Heron Lake Plateau Behold the great science fi

It seemed like @Raven was doing better but at the same time it also seemed like there was a long way to go before she was back to normal.  Maybe it only felt that way because he was fussing too much.  Either way, she was sleeping, and since he didn't feel like it was necessary for him to hover over her more, Quixote was sitting just outside their little thicket, watching for anything that might be of interest.  He still wasn't sure he should leave her unguarded, but he'd been ditching doing alpha-assigned duties and hoping nothing bad would come from it.  He hadn't gone on any proper hunts since then either, living off of what was brought to them or could be quickly nabbed from the caches, and the majority of that, of course, went to Raven -- it wasn't like Quixote was using too much energy hanging out in case something happened.

Recent news hadn't helped.  Had Screech been so good of an actor that he'd managed to convince them all he wasn't really a threat, then vanished into the wilderness?  Orca had seemed like a pretty ok wolf, and now she was gone.  This hadn't been a good week for anyone, but he had to hope things would hit an upswing at some point.  Maybe a rabbit would bound by and make for a convenient meal.  Or he'd just sit here in the grey and drizzle and get a bit damp, whichever.

Colt hadn't managed to catch up with Qui in a while, both of them kept pretty busy by the different levels of crapstorm plaguing the pack.  Colt, albeit, a little less busy; Quixote had obligations now that the bachelor had avoided handily for years.  

Today his friend was his objective, and thankfully, he was predictably hanging around where Colt knew Raven was holed up.  He approached easily enough, but when he was there, realized he wasn't actually sure... why.  Aside from catching up of course.  So all he had to give was a simple, "Hey.  What's up?"  Likely a lot.  But like a good bro, he wasn't about to go full Maury on him.

Yay! :D

It had indeed been a while.  Hell, he was pretty sure Raven had seen Colt way more than he had at this point.  Quixote was glad to see him, though.  Maybe he should have asked Colt for help earlier, not that he was particularly big on asking anyone for help.  Too late now.

He laughed, kind of uneasily at the question -- that sort of "Hahaha, do you have to ask" kind of way.  Too much.  Gallows humor.  An end to the drama for a while, I goddamn hope.  It didn't sound like he really believed it.  The whole thing had burned him -- he didn't trust anything to cooperate.  Quixote felt stretched, and though he was holding things together better now, he wasn't sure if he was going to feel normal until the pups arrived and hopefully proved nothing was wrong.

He leaned back to look and confirm, then said, Raven's asleep.  Hence he was not speaking too loud.  Quixote looked back and sighed, For real, though.  I think the whole pack's been through enough for the next... I dunno, three generations.  They were due to be left alone.  At least he wouldn't have to go through and explain all of it since Colt was part of the failed hunt and all that, but he wouldn't be surprised if there were still some questions floating around that hadn't been properly answered thirdhand or whatever.  Quixote was doing even worse at being conversational than normal.

Quixote was a hard wolf for Colt to read a lot of days too... mainly because Colt to this day didn't know what drove him.  And until you knew that, it was hard to tell.  Like leadership... the fact that he had accepted it had surprised the hell out of him.

"Givin you a nice test run right out the gate, I'd think." Colt said jokingly.  "Can't be too bad gettin a few years worth of experience in one season.  Crazy fuckin times."  He was glad at least that Raven was recovering.  Now that Screech was gone, hopefully things would quiet.  And hopefully they wouldn't lose anyone else.

The fact that Quixote was still mentally a mess probably didn't help Colt's ability to understand him at this point.  More like somewhere out there, someone was all, 'Hey, that guy seems happy, let's screw with him!'  Really, it did kind of seem that way.  He'd maybe just about come to terms with the with the whole leadership thing, he and Raven were finally officially mates, and they were starting to make the final preparations for their pups, and then... 

There was still the issue that he was wondering if his own greed -- the fact he'd weighted his own interests so heavily versus those that would benefit a wider range of the pack -- had caused this all to happen.  That maybe in his quest to do everything himsefl he had let some bridges rot instead of going out of the way to repair them, and that maybe if he hadn't, maybe Screech's attack could have been prevented.  But then again,   Think I've probably been neglecting folks -- too much time off doing stuff myself when I probably should have been dragging others along.  Besides the hunts, what've you been up to?  Hopefully something better than the gloom that had settled in over the alphas.  Standing guard over Raven and caring for her as she healed left a lot of time for introspection, and not all of it ended in a good place.

Colt heard the self-pity and shook his head, never much of one for it.  "Least you still got everything important, mate," he said easily, not having a hard time seeing how much worse it could have gone.

"Cleanup, mostly," he said, but he smiled as he did.  He'd gone on that hunt, and done his best to help some of them with it, but aside from that not a whole lot.  "And I took @Clover and @Fiadh out tracking the other day." He'd gotten an earful then of course... they'd been diehard from the start and proven right, though, so he'd mostly agreed that yeah, they had told everyone so.  Uncle wasn't gonna argue there.  "Didn't find much, but I may go out again tomorrow."

He thought back to the sleepless night when everything happened, of the cold shift from worry to horror as time had passed.  It still sent a shiver down Quixote's spine -- too fresh a memory, one that made him stare at the ground to one side rather than keeping Colt in his field of view.  Yeah, but I think -- I think she came really close to that edge.  And that was the fact that would haunt him until Screech was dealt with.  It was the reason he still stood guard here even though the danger was likely a low chance.  He hadn't been there to do his job and prevent it and damned if he was going to let fate take a second swing.  On the one hand it probably had been an awful idea for one with as many unresolved issues as him to end up in a serious relationship, but there was no predicting the other events that had sent him in to spirals.

