Sleeping Dragon pulse

He lifted his nose from the borderland underfoot and glanced upward towards the start of the sunset. It was a clear, average day that would probably give way to a crisp, chilly eve. So far, all was quiet on his watch, and that had let him cover a lot of ground over the course of the afternoon. But now, his interests turned elsewhere with a quick pivot, and long strides delved him deeper towards the comfort of the Dragon's heart.

A smattering of trails caught his attention along the way, and the possibilities were vast from pack mate and prey alike. A scent of fresh deer interested him (meaning his stomach) most of all, as he didn't usually smell them near here -- however, it was their near rut, true? And approaching dusk was an active time for them.. but in contrasting fashion and focus, in the next breath he caught wind of @Portia.

He weighed his options for just a moment then opted to pursue her, turning down the warmest trail he could find. Plans were in motion, though, and he mapped his pathway onward to see if he could test his luck in finding her sooner, rather than later.

NO RUSH EVER but i wanted to

o shit i can't not...

She had meant to find Dio right after the ceremony-- but she'd assumed he'd been called back with the Heda when she had lost him in the crowd. Now, she sat away from her den, chewing thoughtfully on a rabbit and staring through the little forest the territory had. She'd placed her den smack dab in the middle of a handful of trees, but besides the Rendezvous site, the territory was rather bare. She wasn't extremely hungry, but had eaten little the past few days and figured it was time to fill her stomach. 

Her green eyes scanned the area, nose tipping to tear off a piece of meat, and began to chew the kill daintily. She was thinking about plants, mostly, but Dio's scent brushed past her as the wind changed-- just briefly-- and so she thought about him. 

Since his establishment as their wocha, it had been duty first and foremost. While not very unlike his normal around here and thus why the transition to it was made smoothly, he'd dialed it up extra to reaffirm the statement -- that he's a force to behold, and that their defense isn't going to be questioned under his watch. Not that this is any different than before, though, but it does occupy a lot of his time.

But not right now, and he lets his footfalls traverse a path that soon takes a clear enough heading. He closes in, not without a quick glance around. Now that he knows he's closing on her doorstep, plain and simple, he hopes she won't mind his unannounced visit -- and one without a very good reason behind it, other than it just is. 

He strolls quietly into sight of her humble home, looking quite at ease with a relaxed walk and easy, happy wiggle to his tail.

Somewhat he notices her meal, but it doesn't really change his approach any as he comes to her, aiming to go close enough to nibble her cheek in lieu of real greeting. But the gesture speaks all the same, and he draws back still wearing his contented expression. He'd missed her, although time apart was not that lengthy, it suddenly felt more so now in contrast.

Her ears perked when she saw Dio, almost surprised to see him. His scent had passed her, but she hadn't expected him to seek her out. Her jaws parted as she meant to spoke, but he didn't bother speaking to her-- instead in a sweeping motion gave her cheek a quick nibble and then moved back to look at her. It wasn't that she wasn't used to forward-- forward was nothing new to her. Maybe it was just Dio being so forward... was this even forward? 

"O-oh," she murmured, her ears cupping forward. A small smile traced her lips, her front paws crossing over one another. "Hey, hun," she said studying him with interest, "Can't stay away?" she purred.

It appeared he was well-received, and accordingly, he had no reason to consider wavering now as hesitations fell to the wayside. Encouraged by the warm welcome, her presence, and scent so fresh in his nose, his tail beat harder. "Guess not." he settled on with half a shrug and a sincere look that wasn't exactly at all apologetic. I missed you threatened again in the back of his mind, although maybe simply went conveyed in silence as he peered fondly down at the freckled Skayona. "You don't seem to mind the company any, though.." he smirked, and settled in next to her. He couldn't let her little homestead stay too quiet all day, anyway.

"You know I'd never say no to an opportunity to talk," she quipped, tail tapping against the ground. He settled beside her, and she studied him thoughtfully for a moment before leaning down and tearing off another piece of her rabbit, chewing and swallowing daintily. A bit of blood stained the corners of her lips and somewhat on her chest-- she preferred to keep clean but with such white fur the staining was almost inevitable. It didn't bother her too much, inwardly and childishly, she sometimes pretended like it gave her some big, scary edge... even though it was, in reality, just from a measly little rabbit. 

"How does it feel to hold so much power in those big paws of yours, Mr. Wocha?" Portia then asked, an eyebrow quirking an a small smirk lighting up the edges of her lips. "What would you bother doing with all that power anyhow?" 

