It had been a long day. Considering the circumstances, she'd been making good on her word to keep the borders stringently patrolled, and when she wasn't prowling the hills she was tending to Borlla or collecting medicine for her. She still couldn't believe what had happened; seeing one of her best friends like that had been hard on her, and it was harder still to face her, bruised and broken, on a daily basis. It didn't have an effect on her care for the queen, however, and Lucero took pride in keeping her wounds clean and doing whatever else she could to make things easier on her. Not to mention that she just enjoyed the hours spent telling the woman stories or watching over her when she slept. Borlla was a family woman now, and it was rare that the two girls got to spend much quality time together these days. Luce didn't like that the creamy lady was hurting, suffering, or confined, but she was grateful to be able to dote on her.

The sun was nearly disappeared below the distant mountains to the west and the sky had taken on a dusky grey. A blanket of stars illuminated the darkness like a sea of diamonds, reflected in the depths of her eyes as they searched the early night for him. Since the night they had been reunited, Lucero had some extra pep in her step─a certain weightlessness that often made her feel closer to the clouds where her daydreams took her. She still hadn't made sense of what all of the feelings inside of her meant, and some part of her didn't want to. She liked the butterflies that fluttered in her belly at the sound of his name, or the way the fur of her nape bristled when his scent caught her attention. Ataneq was a good friend─one of the best─and for now she would leave the notion and her thoughts about it at that. Only she knew the danger in thinking more of him or the dynamic they shared, and the fear of what it could mean and how it could affect another certain aspect of her life. Fenru wasn't so far away, and she would be a fool to dismiss or forget her affections for him. Her daydreams may be of Ataneq, but at night her reveries always took her back to those smoldering orange eyes. She was spinning a precarious web, and the more time she spent with Ataneq only made it stickier.

Rounding the well beaten path she took on a nightly basis, a gentle grin spanned her pale features as the sight of the tree came into view. Their tree. Bathed in starlight, it was more special than it had ever been. There was no denying that she was utterly attached to it and what it meant to her and to him. She'd spent some of the meager spare time she'd had gathering spindles of grass to line the bottom of the cozy den with the ocean (or creek) view. It was where she laid her head every night, and some nights she enjoyed not having it all to herself. Perhaps tonight would be one of those nights, and in the bottom of her heart she knew she wouldn't have to call him to her side─Ataneq would be around, and she couldn't wait to see him. To tell him the day's news and stories, and ask how his day was. To laugh about silly things he'd tell her and to reassure him through her actions that she'd missed him and was still around, no matter what his fears were.

Settling on her belly on the bank of the creek, its navy waters sparkling as the gentle current swept it past, the girl breathed an easy sigh. She'd wait up.

<b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#004A80;"> <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#144034;"> A tight knot gripped his throat as he traversed his way through the Glen, jaws clenched around a few particular items meant only for one creature. Just up north the creature had been wandering around and just as he had begun heading home he had seen the most beautiful flowers anyone could imagine. Draped from both sides of his mouth were two blue iris flowers, each delicately placed so that his teeth would not chomp on them too hard and his movements were slow as to not shake their petals for its core. After the night they had spent together he had come to the conclusion that he had not stopped thinking about her. While he scouted or walked the borders, exercised or slept—she was always there at the front of his mind. Everything about her was right for him and he would be a fool if he ever let her fall out of his life. After losing everything, he wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t leave either. Ataneq wanted to make her as happy as she made him, regardless of expense of cost. Rounding about their favorite location he saw the angelic creature nestled up underneath the crook of the tree, and he grinned with his teeth while forcing them to stay shut. Eventually he moved forward and made a noise as best he could to look to him, to see the flowers that he had picked for her and hopefully to see the twinkle in her eyes that he had missed so much in just a few days’ time.

After a long day, it was easy to get lost in the way the creek slowly flowed past. Tiny waves lapped up against the overhang of the bank with a gurgle before splashing and disappearing into the black current. Crickets sang here and there off in the forest and a gentle breeze slipped beneath the fur of her crown and along the angles of her cheeks. It was relaxing, soothing even, and her eyes eventually shone with a glaze of sleepiness. With her chin against the cold ground and the side of her face leaned against an outstretched foreleg, Lucero drifted into a light sleep.

