Redtail Rise A rose by any other name

Wynter followed Reek as they began their search for the white fae who now ruled the rise. She was both excited and nervous for the news they had to share with Saena. "Please tell me im not the only one who is nervous," she said approaching Reeks flank. "Like this is normal right," she let out a small cuff. 

Saena could take this news one of two ways. She really hoped the better of the two. Based on what she knew of the white fae she didn't seem like the type who would frown upon it so really they had nothing to worry about. Unfortunately that did not make Wynter any less nervous.

[Ooc/] @Saena and @Reek. Anyone is welcome but let them post first. [/ooc] Didn't work. What did I do wrong x.x

The first bracketed OOC shouldn't have the slash.  Other than that, it's fine!

      The newlyweds had descended the ridge with a fervent excitement.  After finally tying the knot, there  was only one last thing to do... tell absolutely everybody about it.  Reek was ready to blab and flap off at the mouth to anyone who was willing to listen to him spout his goopey drivel... love does funny things to a man.  Obviously, the first to tell was the leader of the rise, Saena, whom Reek was sure would take the news well, however, he could understand Wynter's initial apprehensions: he was nervous himself.  

      "A little," he confirmed with an affectionate bump from his side.  There was no doubt in his mind that Saena would be happy for the two... however, their future plans may not been seen in the same light.  A fledgling pack may not be able to support little mouths to feed.

      Upon nearing the border around where Reek thought he would find @Saena, he lifted his muzzle to the air and howled for her.  Dropping to his haunches beside Wynter, he gave her a quick, reassuring nudge.  "I'm so excited Wyn. You have no idea!"

Patrolling seemed to be the young Alpha's life now. It was tedious work and admittedly it bored the crap out of her, but it had to be done, at least until the pack was properly well-established. The first few months were critical. Saena may not have liked patrolling, but having decided she needed to be a Warden in order to be an effective Alpha, she resigned herself to the inevitability that the rest of her life would be spent on patrol and tried to find ways to enjoy it.

Today, that meant skipping. Wolves were not designed to skip, however, so the result was an extremely clumsy, almost bow-legged hopping gait that made Saena look several notches low on the intelligence scale. An onlooker would've pegged her immediately as a weakling and would've probably sought to extinguish her, but there were no onlookers. None had bothered the Redtail Rise pack, a fact for which she was utterly grateful, especially today.

She'd managed to make it five whole skip-steps without stumbling when Reek's voice rose into the air, edged with a new sort of excitement. The Alpha female was almost over-the-moon glad for a reason to abandon her newest border patrol game. She doubled back and loped over her own trail, missed Reek and Wynter by about a half mile, then caught their scent drifting on the breeze and located them from their rear shortly after.

There was a new charged atmosphere between them that was strangely infectious, so the Alpha female was broadly smiling when she said, "hey guys, what's crackin'?"

Wynter smiled at Reek as he talked about how excited he was. "I can tell," she said with a small chuckle. "Me too, trust me," she said smiling. She found it very hard to stop since they had that conversation earlier. That had to be one of the best moments in her life by far. 

Wynter stood by Reek waiting anxiously for the young Alpha to show her face. As if on cue the White fae bounded over to them. She looked like she was in a good mood today.  "Hey, we were just wondering if you could spare some time to talk with us for a minute," she said glancing back at Reek. "We have some news to share with you," she said head turning back to face the Alpha. 

She wasn't sure if he would tell her or if she would.  She hoped he would because she didn't think that she would be able to get it out without stuttering. Sure she would help but she couldn't tell the Alpha all of what had happened this morning.

Wynter's ears twitched as she looked around, she felt something behind her ear but had momentarily forgotten about the flower Reek had woven into her fur earlier. 

Awkward Reek is awkward

       The two love birds waited in state of jittery excitement before their alpha arrived.  Reek had found it difficult to form proper sentences to reply to Wynter in his sheer bliss, reverting to a happy mass of goo, rocking back and forth on his rump with a wide, dopey grin slapped across his face.  There had never been a time in the raggedy wolf's life that he had felt this happy, and he hoped that the feeling would never wane.  

