Heartleaf Creek I'll be single soon

For @Eros Viorel has come to have a chat
Midnight, Broken Clouds, 75F/24C

The night was clearer than it had been in weeks, the smoke letting up a little for the time being. Instead of smoke blocking out the moon instead it was regular clouds, though the temperature remained warm even this late into the night. The stench of fire still hung in the air even if the smoke could not be seen. Viorel followed after the trail of his son, hoping to catch up to him before he got too far, an important topic on his mind.

Dark paws ate up the ground quickly, at least until the leader had to pause to cough, deep and thick from the bottom of his lungs. It racked his sides for a couple of moments until the man gasped to catch his breath, wrinkling his nose at the unpleasant experience. He hoped this would be over soon, the cough was becoming more and more uncomfortable to deal with.

Catching sight of a tawny form in the distance Viorel let out a chuff of greeting, then cleared his throat as another cough threatened to overtake him. Breathing steadily through his nose once or twice until the sensation faded, he moved forward at a more steady pace. He needed to be able to talk, and not just spend this whole interaction swallowing down coughing fits.

Eros could hear his father, a lot of the Backwater wolves now easy to sense coming with their coughing fits. His ears leaned back, and he slowed to wait for the older wolf. Every time they seemed to have a clearer day, he tried to hope that this was it, the end of the fire season. Still optimistic, but also unable to help but acknowledge reality. Nature did not operate on their schedule- far from it, in fact.

When Viorel caught up, he returned to what he'd been doing, lifting up onto his hind legs so as to scratch at the bark of one of their many half-dead trees. Leaving his scent as well as a visual warning that these lands were occupied.

"What's up?" he asked, not expecting anything too big but also confident his dad hadn't called out to him just for chitchat.

The coughs subsided and the leader was able to quickly catch up to his son to see him marking the borders. His breathing had grown smooth and he fell in step alongside Eros as they began to watch the territory line. What’s up. What wasn’t up. His mouth pulled into a weird half smile at the thought before smoothing into something more serious - albeit still forcibly pleasant. Everything felt that way these days - forced and pleasant.

So he launched right into it, ”As you know your Aunt Sharlee is gone, and it looks like she probably won’t be back.” He bit his tongue from adding that she had abandoned her children in the process. He wanted to point it out but figured it might be a sore spot considering that Eros’ mother had also left and never came back. No need to poke at festering wounds.

He moved on quickly, ’Which means at this point I no longer have an advisor…” He trailed off, leaving the comment open for interpretation. Yellow eyes watched closely out the side of his vision, trying to gauge how Eros might feel about this. Would he be excited about being asked to be an advisor, overwhelmed? Would he even assume that is what Viorel was implying or would he think he was asking who he should ask to advise him?

It occurred to Eros again how much better his father seemed to be doing, despite the threat of fires seemingly all around them. He was thankful, but somehow, still no less sad for Viorel. If anything, the other seemed to be growing steadily more manic, and his son couldn't help but feel he was still just that desperate to fight back the pain.

Just because it was more appeasing to behold didn't mean Viorel wasn't still suffering. But, maybe he was just projecting, or being overprotective. Maybe this was just his dad choosing hope.

"Yeah," he confirmed softly. Ironic, sadly so, that much of the friction between himself and his cousin had been his giving Modesto the benefit of the doubt, and now... now Sharlee was the one he was missing, that he refused to believe was gone by choice.

'Which means at this point I no longer have an advisor…'

Oh, right.

"... you n' Ma can't share Vasco 'cause like, it's better to have a broader ranger of perspectives, right?"

That had been his assumption of the system, anyway. That really did limit their options though, didn't it? He found himself rather hesitant to suggest @Rochus, despite the man's standing in the pack, and @Vayko wasn't any better.

"... that's a tough one."

(This post was last modified: Nov 24, 2023, 12:58 AM by Eros.)