Light as it were, the quiet sound of approaching footsteps echoed in the back of her mind and with a quiet moan she shifted her weight. When she was comfortable she let loose a winded sigh before becoming still. His scent was musky and thick, matching perfectly with the crisp smell of the stream and grass and night air. It felt like comfort and made her feel like she were floating, and for a moment─at the forefront of her own dreams─she was. Through the clouds, across them, against them. They tickled her nose and were as soft as velvet as they enveloped her lithe frame, each puff saturated with unworldly pastel hues. It was perfect, until she realized that she'd fallen asleep. With an easy start her lids parted to welcome reality.

Ataneq. As surreal as his scent had been, it hung in the air now, laced with a floral redolence. The girl's tail beat softly against the grass and she pushed herself up into a sitting position, every trace of sleep gone from her attentive gaze. At first, she couldn't make him out among the shadows. The sable hues of his fur were as dark as midnight─darker, even─and it wasn't until he emerged and was bathed in pale moonlight that he was seen. between parted jaws he carried...flowers? She sucked in her breath quietly, a humble smile pulling her lips and and cheeks. She'd never had anyone bring her, well, much of anything before, much less a gifts such as this one. Feeling happy with someone was one thing, but for that someone to shower a girl in affection and pleasant surprises─that was quite special.

Luce was taken by the kind gesture. To her feet, she stepped lightly to meet the boy, a bashful twinkle in her eyes as she looked them over appreciately. "They're beautiful, Ataneq..." She wanted to welcome him with a gesture of her own, but wasn't sure how to as he had his mouth full.

She started with "Thank you." Leaning in to smell them, Luce breathed their fragrance in deeply, her tail swaying above her hocks.

<b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#004A80;"> <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#144034;"> There was nothing more comforting than seeing the look in someone’s eyes when they looked to you, especially when you knew they had your back. From day one in Relic Lore Ataneq had been nothing but a rock, silent as a gargoyle as he listened and watched others. Never had he partook in such things as friendships and he had never been in a pack where his mother was not a leader. Perhaps his mother had gone insane from the idea that she wasn’t leader and that alone had caused her to run back to their old home. Would he have liked to return to the original Tartok to see his mother again? Who knew, as he was conflicted about whether or not he wished to forgive her for leaving him or not. He did know that he could never leave Lucero and if he did, he would do whatever he could to see to it that she came with him. Otherwise, he didn’t think leaving would ever be an option. He could barely go a day without at least seeing her but to be miles away from her for long periods of time; he knew he could not fathom it. So when the pale enchantress crept from their fortress he could feel his hairs rising in nerve as she approached him with a gasp. <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#004A80;">“Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl,” he answered through his teeth thought slightly muffled as he lowered his head to place one upon the ground then raising it up so that he could put one just over her head near to her ear.

Ataneq didn't hold off on wooing her with his own boyish charm and she could feel heat rising in her cheeks. Luce dipped her head just a bit as he reached to adorn her crown with the blue petaled gift, keeping as still as her eyes roved over the flower he had dropped to the ground. When she was sure he was finished, she lifted her head up high against the slight weight of her new bow. It felt strange and good and it made her feel pretty, too. Never once had she felt like a princess, but she imagined that if she ever were it must feel something like this. The leggy girl stuck her nose in the air as she imagined a princess might do when wearing a crown, capering dramatically in a circle as if to make a show for him. "What do you think?" she mused with a big grin, holding back a peel of laughter she felt humming in her chest.

It worked. For a second.

In a sort-of-bashful-sort-of-high-on-life way came the laughter, rolling on for just a breath before simpering down to a feminine giggle. For being as tight as they were, the act of being such a playful flirt with him came more naturally than anything and she batted her eyes as she cast a fleeting sultry gaze in his direction. But there was still one more flower, and it didn't belong on the ground so she proceeded to pick it up. "Come 'ere─" she simpered, stepping closer. Luce had always considered herself to be tall, but her crown fit just beneath his chin; she stretched her neck and reached to nestle the stem along the crease of his ear. "There!" She stepped back─a little─to get a good look at him. Only a nose length away, she considered how formal and handsome he looked, and a bit silly, too, but she soaked it up with a no-holds shit-eating smile.