Sanguine Cove align my heart

For @Nash. 
Backdated to 12/30 | Early morning | Broken Clouds 39°F, 4°C

With the daybreak rising him from his sleep, the Vuesain took his leave from the den after kissing each child of his on the crown. Departing the den, he took a moment to stretch his tired muscles and warm them up while getting used to the frigid air outside of the confines of the warm den. Ocean and golden eyes looked around to hopefully spot the dark form of the Cove's guardian as it had been too long since they had taken a solo border trip together. Aleister enjoyed his time with the Eastfall man, so he hoped he wasn't already out on his duties without him.

 

It was a cool morning, but that was to be expected given the season. Nash stretched as he scooted out of the den, looking around the lakeshore. Despite the broken clouds it was looking to be a clear, nice day. The icy blue water of their home lake was breathtaking, as always, and the guardian took a few moments to appreciate it before padding to the water's edge. He had to break through the ice to get to the water and the cold tingled as it went down. He shivered and fluffed his fur against the chill. He couldn't wait for spring to come.

As he turned to head on his daily patrol he caught sight of an agouti form headed his way. For a beat he thought it was Chan, but he quickly realized it was Aleister. A smile crossing his maw, Nash met their founding leader. "Good morning," he greeted, giving the man a friendly bump. "Up for a walk? I was just heading out for a border check; care to join me?"

Easily spotted the dark form along the shoreline, he made his way towards the guardian just as he was turning his way. "Morning," he answered in return with a soft smile as he came up alongside the Eastfall male as they exchanged greetings. "That is just what I was looking for," Aleister replied as he moved to start their departure towards the borders. It had been too long since he had spent quality time alone with Nash and he wanted to make sure his dark friend was doing well. "How have you been doing?" He asked then, hoping he wasn't missing out on much.

 

Nash smiled as Al agreed to join him, saying it's what he'd been looking for in the first place. He hadn't been able to spend much time one-on-one with his friend in a while; he should have visited him more while he'd been sick. Some friend he was.

"I've been good, mostly," Nash said, tail swaying behind him as they walked. "It's been a hell of a winter already, though, I can say that much." he gave Al a sidelong glance. "How about you? How've you been holding up?" He didn't know how close the man had really been to Kip; she was the mother of some of his children, at the very least, and even though he obviously hadn't ever really been romantically involved with Aquene it was clear he did take responsibility for her and cared for her deeply. Al was probably taking Kip's disappearance hard.

Nodding along to his words, the Vuesain listened as his companion answered his question as his own was issued his way. Letting the silence roll over them, Aleister hesitated before answering. The whole situation was difficult with Kip's disappearance. The agouti man cared deeply for the alabaster woman, but they were never officially (in his mind) an item, it had been more complicated. However, that didn't lessen the blow when they discovered her missing. The had three children together and now they were without a mother.

"It's been hard," he answered truthfully as his ocean and sunshine gaze looked over at the Eastfall man. He could never lie to the man or sugar coat anything. "The boys never want to bring it up, but I know they miss her. And I think Stella is taking it the hardest, but I really don't know what else to do to help her through this," he admitted as they walked further along the border lines. He truly hoped he wasn't going to lose his daughter because of it, but he felt she was slipping though his paws with every moment Kip was gone. 

(This post was last modified: Feb 09, 2022, 02:18 AM by Aleister.)

There was a pause before Al answered Nash's question, and the guardian didn't know why he would have expected anything else. He nodded solemnly as the older man spoke. He'd noticed much the same; the boys definitely roamed and interacted with the rest of the pack more than Stella did, though that may have just been Nash's exposure to them. He hesitated for a moment of his own, thinking back to the weeks following his return to the original cove only to find it empty. He'd been about Stella's age then.

"I could... if you'd like I could try to talk to her," he finally offered. "I may have been lucky enough to get my mom back, but I did lose her for a long time. I can empathize with her." He didn't want the young girl to wander off on her own to try and find her mother by herself.

The Vuesain was worried that @Stella was drifting away from him because of her mother's absence, and he feared that the more she kept her distance from everyone that soon she would disappear just like Kip. Aleister only wanted the best for his children, and he was trying to give them all that he could with what he had, and he only wanted them to be happy wherever that was. If Stella would be happier out looking for @Kip , Aleister would understand. He just wanted to know how she was feeling.

Perhaps another voice could help her open up. Nodding at Nash's words, Al thought that would be a good idea for her to hear it from another perspective. "I'd appreciate that, Nash." He was so lucky to have so many good wolves surrounding him and his children. "How have you been with everything?" He asked in return, knowing that he was not the only one that lost someone in that storm. The Eastfalls lost a niece that they had just reunited with.

The agreement for Nash to talk with Al's daughter came and Nash nodded once to confirm his intent. He would seek her out as soon as he could. Hopefully she would be receptive to talking with them, even though they hadn't spoken much. He hoped that changed; he wanted to know all of his packmates well, especially the children. They were the future, after all.

Nash glanced sideways at Al, a grin tugging at his mouth even as a little voice whispered in the back of his mind. They had a child together. Nash sucked in a sharp breath. He hadn't ever really considered that. It never seemed to mean much to Aquene beyond the bond they shared with Kateri, and it had never bothered him, but now looking at his friend he wondered.

Still, he would answer honestly. "They've been good, actually. Great, even. Even with all the crap winter is putting us through." he grimaced. There was a reason he hated winter, and this one seemed to be worse than most. "I don't know if you've heard but Aquene and I... we're together." He wasn't sure how else to deliver it, given Al's history with the shaman. Nash just hoped the Vuesain would take it well...