for your sake

If you're up for it - a final one for @Danica ?

With each passing day, the pups became less and less dependent on being in close proximity to boob. Bazi was not fond of leaving her children, but pins and needles were dangerously close to seizing her legs and she she hadn't seen the sun for two whole days. At Scimitar's insistence, she departed the den, snatching Danica away from her duties so that they could laze about on the western border of the pack's claim - somewhere warm, and bright.

They flopped to the ground at the edge of the forest. Bazi rolled onto her back, exposing her belly to the sun. Four hungry little potato-leeches had plastered her down her with spit and kneading, making it look as though Minecraft Steve had wandered in and shaved her with his sheep shears.

"I had a dream about you," Bazi revealed, eyes shut tight against the glare. She could see her own blood travelling through the thin skin of her eyelids.

of course!

Danica lazed on her side next to Bazi, having willingly followed when the other proffered an escape for a bit.  She was glad to play partner to the mother's hookey, and as she hadn't quite worked up to interacting much with her other new packmates, the moments helped.  They were slowly getting her used once more to conversation, a skill that could be lost surprisingly fast when not exercised for months on end.

She stretched as Bazi rolled over, enjoying the warm feel of the sun bearing down on them.  Her pelt had lost much of the roughness of winter, both through the start of shedding and the merits of actually eating regularly again.  The sharpness winter had lent her would disappear more slowly, but she was starting to feel less like the hag of the plains.  Beauty had never been a thing she had striven for, but it was nice to feel at least presentable again.

She was playing aimlessly with the bobbing blades of a tuft of grass nearby when she spoke, and she stopped the gentle gestures as she turned her head to appraise Bazi sideways with a questioning slant and a small smile.  "A dream?  A good one, I hope."  If it was a few weeks ago, though, she wouldn't have blamed Bazi if the wight Danica had been was a subject of nightmares for a while.

"A dream? A good one, I hope."

Bazi grinned blindly into the sun, soothed by the summer heat against her face. "It was a bit unexpected," the wolf replied, pulling her forepaws up to her chin like a pup and stretching out her hind legs. Stalling. Her heartbeat picked up speed. "D'you remember what you said when you told me, you know, about what you are?" Still not quite PC. Bazi's head tilted to the side and she squinted her blue eyes at Danica. "About women making other women happy," she clarified, clearing her throat. "I had a dream about that."

Her interest turned into downright shock when Bazi finally came out with it, and she rolled over, quirking her brow at her friend and unable to stop the smile from spreading out over her lips.  "Really?"  The word held more surprise than disbelief, for she saw no reason that Bazi would lie to her about this... and the news intrigued her.  What the hell could have caused her to have a dream like that Danica couldn't begin to guess at, but it would be a lie if she said she wasn't made rather happy by this admission.

"I'm flattered."  She said, the smile widening. "I hope then it was a good one.  I'd hate to think I disappoint, even in dreams."  Now she was a little more invested in the answer, and seriously interested in general.  A dream could mean nothing... and that was the fact she'd likely hold.  But a part of her mind whispered that it could very well mean something as well.  That voice she deemed a traitor, and it was firmly shut in it's own little corner to do what it would alone.

For a second time, Danica responded with detached humour. Bazi couldn't tell if the other woman was interested in what was being said, or covering up extreme discomfort - or maybe she just didn't care any more. Bazi rolled onto her side, sneaking a peak at Danica's grinning face. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking. Bazi opened her eyes fully to stare at the soft fan of Danica's cheek, one ear pressed to the ground.

"Maybe.." Bazi's heart hammered in her chest. She had left the shores of I Know What I'm Doing, and was miles into uncharted territory. "Maybe you can also, you know, show me."

Bazi regretted the words as soon as they had been spoken aloud. Was this because of the pups? Or that fight with Scimitar? Arguments chased each other's tails around the Alpha's head, circling the unanswered question. Was it even so weird to ask? They were women, after all, and intimacy was an integral part of their relationship.

Right?

Danica didn't bother to hide her surprise when Bazi proposed she show her.  Apparently the little voice had been right, in some sense, though she scarce believed what she had heard.  Was she... asking?

If so, she was requesting something new for the both of them.  Danica had held a couple dalliances in her younger days, true, but none that lasted and definitely none with one already spoken for.  She wasn't one for sharing, and somehow she felt Scimitar was of a like mind.  She wondered briefly what his reaction would be to that question posed, and (maybe a little guiltily) felt a prickle of pleasure at the thought.  Hey, she had her flaws.

Despite knowing that, the past couple of months had changed things for her irrevocably.  She was no longer interested in pushing herself aside from things she knew she wanted, and as much as had occurred, Bazi still ranked high on that list.  It would be enough, if that were all to consider.  Too bad her mate kinda helped run the show here.

Though she could have kicked herself, she forced it out.  "And Scimitar?"  Knowing those words could very well cut this extremely unexpected conversation short, but also knowing they needed to be said.  She had no intention of leaving here again, and to do as Bazi suggested seemed a real good way of asking to get booted out on her ass once more.

"And Scimitar?" Danica spoke the words that Bazi was already thinking - much to her relief and partly to her dismay. She averted her eyes and laughed. It came out wrong; too high and too enthusiastic for the intimacy of the situation. "Yes, of course," casual - as though Bazi had suggested cake and Danica had reminded her of her ongoing diet. Embarrassed, Bazi twisted her head to face the sun.

She cursed herself silently but emphatically, biting back the renouncement of her words though she ached to take them back.  No.  She could not last on her own, not again.  And Scimitar would cast her out without a thought, violently even perhaps, should she agree to what Bazi had asked. Danica was no fool, and she knew what she meant to the white woman she lay near now. A friend, even close, but not her mate. Not the father of her children.

Regretfully, she allowed the silence to continue, her hopes on that matter finally cast aside. Desire was a hard creature to turn, but Danica remained firmly rooted in her thoughts, convinced to do things right this time. And banging a mated woman? Not in that realm of possibilities.

Damn it all.

Still, a part of her glowed sadly, flattered by the insinuation that she could no longer act on. That Bazi even considered it was unthinkable before and spoke of attraction that was rather high praise from the object of her affections. "Well, if things ever change... You know where to find me." For now, she thought silently, giving Bazi a wink that she wasn't sure the other woman saw. Her words were teasing, but also true. Eventually she would move on, perhaps, but for now... well, here she was.