True, it was an opportunity not to miss and he liked their moments together. His patrols were usually solo (he did work well that way so it was the nature of the duty) but it felt good to change gears sometimes, not being restricted to just one routine that consumed all of his time. Time with Portia was a good contrast to what he was usually doing.

He matched her smirk and didn't hesitate for his answer. "Hm, not bad." Not at all. "I was beta in my last pack, but the structure was a lot different than it is here, so it's only similiar in some ways. Still.." It was a long way away from where he'd started. He was generally content as it was, kept occupied by duty and not needing to answer to very many -- and with the commander and Wildfire being the others at the top, he found little to complain about because his day to day went smoothly, and he could sleep soundly, satisfied at the end of the day. As one of the Hedonakru, he gleaned his share of earned respect, so he felt, and found he quite liked it that way. "I guess I haven't put too much thought into what else I could do with it," he reasoned, wearing a thoughtful look as he peered at her.

She paused at his comment, her head tilting to the side as she studied his face. His next comment was easily given a solution, but she was more focused on what he had said to begin with. He was beta in another pack-- somewhere before this. Somehow it had never crossed her mind that Dio had existed before her, and for the first time in a long while she wondered about that life. She couldn't help but press herself closer to him, all too wrapped up in her own games, though she hesitated asking him about himself-- another thing she hadn't done in a long time. 

"A beta and a Wocha... what a shame," she responded away, tilting her head to the other side as she gazed away from the dusty-coated male, "I'm sure there's plenty you could do with all those pretty badges on your chest." She gave him a sidelong glance, shoulder still pressed to his. Maybe another day, or maybe later today, but not right now.

It'd been a different time and practically a different life, so it was not always easy to compare his hierarchical rises to each other beyond the basics.. yet he still caught the parallels now and then when he wasn't looking. Here, he'd been dedicated since early on because he'd had nothing else, despite not being a wolf steeped in the culture of their commander beforehand. Stavern Rise had plucked him fresh from being a roving vagabond lacking restraint and given him a warm, comfortable welcome -- and a family -- to inspire him. Different circumstances, each book-ending the next.

Beta, or Wocha.. both parts of his mark on history here, there, or wherever it may spread to. "I know," he replied with a short chuff. He leaned against her, happy with the shared warmth. "I know there is," he said, reaching to preen her fur behind her ears. He had a feeling she knew it too. He could take pride in what he had managed to have: this. "Which is not to say I feel anything about this lacks at all," as right now, he could treasure this as he moved his teeth slowly over her pale nape. He was plenty content. Simple enough but he's aware of.. everything, implications and all. He'd come here originally without a clear plan -- no real, true desires besides just a next meal, survive, and something to do that wasn't hopelessly miserable. Once the Rise fell, the family had been scattered for their best interests, and he'd lost his brother in the ugliest defeat the pair had ever seen. Nothing had seemed right after he'd believed they should have both died, too. Slowly, though, that wasn't quite so true anymore. The Dragon had been good to him already so far.

Portia smiled, tail waving a bit as Dio leaned closer to her. "Well, I'd be mighty offended if it did lack," she said playfully, tilting her head slightly as his teeth grazed over the nape of her neck. A soft whine escaped her throat as she pressed herself closer, still lounging in the warmth that he provided.

Truthfully, Portia never had any sort of rank for herself. Skayona was the most important thing she'd ever been, and she took pride in the knowledge she had as a Fisa as well. No one had ever trusted her with anything-- much less anyone, so fear she might sleep with them. Now, she could always tell that Thuringwethil trusted her-- respected her even. It was the best feeling she'd ever felt, besides-- and this is just a maybe-- this feeling right here. It was constant and warm, it filled every gap her soul had with something she'd never experienced. It scared her, and she refused to admit to it, but she was happier with Dio than she was with even her plants.

No need, he thought at her words and shook his head softly, but said nothing on his own in favor of marveling at her in silence. There were many things he could say. Perhaps even should. He'd had a lot on his mind lately, a lot of it managing to circle back around to her. It's not in a bad way, either, so he doesn't push the silence away from them immediately. Just replying with a fond rumble somewhere in the middle of it, just to summarize.

But never does he want to burden her. He knows she's young, a free spirit, so he can't stifle her. Protect, certainly, and dole out his share of overly fond pestering when she'd let him -- unless she should need more than that.. He knows he wants to hesitate, deep, deep down. The fact that he's here at all, and with nothing of his first handful of years to show for it, proves it; his past escapades in the matters of bonds had all crashed, and burned, or both.

"So. What do you think winter will have in store for us all here..?" he asked, thoughtfully furrowing his expression now that he finally looked away. The Dragon as a whole, and maybe, more too.

