Redhawk Caldera The faith that sets you free

A lot had happened over the last few weeks -- Somnia had disappeared, Finley's sister had joined their ranks, and the firebirds just kept growing. Similarly, Elwood's relationship with Finley was improving, though in subtler ways. They had settled into a comfortable routine that allowed them to spend an unhealthy amount of time with each other while still maintaining their roles as Beta pair -- and all without ever actually admitting that they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

Finally, Elwood was ready to take the next step. Hopefully.

He had spent his time away from Finley (which wasn't much) planning and executing his plan. He knew that it couldn't be too elaborate -- he didn't want to scare her away, as flighty as she was -- but he wanted to show her how much she meant to him. Sure, he said "I love you" on a regular basis, but those three words couldn't fully describe just how he felt.

So as the sun set, setting the landscape ablaze, he gathered the gem he had found with Somnia. It had been hidden safely in his den, and now, as he pulled it out into the light, he set it down at his paws to examine it. It was a fine specimen of agate, its flat, shiny surface marked with layers of ivory and red. Unfortunately, he didn't know the name of the crystal or how it had been made, but he assumed it had something to do with the once-active volcano.

After taking a deep breath, Elwood tipped his head back and called for @Finley -- hoping that he didn't sound too nervous.

There was one thoroughly and completely indisputable fact about Finley - she was utterly and irrevocably in love with Elwood.  She adored everything about him, relished every second that they spent together.  It was like a dream from someone else's life.  Everything was so happy and so perfect.  It was just so... unreal that this was actually a relationship of Fin's.  I mean... Well, you don't know what I mean, but just know that it's like.. SERIOUSLY?


Fin was quick to answer her lover's call.  They'd just spent... Well, more than thirty seconds, away from each other, and thus she was missing him quite desperately.  A wide smile burst across her muzzle as she spotted him, and quickly she ran to greet him.  She stretched her muzzle out towards him, planting a series of happy kisses upon his cheek before settling in near him, smiling fondly upon his handsome face.

"It's about damn time, Twig," Fin chided with faux frustration, "I thought I was going to have to go find myself someone else to torment, I hadn't heard from you in so long."  In reality, it hadn't been long at all.  They saw each other every day - multiple times per day.  It was actually as though they were gorilla glued to each other, but still.  That was the way Finley preferred them to be, so even a few hours apart was just plain wrong to her.

She was prompt, which was good for Elwood. Too much time spent waiting would just cause his anxiety to fester. He managed to convince himself that he didn't have anything to worry about -- it wasn't like he was going to get down on one knee and propose to Finley. In the back of his mind, he was certain that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her -- and he was pretty sure she felt the same way -- but voicing such a sentiment seemed much too heavy for this stage in their relationship.

When she approached, he was pulling a rabbit carcass from a nearby cache. His ears pricked and his tail started to sway at the sight of her, as he placed the hare next to the rock. Both items lay at his feet, though he immediately met her gaze and smiled, leaning into her kisses and affectionate ministrations. Those greetings would never get old.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he replied teasingly, feeling the nerves in his belly settling as they slipped into a comfortable banter. He planted a quick kiss on her cheek, then reached down and nudged the meat towards her, using his other paw to pull the agate closer to himself. "You hungry?" he asked.

Fin smirked when Elwood apologized for keeping her waiting.  She bumped her cheekbone lightly against his, always grateful for how easily he played along with her games.  Even when he didn't really know what the game was.  Her gaze fell with his towards the meat at his paws and she gave a happy growl and began to tuck in.  That was likely all the response he needed to answer his question about whether or not she was hungry.


After swallowing a few mouthfuls, she gave him a perky smile.  "Why thank you," she said, licking her lips, "You're such a good provider.  I shall take a pony and a ice cream cone now, please and thank you."

She fell quickly upon the meat, devouring a few large mouthfuls without even giving a verbal response. Elwood just grinned, watching her affectionately as she ate her fill. The quiet that settled between them gave him a few moments to think about what he wanted to say, and when she sat back up and smirked at him -- with a request for ice cream and a pony! -- his tail thumped the ground heartily.

