Duskfire Glacier glacierline

for @Satori maybe

the wind carried little sound through the glacier, save for the steady crunch of faust’s paws against the frostbitten earth. the cold was sharp tonight, biting through thick fur, but he paid it no mind. his focus was elsewhere.
he was looking for her.
satori.
the name sat heavy in his chest, unspoken, but present. she had been lingering at the edges of his thoughts for too long now, a shadow just out of reach. there were things he needed to know—things only she could answer.
his gold-green eyes swept the land ahead, scanning the ridges, the caves, the dark pockets where one might disappear into the silence.
he would find her.

How long had it been? Hours, days, since the encounter. Satori remembered little but the hard lines of the strange woman's face.

A headache plagued her, forcing the druid deeper into the shadowed edges of the forest where the harsh light of the glacier could not reach. If Faust looked hard enough, he might find a ball of blonde fur tucked under a fallen log, only the steady rise and fall of her flank differentiating her from an odd fungi of sorts.

There was much to think about, but for now Satori let mind lull into painless nothing.

faust found her.
tucked beneath a fallen log, half-hidden in shadow, her blonde fur nearly indistinguishable from the frost-laced bark. for a breath, he thought she was still—too still. but then he saw it, the faint rise and fall of her flank, the shallow rhythm of breath.
alive.
he was at her side in an instant, his muzzle pressing against her, nosing along her ribs, her shoulder—searching. he did not speak at first. only checked. the scent of blood was faint, but it was there.
his jaw clenched.
satori, his voice was a low rasp, firm but not unkind.
what had happened? who had done this? questions swirled, but he swallowed them down. they could wait. right now, she was here. she was breathing.
he nudged at her again, wordless insistence, a demand without force.
wake up.

For a while there was nothing, and then - a touch. Brief at first, growing stronger with each warm breath. At first Satori thought she might still be dreaming, but words spoke brought her finally from her stupor.

Unfurling, her heart fluttered to see the northman standing, towering above. "Would you like me to disturb your nap next time?" her voice is laced with humour, though it croaks all the same as a pale paw comes to bat half-heartedly at his encroaching nose.

But she is up now, awake and beginning to crawl from her sleeping place to greet him on three wobbly limbs, pointedly ignoring his look of concern. "How was the meeting?" Satori had become good at pretending everything was okay.

he chuffs, something of a strained laugh, but the worry lingers in his eyes as he watches her struggle upright. a slow blink, a breath through his nose. she is wobbly, but she is moving. that’s something.
it— he starts, but the memory of the gathering still clings to his mind, thick as morning fog. norsemen, pregnant women, the weight of too many eyes watching, waiting. his lip twitches, a ghost of something near irritation. but none of that matters now, not with her swaying on her paws like a newborn fawn.
it was fine. i don’t care about that. he shifts, lowering his head to meet her gaze, sharp but searching. are you injured? it is not a demand, but it is firm. if she lies, he will know.

It took her a minute for Satori to stand at full height, disappointment clouding her gaze to feel the effects of the salve had faded and been replaced with a familiar dull pain. But Faust was here, and she was pleased to see him. "Okay," she smiles thinly then, deciding not to press when it seemed he already had more on his mind.

Though she was already tiring of his worrying, and it wasn't long before the druid sighed and relented. "Not more than I already am, and I've found ways to manage the pain." While Satori referred to the obvious truth of her leg, she couldn't help but wonder if Faust was after something else.

he breathes through his nose, low and steady, as he shifts closer. without ceremony, he draws her in, a heavy foreleg slipping over her shoulders so she can lean, settle all that weight onto him. and he takes it without protest, without strain. as if he'd been built for exactly this—bearing things others shouldn’t have to.
faust tilts his chin to rest over the crown of her head, exhaling slowly, the warmth of her pressed against his ribs a comfort he hadn’t known he needed.
you women drive me fucking insane, he mutters, though there’s no heat to it. only dry amusement, roughened by relief. a joke shared in the quiet.
his gaze drops down the length of her, landing on that leg. his brow furrows, as if it were some riddle he’s only now realizing was never solved. has your leg always been like this?
it isn't judgment—just curiosity, laced with something protective beneath the grit. he doesn’t pull his weight from her. doesn’t move like he’s about to leave her side anytime soon. if anything, he settles deeper into the snow with her tucked close, like this is where he intends to stay for as long as she’ll let him.

light pp, let me know if not okay!

Satori's mouth widened in quiet surprise as he pulled her into a gentle embrace, far softer than she'd anticipated - as if she were a sculpture made of ice that Faust was afraid to shatter. And it is now that she laughed genuinely at his jest, a melodic sound that reflected none of her discomfort, none of the doubts Iosef had managed to lodge beneath her skin.

"Since the cave - the fall broke it here, along the ankle." Following his gaze, the druid motioned with her muzzle to the limb where the fur was still flecked with brown and yellow plant matter. Days confined to her den, the snow, had made her realise just how much she'd missed their chats. Missed his warmth. "I'd show you how well I'm walking on three legs, but I don't think you intend to let me move just yet."

She tucked her nose into the soft furs of his chest, hoping the gesture might reassure him.

faust shakes his head, slow and certain. no. the word is gruff, final, but not unkind. his jaw brushes over the crown of her head as she settles into him, and he exhales through his nose, the tension bleeding out with the sound. i need this, too.
and it’s true. after the gathering—winsook, saatsine, blackfell and all the others, the endless dance of faces and posturing—he’s been wound too tight. carrying it in his shoulders, in the clench of his teeth. but here, with her, it slips away just enough to breathe.
too many damn wolves talking. a huff of quiet amusement, low and tired. needed somewhere quieter. someone quieter. lousine wasn't exactly quiet.
his gaze flickers down to her leg when she explains, a frown tugging at his lips. old pain, familiar by now, but that didn’t make it right. didn’t mean he had to like it. you move well enough for the both of us. just not tonight.
his chin rests briefly atop her head. it feels right, keeping her here, keeping her still. just us.

From her place below him, Satori could feel the way his muscles relaxed to something calmer. She'd not noticed the strain leadership had on him until now - it worried her greatly - but the druid would be here for him as she had before.

A noise of amusement purred from her throat as she let the events of the past few weeks melt away. Nothing else, no one else mattered in that moment besides him, and though she knew it could not last forever, that he would have to leave come morning, Satori let herself wish otherwise.

"Just us," she repeats after a moment, slipping into a content silence. The rest of the glacier is forgotten, herself a quiet constant in their ever-changing home.

just us.
faust let the words settle between them, a quiet thing, something unspoken but understood. the weight of the glacier, of darukaal, of all the fucking politics that gnawed at his heels—none of it mattered here.
for now.
his breath was slow, measured, as he allowed himself this rare moment of stillness. satori had always been there, unwavering, a steady pulse in the chaos of his world. he did not say it, but she knew. she always knew.
morning would come. he would leave. she would watch him go, just as she always had.
but for tonight, he let himself believe in the silence, in the warmth they shared against the cold, in the fragile peace that neither of them dared to name.
his eyes slipped shut, and for the first time in too many nights, faust rested.

fade and smth new?