"Some snow," Portia quipped, following his gaze to the trees and resting her's there for a moment. Her response wasn't very serious, but as the thought rested in her head she wondered the same thing. Good health, she prayed, but she wasn't sure that's what Dio was asking. "Maybe some new packmates-- Lord knows a loner needs a pack in the winter," she then offered, her tail swishing behind her once. 

She nosed the beige Wocha's cheek softly, silently demanding his full attention again. "What do you think it'll bring?" she asked, then paused, "What do you want it to bring?"

Her answers approached from the utmost standpoint of logic, but he was still wasn't withholding the soft smirk or the urge to lean into her nudge. He straightened his posture just a bit, still contemplative as he did so in light of her question turned onto him. "What I want? Hm. Nothing like last year for me," he shook his head, for anything good hadn't come until the end of it. "All the same, I suppose: the pack to stay strong, the hunting to be good so we can all stay well-fed, no major incidents.." He licked his lips thoughtfully, not even minding more snow; a part of him almost liked the charm of winter's landscapes. Something about it sang to the arctic in his blood. "And more time with you, with whatever else winter may bring too." he sighed quietly and punctuated it with a nudge back to the side of her muzzle. He was very content here at the Dragon, and with her, in whatever capacity she sees fit, it only makes it better.

Dio's answer came as honestly as hers did, but his ended a bit sweeter. when his nose parted her muzzle, she pressed her chin to her chest, smiling softly and staring at her paws. "i'm not hard to find," she told him after a brief pause, raising her head back up and giving the side of his mouth a soft kiss. 

her shoulder pressed into his, tail curling around her hind legs to keep the autumn winds chill from making her shiver. it took her a moment, but she realized he had said 'nothing like last year,' which sparked a bit of confusion in her. there was another pause, one where she thought back to her thoughts from earlier, and then she gave him a long look. "i don't know much about you, hun," she said quietly, "what happened last year?"

He tried to frown again but earnestly couldn't. "I know," he tried to level her with a serious look, although it wasn't so easy considering her soft kiss of just a moment ago and him wanting to make light of it. He felt so torn up between feeling like he didn't have enough time to spend with her and to completely contradict that, too much time imposing on her humble home and everything else about her -- all knowing good and well how much nonsense that was to think those ways, and how overthought it was all in the first place.

When she mentioned not knowing that much, he felt his ears splay gently. It had never been too relevant to bring it upon Portia, especially since she'd joined the Dragon after he'd been well on his upswing, but he didn't want any shade of mystery for her. If she wanted to know.. could he blame her? "Not to make it seem so melodramatic, because I don't want to keep it from you if you want it, but more as a prefacing. To make a long story short, I had a lot going on before the Dragon until suddenly I didn't." He scooted himself even closer to her, although there was not much distance to be made up already. "Fire took my last home, and family.. Since it was about this time of year, I guess remembering that keeps lurking on me."

she really didn't know what she expected, or if she expected anything, but Dio's response sent Portia's brain scrambling for words. she traveled a lot, and over her two years of life had heard passerby's life-stories, and they were always as bland as they could come. not that her life had been too interesting, but it was far more eventful than your average joe. sleeping her way through the wilds didn't compare to an actual history though, and her green gaze broke away from the Wocha as she searched for a response. 

he'd moved closer to her, and she felt his body heat press closer to her own. that was all she could think to do at first, one of her forelegs crossing over his and her head bending to nuzzle beneath his chin. he seemed like he needed some sort of comfort, even if it was a small gesture, and she was good at that. 

a proper response still failed her-- did she ask him more? was this too sensitive a topic? she wanted to ask about his family but... well that seemed a bit insensitive in the moment. did she offer him verbal comfort and support? he was a grown man, after all, perhaps he didn't want to hear that sort of thing from his lady-friend. did she tell him her past? if he asked, maybe, but as a response it would sound so underwhelming, and like she felt her useless situation was far more important than his clearly worse one-- perhaps she was overthinking this.

"what brought you here?" she finally settled on, moving her head to see his handsome face again.

As he'd said, he didn't want to keep it veiled away like it were some treasure to unlock but it still stupidly bothered him sometimes, and he didn't really want to weigh her down with that. It was ugly, he knew that well enough, although in the present it was only to a very small effect on his day to day. Most of the time, it was none. He sighed softly. With him not having a homeland to go to, it had seemed like something to do when everything had been so bleak. "I met Thuringwethil while wandering the coast after there was nowhere else to go, and she seemed interesting enough. Staying around this long had not necessarily been the plan in the start," he chuffed softly, glad it had in the long run because he couldn't really imagine what better he could be doing? At the time it had seemed almost surreal to take his first steps into the culture of Drageda, and on the heels of such raw defeat. Thankfully, it had worked out for him.