"Coming right up," he promised cheekily, then allowed his expression to grow slightly more serious. His smile faded, though his eyes remained adoringly fixed on Finley's face. "I actually do want to give you something else," he said, reaching down to nudge the agate towards her. He had no idea if she would even find the gem to be pretty, but he hoped that the words that accompanied the gift would do the trick.

He cleared his throat nervously, then said, "Remember when I mentioned that the last time I saw Somnia was in the ice cavern? Well, she went down there with me to help me find this -- a present, for you. It's not much -- just a rock, really -- but I wanted to...give you something, to show you how I feel." He gave her a sheepish smile, then added, "I love you...in case you weren't aware."

Elwood agreed to providing her requests, and Fin gave him a proud smile and a wag of her tail in response.  When his expression stilled, so did hers as curiosity took hold of her.  She had no idea what to expect when she lowered her gaze to the ground as he gestured, but her brows lifted the moment she set her eyes upon the small gemstone at his feet.  Her gaze traced the lines of rust and porcelain that shined in the sunlight.  It was definitely pretty and she definitely liked it, but before she had a chance to show her gratitude, Elwood was offering an explanation for it.

Fin kept her gaze upon Elwood's face up until the moment Somnia's name came into the conversation, at which point she cast her eyes solidly upon the gem.  Her ears tipped backwards as he spoke, catching every word.  So, the former gamma had helped him find this for her...  Fin wasn't certain how to feel about that.  She'd thought such horrible things about the girl... That she'd been trying to undermine their relationship and Fin's standing with the pack, that she had wanted to tear her and Elwood apart so that she could take him for herself.  She'd only pretended to be Finley's friend so that she could figure out how to destroy her.

But now, knowing that she'd actually help him make this beautiful gesture... Fin didn't know what to say.

So, word vomit seemed like a good option.

"She was trying to break us up, Elwood!" Fin blurted suddenly, lifting her gaze back to his face with anger and hurt in her eyes.  Meanwhile, Stevie facepalms out of embarrassment.

I love Fin so much!

In the breathless few moments until Finley voiced a verbal reply, Elwood felt like his life was hanging in the balance. He really hadn't said anything out of the ordinary, but he was so used to her unpredictable ways that he wasn't sure what to expect. She seemed, at first, to be pleased by the gift, and his lips twitched into a small smile as her gaze roved appreciatively over it. But then, her expression contorted, and she made a sudden exclamation that caused Elwood to physically reel back in surprise.

He blinked at her, his brow now deeply furrowed as he tried to digest her words. Was she talking about Somnia? There was no way that her statement could be true -- Somnia was one of his dearest friends, and she had been quietly supportive of Finwood from the start. It had been her idea to procure a jewel for Finley in the first place! Since Finley had never expressed her concerns to him, Elwood was completely in the dark as to how she could even suspect this of Somnia.

Shaking his head slowly, he looked at her with bemusement, the romance of the situation evaporating. "She...what? Somnia? What are you talking about?" he asked -- not disbelieving her, necessarily, but just...confused. Elwood's logical brain told him to let Finley elaborate before jumping to any conclusions or belittling her thoughts. So he waited patiently for an explanation.

Not for long!  BWAHAHAHA I kid ;)  I'm trying not to powerplay by having Fin rant too much before you have a chance to have Elwood react, but just know.. she's not quite done lol <3

I'd like to say that there was some, small part of Finley's brain that knew she was being ridiculous.  Somnia had never been anything but sweet and kind - a true asset to their pack and to Fin's life in general.  And yet, one too vague comment was enough to send the Blackthorn spiraling down a black hole of doubt and bitterness.  Somehow her mind could never stop making her believe the worst when it came to her relationships - not only in her partners or herself, but in those who merely sat in audience of it.

"You heard what she said at the meeting?  That.. that pack-bonding thing or whatever it was," Fin replied, her ears flattening in frustration and the vague creepings of humility when Elwood very calmly and patiently asked her to explain, as though he'd had no suspicions himself (which he hadn't, but to Fin, that was just crazy), "You heard her compliment Grimm for, what was it... bravely testing the waters and putting herself out there or some shit.  Basically saying in front of everybody way to be courageous in your WHOREDOM.

