Dead Empress Backwater no matter where I go it's a good time

For @Eros and @Archer Viorel has come to apologize!
RE: Weather has been unnusually warm this week, it almost feels like summer again!
Sunrise, 73F/23C, overcast

The sun was beginning to rise behind a wall of slate coloured clouds, lighting the Backwater with a dim shade of grey. Despite the time of year and the cloud cover it was already a warm day, and the leader was pleased that the summer weather had stuck around a couple extra weeks this year. After the drought he thought he would have been eager for a rainy fall, but he knew that the more pleasant weather would make @Vayko and @Vanadis' travels easier. Or that was the hope anyways.

Viorel was exhausted. Physically and mentally from trying to hold everything together. Keeping the pack running and prepared for winter, raising the youngest litter alone, and most notably trying to stay on track with the older kids. He felt like no matter what he was attending to that he was neglecting another aspect of his responsibilities and it was beginning to take a toll. The words that his teenage son had spat in anger ran through his mind constantly with every minute that his mate and co-leader were gone. It was his fault everyone was leaving.

It was this train of thought that brought the dark man seeking out the twins. He needed to speak with them. He needed to apologize and try to fix what had been broken.

(This post was last modified: Sep 07, 2022, 11:29 PM by Viorel.)

Archer Valle

It had been nearly a month since that monster had followed him and Eros home and murdered Inger. A month since Archer had failed in his task to protect her, like he'd promised to do. A month since her children were made orphans.

He wasn't sure what to do.

Archer was sticking close to Kateri more, while still checking in on Llinnea and Asmund at least once a day. If anything, he now felt more responsible for them. It was his fault their ma was gone, after all. His fault. He tried to stay close to Eros, too, worried his littermate would think it was his fault for bringing the madman back here, but it was Archer who had met him before, Archer who carried Inger's scent, Archer who hadn't adequately warned the pack there was a threat. It was his. fault.

He was laying beside the newly-bubbling creek, staring into its waters and cursing it for coming so slowly. If it had been a little faster, if it had returned just a few weeks earlier, maybe the brothers wouldn't have run into the man while looking for a drink and wouldn't have brought him here to the woman he was so clearly hunting.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

Eros had a lot of conflicting thoughts and emotions swimming inside of him. From the death of Seri's father to no longer being able to ignore how long his mother and uncle had been absent, Inger's death was a violent addition to a string of misfortunes that had plagued them. The water had come back, but it had done so briefly before and now...

Today was warm, far too much so. Eros didn't like it, and found himself prowling the territory restlessly due to it, on guard for any kind of trouble. One thing was certain; he needed to get stronger, needed to do more to protect those he cared about.

It was luck rather than intention that brought him to the same bank that Archer rested upon, but when he spotted his sibling Eros did not shy away from his presence. He approached the water's edge and said hello before dipping his muzzle to drink.

(This post was last modified: Jan 15, 2023, 03:49 AM by Eros.)

The leader smiled for just a moment when he came around the bend of the creek and saw his boys together. Life was hard enough with everything else going on, he would like to think that his sons could still find comfort in each other. It quickly vanished seeing the serious expressions they wore, teenagers who had experienced for more than they deserved to at this age. Viorel wished that he could change so much of it.

Chuffing to gain their attention, the Valle man waited until he was much closer before he started speaking. He shifted on his paws, a nervous tick that he had never quite outgrown. Inhaling deeply he started, ”I’m glad to see the both of you, I know the last few months have not been easy.” And who knew what it would be from here on out, especially until Vanadis and Vayko returned from their trip.

That wasn’t all he was here to say, ”I wanted to come and apologize to both of you. For a lot of things, but mostly for that night with Aunt Sharlee. I should have listened and heard your side Eros and I shouldn’t have lost my temper.” Viorel let out a slow sigh, ”All of this is not as easy as I used to think it was going to be.” Then he felt guilty for unloading on them like that. He was really messing all of this up.

Archer Valle

it wasn't long before Archer had company. His brother's soft greeting pulled him out of his grisly thoughts and he returned a soft hello. Eros was one of the only pack members he could bear to be around for any length of time these days... He really should spend more time with his younger siblings, but none of them had a mother right now and he just... Couldn't.

