Dragoncrest Cliffs Ocean eyes

@Thuringwethil had sequestered her mate away in a smaller cave with a view of the ocean, just around the bend from the pack's main gathering place and not far from @Dio's and @Portia's own private quarters. Although it was colder here without their pack mates, it afforded them some privacy. Wildfire certainly didn't mind. The commander had allowed her to couple with Dio. Even now, new life hopefully began to form inside her. Despite the roller coaster of emotions these past few weeks, the instinctual compulsions of her heat and even her own hangups about the act itself, the Bandrona was currently as happy and compliant as a well-fed kitten.

Speaking of food, there was certainly no shortage of it as the temperatures bottomed out and wildlife dropped like flies around the wilderness. Currently, the red she-wolf gnawed on the shinbone of a moose the Heda had brought her earlier this morning. You're eating for two, or three, or four... she mused, the thought never failing to give her happy butterflies. Her liquid amber eyes lifted in search of her mate but Thuringwethil had stepped out for the moment, so Wildfire looked back to her delicious treat and kept sawing through the frozen flesh with her faintly yellow fangs.

portia hurt. it was one thing to ask her permission for dio to be the donor for the commander and her wife, one thing that portia reluctantly allowed to happen. but it hadn't happened, and the fisa let all of her anger fizzle out. but, it was a few days ago that dio left her side to check something out, and when he returned she was hit in the head with a brick. wildfire was in heat, again. even though she knew that wildfire's situation was not the same as hers, it pained her to know that she got to steal him away-- even for a fraction of a second.

it might've been illogical to be so utterly upset from this, but it hurt. it stung, it felt like she'd been betrayed. so, when dio claimed he was getting up to find food, portia snuck out. she wanted to firstly make sure he hadn't snuck off to do-the-do with wildfire again, because once was plenty and portia would be mortified if she was not enough for him. she also wanted to see her, set some things straight-- or something.

she followed the strong heat-scent to a den in the cavern not too far off from her own and poked her head in. wildfire laid inside, gnawing on a bone. portia squinted, not waiting to be noticed or greeted, and not giving a formal greeting herself. "you stole my heat," she said with accusation, and also a bit of notable distress.

Her eyes flicked up again, hopeful, when footfalls encroached. It was not Thuringwethil returning but the Skayona paying a visit. Wildfire started to sit up when Portia's accusatory words hit her ears. She still sat up, slowly, tension tightening nearly every muscle in her body. She was having déjà vu again, though this encounter was already worse than the previous one.

The Bandrona bit her lip, at a loss for words. She wanted to point out the ridiculousness of the accusation, yet she didn't want to offend Portia. She owed the woman a great debt of gratitude. If she took issue with all of this, she should bring it up with the the Wocha and Heda. Wildfire didn't think saying so would go over any better than if she'd simply said, "Sorry not sorry."

Torn, she opted to say nothing and sat there awkwardly. She was a bit angry and sad that Portia would immediately try to burst the bubble of happiness she'd finally found, though she sympathized at the same time. Wildfire licked her lips nervously, her loss for words painfully clear.

it was oh so stupid to even try to accuse wildfire of this. as a medical professional portia knew this, if there was something to be done about it she would've done it to herself. wildfire said nothing, and though portia usually was not one to feel awkward she could sense the feeling hanging in the air. she'd put the bandrona in a bad spot, and after a few heartbeats longer a bit of guilt and reason set in and-- with a sigh-- she plopped herself down.

she sat in silence for a moment, still upset by the situation but fully aware there was nothing to be done, and she was rather pleased that dio was not in here when she arrived. she took in and let out another breath and then glanced at wildfire, lips twitching up gently. "you couldn't have waited a week?" she asked, more lighthearted this time.

Wildfire's eye twitched a little when Portia seemed to lighten up a little bit. She inhaled, nearly blurting out a reminder that, as a medic, the Skayona should know perfectly well that she had no control over these things. But the words got stuck behind her teeth, which clicked shut just in time. The Bandrona remained silent and wary for another few beats, then out of some weird attempt at a peace offering, pushed her leftovers toward Portia.

"I'm not the only one eating for two or more," she mused, her voice stiff at first but her tone quickly changing as her heart skipped a beat. It never got old, this realization that even now, new life was likely taking seed deep inside her. Same with Portia. She could have coveted the woman for beating her to the punch—she certainly had up until her own heat triggered—but Wildfire was still on cloud nine about the whole thing. Besides, it was kind of neat, knowing they would get to experience pregnancy, birth and raising their litters together.