"Oh and then she has the fucking balls to tell me that I can take my turn now.  Like she's giving me, her superior, permission to speak now that she's all done undermining my emotions and making me look like some sort of bitch for being bitter towards Grimm for the whole..," Fin paused (albeit briefly) as she realized she was swimming in awkward water by even bringing up the "incident", especially since she'd been so very careful to never ever EVER discuss it ever again.. whoops... barreling onward!  "Then she goes ahead and undermines my authority as the fucking beta by giving me permission to speak in front of the entire pack!"

And then, the floodgates opened.

In a rush of words, Finley vehemently explained herself, unleashing a tidal wave of feelings that Elwood hadn't realized she was holding back. His eyes slowly widened as she spoke and his ears remained pointed directly at her, absorbing everything that she said. It had all started at Fox's activity to promote trust between members of the pack -- apparently, Somnia had said some things that had rubbed Finley the wrong way.

Frankly, Elwood didn't really remember exactly what his friend had said, though he wasn't surprised that Finley could quote her word for word. This was obviously something that she had been stewing on for some time. Luckily, he recognized that her anger was not directed at him (not yet, anyway) and continued to listen with his lips closed. He could understand why she was upset, but in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but think that Somnia more than likely hadn't meant to be offensive.

When Finley paused to take a breath, Elwood took a quick step towards her, reaching out to give her a reassuring nudge on the cheek. "Whoa," he said softly, angling his chin down so he could look into her eyes -- normally fiery in color, they now seemed to be smoldering. "Why didn't you tell me before that you were so bothered by that?" he asked. He strongly felt that trying to convince Finley that she was wrong would backfire, so instead he said, "I'm sorry that she upset you."

Fin was still fuming even as Elwood stepped towards her and began to respond.  His words did nothing to ease her tension.  If anything, they exasperated her.  Why did she have to explain that?  "Because!  Because.." Fin started, angrily, then stammering a little which put a damper on her ranting a bit, long enough for Elwood to make his apology on Somnia's behalf.  Another irritating thing.  Which reminded her...


"I didn't realize it at the time, I thought she was just being a bitch and trying to go for my rank," Fin continued, "But she was totally going after you, Elwood!  Don't you see?  Making me look like a weak bitch in front of the whole pack like that?  Praising Grimm for almost ruining us?  Then running off to romantic, secluded caves with you under the guise that she was just being all sweet and supportive and awesome??  She was just trying to steal you from me!  She wanted me to look like the bad guy and then she was gonna swoop in and take you with her pretty face and her pretty niceness and her.. and she just..."  At that point, Finley fell to just growling and muttering darkly, her hackles rising all along the back of her neck and the black strip that lined her spine.

She bristled and only seemed to grow more tense as he touched her, so he restored their personal space, backing up until he could look down more comfortably at her. He pursed his lips, feeling himself growing agitated by her behavior; not because he was mad at her, but because it distressed him to learn of the elaborate plan she believed Somnia had been concocting. His first thought was to deny it all -- there was no way any of that was true. Somnia had been in love with Ashton, and Elwood had seen her heartbreak first hand after the medic vanished. But...

He wasn't sure if he truly believed Finley or if he began to entertain the idea simply because she so desperately wanted him to. Maybe -- just maybe -- there had been an ulterior motive that he hadn't recognized. After all, he hadn't even noticed that Finley had been sitting on these strong feelings for the last few weeks; he would be the first to admit that he wasn't the best at reading emotions. At the same time, though, it just didn't feel right. He didn't know what to think.

Elwood wanted to comfort her and disagree with her all at the same time, but instead he settled slowly onto his haunches, his forehead wrinkled in thought. There was one glaring fact that he couldn't deny: Somnia had disappeared without a word, and it could very well have been because she was harboring hidden feelings for him. There was no real evidence for or against that fact. After a long moment -- in which Finley presumably continued to snarl and grumble in the background -- he heaved a sigh and said, "Well, she's gone now, anyway. But Fin..." Here, he paused and gave her a pleading glance. "You know that nothing would ever happen between me and Somnia, right? I mean...it's you that I want. It's always been you."