      Reek was surprised with how calm Wynter was.  Sure, she was obviously nervous, but she still remained composed, unlike Reek, who fidgeted back and forth like a child with severe ADHD.  Once Saena arrived, he felt as if he would burst with excitement and vomit a rainbow while Wynter calmly began to explain the situation.  However, she stopped at the juicy bits, leaving Reek to fill in the details.

     Fuck. Words, where are you?

     "We got hitched!" He blurted out with no regard for proper timing. His tail circled behind him in a flurry; if it spun any faster, he would have taken flight. "—Pups... possibly.  I dunno, I'm so excited!" The words flew out of Reeks mouth in a fast, almost-yelled, jumble, mashing together into what sounded like gibberish to the untrained ear.  The prospect of beginning his very own family was so exciting.  Hopefully, Saena would be receptive.

The two were clearly excited about something. Saena was inexperienced in matters of the heart and therefore didn't immediately catch on to what was going on. She nodded when Wynter expressed a desire to speak with her and seated herself, indicating it was an informal meeting. She ranked above both of them, obviously, but there was no point in showing it here. They were all friends, after all, and Saena had nothing to prove to them right now, as they had nothing to prove to her right now.

Her attention was on Reek as Wynter gave him the floor. He was practically rocking on the spot, grinning from ear to ear, and she could understand why as soon as he spoke. Just before the beaming, stubby tail wagging Alpha could congratulate the pair on their happy marriage, however, Reek spoke again, this time uttering a trigger word that made Saena immediately rigid.

Pups. She had warned them about getting pregnant, and though it had been mostly in jest, now it sounded like Reek was confirming that they'd done exactly what she'd told them not to, or at least attempted to. She misunderstood, naturally, but that didn't stop her smile from vanishing.

"You don't mean to tell me you... already did "it"... without asking?" Saena asked as she glanced anxiously between them, displaying for once an ability to check her facts before flying off the handle. And if they had, she most definitely would be flying off the handle. She hoped that that wasn't the case, though, because she rather liked Reek and Wynter and didn't want to have to deal with such an early act of rebellion and disrespect from wolves she considered friends. She was more than happy to hear of their mateship, but pregnancy was an entirely different beast.

Wynter laughed as Reek started talking about them being mates and all and then almost fell over as he brought up pups. She saw the look on Saena's face and knew she had taken that the wrong way. She shot Reek an unimpressed look. "I should have done the talking, you said too much," she said trying not to seem to annoyed. Then she turned her head back to the white alpha. "No no no, you misunderstood. He was just talking about the future. The potential to have pups. At least that's what we both wanted. We haven't done anything yet. We wouldn't betray your trust like that. When I promised I meant it."

Wynter stared at her paws looking utterly embarrassed with herself. She should have just said everything from the start. Poor Reek. Wynter stood up and padded to take a seat by her mate. She gave him a reassuring nudge imagining he was probably as embarrasssed as she was if not more so. "Youll be fine," she said smiling. "We're sorry that it came out like that," Wynter said bowing her head slightly.

     Saena was in a tizzy, and just like that Mrs. Fix-It swooped in to save the day and the raggedy wolf's ass.  Reek listened in awkward silence as Wynter corrected his verbal shortcomings, which made him relax a bit.  When she sat down beside Reek, he rested his head against hers as he took a deep breath to try and regain composure.  "I fucking love you, you know that?"  Reek said, pushing into Wynter with an affectionate nudge.  Damn sap.  Whatever would he do without her to fix his verbal vomit.

