Fireweed Rise yeah he got left, left, left

Trade. Hagar remained curious and unsure both, and also found himself reminded of @Rashina. Would they get along? Perhaps this woman's 'fortunes' could give the priestess' spirits a lift. All they had to give, however, was the security of their company. Hagar knew that some wolves weren't fond of making such an arrangement, and he wouldn't assume a wolf as spritely as this one was easy to pin down.

She asked him a question that was simple and direct, and Hagar struggled to find the words only for a scant few seconds.

"Companionship. My family lacks the strength of numbers."

That was what was most important to him; that his children and those they loved were properly cared and provided for. Was this something she could grant, or beyond her magics?

He admitted weakness whether he knew it or not. Perhaps not directly in a faulty way, but one she gleamed from all the same. His family lacked numbers and what was she if not one? A good number too. One that provided time and time again.

Your family, She drawled with a mystic's warmth of intrigue. She could picture him as a family man, it did not seem so hard or farfetched. What am I given for my status as a number among them?

Oh, but there would be no offense in her gaze! Only a warm look that spoke a thousand things at once. That said this would not be her first time doing this dance, nor her last. Even if she allowed herself to be a number she still must trade. Among them, among neighbors. Such was the way of life.

Would he deprive her of such?

adopt my brother!

note: mentions of fortune telling and magic are purely a belief system.

There was something about the way she spoke those words, the seeking in her gaze, that catalyzed a sort of shifting inside of him. His family, her family, his role, her role, his wants, her wants. Hagar was not a wolf who asserted himself over others, nor who prioritized his own desires. Where had that gotten him, where had it gotten his children?

She asked what would be hers in return, and he hesitated. It wasn't his call.

(Or was it? Hadn't Avella's authority diminished, hadn't he worked just as hard for this home?)

Hagar sighed, breaking eye contact a moment. He'd like to have remained careless in play, but he wasn't just an adult; he was a father, who had to make ends meet.

"There's a woman who leads amongst the willows," he motioned with his muzzle, the thought of lying or misrepresenting their situation not even occurring to him, "but there's hardly any of us left. I don't know what she'll offer you, but... the debt can be mine. What do you have need for?"

A woman leads them and yet he had said his family. So did he not lead as well? Was it perhaps a wife as she had suspected? Yet still! Why would a man such as himself (bearkissed) not lead with her?

For now, knowledge. Our debt to one another may grow as my stay does. And it was in that way that she told him her answer. That she would stay among him and his own. This woman's own. Ah, the wolves away from the Ravine lived cluttered lives that she did enjoy the stories of. Still she wore only a sly smile as her tail tapped for but a moment. Now she stood with a spine that spoke of certainty even in her dainty build.

She feared him not, for he had shown colors plenty now. A playful moment, a somber moment. She admired each with a fondness and found him more enjoyable for both sides.

Will you tell me of this woman? Is she a wife? A blunt question that asked for a blunt answer.

adopt my brother!

note: mentions of fortune telling and magic are purely a belief system.

Hagar's spirits were lifted along with his ears and wolfish brows as she offered him far sweeter a deal than he had a right to expect. He was not a man of secrets, and so could give her all he had in that regard. Even if it wasn't enough to keep her in their lives forever, they would surely be bolstered by her presence for however long they managed to hold on. His tail wagged and he smiled again, a nod confirming his willingness to abide by the arrangement.

Of course, she asked after Avella first. That which he'd come this far to avoid thinking about at all. It was easier to answer such a question than he'd expected.

"No."

The word was spoken resolutely, clearly.

"Her children are mine, but we are nothing more than packmates."

Even being friends had remained difficult for him, that nagging feeling of inadequacy always there when he entered her presence, even after Camden had gone. This was something he had accepted, however. No matter what the future held, it had already been made clear that if Avella ever wanted him again, it would only be as a second choice. Hagar wanted more. He wanted love.

"She was born here, her family moved on but she'd returned to bring their second name back. We are Willow Ridge."

No.

How easy he had said it. She did not find him to be those men who would come to lie because the spring rolled in. She had seen such before, she had danced with such before. The voice of those men had never been nearly as strong and solid as the one before her.

He had shared with this woman though. He had given his life into her own, bore children from it. Such a thing was a bond woven by magic more ancient than any stardust in her bones.

It had accidentally raised more questions, none which she instantly spoke after. Most followed a string of why or how. Things that she had not yet traded her way to earning. This she understood. Manners must walk hand-in-hand with the things she traded.

You are more than Willow Ridge, Her lips curled in a wide, knowing grin. Her voice had been lit with a vibrant warmth befitting a fortuneteller than a trader. She leaned into it now as the atmosphere rolled over her.

So tell me, bearkissed, what will I give you first for this knowledge of your life?

adopt my brother!

note: mentions of fortune telling and magic are purely a belief system.

You are more than Willow Ridge.

The words were simple, but greatly meaningful. He was getting the impression that she didn't waste her words, nor did she dance around half-truths. He hoped he was correct in this, found a growing sense of deep comfort in her presence. Maybe there was a horizon they were finally reaching.

The nickname earned a smile, and he closed that little bit of distance between them once more. His smallteeth would comb through the fur at her cheek if she allowed him, a soft rumble of affection stirring in his chest. He'd thought himself still in her debt, but wouldn't mind digging himself a little deeper.

"Your company," was his modest request. He just wanted her to stay, maybe to go back to frolicking thoughtlessly, anything that kept the spell of her presence alive.

Once more bearkissed asked for company.

This time she had not seen it as a debt. Rather a web woven between them as he came closer and closer. She allowed him, accepted that rumble deep in his chest. She would be nothing without moments like these. Moments where it seemed the magic she channeled became tangible in forms she admired.

His form.

You ask for a large price. Yet her voice only teased now, even as her eyes twinkled and she pulled away to dance out further. To tiptoe around him and glance at the hale cut of his form. The scars that cut down him in a clean sweep. She found only power vibrating in that pink flesh exposed.

Come, And she meant to return to the moments before, where they would not speak.

adopt my brother!

note: mentions of fortune telling and magic are purely a belief system.