It wasn't often that Finley felt so threatened and so upset that even the hair upon her rump at the very base of her tail stood on end, but it was in that moment.  The thought of someone she'd considered a friend betraying her like..  She'd been upset about it before, but it was the kind of emotion that she could bury deep and hide.  To actually say it out loud like this seemed to give it so much more power.  There had been rare moments before where she'd very nearly thought to herself that she was just being crazy, Somnia could never have done something so devious.  Now, there was no doubt in Finley's mind that their former gamma had been a diabolical genius with the hots for her mate.


Suddenly, Elwood's voice pulled Finley out of the raging inferno that was her mind.  She turned her gaze to meet his as he spoke words that one by one poured water over the flames.  Her intensely furrowed brows slowly unknit (which is totally a word, by the way) as he melted her heart - her growls dissipating into quiet.  She took a moment after he fell quiet to just look at him with eyes round as those of a doe and suddenly just as sweet.  "She can't have you," Fin said finally, the last remnants of her anger and insecurity escaping her.

The anger continued to radiate off of Finley, and if Elwood hadn't been able to see it by the ridge of fur standing tall along her back, he could certainly feel it. As his words sank in, however, she seemed to calm slightly. Finally, her rumbling faded and her gaze met his, this time without threatening to singe him. His tail gave the tiniest of wags and the corner of his mouth twitched upward into a smile as she insisted that Somnia couldn't have possession of him.

"Well, duh," he said quietly and teasingly. "You've already got me." He could understand where her insecurities came from, but the whole purpose of this meeting was to assure her of how completely and totally in love he was -- not with Somnia, but with Finley.

He averted his gaze from her long enough to nudge the agate back into view, as it had been forgotten in the dirt when Finley first expressed her frustration. But as he looked at it, he frowned. Would it only remind her of Somnia from now on? "Do you -- do you still want this? Or should we go find another one?" he asked, his question genuine. He had picked out the agate with Finley in mind, but it could be more meaningful for them to choose a different gem together. Or...something else entirely, if she wasn't into rocks. He glanced up and searched her face uncertainly.

Finley settled down upon her haunches, her head bowed slightly as she peeked up at him.  His teasing tone when he provided his reassurance that he belonged to her made her lips twitch upward and she scooted slightly closer to him, wanting nothing more at that moment than to snuggle the crap out of him and forget this whole terrible thing.  Her glance fell to her paws against as she scooted just another smidgen, this time her gaze getting caught by the gemstone he had so sweetly and lovingly given her.


As though he'd read her mind, Elwood brought up the token himself, offering to to find a replacement.  Her ears shot forward and she gave him a little frown, a single brow quirked.  "What?  No!"" she insisted almost indignantly, reaching a paw out to scoop the agate up in her palm.  She clutched it against her chest and even turned slightly away from him as though protecting it from him, though a playful sparkle danced in her eyes, "This is mine."

Fin kept the grumpy charade up for a moment before a full smile broke upon her muzzle.  She scooted closer, this time angling herself so that she could cuddle right up alongside him.  She pulled her paw away to peer at the stone, leaning her cranium against his neck with a little nuzzle.  She bit her lip, remaining silent for a moment or two before deciding to speak.  "So uh.....  you love me, huh?"

Elwood was pleasantly surprised when Finley grabbed up the little rock and pulled it protectively against her chest. He truly hadn't known whether or not she would appreciate it -- he knew that she would get way more excited about a bear claw or something of the sort, so he made a mental note to try and get one for her someday...hopefully without doing too much damage to himself. But seeing how she laid claim to the stone just because it had come from him -- well, that made his heart swell.

She snuggled against him and he craned his neck affectionately over her shoulder, pulling her close in what could only be described as a wolfish hug. He chuckled as she coyly questioned his feelings for her. "Yeah, kinda," he said, nipping playfully at her shoulder. For a few moments, he simply remained entwined with her, happy to enjoy the embrace.

But he soon pulled away, feeling a flutter in his chest as he remembered his original intentions for giving the agate to Finley. He readjusted so that he could look at her, and then he swallowed. "I do love you. Like, a lot. And I don't want to rush you into anything if you're not ready..." he started, trying to gauge her reaction before continuing. "But. Do you. Will you...I mean, are you? Are we...official?" Wow, smooth moves, he thought, mentally kicking himself. But at least he hadn't given Finley enough reason to run away...right? Or would she be frightened by his incoherent statements?

