Neverwinter Forest it's about progress

It's enough to make his head spin, but Zephyr is stubbornly stuck on the aspect that bothers him most. He needs to know that his desire had been his, and Mal is right; the only way to figure that out is to get cleaned up. What if I do want it, even without the scent? He wonders, mostly because he isn't really sure what would come next. He starts to groom himself without waiting for an answer, suddenly uncomfortable with the way the scent still seems to cloud his mind. His thoughts keep leading back to Mal's touch, to how it might feel to go further. And now that he isn't sure these thoughts are his own, they aren't entirely enjoyable.

Mal shifted to sit up, then, lowering his head to try to sniff his own chest to see if it smelled less. It wasn't like he'd tried too hard to remove it so far. But Zephyr's question made him look up, What do you mean? Like is that okay kind of thing? He didn't see why it wouldn't be, but man, it was Mal, and when it came to relationships they might as well not even exist. In that aspect, his perspective was potentially Not A Good Example.  Or like, what would happen if you did do it, or what? Like did Zeph want to know what sex beyond whatever vague notion he'd been taught? Or if Mal was up for it later? He didn't want to assume the latter because talk about awkward if he was wrong. Look, Mal thought he was a pretty great dude, but damn, even he had his limits.

His ears heat when Mal starts to question him, and for several minutes he simply focuses on grooming himself. He only answers again when the scent starts to fade. I mean — would you want to? Something stops him from admitting his true curiosity; maybe the fact that he'd claimed to know about all of it. He glances up at Mal again briefly as he speaks, then gets back to grooming.

There was some silence. After waiting a few moments, Mal also went back to grooming himself, eventually stopping to roll around in the snow in hopes it'd get rid of it that much faster. That was when Zephyr spoke next.

Mal paused on his back and looked up with kind of cheeky grin, I did say I wouldn't mind doing it more, didn't I? He let that hang for a second before continuing. Sure. If and when you want to and are ready, but not before. It's not like I'm going anywhere, and you should have a good time, no regrets, yeah? He wasn't sure what regrets Zeph might have, but Cupid certainly had some, though Mal wasn't entirely sure if it was just because of the pregnancy thing or if there was something else. It wasn't like anything that had happened after made any sense. He finished rolling back to his stomach, If you decide not to, that's cool too. Shrug.  Like it sounded great to have someone to mess around with, no strings attached, but Zeph was still kinda young wasn't he?  Mal wasn't gonna rush anything. He could probably find someone else if he really wanted. Give him time to work through the other issues or something.

He almost misses the grin, still caught up in grooming himself, but when he sees it his heart skips a little. And then he makes up his mind. When the scent is gone, then, He says — rushing it despite Mal's attempts. Zephyr has never been known for his patience. He mimics Mal's rolling in the snow to get the scent fully off of him, feeling fairly confident in how much it has faded under all his grooming and rolling by the time he stops. He hardly notices it anymore, if at all. He shivers a little as he rights himself, standing to shake his fur out. The cold has only made him miss being touched even more.

Mal was finishing cleaning himself up -- he was pretty sure he'd got most of it off. But Zephyr's response caught him a little off-guard, You sure? No more questions or thinking or whatever? Mostly because he thought this revelation would have required more thought and introspection or something. How long did the effects of the heat scent linger? Mal didn't know, honestly. It kind of gave him a weird feeling. Like mix low grade excitement with something else he couldn't quite identify but didn't necessarily mix all that well. Some of it was probably Mal's own baggage.

He also got to his feet and shook out his fur, then did his best to try and sniff himself in a few places, I think I'm good at least. You?

Mal's words give him pause. It occurs to him that maybe he should think this through more, though he hasn't been in the habit of doing so before this. None of the impulsive decisions he's made in his life have ended well, and no matter how tempting it is to give in and let himself feel good for a little while, he knows it's not worth causing himself more pain. Maybe I do need to think about it, He admits, gaze dropping guiltily. I rush into things too much, and I don't want to mess it up. But yeah, I think the scent is gone.

Or maybe it was better to just not get his hopes up too much. Okay. Might be good if you know you do that, yeah. It was probably good for both of them, honestly. No rush, offer's not going away. The trouble itself was now gone. Stuff could go back to normal, whatever that was.

A pause, and he thought back to how Zephyr had been acting while under the influence. His suggestion this time was a bit more subdued, But if you did just want to hang out with someone, we can go do that -- you really did seem like you were enjoying it earlier. Nothing has to go farther than that. He shrugged a shoulder -- again, seemed like he was doing that a lot. But Mal had enjoyed that too, and it wasn't like he was close to anyone -- hell, it probably ate a bigger hole in him now than anything just because it was so unusual for him.

pping mal + time skipping a bit with permission, & i think this might be the last post from me!

He relaxes when Mal responds, and the subsequent offer even lifts his mood a little. Yeah, I'd like that, He says, a smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. Maybe it'll help me decide.
And it does exactly that. Somewhere in the middle of the affection they share, Zephyr realizes he doesn't want to wait. Perhaps he might have kept his resolve if they'd gone their separate ways, but being so close to another quickly proves almost as intoxicating as the heat scent. Feeling wanted is just too strong a drug for him to deny, at least right now, and he'd rather rush into something nice like this than let it pass him by. Still, it's awhile before he approaches the subject again, maybe even hours (Zeph isn't good at time though so who knows). But eventually he brings it up — and this time, he's sure about it.

Well, c'mon. Let's get out of the snow. He gave Zephyr a nudge and started towards one of the little hideaways he'd carved into one of the thicker groves of trees. Nothing was going to be exceptionally warm at this time of year, but that bit of shelter was better than being out in the open at least.

In a way, it probably was a bad suggestion on Mal's part, but he'd been honest and willing to just leave things as they were. But let's be real, he isn't exactly the greatest at thinking ahead and had seemed like a good compromise. Both he and Zephyr were both wolves that had grown up feeling particularly unloved by the world, and if for a brief time they got to pretend that wasn't the case -- was it any wonder they'd reach for that chance?  By the time his original offer was brought it up again, Mal wasn't too hard to convince -- as if he ever was to begin with. And with a clear mind, this time he could really make sure that his partner enjoyed every bit of it: whatever Zeph wanted, Zeph got.