Dead Empress Backwater avow

They needed to talk. That was very clear. They'd needed to talk since she'd arrived, but the time was never right. She was pregnant, they were both handling their own young children, she went off to find the remnants of their family. But it couldn't sit any longer to fester in his mind. She owed him information. Her son owed her nothing. Sita was a mother at her core. She was meant to provide for and protect her children. And truly she had fallen flat on that front. For better or for worse, they would speak. Because she had failed to protect them, to protect him, and she wasn't sure if she could make that right.

Calling for him gave too much of a sense of open invitation, so Sita opted to search for him in the thick of the pack clearing. She snuffled for her son's scent, listened for the sound of his footfalls, or a word, a sigh. An indication. But after a few minutes, she tentatively called out, "Viorel?" Lest she have to search the mass of territory, or she would simply wait for him to return here.

Viorel had been lounging with his children, or at least the ones that had been around when he had returned from his border patrol. He never knew which ones of his sons and daughters would be near the den at any given time, but he enjoyed spending time with each of them. The soft call caused his ears to perk, and his stomach to drop. He had been avoiding his mother as much as he could, while trying to not make it obvious that he was avoiding her, how successful he was at that, he had no idea.

But, he wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to her privately. His paws shifted against the dirt in discomfort as Viorel debated whether or not he could get away with not answering. In the end, the worry that it was something officially related to the pack won him over, and he nudged his cubs goodbye.

It took only a few moments to come upon the tawny woman once he had gotten to his feet. There was nothing obviously wrong with her, and no emergency that he could see, and for some reason that made him even more concerned. If there was no emergency he could launch into action on, that meant there was nothing to do but talk. He shifted again, took a deep breath, and called, ”Mom?” He had to hold himself back from calling her Sita, things had gone wrong so quickly.

There was quite a long while to wait. But Sita waited it out. It hadn't occurred to her that he might be avoiding her. The explaination for the very long silence that she waited oh so patiently in. And then he arrived. He seemed concerned, though there was really no reason for it. Sita tipped her head, bubbling some concern of her own in the bottom of her gut. But she walked to him and smiled to try and asuage whatever he could be feeling.

"I feel like we haven't spoken in awhile. Just to each other. I know you had..." Well, their reunion had seemed somewhat tense and that had been that. Left to nothing but ashes that couldn't blow away in the wind. "I want to know how you're feeling. You're my son and I love you. I'm proud of you." Hazel didn't make her other children disappear. But they'd come together to form a new life in this strange place. They were adults, even if forced into the role, they were taking it in stride. And sometimes Sita felt as though it wasn't her place to dig too deeply. But...perhaps the gnawing feelings of guilt had never really ceased. She wanted to integrate into their lives again. Be trusted with their secrets and their feelings. Be a place where they could feel comfortable coming to and confiding in.

currently travelling with walleye

His mother walked towards him with a smile on her face, and Viorel’s stomach twisted a little uncomfortably. Were they really on such different pages about what had been happening the last few months? He stayed silent as she trailed off, fighting to keep his expression neutral and not trusting himself to be able to do so if he said anything.

He shifted on his paws in discomfort.

Looking away as shame swept over his face at her affection, the leader wished that he could be anywhere but here. He would even take telling Clover and Vanadis he had gotten them both pregnant over this. ”I feel…” He wanted to take the easy way out, say he felt worried about the coming winter, say he had been busy leading, say anything at all to smooth things over.

But that wasn’t fair to either of them, or their children, to let the silence continue. Sighing, Viorel tried again, ”I feel like you’re not a wolf I can rely on anymore,” he halted. That sounded harsh and he wished he could take it back, but it was out in the world now.