Fin smiled sheepishly when he responded to her question.  He hadn't spoken with bold enthusiasm, but rather with playful nonchalance.  She returned his nips with an affectionate kiss to his chin, rolling her eyes as she did so before settling back into their quiet snuggle.


It seemed like all too soon before he was pulling away again, and Fin turned to him with a little pout upon her lips until he was talking again.  He was oddly... nervous.  And stammer-y.  The beta canted her head slightly, listening, but also wondering if he was about to admit something terrible about how he had feelings for Somnia or Grimm or Fox or Jaws or whoever.  What he said was thankfully far different than her paranoia would have had her believe, but it left her stunned and thoughtful nonetheless.

"Do I, will I, am I... official?" Fin repeated slowly, honestly trying to comprehend.  She had never been the quickest cookie in the dozen and Elwood wasn't really making it any easier for her by suddenly failing to be good at communication (which Fin had totally called dibs on that role in their relationship), "I don't get what you're trying to say here."

So, he had done such a poor job of expressing himself that Finley had no idea what he was getting at. Elwood sighed and hung his head briefly; he would have to clarify, and that meant using real words, and THAT meant potentially scaring Finley away. But it had to be done sooner or later, so he straightened and gave himself a little shake as though physically prepping himself.

"Okay. Peregrine keeps asking me if we are an official item," he said, throwing the Alpha male under the bus for the sake of explanation. It was true, though -- Peregrine had inquired as to the state of their relationship, though he probably wasn't as insistent as Elwood made him sound. He forged ahead. "I don't want to put any...labels on us if you're not ready. So just tell me, please," he continued. The unspoken message: "Don't run away, talk to me!" "But I care about you, and I...want us to have a future together. So...what do you think?"

Rather than pin her down with a proposal, he left it open-ended; the ball was in her court, and hopefully he hadn't put too much pressure on her. But Finley was the sort of wolf who, well, misinterpreted things (poor Somnia), so it was with bated breath that Elwood waited for a response.

Fin continued to stare at Elwood as he fumbled along through his proposition.  Her confused frown deepened even further when he decided to include Peregrine in on his explanation.  What did he have to do with this?  It probably shouldn't have surprised her too much considering the fact that the alpha had been an integral part of the blossoming of their relationship.  But still... Was he really part of every single step?


Elwood finally ended his bizarre speech by asking her what she thought.  Finley suppressed the urge to tell him she thought he was fucking confusing and silly, instead sitting quietly and simply studying his handsome face, which was somehow even more attractive to her in its nervous and awkward state.  He was so sweet, so intensely lovable and wonderful and...

"OH MY GOD," Fin barked suddenly, her eyes shooting open wide, "Is this.. the talk??"

She was looking at him in the most adorable way, although it was fairly clear that she wasn't really understanding the point he was driving at. And that made him feel equal parts relieved and exasperated. Half of him wanted to brush the whole conversation under the rug and pretend he had never brought it up in the first place (and there was a chance that Finley would just go with it), but he knew it had to be done.

When the lightbulb suddenly illuminated over her head and she made an exclamation, Elwood's ears folded back on his head. She made it sound so formal -- "the talk"?! But, yes, essentially that's what it was. He wasn't sure what to think of her realization; she wasn't fleeing yet, but would she be momentarily?

"Um, yeah, I guess so -- unless you don't want it to be -- in that case, just forget it!" he spluttered. Who needed labels anyway? They could just stay in the weird limbo of dating-but-not-official for the rest of forever. That was totally normal, right? RIGHT?

Fin's instant reaction was to panic.  Was it really already time to take the next step?  They'd only been... whatevering for like... however long!  Were they already at cutting themselves off from any future lovers, spending eternity together and baby making?  Oh god, did he want.. did he want BABIES??


The Blackthorn took a single step backward as he explained himself and insisted that they didn't have to have the talk if she didn't want to.  It was a tempting offer, but what would he think of her if she asked not to do it now?  Would he be upset?  Would he leave her?  Oh god, was he going to give up on her?