Shaking his head slightly, he dragged himself back to the present, Hopefully someone can find a sign soon.  And yeah, those kids probably were stoked about being right, weren't they?  Hell, what would have things been like if they'd kicked him out earlier -- if his first attack on Raven had booted him to the curb?  Having him just disappear makes me wish we'd done more that night.  That maybe there was some way for him to have both saved Raven and killed Screech.  The ideal.  But likely doing both would have ended with one thing not being done properly, and thus the worst might have actually happened.

On the other hand, the longer the guy stayed MIA, the more things might calm down and secure themselves here that Quixote might actually get the chance he'd passed over twice now.

"He won't come back," Colt said, with more than a little certainty.  "He's got no reason to, and even an idiot would know he's dead the instant he comes near." Colt doubted they'd ever catch wind of Screech again, and all the better.

He tried to be understanding of Quixote's fear, but he couldn't stop that insidious feeling that his friend was dwelling on shit when honestly, he'd gotten lucky as fuck.  So he changed the subject instead.  He hadn't been talking about hunting Screech, but actual prey.  He supposed he couldn't fault Qui's assumption - everyone had a single track mind of late.

"Want to take a break and come with tomorrow? Figure there might be a good chance of finding something big to take down if we go south, around the plateau.  Pretty good space there for them to wander, and far as I can tell, no one to bother us."  If his friend needed a break, maybe a trip out would help him relax a bit.

Oh he dwelled -- professional dweller right here.  Raven had figured that out pretty quick, but then again it was also way easier for her to distract him than anyone else.  He'd always survived in the past by thinking up the worst case scenarios that could possibly happen, and you know what they said about old habits.  It wasn't like he could really do anything to make her heal faster, to fix the wrongs for real -- just lots of thinking.  And from descriptions, it didn't even sound like Screech was operating on all cylinders.  Maybe he wouldn't even know it meant death.  There was always the chance until something proved otherwise.

Probably would be a good thing.  But I think we're supposed to move to the den soon -- like if she's up to it, next couple days soon.  I think I can maybe breathe after that.  A weak smile.  He'd picked a pretty secure spot in the territory for it -- or as secure as a plateau could be.  If Screech made a return, it was probably going to be the most obnoxious area to get to from any of the usual entrances.  They'd be back on track.  Yeah, wouldn't happen -- the pups had other ideas -- but right now it sounded good.  I haven't even been to the borders at the base of the plateau since it happened. -- But yeah, yeah, after.  Would be good.  There were definitely moments where he wished he could just give up every responsibility and return to more carefree times.  Well.  Most of them.

He had some things he might have liked to talk with Quixote about, but it was pretty clear to Colt his friend wasn't in the headspace for hearing whatever might be on Colt's mind.  So he just shrugged it off; the excuse made sense.

"After, then," he confirmed, then hesitated a minute.  He might not have a ton of patience for others' ordeals most days, but he wasn't the shittiest of friends either.  "You ever need anything, let me know?"  Qui seemed to have his paws full with family life, though Colt suspected the hovering would end soon.  If he was Raven he'd have snapped his mate's nose off by now (lol) but he'd been there and he knew how hard it was to leave.  So no judgements right now.

He nodded too -- it was something to actually look forward to.  Hopefully at some point, with the greatest of drama-mongers gone, Quixote would be able to unwind.  Then again, Raven didn't really seem to mind him fussing over her -- not that she was currently in a state where she could complain too loudly.  Chances were it would have become an issue way before this anyway.  And Colt's thought was totally right -- he was so wrapped up in all of this that he'd probably have a hard time seeing any other subject.

He definitely needed to learn to ask for help, though.  It was not his forte, and probably part of the reason Quixote mentally shredded himself whenever something went wrong -- his likes and dislikes weren't exactly too compatible with each other, let alone a healthy mental state.  But hey, a friend's reassurance did help take the edge off.  Yeah, will do.  Just no stirring up too much other trouble in the meantime, right?  Though Quixote smirked at that, it wasn't as strong or as snarky of an expression as it would have been otherwise.  How long before he became himself again?

gonna wrap this in favor of the newww!

He wasn't convinced, but he let it go, nodding and instead turning to go.  Unless Qui stopped him, he'd go for a hunt or something, his friend's mood was a bit catching at the moment.  His joke felt a little flat too, and that rankled Colt a bit... he never willingly caused problems.  But he saw the attempt at humor and decided to take it for what he thought it was.  "No promises," he joked back, "but I'll try."  Nah, there was no way he'd be causing issues, least knowingly, in the near future.

Alright, time to go see what he could snag off the lake.

He dipped his head, Later, then.  It was good that he was finally able to catch up with Colt.  Really, Quixote should have done so much earlier.  Too late to go back and change that now, but it'd have to be something he'd pay attention to in the future, since it wasn't like he was the most popular dude around.

Once Colt had gone, Quixote got up and walked back to Raven's side, curling up nearby.  There was still quite a bit of waiting to do.  More thinking.  But maybe by next time, he'd have pulled enough of his fractured self together to be reasonable to talk.