And then their Da was there. Archer immediately tensed and glanced at his littermate, prepared for another argument. Archer would take his brother's side of course. He always would. But then Da spoke and... It was not what Archer expected.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

They were destined not to be a duo, but rather a trio upon the shore as their father called out to them. Eros looked up, and gave his dad a friendly smile, but the expression didn't quite last. There was little that could fully take him away from such dour thoughts these days.

Viorel seemed to want to talk about it. Eros glanced to his brother hesitantly, but then the word apologize was used and his peach gaze jumped back to his father's gold sights in surprise. Had he heard right? Apparently he had, but still he wasn't sure what to make of the admission. Eros blinked down at the water, mulling over the possibilities for a response. He hoped that Archer would speak up first and buy him time, but his sibling was utterly silent.

"Oh, um. Thank y- why?" his head tilted then, the question practically blurted out.

The Valle man was not sure what kind of reaction he was expecting from his sons, but the one he got almost put him off his paws. Absolute silence from Archer, and silence from Eros until a question blurted out of him that was wasn’t sure exactly how to answer. Why, what? He wasn’t entirely sure what answer his child was trying to get at. But he would do his best to explain.

He sat, ready for this to be a longer conversation than he had originally thought. His expression was earnest, ”Why am I apologizing? Because you both deserve it. You deserve to hear that I made a mistake not listening to you that night and that I’m aware of it and that I sincerely feel bad about making it.” But maybe that wasn’t the why that Archer was after, so he continued, ”Why did I not listen? I really don’t fully know, I was still feeling… insecure about everything that had happened with Modesto and what she had said about the Backwater and trying to overcompensate. I wasn’t mature enough to hear criticism from you and from your Aunt Sharlee and respond logically. I felt conflicted like I had to choose between two sides instead of trying to mediate.” He didn’t know, and it wasn’t like wolves had therapists.

God he was on a bit of a monologue, ”It was probably a combination of all of those things. But, I do know for sure that it was wrong on my part and I am going to do what I can to make it up to both of you, and to do better in the future.” That much he could do.

Archer Valle

Da was apologizing. He'd sort of done so in the past, when he'd snapped at them disproportionately to whatever it was they'd done, but this time it felt bigger. It had been a bigger fight with their Aunt Shar against them, and da had taken her side, even though she too had been wrong. But here he was, explaining and apologizing. Many reasons fell from his lips in response to Eros's question, but Archer mostly just stared at him and looked to his brother. The fight had been with him, after all. The apology had to be mostly meant for him.

Even so, Archer appreciated that his da came to them to smooth things over like this. It meant a lot - it meant da loved them more than he was angry. It meant even when they messed up da would forgive them. Archer nodded slowly. "Okay," he said, accepting the apology and the promise of doing better in the single word.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

His father had plenty of answers for him, very little of which he would have ever anticipated. Eros had very much expected this rift to be permanent, a difference of thought that could never be bridged. That adults might change their minds or mature had not occurred to him. Instead of a wall, Viorel opened himself up, showing more earnest vulnerability than the teen thought he'd ever seen from the wolf. He couldn't help but feel his heart brim with gratitude and affection, eyes welling briefly while his tail wagged uncontrollably at his hocks.

Eros blinked the tears away quickly, felt sheepish as he smiled and tried to come up with a fitting answer.

"Aww... well... thank you, Dad. I thought... I'm glad you understand. That, means a lot."

It felt simultaneously like there was much he could say, and little that needed to be added.

Archer did not have much to add following the leader’s words but his single acceptance was enough and then the full attention was on Eros. The father sniffed back a tear of his own, almost embarrassed at how vulnerable he had been, but overall glad that they had had this discussion. He moved forward to embrace each of his sons quickly and a little gruffly, nibbling on the soft fur behind their ears in silent affection. He had fucked up, he knew it, and he was here to try to make it all better.

Still, he was not as mature as his last speech might have made him seen, and not all that in touch with his emotions. He wasn’t comfortable with the squishy stuff. So after the embrace he shook his pelt restlessly and suggested, ”Why don’t the three of us go out and see if we can’t catch something for dinner huh?” That would be easier than this. And so off they went, the father and sons bond fixed, for now.

FADE