And a circus ain't a love story

Viorel had been...distracted to say the least since the conversation he had had with Vayko. It just kept echoing through his mind that for the good of the pack he was going to have to become a dad. What did he know about being a dad? He didn’t even have one, his own father had been on a scouting mission and had never come back before he was born. Was he alive? Was he dead? Was he stuck somewhere and couldn’t get back or did he just not want to? None of these questions had ever bothered the Valle teen before, he had had more than enough family to help raise him, but now it was all he could think about.

The dark wolf had been pacing nervously near the fallen empress tree, brow furrowed low over his yellow eyes. Viorel thought that he had thought of everything about forming a pack, how could he have forgotten that come spring mkost packs expected pups? Shit, shit, shit. So deep in his own thoughts he almost completely missed the appearance and almost disappearance of Clover. It was the slight movement of the cream coloured wolf out of the corner of his eye that finally broke him out of his near frantic movement.

Chuffing to catch her attention he rushed to meet up with her, happy for some kind of distraction. ”What are you up to?” Please say absolutely anything that she could need help with, he needed to get out of his own head.

And now we're both sorry

And a circus ain't a love story

The Annaliese thing had been...interesting and Viorel was pleased to see that Clover did not appear to be angry with him for speaking harshly with her friend. He was not upset with the white wolf, who clearly had just been trying to be kind, it had been the loner who had been the issue. That and the two legs who had for some reason dropped her here and made her smell of the Estuary. Oh, the Estuary, it was just a small reminder of the conversation he had had with Sharlee, that they may never see their home again.

Nodding enthusiastically at her offer he fell in step beside Clover, ”I would love to help, but I’ll be honest, I don’t know the first thing about what makes a good medicine den.” They had had one back home, but Viorel had been lucky enough to never have to visit it and had never been interested enough to look inside. He would let the woman take the lead on this one, and hoped his company would be enough since he certainly lacked the expertise.

After a couple of minutes of walking the dark teen asked a question that was heavy on his mind, ”When we make the pack, are you going to miss your home?” Sure, their situations were a little different since the Valles had been abducted and Clover had chosen to leave, but that didn’t mean she didn’t suffer from homesickness. There was a lot going through his mind, missing the Estuary, plans for the future, the fact that Vayko had bestowed on him the responsibility of bringing pups to the pack. Sure, he could have talked to Sharlee who was his advisor, but he was beginning to think of Clover as his friend, and wanted her opinion on everything.

And now we're both sorry

And a circus ain't a love story

Clover’s laugh brought a grin to the teen’s face and he bumped her hips playfully with his own. It was nice to just a moment of lightheartedness, it seemed like almost everything since he had woken up had been so serious. Nodding at her words he summed up what he had understood, ”Okay...so we should probably go a little further from the backwater then? Where the trees are a little more dense?” That would make sense, it seemed the same kind of criteria as picking a pack den, somewhere it wouldn’t flood and had some protection from weather and prying eyes.

Viorel was watching the woman closely from the corner of his eye, trying to gauge her reaction to his question. It pained him to see the smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes and he wished that he had just kept his mouth shut and not said anything at all. He understood her sentiment about missing home, he felt that way too, but he didn’t really have a choice in the matter, ”How did you know it was time to go on your own?” The teen thought he knew deep down that this was the best thing for him, that he would have left the Estuary come the spring anyways. But, he hadn’t expected to feel so sad for the loss of his home.

Meeting the dark amber gaze with his own pale yellow eyes Viorel blinked at her question, he didn’t think that Clover would have cared what his plans for the future were. Shaking his head he looked straight ahead of them, happy for the guise that he was looking for a good spot for the den. ”Originally when we got here I thought we would only be here until the thaw,” Viorel chanced a look sideways to try and read her expression. Then he continued, ”But now? Now I think if we can really get this pack started then I will stay, and I believe my cousins and brother will as well. We really want to make something here that is better than what we had before.”

And now we're both sorry

And a circus ain't a love story

He was pleased that he at least somewhat understood what they were supposed to be looking for, but he was going to leave most of it to Clover. When the time came for actual digging after the thaw Viorel would be more than happy to take the wolf’s share of the work. The idea of the future seemed a little less scary now that he had his brother and cousins at his side, and now a friendship with Clover. They were all young, and he knew they had a lot to learn but it felt like they were all on the right track.

What the woman had to say soothed his nerves a little, he had always known he would have to leave the Estuary as well. Maybe he hadn’t thought it would be quite so soon but it was nice to know that how he felt wasn’t completely crazy. Nodding when their eyes met Viorel smiled in encouragement, ”I also always thought I would leave the coast I just….didn’t picture it happening quite so quickly. Or, that I wouldn’t even know where it was so I can’t visit.”

Viorel almost completely missed the next thing that Clover said, his mind still caught up on the way that she casually mentioned being a pup. Shit. Just when he thought he was going to have some time without thinking about what Vayko had said. Yellow eyes scanned the horizon distractedly and the teen only hummed in response. Eventually he blurted out ”Vayko thinks that to keep the pack strong I should have pups this year.” Very smooth Viorel, very smooth. Keeping his gaze locked straight ahead he continued, ”I don’t have a dad, never did. I don’t even know….what a dad does, and even if I did who would even want to have pups with me?” Everything that had been so heavy on his mind just blurted out, and there was no taking it back now.

And now we're both sorry

And a circus ain't a love story

Viorel had forgotten that he had never told Clove how the Valles had all ended up in these woods, not that he had all the answers himself. Sighing softly as he tried to find the right words to explain a situation that really had no explanation, his dark brow furrowed. After a moment or two of silence as he worked through it the teen did his best to explain, ”Well, I was at home and it was a normal day. Then out of nowhere these strange animals showed up, they were bald and made weird grunting noises and walked on two legs.” He stopped talking for a minute, trying to think back through the hazy memories and make sense of it all.

It was frustrating, not being able to remember everything clearly, and even more so that what he could remember was more confusing than anything else. ”Before I even had a chance to react I got a sharp feeling on my haunches, I thought it was a sting but Vayko said his felt more like a bite. Anyways, then I got really tired and I don’t remember anything else until I woke up close to here, so sick to my stomach.” He paused again, staring ahead of him not saying anything, he wasn’t sure that any of what he was saying was even going to make sense to Clover. ”So that’s why we can’t go back, we don’t know where here is, or how far it is from the Estuary, or if the rest of our family is still back there or if they’re here or maybe they’re somewhere else.” They were making it seem like the pack was their own choice, but really it might have been the only choice that they had.

There were other things to worry about right now though than what the two legs had done to them. That was in the past and now Viorel was looking to his future, and the future of all his family he had here and what they were trying to build. And, as Vayko had made it so abundantly clear, that meant pups. A terrifying thought. Clover wouldn’t look him in the eye so Viorel tried to keep his eyes firmly forward, but it was hard. He kept catching himself looking at her out of the corner of his eye as the silence stretched on. His paws came to a stop when she started talking again, turning to give her his full attention.

Yellow eyes widened in surprise, he couldn’t believe that Clover was so willing to make this pack as strong as it could be, she hardly knew them. Moving forward he pressed his nose softly into her cheek, ”Clover, you cannot begin to understand how thankful I am that we ran into each other in those creepy woods.” The world was certainly working in mysterious ways recently.

And now we're both sorry