    "Let's start over," Reek began with a slight chuckle. "Hey Saena, How are you? I'm having a splendid day.  Did you hear the news?  Me and Wyn are a thing and I'm ecstatic about it.  We haven't done the thing... yet."  Reek's uncomfortable smile began to twist into something more and more genuine as he became more comfortable.  "But we want to... So yeah, that's why we're here.  What says you Saena?" He concluded with a terse grin.  The last thing he wanted to do was lose Saena's respect so soon, especially so trivial for a verbal flub.   

Wynter diffused the situation quickly, reassuring both Saena and Reek. While the latter declared his love for his new wife, the former breathed a very audible sigh of relief and couldn't help but to giggle. She didn't apologize for his misunderstanding, having had enough of a level head to ask the question rather than judging based on an incorrect assumption, but she did feel a bit light-headed as the sudden stress and tension fled her body.

Reek further amended the situation by starting over completely, earning a cheeky grin from the Alpha, who obliged him with a merry response of, "hello, Reek, the day is indeed splendid, and oh my, are those wedding bells I hear?" Grinning wildly, the female gave the pair her official blessing by saying, "Well then, congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. uh... Reek?" She chuckled, unable to get over the fact that they didn't really have a surname, or if they did, it wasn't one she knew about.

As for puppies, well... "I want the pack to be a bit more established before thinking about pups," she said, a little more gravely. It sucked to let friends down, and she could tell they were extremely excited and hopeful for their future, but right now wasn't the best time. Saena could only hope they understood that, but just in case, she explained: "We're too new, we don't have the resources or the hold on the land yet, and I wouldn't want to jeopardize the pack, or pups, because of that. In a few months, though, when we're in a better position," she mused, "then I don't see why not."

Saena herself wouldn't come of age for a year. While it was very likely her instincts would guide her to revoke any breeding privileges when the time came for her to have a litter in order to give them the best possible chance, there was no reason this year to prevent others in the pack from breeding. Saena adored puppies, and Reek and Wynter's would be no different, provided they were willing to wait a little while to have them. It would mean the pups would be young when winter set in, she knew, but not so young that survival would be difficult for them.

Shannon PM'd me and said she wanted me to post before her

       When Saena began to banter back, all of Reek's rigidity left his body as he began to completely relax.  With a sigh of relief, the raggedy wolf marked this near crisis as averted... thankfully.  They had received their alpha's blessing, which brought a smile to Reek's face.  Things were pretty damn good.  

       Her comment on his lack of surname was an interesting segue from Reek and Wynter's conversation from before.  The conclusion that they had come to about new beginnings.  "About that Saena,"  Reek started.  "We were, uh, thinking about taking Redtail as our last name.  You know, since I don't have one and all.  This place means the world to me, and I'd love to take it as our family name.  You know, new beginnings and such." The ragged wolf flashed Saena a friendly smile. "That is, with your permission of course."

      However bummed he was that he couldn't start his family now, he understood Saena's input and would respect it. At least she was receptive to the idea.  And a little bit of wait never hurt nobody.  That sort of thing makes the heart grow fonder, right? "You're right about the pups Saena, we can wait.  Can't we Wyn?" he asked placing a sloppy lick on Wynter's cheek, especially careful not to dislodge the poppy flower behind her ear. 

Wynter was relieve that thing shad cooled over with Saena . That could have been a lot worse than what it was. Wynter listened as the alpha and her mate talked back and forth. 

Te topic of the last name was one Wynter hadn't been entirely sure how to bring up. She was glad Reek had regained composure and was able to explain that forward. Wynter nodded as Reek finished. 

"What he said," she let out a small chuff. They were a good match for each other. They balanced each other well when it came to speaking to other wolves. Strengths and weaknesses that worked to the others advantages. 

"I Completly understand where your coming from there Saena and you make a valid point," Wynter stated glancing over at the black pelted wolf who sat beside her. Sure Wynter was a little dissapointed but it wouldn't hurt to wait. If it meant that the pups had a good life, better than they would get now then that was fine with her 

"Yes we can," she mused. She found his sense of humor amusing. She could learn a thi g or two about fun from him.