Portia nodded as the man answered her, smiling and giving his chin a soft kiss. "well, i'm certainly glad you've stuck around this long, hun," she told him quietly, feeling that was a sufficient thing to say. it felt right to say, actually, and while that made her rather uncomfortable to think about, it was also sort of reassuring... maybe settling wouldn't be such an awful thing. but... to be constrained to one person for the rest of her life? what a commitment that would be, and the skayona wasn't sure she had that in her. she pushed the thought away again.

"may i ask about your family?" she asked then, ears flicking back as she waited for his response. 

"Well, me too," he nodded with a small smirk. The Dragon had given him plenty to be grateful for, so he simply found it too hard to envision anything else for himself these days. From there, she questioned his family. Dio wasn't sure quite how to make it easy to hear for her. "What all would you like to know?" he asked back, wondering how long-winded she'd want him to be or how far back she was hoping to hear on him. Which, he thought could be awfully tiresome to tell -- he had nothing to be particularly proud of in his first year or two. "They weren't by blood, in the beginning, but for a time I even took their surname on since it fit. The pack was tightly knit like that -- very familial. It was kind of similar to here at first because I came to them while wandering, was interested in the way they lived, their strengths.. typical things that became more in time," he detailed the backbone of it. Their structure had been different yet so many fundamentals always carried over. He'd once thought there was all he could ever ask for, too.

he asked what she wanted to know, and then rolled out a basic map of his previous pack life. "sort of like here," she offered. drageda was very familial, not once had Portia felt unwelcome or unloved by anyone in the pack. she earned their trust, and then they became a family. Dio mentioned something about a surname, which caused her to squint a bit. she'd almost forgotten she even had one, it just was sort of irrelevant at this point. it was there, and probably always would be, but the naturalist took pride in calling herself Portia, skayona of drageda rather than plain old Portia Moreau. she had purpose and life here, so it meant more to her.

"you're pretty old," she teased lightly, "did you have any children?" the question might've been sort of heavy, but it was important for her to know. she'd whored around quite a bit, but never had any buns been placed in the oven-- which she certainly was thankful for. "i'm sure dozen's of women threw themselves at you." 

"The more I think about it, yeah. A lot like here. They even spoke a different language from what I'd known before," he mentioned with a slow nod. He'd learned that in time too, and he believed she would understand too since they'd both needed to adapt to the commander's culture's tongue upon settling here. Then, on his age, Dio snickered softly. "Pretty old definitely isn't wrong, but I'll still take it as a compliment," he poked her cheek with his muzzle gently. He was well-aged, robust, and comfortably in his prime, so he was postponing the old man jokes at least for a while longer.

When she asked about children, he knew she was the first to ask. "I did. Once.. at least, that I knew of, before joining Stavern Rise. The others after... since I was the family's eldest daughter's favorite and she'd recently taken alphaship," he shared while peering at her quietly to judge her full interest in it -- some of his progeny were barely much younger than her even, he suspected. No one here really knew this, not Heda or anyone else, although it was not a touchy subject with him. Nor could he find it in him to be shy about woman seeking him. As a young wandering male, he'd been plenty opportunistic in exploring his options. "Well. How could they not? I brought it on myself too, and I left my homeland early to get plenty of time to enjoy my roving  -- although it was a lot different after the Rise, I guess because I was comfortable enough to settle in a bit there, like here.." came punctuated with a toothy smirk, all while wondering how she'd even think of him with that in mind now. But it was all history, and he doubted it would change the present enough.

it was common, in her opinion, for men to roam the lands and knock up women left and right without being sentenced any consequences. whereas she had always felt judged for being a women and doing the same thing. the spunky skayona let little bother her, as others opinions meant little to her, but it had always been so double sided and she'd always found she held a strong dislike for people who only thought that way. Dio seemed to imply he had lived a similar life-- at least at one point, though she felt a strong difference in the outcomes. he appeared to have children, possibly hundreds(not really), whereas she got away scot-free.

she studied him. she had nothing to judge him on, but she was certainly curious. she wasn't sure she would want a man who just knocked her up to be in the picture, but she wondered if he'd ever hung around-- it didn't seem like it, and maybe it didn't really matter. "what a slut," she purred gently, returning his grin and nudging his shoulder. it was all in good jest, she didn't mean anything by it, and she hoped he wouldn't take it to heart, but she continued just in case-- that way he couldn't linger. "how many were from that litter, the one you knew?" she asked with genuine interest, tail waving once.

