He thought he saw the hesitance there; the possibility that he was emulating Lycus Corvius crept to the front of his mind and immediately, as she briefly rolled over, he did what he could to try to comfort her. He withdrew from her so that he could look down into the fullness of her face. The confident smirk was gone and in its place, a more coy and rather becoming expression tugged at his face as he tilted his head. An expression that was solely his own: the thoughtful and attentive look he had always given her when he was obediently waiting for her command. His tail slightly drooped down into a gentle arch that made it nearly touch the small of his back, but he waved it about in a genial manner. He had to remember, to wordlessly remind her, that he would not be like the others. He had given her his word...

As she shifted and rolled back over onto her stomach he carefully and gently moved up to nuzzle the base of her ear with his snout as he had before. "It's okay," he whispered, finally deciding to just take the risk and jump. "I'm going to take care of you. I love you, Elettra Archer. So... so... much." Her rump swayed beneath him and he could feel her tail playfully beat against the side his ribcage. His smile returned, and as she began to focus on the trees ahead of her, he held his breath for sometime before releasing it. This was it. Everything his vow and promises had amounted to had all come to this... a commitment so deep that he was to become the father of her next set of children.

Pride dared to flourish in the cavities of his chest, but he wouldn't nourish or relish it... not yet. He continued to affectionately nibble at her ears, stopping one last time to say just one more thing: "You're with me now... Everything's gonna be all right."

(Fade.)