Sorry none of its in bold I wasn't even going to try to format this on my phone and my computer was being an ass haha. Btw I finally nailed this whole ooc thing

 

Neither of them had an adverse reaction, at least in terms of body language, though Reek was first to speak and it wasn't about the pups. His wording was almost nervous, so the Alpha turned his full attention to him... and suppressed a laugh at what she presumed was concern. The name of the pack was open to any of its members. It wasn't something that she controlled. Like them, Saena had chosen to change her surname to favour her position as Alpha of the Redtail Rise pack. She couldn't fault Reek or Wynter for wanting to take it as their own, and anyway, the pack would be a family in time. There was no harm in them all sharing the same surname.

She felt a little differently about their pups taking the name, if only because Saena secretly wanted her eventual litter to be the first Redtail wolves born on the ridge, but that was a year away. As much as she wanted to ask that they name their children something else, the Alpha female knew it was a ridiculous request. It would serve only to make the children feel unwanted and detached when they came of an age to understand it. That, she didn't want for them, so she stifled her brief flare of jealousy in favour of the two wolves in front of her, whom she respected enough to allow the privilege.

"I've done the same," she told them, "and I would be honoured if you two took the name as well. This pack is a fresh start for all of us, and it's my hope it'll be like family one day, so it's only fitting." Both wolves then went on to explain that they were willing to wait, and Saena favoured them with a broad grin. "Then I can't say no," she said, looking at Wynter and beaming. "I think you'll know when the time is right as well as I will, but I'll keep you updated on the situation and as soon as we're ready to raise them, we'll welcome your cubs."

Fade out here?

Reek shifted his weight back and forth between his forepaws like an excited child in a giddy sway.  The raggedy wolf matched Saena's grin with one far wider than he had ever grinned before.  Their conversation with the alpha couldn't have gone better in any way, shape, or form, and Reek couldn't have been more ecstatic about her eventual consent on the pup-front.  Giving her blessing on sharing the name Redtail was just the icing to the cake.  Saena was already more family than Reek could have ever asked for... it all just felt so, fitting.

"Great— good, yeah," sputtered Reek in a flustered flurry as he practically jumped up in down out of sheer excitement.  "Fantastic."

Reek turned his head to his mate and gave her an affectionate nudge.  "We should go— you know, tell all the others." Reek couldn't wait to tell the rest of the Rise about the news of them making things official.  Arion, in particular, would probably get quite the kick out of the situation as he had been dogging Reek about it for quite awhile.  

Wynter could't stop smiling. This conversation with the young alphess had gone a lot better than she had expected. She couldn't say without a hitch though because for a brief moment she worried it could have been the end of them in the pack. Her tail wagged happily. "That's great, thank you so much," Wynter said letting her tail rest over the black wolf she was glad to be able to call her mate now.

"I think that's a great idea, we should tell the others," she said with an almost yip to her voice. Wynter rose and went up to Saena brushing up against her in a friendly thanks then turned her head back towards Reek. "Ready to go," she said with a sparkle in her eye. It had been a while since she had been this genuinely happy.

Finally everything seemed to have returned to a sense of normalcy for once. They had a pack,a beautiful home, and a great group of friends/packmates. 

[ooc] Sorry its been a while. Crazy crammed at school. Fade?[/occ]

Laughing aloud, Saena stepped back a pace to allow the two eventual parents to revel in one another's joy. Their plan now was to tell the entire pack about it, a plan that Saena approved of greatly. She would've approved of anything, really. It didn't have to be the pack's business, but them being included would only make them all stronger.

She returned Wynter's friendly contact with a nuzzle along the length of her neck, and smilingly said, "well go on, lovebirds, sing it from the rooftops." They deserved their happiness. Their time in Ankyra Sound had been anything but, from the sounds of it. She was proud to be able to change that for them, even if it was just a single word of commitment in the future. "Congratulations!" the Alpha called after them as they went off to share their news with everyone they found.