Blackfeather Woods I'm not crying, I just got dust in my eye

This thread is for @Dr Phill
I mean... @Burke :P

Anyone who saw Damien that morning would have probably purposely avoided him. Like he'd got out of the wrong side of the bed, he'd been a grumpy mess for hours... and he didn't even seem to have a reason to be. Perhaps Cicero had something to do with his mood, but Damien had chosen to ignore his existence altogether rather than think about that night anymore. Besides it was cold and foggy, and there was nothing more frustrating than trying to find a lost den without even being able to see. It was obvious he was looking for something, but what was the most unsettling was the way Damien was growling at the floor like a maniac.

Burke trotted through the woods for his morning checkup. Always when he would go to sleep in the late morning he would do one last check of the woods. Burke kept mostly to dusk and dawn. He liked the short naps better than the long hours of staying in the den. It seemed his children and the same since they were eager to explore. This was quite the solution. Burke was headed his way home when growling caught his attention. He changed his direction to check out what the growls were about to find Damien in quite a bad mood. He could see it by the way his face was already on thunder. "Are you going to tell me what is wrong?," he asked, getting straight to the point.

I know... My jokes are lame :(

I'm telling you, the fog was being a bitch today. To say Damien could see further than three inches away from his face was pushing it, and it resulted in him bumping his nose with multiple roots and rocks, making his mood even worse.

And then Burke called.

The Damien that emerged from the low mist was a Damien some could think had materialized from pure anger. His nostrils were steaming, and his face was one nasty scowl, and of course, his chest was still rumbling with a deep growl.

"I'm fine," he lied, though his voice was so cold and austere it was probably better to leave Damien be.

I totally looked over that. Hahaha. Burke is totally a doctor Phil xD

Burke looked very skeptically at his son and let out a soft sigh. "I can put you to the ground again like last time and make you say it," he pointed out to him. Yet, that wouldn't be a good method and it was mostly to give some perspective to Damien that he was open to listen. Burke let himself fall on his butt rather uncharacteristically to exaggerate his point. "C'mon Damien. Out with it. I am not judging you, I can offer you help." The alpha male wanted to expand his counselor trade into a therapist specialty after all.

heheh he is lmao
I'm still lame tho xP

The fact that Burke even mentioned the time he'd subdued him to make him talk was insulting. He wasn't a pup who needed to be reminded of how to behave every second, and he certainly did not have to tell Burke anything if he didn't want to. But for as much as he wanted to argue about it he knew that Burke was basically the only wolf in the world with whom he didn't have problems. Ugh.

'I'm just sad and confused and simply don't know how to deal with my life right now' would have been a perfect way to describe the situation. But Damien wasn't that straightforward when it came to feelings.

"I can't find my stupid den." he woofed reluctantly. Burke was the first one ever to know Damien had a "den"... Besides Nemesis and Cicero, but that hadn't been clear even with them. Not that it was important because that wasn't what actually made Damien angry, but Burke would know there was a hidden message...

Burke knew that it would insult Damien but at least he got time to reflect that such a thing did happen. The father watched Damien's expressions and although most of the time they were pretty concealed he knew Damien. Especially now his face looked more than lost. Then on top of that he reveled that he couldn't find his den. Burke was pretty skeptical that Damien couldn't find his den in the first place. It sounded like he had lost something else. 

"You look a bit lost," he returned. "But I don't think it is your den you are looking for," he pointed out. His pale eyes looked into Damien's silver ones. Burke could imagine that everything had been hard on Damien too, losing his mother, then his sister that left. "Damien, maybe what you are looking for isn't here in Black Feather Woods, and that is okay," he assured him on a calm tone, this way the male wasn't pressured to tell anything, but it might give him some comfort. Sure Burke would hate to see him leave but he didn't want to chain Damien. Maybe he just wanted to be a young male wolf and roam outside of Black Feather for a bit.

Damien was glad that Burke didn't make him talk more than he already had. It had always been hard for Damien to express his feelings, and it was always easier to suck it up and pretend everything was okay, but people that did that are usually the ones that built their pain up until they reach their breaking point, and it was hard to get back on track after that. Thankfully, Damien had a therapist for a father, and he was able to see through Damien's shiny armor. There was still a heart beating underneath all that ice-cold stone.

Burke's deep baritones did an awesome job at calming Damien down, and when his heart-rate slowed down a little, the dark boy took a seat as Burke had. Then after a moment of looking away and debating whether to talk to Burke, Damien turned his head to meet Burke's eyes, and when he did, his own icy eyes melted on a sorrowful cry.

