Pookastone Scowle [M] I miss the hours in the morning

"Two," she supplied, before informing him that there had been a third. The poor thing had been taken - presumably by the Old Gods - to repay a debt. Whether it was hers or his or theirs, Skoll didn't care. His eyes returned to her face, glancing to meet her eyes before landing on the tip of her nose. The health of his partner had been spared, and the fact that their brood had yielded more than one cub was more than enough to be thankful for. He didn't even want to think of what he had sacrificed for last year's litter(s) - blood, sweat, tears... his sanity and strength...

The sudden realization that the places where she had touched his chin had gone cold from made him mentally reel back. He let his gaze return to the two light-coated cubs; by now, his eyes had adjusted enough to finally see a darker ball of fur move in the darkness. His heart gave a leap in his chest and he looked back at his Leader.

He thought he wouldn't have anything else to say after he confirmed that both mother and children were fine, but he did. First, though, he inched closer, just enough so that their paws touched and she could have leaned her head against his shoulder or laid her temple across his forelimbs as they stretched out before him. To start, he preened his teeth over her pale brow, smoothing the fur with his tongue as Morganna usually did when they found a chance to relax together. "I think..." the words, usually fluid on his tongue and quick in execution, seemed stunted, although more mindful that usual. "I love you."

As soon as those three words had been said, the pressure built in his chest and he held his breath. "I want you. I... need you." I owe you my life. His voice lowered as not to disturb the cubs at her belly; and, while he had wanted so much to let her know that he hadn't ever forgotten their little romp at the base of the Heights, he kept that piece of information unspoken. "I want more of this, if... if that's all right. You and me... these cubs... us."

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

i'm doing whatever i can to make the bad things go away

@Skoll didn't reply to her comment, so he must not have cared about her debt, or thought it strange enough to ask. Instead, the man inched forward until his inky paws met her own pale ones. Taking it as a signal, the woman dipped her crown forward so that she could rest her head upon his forelimbs. With his gentle preening, Celandine let her eyes drift shut. 

His voice broke through the chorus of thunder, forcing her bright eyes open. "I think..." There were a million and one things Celandine might have thought that Skoll was going to say. A million and one things that she could have expected, or prepared herself for. Unfortunately, "I love you." wasn't even on the list. Celandine felt herself blink once, then twice as her pale crown lifted to meet his gaze. Skoll continued, but the rest of his words seemed so... far away. A memory was playing through her mind, filling every corner and crevice with things that she'd rather not remember, but now was forced to.

Love was never in the cards for her, or at least it hadn't been. Love was a weakness, and admitting to it meant giving someone the ability to hurt you. It meant relinquishing control, and giving a part of yourself to someone else. It meant being selfless. It meant leaving logic behind. Pale brows drew together as his speech closed with one simple word. "Us." Not you, and I, but us? We?

Bright eyes danced over his inky features as she formed a response. "Then stay." 'I don't want to be alone anymore.' "Stay with me... because I think... I love you too." The words, though they were all words she had tasted before, felt foreign on her tongue.

(This post was last modified: Jun 06, 2018, 06:29 AM by Celandine.)

Have you seen my OOC preferences?

Unbeknownst to Skoll, his mother Elettra had posed the same proposition to her potential suitor, Angier, years ago. If he had known, he might have taken Celandine's words as a sign - history didn't just repeat itself, but this... this was something real. And, after all those years searching for that perfect woman, here was the Princess Celandine Argyris. Royalty, grace, and strength cloaked in white with the brightest sun-filled eyes he had ever seen.

She said that she thought that she loved him too and, for the first time, it hit him hard. It electrified every fiber of his being, sparked up his heart and had his ears straining through the soft pitter-patter of the rain for more. As if to prompt her further - to give so that he could receive rather than take - he closed his eyes pressed his nose to hers when she looked over at him again. Had he been human, this affectionate gesture might have been so much more if he cupped her face in his hands and placed at kiss on her lips.

"I don't know, but, this--" his voice broke and he knew now that he was treading over new territory. It felt like there were eggshells everywhere and he had to take care in navigating back to her. "This feels right." He wanted to suggest that, maybe, it was meant to happen, her stumbling upon him in the snow, physically and mentally ill last winter. Fate had always meant for him to settle with a fair-coated woman, it was only now that she had fully shown herself to him. All they had needed was time. A whole three and a half years' worth. Just enough for Skoll to crash and burn and for Celandine to come into her own.

"And, I want to give you so much more."

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

i'm doing whatever i can to make the bad things go away

Celandine felt her breath catch in a sobering sort of way as Skoll's nose neared her own. Before she had been drunk on adrenaline, and emotion. It hadn't felt real, but now.. Now it did. 

Pale ears fell to lay flush with her crown, as her maw pressed into his. The flash of lightning beyond the entrance seemed even more distant behind her closed lids, but everything else was so... vivid. His warmth, her heartbeat, the cubs beside her, the cool stone below them, and then he was gone. 

His voice filled the air where his nose had once been, and her eyes dared to blink open. Celandine wondered if everything would be different now, or if it would all be more of the same. She wondered if she would be different now. Gods did she hope so. 

Had she believed in fate, she might have thought for sure that it all started with Phineas, and Elettra. That in missing their chance, they had somehow passed their destinies on to their children. She might have thought that the universe had planned for their chance meeting all those years ago, and that they'd merely been pawns up until this point, playing specifically to reach this checkmate. But he was talking again, and her mind wasn't working the way it normally did, so her attention reset solely on him. 

She wanted to respond, to say something, but she was so tired. So she dipped her muzzle forward to bury it in the inky fur at the base of his neck instead. "Stay." 'I need you too, because I can't do this alone anymore.' The leader repeated the word once more, before letting her eyes drift shut.

Have you seen my OOC preferences?

"Stay." It was the only answer Celandine could provide in return, but it was enough. A word so plain and yet commanding and needful all at once. For a wordsmith, it spoke in depths and Skoll understood to a degree that she had wanted him. All the Archer could ever have asked for was simply that. In life and as was characteristic, he wanted a lot of things, but to be fancied and desired was his absolute wish. To feel useful and important at the very least.

He watched as slumber came over her, making her head grown heavy and flutter her eyelids shut. He placed one more gentle kiss on the her crown of her head before leaving her be, remaining sphinx-like as she rested. When he laid his eyes upon the cubs again, they were quiet with their little round tummies full and their parents no longer fussing or talking over them. He pulled his tail closer to his limbs and ever so gingerly stretched his neck out to lay across her shoulders. He nuzzled his side of his jaw into her snow white nape, doing nothing but breathing her in and waiting for for the moment when she would wake.

(Fade.)

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

i'm doing whatever i can to make the bad things go away