Firefly Glen [PHE] a kiss with a fist

She’d issued one challenge thus far, and had left the Kvarsheim leader to consider the request, hoping in part that he might end up being so much of a coward that he feared crossing her path. In truth, she felt a little bit shaken by her own cockiness. What if she embarrassed herself in front of this many other wolves?

She moved with intention, but found herself pausing when she found a small splotch of dark juice on the ground. The smell was strong- it was some kind of berry- but when she licked it, the taste made her tongue curl. It was disgusting and yet-

-she wanted more.

There were many wolves gathered, and their voices were distracting. Still, she flattened her ears and focused on tracking here and there, at times bumping into others or cutting across their path even as they moved to embrace old friends. She lifted her head in passing to smell, sometimes invading personal space until-

She found where it lingered.

She’d cut across the dark woman’s path and had barely bobbed her head up to sniff when she caught the scent of boozy berries on her breath. She snapped her head up and sniffed again, stepping back when she realized she was uncomfortably close to the stranger, @Tavina. 

Her whiskers twitched. She looked at the woman like a child who has just heard the opening of a bag of chips from the bathroom where the parent *thought* it was a safe place to hide and snack. 

Want some. She grunted.

the chips and parent analogy is especially resonant as i cram illegally unshared cheetos into my mouth

skilled at disappearing if she wished, tavina melted deeper into the underbrush, skirting the edge of one camp (kvarsheim) and another (sapphique).

unknowing to her, the skin bag of berries had begun to leak, leaving a rather savory trail. it was along this that the girl followed, though tavina did not notice until it was far too late.

there was a half-grown child in her face, demanding;

her sozzled eyes blinked. "you're a girl," tavina declared in an arrogant tone, her breath a plume of cigarlike steam in the cold autumn air. "i won't be responsible for a drunken child. now move," she clipped, stumbling unevenly around the young obstacle in her blurry path.

The puff of the woman’s breath was so sour it made Cygnet squint. Nevertheless her appetite for the curious substance grew, when she noted how the woman’s movement denoted some amount of intoxication. Morbidly, Cygnet wondered how it felt, and if it was something close to being nearly dead.

She wasn’t so easily brushed aside, and moved back like a sidewinder so the woman couldn’t simply slip past her again. Not girl, Her voice was gruff, defensive. Here she was, fearsome and blood-painted, being called a girl.

If the shrewd woman’s true concern was getting in trouble for giving liquor to a minor, she’d address that concern as well. Won’t tell, She added, with what she hoped was a smoothe shrug of one blood-streaked shoulder.

she wasn't a baby, only at this age, at the disparity to them, tavina only saw some upstart demanding things she did not understand. the purple eyes of the sesh stared in dizzy fomentation toward those of the other; she felt the bag slipping down around one shoulder, staining her flank sticky with the acrid juice.

"that — doesn't matter at all." she attempted to be stern, now just registering the blood smudged onto the other. "i've made a bad decision. go a-away."

the good doctor tottered backward a little, clutching at it even as a look of disgust crossed her face. at the texture. at herself, intoxicated here the very first night and caught out by some little drink-hound.

she reeled; caught herself against a tree trunk. she thought of nala and eset and zaahira's solemn eyes; she closed them.

the strained hide snapped; the pouch plummeted toward the forest floor before tavina had even registered the lightness along her body.

If Cygnet thought he was pre-occupied with distractions of the female variety and wouldn't be watching her she would be sorely mistaken.

The slurred speech of Tavina caught his attention--though his features remained solemn as he sidled next to Cygnrt first, a sideways glance given to her. This will affect your ability to spar and function. Now is not the time or place, but ask me when we're home and I will talk about it with you, he murmured to the pale girl, though one eye remained on Tavina.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't hoping Eset would appear from the foliage.

Tavina slumped, and the dark man made to assist, dipping down to catch what scattered and right it--shouldering the bag before offering it to the doctor. Anywhere in particular you're going to?

She grunted, squinted skeptically at the woman who now clutched to her prize and claimed that age Bb was no matter. She saw the woman’s posture soften, watched the way her eyes wandered past Cygnet as if following a moving target. The sternness remained in her features though her words were slurred. 

Cygnet was quick, sober. 
She watched the woman stagger and grimace when her slipping gaze at last returned to her. Tavina recoiled as if repulsed, and stumbled as if tripped by fate for casting such shade with her glance. 
She fell against a tree- likely the only reason she remained on her feet- and the strap holding the berries to her broke, and fell to the ground.

But before Cygnet could snatch the hard-earned treat, Akavir intervened. She gnashed her teeth together, irritated that he foiled her plans…Which, to be fair, was exactly what she deserved considering the way she’d interrupted his conversation with the pale woman earlier- but she wouldn’t see it that way.