Burke sat before Damien, he could see his struggles and wished he would just tell him. Tell him what he was feeling so he would know what to do or what to suggest. But it seemed that his words had already done enough to touch Damien's core. Burke smiled gently, a comforting smile to let Damien know it is okay. He pushed himself to his feet, stepping closer for if Damien wanted to press his face in the thick fur of his neck. Often that was the case with a break down because the one that was crying was ashamed of doing so. He would leave his neck open for Damien to burry his face on which also showed an immense sense of trust. 

He also felt like he didn't need to say more to Damien, for now it was important that he would let it all out and give it a good cry. Burke thought this was because of losing his family members her was still clueless about Damien and Cicero. He only thing he wanted to tell Damien was that he really liked him to return if he would go, but that would come later.

Damien hated crying, it made him feel vulnerable when everyone knew he didn't have a hair of weakness in his body. But man did it help. He couldn't explain why, but relieving his emotions through fragile sobs was already starting to lift some weight from his shoulders. However, he wasn't going to let it go too far, and as soon as he started sniffling he held back and cut it off. He had noticed that Burke was closer, and that he'd even offered a shoulder for Damien to cry on, but although he accepted it, and was thankful for it, he couldn't allow himself to look any more weak in front of his own father.

The dark boy respected, and listened to Burke's counsel. Damien had learned to trust the male, and whatever insight or advise he could give, Damien would embrace it. "I -I'm not sure what to do now..." he said, feeling that disclosing the actual situation to his father wouldn't be beneficial, but hoping that Burke could put him in the right path anyway.

Burke watched Damien, even though he didn't step forward the big male had a feeling that this was  appreciated. He wasn't sure what caused Damien to cry, but seeing him like this was quite a good step that would help Damien in the future and he didn't even know. This showed Burke that Damien did care under that layer of arrogance. There was someone that cared and that was why he was showing these feelings. Alas Burke did not know why Damien was crying.

"Well, like I said before. Maybe you find what you are looking for outside of Black Feather?," he offered. "As long as you return. Because then I would be sad," he returned to Damien. The younger wolf never really left Black Feather, maybe he was just a bit stuck because he was always in the same forest. Maybe the boy just needed a change of scenery.

It was true. Damien had barely left Blackfeather Woods a couple times, and never had enjoyed it. He felt at ease and comfortable in his homeland, but lately all the stress made it impossible to find peace in it. Perhaps Burke was right, and Damien would find what he was looking for, whether it was a physical spiritual thing outside of Blackfeather Woods, but he was probably also right to fear he would never return. Damien's age was a common one for wolves to want to build their own thing and leave the nest, and if that's what Damien found far from home then there was a big chance he wouldn't want to return. But none of that was certain, and he would never find out if he didn't go looking for answers.

"Yeah... I guess I could use a couple days away..." Damien agreed, but didn't say anything about the rest. Lately, he simply didn't know.

Burke watched Damien and knew all too well that Damien was getting to the age where he was going to decide to stick around or to find a new home, maybe even create his own. Burke hoped he wouldn't. Then Cicero would probably leave too, and then Black Feather would be quite empty. The large tank nodded quietly to Damien. "I will leave you then, do return because I will start looking for you after two weeks," he pointed out, he tried to make it sound teasing but it was far from. The male quirked up his lips, wanting to be supportive of Damien at least working on himself.

Thanks for this thread! It was very therapeutic for both Damien and I <3

Although Damien was far from comfortable with telling Burke his problems, it was nice having someone support you no matter the reason behind the problem. Damien wouldn't disclose the thoughts that troubled Damien's mind, but he was certain Burke could at least figure out how alone he felt lately. It was risky looking for answers, or simply peace, far from home, there was really no guarantee that he would ever come back, but there was really little else to do.

"It might take a bit longer than two weeks," said Damien, teasing back, "Don't worry about me..." he said, and with a respectful lick to his father's chin he stood up, ready to leave. "Thanks," he said with clear trouble, and with that he was off, trotting towards an unknown destiny.

Welcome! :D Lets have more of these!

Burke nodded with a certain understanding. He knew that Damien might stay longer but Burke didn't hope so. Last time one of his loved ones would go away to think about things she returned a month later and quite beaten up. Now he had faith that Damien could protect himself but he was quite arrogant and he didn't want someone to react bad to that even though it would be a good lesson. 

"Come to me when you returned. We can talk about it, and then I know you are back," he returned to the male as his final words. He let the young adult go. He had to. The male knew that this could work against him, but he hoped that it would bring back a Damien with more experience. 

-end thread-