared, and she allowed herself to be happy, to share in bronco's obvious joy. 
why did it feel wrong?
she knew.
and yet teya fought; she fought it and pressed forward into his delight. "your eyes are so bright," she said, perhaps nonsensically.
but bronco would know what she meant.

He appreciated that she would mind her own health, whether or not her symptoms were early signs of pregnancy. He feared unexpected loss, having seen it several times in his life already. With every connection he made, he feared losing it to some brutal sweep of fate. He'd been wary of falling in love again, but it had overcome him in a wave. He would not drown in worry, though- he would relish the overwhelming freshness of it, and swim in his newfound happiness. 

It was too late for him to stow his hopes away now; and she caught him glowing. He looked at her, and felt that she was too. "S'cause I'm lookin' at you," He crooned into her fur.

"sappy," she muttered, but kissed him then and firmly, winding herself all the way against him as desire rose in her hormonally affected body.
perhaps he would see it in her gaze or little half-smile as she stretched, deciding to let the moment arrive more naturally as she thought about little ones at her side again.
or maybe only a one. 
a gentle love rose in her heart for the little lives that might now blossom inside. and because bronco shared in her joy, it was intensified. 
her turn to moon over him with a soft small grin on her face.

He chuckled, but uttered a soft, pleased sound as she pressed against him. Obviously, sappy didn't repulse her, which was just as well. He liked being able to say exactly what he thought, no matter how sappy or cheesy it might have seemed. It made his heart grow to release these thoughts, knowing now that they were not only tolerated, but appreciated. The way she looked at him, then, made him proud. He'd made the right choice to pursue her; somehow, things seemed to be working out. 

Maybe he was finally piecing together what it was that he needed in a partner, and teya had come to him as if she was the missing piece in that puzzle. They could speak of serious things, they could voice their stresses, and confess their past follies without those words becoming a weapon. And now, they had a future together that might even be more assured by the conjuring of new life. 

Waiting for the children to come was going to be nearly unbearable- but he could feast off the joy that the hope gave him, in the meantime.