"No, no... We can talk..." Fin insisted, shouldering her anxiety and taking a tentative step towards him.

I'm drunk just FYI...let's see how this goes!

When Finley stepped back, Elwood's chest tightened inexplicably. His first instinct was to lunge forward and grab her, to seize her and prevent her from going anywhere. But his paws remained rooted to the ground and, luckily for him, she didn't go any further. He gritted his teeth, expecting some kind of explosion or negative reaction from her -- but instead, she seemed to force herself to accept the words that were being flung at her, and she even moved toward him once more.

Feeling emboldened by her physical indications -- though her voice still rang with doubt -- Elwood steeled himself. Both of them had provided an opportunity for the conversation to end, but neither had gone through with it -- that had to be a sign. So he took a deep breath; he inhaled through his nostrils then exhaled through his lips, which were pressed together.

"Okay," he said, honestly still surprised that she had agreed to talk about this topic in the first place. Who was she, and what had she done with his Finley? "I still don't want to push you into anything that makes you uncomfortable. But...what do you think of...us?" More than anything else, he wanted to hear her opinion. He could have spouted words at her -- calling her his girlfriend or mate, professing his love for her, speaking of their future and (dear god!) their family. But in all reality, the decision was up to Finley -- and while he could have spent the next half and hour listing reasons as to why she should be with him, he knew that, ultimately, it came down to her.

Elwood seemed just as nervous about having this conversation as Finley, which actually worried her even more.  Likely he was worried about what she would say.  To be honest, Fin was rather frightened of that as well.  She listened quietly as he explained his question slowly.  He didn't want to push her, but he wanted to know what she thought of them...  That wasn't too bad.  She could answer that.


"I like us," Fin replied, "I like.. being an 'us'.  And I don't want to be an 'us' with anyone else but you."  That was easy enough to say.  But was that all he needed to hear from her?  Or did he want her to use.... the M-word?  The beta took a deep breath and decided to just wait and see what he wanted to know next before she proceeded with the panic attack that was stirring in the pit of her chest.

Elwood hadn't known how this conversation would go when he started it, and though it certainly wasn't taking the path he had expected, he couldn't necessarily complain. Finley was still there, they hadn't broken up, and she had just said perhaps the most adorable thing ever. She had a good point, too -- they were an "us," and wasn't that good enough? Did they need to put a more "official" label on their relationship?

He reached out and nuzzled her neck with his snout, hoping to reassure her -- because, frankly, she was starting to look like a deer in the headlights. "I like being us too," he agreed; he was considering dropping the subject altogether. Instead, he took a different tactic. "And I guess that's what's important, right? We don't need to label us if we're not ready," he added, now withdrawing to look at Finley once more. He was probably confusing her at this point -- he had very nearly done a one-eighty from his original proposition -- but wasn't that how things seemed to work between them? Nothing would ever be black and white...and he was okay with that.

Fin felt some of her tension slip away when he reached out to touch her.  She gave a happy sigh at the feeling, but her sense of ease lasted only a few seconds as Elwood was responding to her answer.  There were so many things he could have said, so many ways he could have pushed the conversation to proceed.  Fortunately, the M-word was absent from his comments, but still, the beta was left feeling guilty when he'd fallen silent.


"That's okay, really?" she asked, nervous to hear the answer.  Fin knew she was damaged goods and only capable of giving so much.  Was it really enough for him?  What little she had? 

I want to know Fin's secrets...!

He nodded emphatically in response to her tentative question. Though he had hoped to have a girlfriend or even a mate by the end of the conversation, he had realized that he was just as happy with a "friend-girl." As long as it was Finley, he would be content. And while she worried that she couldn't give her all to him, he was -- perhaps a bit naively -- oblivious to the secrets that she kept hidden within her heart.

"Of course it's okay. I mean, you know how I feel about you -- and I want us to be together...for a long time," he said, faltering slightly -- he had almost said "forever," but feared that might be one of Finley's trigger words. Had Elwood been a more emotional wolf, he might've had a different tune; but his logical mind told him that labels were not important in this relationship, as long as there was trust and fidelity and, most importantly, love. To emphasize his words, he kissed her on the cheek, his nose lingering near the soft silver fur even after he withdrew his tongue.