You’re not my Dad. Her words were short, punchy. She huffed, and gave the drunken women one last look- knowing there was likely no way she’d surrender the berries, even now.

everything went badly! so quickly;

she collected herself out of necessity when akavir showed himself, considerate of herself and how humiliating this moment was. she could not let it lapse further, but her eyes narrowed as he picked up her bag of berries.

"i was headed away from camp." tavina shoved herself to stand on four legs, taking the proffered pouch. her purple eyes flicked toward the girl. "there are things in this world not understandable. this is one of them."

her head nodded. "akavir." and she stepped away, around, a wobbly wend traced as she headed in new desperation for the loneliness of that stone point.

nala. nala. nala. why could she not let go?

Tavina’s gaze lingered on Cygnet—her words seeming to indicate a heavier topic than even the sampling of an addictive substance. She steeled herself—her mien entirely different than his brief interlude with her at the vacation palace of Muat-riya with Eset.

Cygnet’s words drew a derisive snort from the man—his pale topaz eyes gleaming with amusement at the clap back. “Even worse,” he acknowledged her, his own tone drawling. “I’m your Alpha.” Sardonically, he gave the youthful girl a quirk of his eyebrows before turning back to Tavina, who was firmly standing now and determined to leave.

He shot a stern glance to Cygnet—to behave—and loped after the stubborn lavender-eyed woman as she began to move away, ignoring her attempted dismissal of him. For her ear alone as he caught up to her—“Can I walk with you until you reach where you’re going?”

For a moment after the words had been launched, she felt a pang of regret, as if she listened to the whistling of arrows that fell to wound her own kin in friendly fire. While Akavir was not her father, she’d never had one, nor had any idea of his identity. All the same, he had been more of a father figure to her than any other- and her usual shrewdness fractured when she feared the impact her inconsiderate words might have. 

Seemingly, though, the arrows fell instead into a fire already burning- likely lit when she’d interrupted his conversation earlier- and now the flames turned to graze her own hide. Shame-faced and bitter, she acknowledged the truth with a drop of her tail, and the backward turn of her grey ears. 

She didn’t look at Tavina, so she might not have to bear the humiliation of her gaze as well. Her words simply made Cygnet frown; she felt underestimated. Things that could not be understood? It was exactly how Cygnet identified…And she had to wonder still if those berries would help her understand herself any better.

Ever the snotty brat at heart, though,  she worked her jaws as if to mimic Akavir’s statement as he loped off.  She turned with a dejected sniff to stalk off, stiff-legged, needing somewhere to dispense her ever-growing angst.

even after all that, there was something about the girl which tavina enjoyed — some budding spirit. but fermented fruits were what you stole on youthful larks; she'd sadly stopped the worst person at this gathering to ask for the drink, a doctor in her own guilty cups.

akavir. tavina wanted to snap that she hadn't a choice if he wanted to putter along. for eset's sake, for eset's sake, not that of herself or muat-riya, the prickly woman shut her mouth on that matter. "i can't stop you," she said at last, "but i hope you're not looking for an invitation. i wasn't about to extend one to any wolf here."

there. now he would know he was not singled out for slight. "pharaoh has not yet arrived. this is the first and only night i'll have to myself, you know."

still, tavina managed not to be reproachful. better akavir than some bumbling newcomer. they'd shared the same hospital room; they could make a conversation happen. tavina lifted her chin. "you're not her father? could have fooled me. both of you."

Cygnet stormed away rather than join them--his gaze following her a moment before he had to quicken his steps to keep up with Tavina, who already seemed more alert.

While he wanted nothing more than to follow after one of his many charges and ensure she was okay, he suspected right now his presence might damped her mood further.

A gentle inclination of his head was given to Tavina as she huffed at him--biting back a small smile just before she shared news that Akashingo would be in attendance.

Interesting...

Promise I won't ruin your one night to yourself. I just want to make sure you get from point A to point B, is all, he offered, his eyes drifting to the unfamiliar faces that jostled by at times.

It was an impressive gathering--and even while Eset might have been at the forefront if his mind when seeing Tavina, his current attempt at being a good boy scout was more because he would hate to learn later if something happened to her. Gives me an excuse to scope out the area a bit, too, he shrugged.

Scents mingled--salt water versus pine. Herbs. Food.... Tavina's berries were particularly potent as well, it seemed. Still, there was no sign of--

Tavina spoke, drawing an arched brow to her direction. Cygnet? I'll take that as a compliment he murmured, though he wasn't sure the intoxicated doctor meant it as such. But no. Her mother died in child birth and we didnt know who her father was.

