Dead Empress Backwater wendigo

His eyes lingered on her attention to detail, the way she focused so intently on the poultice that she was wrapping them in. She offered sympathy… empathy. He smiled weakly at her, wanting to shake his head lightly but resisting the urge to do so in case it disturbed her work. “Try telling that to Vi… he’s already lost so much, and I fear he’ll never look at me the same and blame me for the fact that Vana is not here right now.” It was a rare moment of vulnerability for him to share but she managed to coax it out of him in a near expert manner.

The assurance that it would dry up made it a little easier to make the promise that he would do his best not to lick it. A few hours was much easier than a whole day of avoiding the spot. If she noticed, he didn’t know that she did which he was grateful for. His ego had been wounded far too much that day… he wasn’t sure if he could take even another scratch to it.

When she stated that she was done, his eyes softened and he nodded, doing his best to not twitch or do anything that might disturb the poultice. “Can you stay for a bit… or do you have to run about doing leader duties or healing things?” He asked, hopeful that she could remain there for a little while longer.

Deep down he knew the truth… if not for her, he never would have returned to the Backwater. He would never admit it out loud, but he knew it to be true… he’d have tried to found his own pack, living life the way he wanted to without having to worry about consulting with his cousin or anyone else in his family… but she had brought him back here… his affection for her had brought him back here.

Vayko Valle

She could understand Vaykos' concern, and probably would have had similar thoughts had she been the one in his position. But ever the optimist, she always tried to see the best in others and to never assume the worst, even if she did sometimes plan for it. "Give him some time, once he's had a chance to process his emotions he should understand that it wasn't your fault for what happened." Clover looked at him with an intense gaze. She believed her words, and she wanted Vayko to believe them too.

"And if he doesn't then I'll make him understand." Her lips twitched up in a small grin, trying to lighten the mood a bit, but not too much to make him smile and disturb the dressing she had just applied. Though she may be small, she was fierce with the heart of a wolf twice her size, and the older she became the more she realised that sometimes it was necessary to stand ones ground and refuse to budge.

There was no decision to be made at Vayko's request, her mind already made up as soon as the words left his mouth. "Of course I'll stay, and for as long as you'd like. Everything else can wait." She'd had so long to do her healer duties, and more recently co-leader duties, but his presence had been missing for so long that she would not dare say no.

Clover sidled up beside him, getting comfortable and leaning into him with half-closed eyes, savouring the time with him while he was here. No doubt something would come up that she would have to attend to, but she would gladly spend the rest of the day, and even the night, right beside Vayko. They'd been apart for long enough.

He hoped that Clover was right, and that in time his cousin would realize that he had done all he could… and perhaps he would no longer fault him for his shortcomings when it came to it… he wanted to scream, often as it would turn out, about it all, and yet he could not.

“I’m not certain anyone is capable of making my cousin do anything.” He offered up with a soft frown, though there was the glimmer of an appreciative look in his eye. And then she said she would stay as well, and he would murmur a thank you as she settled in, resting his head against her as he quickly drifted, finding some sense of exhaustion about him and comfort with the fact that she was there.

Vayko Valle