He snickered softly again. She wasn't wrong and he had no room to deny it: he'd readily enjoyed all he could, vanity, greed, and all other sinful indulgence included. "I earned that," he returned, for he had no shame and poked his snout back at her. He could be glad that his past transgressions, although not presented in clearest detail yet, didn't seem to hold a lot of weight here. Her curiosity was refreshing and easy enough to deal with even with him not quite used to answering such. "Four. One boy got sick early on, he didn't make it. The others grew up and really took after their mother. Still looked a lot like me, though." He missed them still and wondered if they survived, too, but he had always feared they would yearn to strike out and then rove as he had once done. Perhaps their mom's genes and upbringing may have tempered it some, he hoped; in all, they were good wolves and ones he would be distantly proud of, assuming they lived.

"We were having more, but last time I saw Viviana was before they were born." Dio remembered this with a drop in his own stomach. He'd been so hurt to watch her go, knowing his unborn went with her and to keep them all safe, he was better off staying put to attempt to fight their losing battle. That had been the first of many losses coming his way in the Rise's collapse. "Same for Elettra's coming litter, although they were hopefully my adoptive brother's before they were mine.. see, I told you: I earned my title of a slut there. That whole family practically encouraged it, I could swear." Dio sighed and shifted his weight slightly. In speaking of the Giamalva's so thoroughly, Matteo hung at the tip of his tongue also. He feared he still carried too much sorrow regarding their end. "It's not like that anymore. I do wonder about them sometimes -- all of them, if they live, so on. I hope they do." Even if they might have grown more beautiful than him.

Portia felt a stab of guilt for the wocha, her ears dipping slightly. she had never wanted to be a mother, never wanted and didn't think she ever would want to be one... but she was such a mama bear, and she understood every piece of the relationship between a parent and their child. to lose a child? she couldn't even fathom that-- even if Dio had been quite the womanizer in his heyday.

Dio began to mention something about his adoptive brothers litter... being his own? she opened her mouth to intervene, but he continued  with a light quip about being a slut. she grinned, her cheeks reddening just a bit, but she growled and nudged him playfully. "so, you were like the man among a pool of sister-wives then, hm?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. but, even with the lightheartedness of her comment, she continued to fuel the conversation. "i'm sure they're out there-- if you've had so many it's a bit unlikely they all were killed... regardless of circumstances. when's the lsat time you saw any of them, hun?" she asked with a light tilt of her head. she wanted to ask so much more about his life, but the whole time she feared she'd hit a soft spot.

Losing any of them had never been easy, although he'd once thought he'd simply be indifferent to them. That always was the case early on, and even when they were still small helpless blots and all he could do was guard distantly, provide, and dodge their hormonal mother's teeth. While never the "family man's" purest definition, he always did let them work into his heart somehow.

But absence left that space unfilled now, and he hoped if they persisted, they were no less of what they could be without him. His youngest, had they truly been born, would have never even known him at all.

His ears wiggled, and she sought some clarifications. He knew how it seemed. "Not.. exactly, but yes and no," Bad answer, although a start, so he'd not be surprised if she hazed him about it -- entirely deserving. He detailed soon after: "Everyone was comfortable like that though. And close. I was first there to be with Vi, so it was. Matteo was her younger brother, my adoptive eventually.. and Elettra's mate. He got cold feet about her first heat, but we, well, we warmed him up.." For first time, nervousness threatened to warm up his cheeks in telling her, someone he really cared for, about that and how ridiculous it would see out of Giamalva family context. (Honestly he'd not seen to the details but she'd not complained anymore after, so hopefully that encouragement had been enough for his brother to stick it to his wife proper.) But he did feel poor about it in retrospect, for Elettra most of all. In the end, Matteo had died mere weeks later and Dio hadn't been able to go to where they fled to either. Bad, bad timing.

"Last I saw any of them? They left with their mother to head south. A few days after, barely.. so then was the last time. They were.. what? A few months shy of a year." Tall, awkward, but not entirely unbecoming. He blinked thoughtfully, a little startled by how well he remembered them then. "Everything was hectic then, it was early winter, and Montorio wanted to stay back with us, but I made him get out too. He was better off helping keep their travels safe and likely would have just died otherwise.." he frowned. Plus Viviana would have wanted her best son close in Dio and Matteo's absence, despite what the almost-yearling would have preferred. "So you're right. They're probably out there," he sighed and shook his head softly. "Anyway. Have you ever wanted to worry about pups of your own?"