"that makes her yours then," tavina murmured, head swirling with the drink as she thought of the children to whom medusa had given birth. nazli's new little ones.

four young priests, predestined for their roles.

tavina wondered if akavir had any concept of predestination or if he was content to rely up upon the other accepted thought: chance on earth before death came.

tavina hated each step they took together, for the point of being alone was not to satisfy the savior's urge of a man she barely knew. yet again the sesh recognized her own uncharitable thoughts.

stubbornly, after the camp of kvarsheim had fallen away and then that of sapphique; after he and she were alone with the distant hum of laughter and voices threading the very edge of the clearing in which they now stood, tavina cleared her throat. "here is far enough." it wasn't. 

akavir wanted to ask about eset, the sesh assumed, and waited for him to say as much.

It wasn't that he didn't want to claim Cygbet as his own--in many ways he felt she was, much in the same aspect as Mae. As his boys. Lilitu... Arielle. But to give credit where it was due... Arlette, our Beta and lead healer was her most notable parent figure, he offered, eyes skimming the thinning crowd and wishing now the ivory Beta was also here.

She would have been a far more soothing presence than himself.

When they were further from others--when the voices were quieter and the night sounds more clear, he noted she slowed--and here was where she wished to bid goodbye.

A sweep of his gaze did little to quiet his own concerns. But she sought seclusion--something he could appreciate. 

So he nodded--champagne eyes seeking lilac. Studying her for a quiet moment. Goodnight, Tavina. After a small pause, he pointed his muzzle back to the direction of Swiftcurrent Creep camp, thoughtful a moment. Your duties might keep you busy, but if you ever feel you need a moment of peace or... anything. You can swing by.

With another nod bidding goodnight, the man drifted a few paces back, swinging his form back to the direction of the celebrations--proverbial hands in his back pockets as he left the woman to her peace.

a step, her voice raised to still him; "a mother figure. a father figure. what a child needs is no figure at all. a mother. a father. no matter what she thinks." tavina did not approach; she regarded the strong form of the man eset had chosen and felt this hurting clench inside herself ease somewhat. "to belong but not quite belong; it does something to them." a breath.

"there. some unsolicited advice from a woman who's had no children. but i've raised my share all the same." she readjusted the bag. "i'll visit." when and with whom and for what reason: to be determined. "you might do the same for the muat-riyan camp." that akavir should meet the royals once more went unsaid. 

but eset had known who he was, surely. nothing the hebsut did was without reason, and it hurt more for this truth. tavina hated the sucking gale of her sorrow. she had no right to be upset, to cling to the remaining edges of some dream. swiftcurrent played some part in the future of the lotus palace. the sesh would not interfere.

two backward steps; if he did not speak then she would turn and they would part ways this time.

‘To belong but not quite belong; it does something to them.’

Her words played around in his mind—his initial reaction to remind her that much could be said for any of them—for all of them. Did they not all float around, in hopes of belonging? Instead: "Thank you for recognizing that the berries would not be in her best interest... at least not tonight."

He hadn’t expected her to agree to a visit—but even more so, an invitation to do the same to Muat-riya. It gave him pause—only now wondering if Eset had traveled with them. Surely she wouldn’t have—her duties at the palace kept her so firmly in place…

But what if?

Instead, a deflection—“is a certain feisty Jodai waiting there for my arrest still, doctor?” He pauses in his steps, form turning to look back at her—what good could it possibly do for him to visit Muat-riya when Eset was hellbent on keeping as far from her as possible, it seemed?

"i wasn't there, but can assure you would have been brought to the palace and tied in its prison beneath the room you occupied." tavina's tone was crisp, only slightly muddled now that the autumn chill had scoured her cheekbones, her eyelids. "absent that introduction to muat-riya, please assume there is no arrest waiting."

military affairs were gratefully thrust into someone else's hands. if the jodai patrolled, it had been far from the desert for many weeks now, and rashepses would not welcome such a scene before so many. "cygnet, you said? at least she asked. credit to you. i would have just stolen them at her age."

Her bluntness was appreciated—not simply in this moment—but for the dryer humor that lingered within her statements. His lips quirked up—his muzzle giving a light dip to acknowledge the statement—in truth, he had not worried much for it. He could not imagine the Pharaoh holding him for long.

“I’ll stop by,” he promised—another few more steps taken away from the dark woman. And finally he did laugh—her comment on the theft something he had not expected. “I have no doubt that was her next move,” he called over his shoulder as he continued to move away—for it was past time to check once more on his pack. “See you around.”

<3

"and you, akavir," tavina thought. he even commented with a father's premonition; though the intent might have indeed become obvious, cygnet had found the sesh. she was determined. such a mind could be put to use understanding the specifics of medicine.

glancing around as akavir disappeared back into the falling night and the larger crowds, tavina fell back between a pair of staunch old oaks and sighed. "already getting myself into trouble," she mumbled, tucking herself among the mossy boles for a very quick catnap.