A thought occurred to her and Wildfire bit it back, only to rethink it and boldly ask, "Does this make us sister wives?" It was meant as a joke, though there was a hopeful glimmer in the Bandrona's eye. This could be a point of contention between them forever... or they could choose to bond over it. Wildfire knew where she stood. But what about Portia?

her ears splayed slightly at wildfire's comment, her gaze falling to her stomach briefly before they moved back to the bone. for about a quarter of a second she forgot that a heat was only there to get wolves pregnant-- it wasn't just an excuse to be holed up with your loved one for a week. she lowered herself slowly, crossing one paw over the other. "i suppose not," she said with a smile. portia knew there was a chance she wouldn't get pregnant. it was a thing, it happened, and the skayona could very well have a mega-ultra hostile uterus with little room for babies. for all she knew, they could both escape this heat without a single pup growing inside them-- but that was unlikely, and would surely break wildfire's heart.

"sister wives," portia repeated with a slight scrunch of her nose, "only if it means i can dump them on you when i need a day off." her tail tapped against the ground, ears pricking back up. she wouldn't mind being closer to the other-- but maybe wifi could pick a different surrogate next time, maybe.

She didn't realize she was holding her breath until Portia answered. It gusted out of her, embarrassingly noisy, and Wildfire grinned. "I'd like that, actually." She felt her heart doing a happy little dance, if tentatively. "I promise," she felt the need to add in the next breath, "that I don't mean to infringe on you and Dio in any way. I just—" The Bandrona wanted to say something genuine and profound, yet words failed her, so she concluded lamely, "I just need you to know that."

Slowly, she flopped down parallel to the Skayona. "Do you and Dio have any names in mind? I know it's early." But Wildfire knew she had already started making mental lists and even floating some of her ideas past her mate, so she imagined the other couple might be the same way.

portia's gaze narrowed as the redhead began to sputter out words. she repeated the 'i just need you to know that' and the cut herself short, and she smiled a bit-- trying to wrap her head around the word-vomit. "it's noted," she said with a slight dip of her head. truthfully she didn't know what wildfire meant by that-- she didn't mean to have sex with her mate? didn't mean to have the same pregnancy time-line as she did? portia wasn't sure, but she supposed it didn't matter. wildfire apologized for something, and that was all she wanted at this point.

her ears pricked when she brought up names. the skayona believed in karma and luck and all those other things that some wolves passed for wives-tails-- but in her book, everything happened for a reason, and she'd prefer for the heavens to smile down on her rather than frown. wildfire seemed to be jinxing her luck with a pregnancy, had she really already picked out names?

"honestly?" she replied, shrugging, "i've never thought about it-- children weren't originally part of my plan..." she trailed off, sounding pessimistic now. "but..."  she continued, smiling a bit, "i'd be surprised if they both turned up with non-botany related names."

she eyed the others reaction, then added, "what about you?"

Chestnut eyes blinked when Portia admitted that children hadn't been part of the plan. Wildfire felt like they'd discussed this before, though she couldn't quite remember and it still took her by surprise, in any case. The medicine woman quickly added that the fruit of her loins would likely end up with botanical names, which teased a smile from the Bandrona.

"Nothing's settled yet but I have plenty of ideas," the yearling admitted, mostly pleased and a tiny bit sheepish. She had been dreaming about this forever, how could she not have names and other plans in mind? "In my family," she continued, "it's traditional to name pups after animals they resemble. It's also a custom to give girls middle names. But not to give them their names until they're about a month old." She paused to wet her lips thoughtfully. "I'd obviously like to balance these with Thur's traditions, although I know I don't plan to honor the latter one; I was never really a fan of that idea..." And there was no way she could wait an entire month to give her babies names!

portia listened carefully to the traditions that wildfire spouted out, her ears pricked curiously. "it sounds like you had a wonderful family-- i don't think my mother had any guidelines when naming myself and my sister except 'pick the most out-there names you can think of'," she replied with a smile, her tail wagging. then, for reference, she added "my sisters name was mercedes." regardless, wildfire's traditions made her smile, and already the bandrona seemed like she'd be a wonderful mother. then, for a moment, portia grew confused. "but what animal were you named after?" she asked, head tilting. a fox seemed the most obvious, but her name was very clearly not named fox.

"Yeah..." Wildfire could only agree softly, thinking of her dearly departed parents and feeling a familiar aching and twinging in her breast. She wondered what her parents would think of her recycling some of their traditions while more or less rubbishing others. She smiled a little sadly, then caught herself getting caught up inside her head and refocused her attention on Portia's voice.

