Dragoncrest Cliffs I bit her real good

For @Mireille and @Chacal, dated to Feb 4th (day before raid, day after this.

 

A day and night had passed since the events of yesterday’s morning. A simple routine walk which had turned into something much more. 

The wolf had come home exhausted, sore, and his limp much less subtle. To avoid questions, he’d tried to lay low. Though a night of consideration left the wolf with a better understanding of the situation, and now he was ready to talk about it.

He told himself it was to make Chacal and Mireille aware of the pack goings on, but it was just as much about seeking some sort of validation. To know he hadn’t made a mistake. 

He found Mireille where he expected to, by the shore either in the middle of training, or just having finished. 

Truthfully, he felt more comfortable around Mireille than Chacal, and had the internal debate on whether he should bother her with this as well. 

”Do you have time to talk?” he asked, approaching the Obsidian. ”And have you seen Chacal around?”

winter ebbed over sapphique, then returned in force. mireille found herself wishing for val, staring off out to see as she tried still to accept that he would not be here this year. or any other. grief raked her heart with hard claws.
sobeille had not come home.
once more would her mother search, but now thoughts slid aside and a warmer expression welcomed pepper. "she be close," mireille told the man, her countenance welcoming. "what can i do for you?"
easily she fell into step beside the sandstone, tearing her eyes from the expanse of salt with more difficulty than she had expected.

Chacal hummed softly, to endure the light cramping of muscles from deep inside her gut. Children moving, pressing against the boundaries of the womb in which they grew. It saddened her to think that this was the manner of all children, even after they had been born; they always seemed to want for more.

Just wait until you’re born, she thought. Presently, the children were the only ones she could speak to clearly, if only through thoughts. And then a year. Stay wid me for a year before you go off to roam, at least.

When the pain subsided, she scouted out Mireille’s scent, only to realize once she caught sight of her sister that she was speaking with Pepper. As casually as she could, she meandered to her sister’s side, making sure to give Pepper a curious, inviting look so he would know she did not intend to steal her sister away.

She seemed deep in thought, and he hoped he hadn't interrupted her. But, she was quick to join him and seemed ready to move, rather than stay there and chat. Pepper wouldn't object, though he had no destination in mind. So they'd walk and let the shore guide them. 

Chacal joined, too, just as Pepper was about to explain the situation to Mireille, which answered his question on whether or not to bother her. He greeted her with a wagging tail. "Mornin', Chacal," he said to the singer. 

And then he was silent for a moment, constructing his next sentence. 

"I wanted to let you both know that I will be a father for Chani's upcoming litter." he finally decided, figuring it much easier to get to the point. His eyes briefly found both of them, searching for disgust, disapproval, approval--any sort of tell, but only for a moment before he looked back toward the stretch of sand and sea before them.

it was not what mireille had expected, but she supposed it was not unexpected. chani had definitely returned a changed woman, and it pleased her aunt to think she would join the ranks of those pregnant this year.
that pepper was much older did not detract from her niece's choice. "i be glad she chose a man here too," the obsidian murmured, nudging her sister in gentle love, her eyes shining. chacal would be a grandmaman!
it brought her to mind of the daughters that had dispersed and those who perhaps had been lost; she wondered if it would ever be so for her. but her scrutiny was for pepper, who seemed welcoming of them but stiff in some way. did he mean to confess?

He did not sound like Sapphique- and yet there was a pleasant drawl to the man’s voice that Chacal found calming. He was polite, and seemed sincere enough, for a man; her expectations for any man were low- but the news he shared with them caused Chacal’s ears to flick forward suddenly.

A muscle jumped in her jaw as she eyed him, wondering, perhaps unfairly, if something had blossomed between the two before her heat, or if this had transpired simply because her daughter had become and irresistible siren in her time.

Her daughter would be a mother and she, a grandmother once again. But where did Pepper see himself? And what did Chani want from him?

Mireille’s tone was sweet, and a brief touch pulled her from her thoughts. She blinked, her lips drawing into a straight line for a moment, before she offered a small smile, blinked cattishly, and gave a nod.

She would have thoughts- but she too was pleased to know that their family would grow.

He swallowed the heartbeat that had worked its way into his throat after he spoke, pleased with Mireille's response. And turning toward Chacal once more, he exhaled and let a smile find his own face at her nod. This was her daughter, after all. 

His tail flagged slowly behind him. 

Mireille's comment instilled some pride within him, almost as if in that moment, his journey to be someone consistently good was nearing an end. He could be trusted, and that wasn't always the case, but it was now. 

"Gonna be a busy spring," he added tailing with a nervous laugh. Thankfully, his experience with pups had been tested now, and he'd learned that he quite enjoyed their company. 

"But don't let me interrupt yer mornin's. Just figured y'all should know." he glanced between them once more, lingering on Chacal after he'd finished, offering her another smile, a silent thank you. 

But, he needed to rest now. His night with Chani could be shameless, and he wanted to be at peak performance--whatever that meant for a wolf at his age.

"yes. it will be. de loyalty of all will be necessary to guard dem," mireille said softly in recognition of the steady time which pepper had given to sapphique. "chani is young, but she donnae be forgettin' how t'ings should be done."
cryptic. or perhaps not so at all. chani would not be allowed to forget how things were done, was the gentle thrum; mireille had forgone formal acknowledgement of val as father to her progeny. if it was assumed, that was well; he had earned all status through his own consistent, nurturing nature. that was the legacy he left.
her heart sighed with pain.
maybe there was a chance her niece could have this with pepper, and that affection was something her aunt would not discourage, not in the closed beautiful places of sapphique.

A busy Spring.

Was he implying that he, too, would be busy? She did not expect his involvement, and yet she sensed that he was asking permission, here, to be a part of the flurry of activity that would come with the birth of their children. It was impossible to know how she should respond, when she did not know her daughter's mind, or her daughter's heart. She wondered if it was only her daughter's body that had chosen the man- a man older than her mother!- or if perhaps there was more than she knew.

This shock was the second of two- for she had assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that Pepper had found a match in Phobos...

She remained silent, and nodded, though something serious in her gaze meant to usher Pepper away, since he had offered not to disrupt.

She exhaled slowly, and sought Mireille's gaze.

He found no warmth in the silent bard’s gaze—only a cold stare, and he lingered a short time longer before accepting that he wasn’t meant to find any. 

He worried the two might not be in agreement, but it was much easier to hear Mireille than to gauge Chacal’s reaction. Had he neglected to do that? He should excuse himself. 

”I-“ the wolf, somewhat flustered, cleared his throat. ”I’m gonna go fish somethin’ up for lunch. I’ll howl when I’m done.” 

It was clear Chacal meant to speak with Mireille. Or..he thought it was. At any rate, they could reconvene over food. If there was anything to reconvene about. 

He felt awkward just walking away, but it is exactly what he did. 

Pepper OUT

pepper seemed amiable enough. kind. she too was interested in what exactly chani wanted with him, but decided to write it off to infatuation. he was a male unrelated, and that in itself could hold intrigue for a young woman surrounded by relatives.
but the sisters let him go for now, and once he had gone from sight, she turned to look into chacal's gaze. "you donnae approve?" the obsidian asked at once, gesturing that they should amble on in the opposite direction. "it is not a choice i would have expected, i suppose."