"Both your name and your sister's are really pretty," Wildfire said genuinely. "My dad named me and he didn't exactly follow the tradition," she said, that same sad smile touching her eyes and lips. "My mom always called me Dhole, which is a kind of wild dog I apparently take after." She shrugged. "Oh, and my middle name's Attica, after my dad's brother, Atticus."

Stretching out to make herself a little more comfortable, Wildfire found herself wishing again for Thuringwethil's return. Despite their recent spat, the Bandrona felt closer than ever to the commander now. Besides, she was warm. She was glad for Portia's company in the meantime, though, despite the weird footing there at first.

"Is there anything I should be doing differently, now that I'm—hopefully—expecting?" Wildfire wondered, breath catching in her throat as she eyed the pack's most trusted medic.

portia did a little half-shrug-half-smile as wildfire commented on their names. they were kinda pretty, she thought, but so dramatic... she could've just as well named them dirtbag and scumbucket and they probably would've turned out the same-- like she thought that pretty names would determine their whole futures. her smile weakened, her mother always had a knack for that.

in her own parent remembrance, portia missed the expression that wildfire held when talking about her own parents, focusing instead on her words. "dhole," she repeated slowly, "i've never seen one of those." though if they looked just like wifi, they weren't that hard to picture-- maybe smaller and less awkward. "i like attica," she then said, tail waving against the cold ground. and she did, it sounded tough and burly but also feminine... that description didn't fit the bandrona at all, but portia was still a fan.

she nodded her head a few times side to side in thought. "nothing stupid," she decided upon first, a small grin, "especially in this weather. you could hurt yourself and your kids." she sat still a moment, trying to remember what herbs she did and didn't have... especially after this cold. she hadn't been to her stores in a few days, and by then everything could've really died-- she prayed not. "i should have some leftover great blue lobelia. i gathered it a while back for something else-- but it'll be good for this too." after a few more thoughtful moments, the fisa shrugged. "i'll put together something for you... raspberry leaves, ginger root, peppermint leaves..." she added reassuringly. hopefully she had all those things-- but she wouldn't tell wildfire that.

"Nothing stupid." Her lips twitched. This was easier said than done for the awkward and clumsy Bandrona. But she would certainly try, especially for her children's sake. She listened as Portia described some plant or other, albeit vaguely; she neither mentioned what it was or what it did. Wildfire didn't care, though. She trusted the Skayona implicitly and would do her best to follow her advice to the letter.

"I'd like that," she said warmly, "and I'd be happy to hunt small game for you in exchange." It wasn't like they needed much of that lately, yet it was the thought that counted, right? "I know you're not—thrilled—about the timing..." Wildfire continued a little awkwardly, "but I'm happy I get to experience this with you, Portia."

She flushed slightly, then cleared her throat as she searched for something else to say. When nothing came to her, Wildfire abruptly pushed herself upright, then scooted closer to the medic. "Gotta stay warm," she muttered a little fumblingly, shooting the other she-wolf a quick smile as she settled down nearer to her. She wasn't fibbing either. It was damn cold and she could use the borrowed warmth.

That made her think of something and before she could think better of it, Wildfire quipped, "Sorry to steal your heat... again..." BAH DUM TSS!

she squinted, confused. "oh i don't gather all these herbs just to stare at them... you don't have to do anything for me, hun," portia replied with a small smile. she then sort of realized that she too sort of needed those herbs... but, maybe she could ration them. oh well, they would figure out something. "but yeah..." she said quietly, "me too."

wildfire scooted closer to her, and though portia was shocked at first, she did quickly realize that it was a good idea. she pressed back against the bandrona, giggling softly at her dumb joke. "i'll share it... this time," she returned, deciding that the warmth was actually really comforting. the fisa lowered her head and placed it on the ground, her feet tucked beneath her legs. it was comfortable, and being alone was no fun in a time like this.

we could fade with your next post?

Sure thing. :)

Portia had seemed cold and unfriendly at first, yet now she had thawed and Wildfire was happy to bask in their mutual warmth. Pregnancy glow, she thought to herself, although it was much too early for that for either one of them. Nonetheless, the thought put a smile on her face. She turned this high-wattage expression on the Skayona but she had lowered her head to the ground, facing away. The Bandrona took the opportunity to rest her chin along the slope of the other woman's back, letting the heat and companionship lull her into a doze.