Eros didn’t seem to be picking up on what the implication was which caused a soft smile to play across Viorel’s muzzle. He knew he still had things to teach his son, but he also had already learned so much from him which was why they were here now. He nodded to the question, ”While it’s up to Clover and I to make decisions, it’s good to have voices from the pack as well. My dad is great to talk to, he already advises Clover and I’ll need one of my own.” One who wouldn’t run away this time, someone who had been loyal to him and the pack.

A tough one, Viorel really didn’t think so, but he was tired of trying to play coy. His own paws slowed until he was standing still, and he waited for his son to do the same. The father looked proud - albeit a little nervous - when he started to speak, ”Well, I know you’ve already got a role, but, I was hoping you might be willing to advise me on a more casual basis.” He waited then to see what Eros would say. If he wasn’t interested then that was fine he would work without an advisor for a while.

Eros took notice of his father's decrease in speed, lifting his peach gaze to give the older wolf his attention. Still, even as he watched him say the words, the Valle heir had a hard time believing he'd heard right. Him? His Dad wanted to have him as an advisor? The implications of such a request seemed almost farfetched. A million reasons why not crowded into his head.

He wanted to give a far more mature response, but after a moment of gawking, all the younger Valle could ask was, "y-... you trust me... to give you advice?"

This was exactly what he had hoped for in pursuing a higher rank, though he hadn't pictured it going quite like this. The in between had been blurry when envisioning how to get here, but he'd certainly expected it to take longer. That maybe he'd have to wait it out for like a year before they really took him seriously in his role and leaned on him.

Because even though he was older than his father had been when he'd started all of this, in many ways Eros still felt like he had so much more left to prove before being truly considered one of the adults.

Eros stared at him in silence and had the expression not been one of pure shock Viorel may have started to get nervous that his son was going to say no. He did eventually get a response, though it was not an acceptable or a refusal, just a follow up question. Smiling proudly, the leader nodded once, ”Of course I do, I can’t think of anyone better for the job.” But maybe his son would need some more convincing of that, based on the look on his face.

Good thing inspirational speeches had always been one of his strengths, even in his younger years. So he launched right into all of the reasons, ”The Backwater is your home, and one day I hope that you will lead it when I am no longer able to - if you want to that is. You were born here and have proven yourself more than loyal to the pack and your family. I think you have a fairly steady head on your shoulders, at least as much as I have, and I don’t think you’ll be afraid to challenge me if you think I’m making the wrong decision. I don’t want a yes man by my side, I want someone who is actually going to help make the pack better.” That was why they had done away with the council to begin with, they didn’t want all the same old traditions just because that was how it always had been.

Besides, Viorel had fumbled his way through leadership even younger than Eros was now. If his boy ever really was going to take over the pack this could be something of a trial run, to see if this was even something that he liked.

His father didn't just give him a yes. He told him he was best for the job, that he hoped for him to be a successor, that his disagreeing could be a strength. Eros couldn't help but be teary eyed by the time Viorel was done, tail low but sweeping swiftly back and forth, stirring leaves. He genuinely hadn't known his father felt this way about him, that anyone took him so seriously. To say that he was touched was a wild understatement; this was the happiest he had been in a long time.

"I'd be honored," he affirmed, chest puffed out and chin raised, beyond ready for service.

"I didn't challenge up 'cause I wanna boss everyone around, I just want... this. I want to help, to be taken seriously, and... I want you to have the support you deserve."

(This post was last modified: Dec 02, 2023, 11:39 PM by Eros.)

Eros appeared teary eyed after the leader’s speech, and he moved forward to pull his son into an embrace. Viorel himself had never been one to shy away from expressing his emotions, and was happy to see that Eros wasn’t trying to smother them. Unlike Vay- no that was mean, and snide thoughts had no place in such a nice moment between himself and his son.

Stepping back, he was a little misty eyed himself he chuckled, ”Luckily for you most of the bossing around still falls and me and Clover. You get to be a little more behind the scenes.” It was a role that Eros’ grandfather had seemed to do well, before he had needed to go take care of some other business. Smiling fondly at at son he finalized, ”I know your main focus is going to be on your healing and guardianship, and I’m already so proud of you, but I know you’re going to do so well at this.” And hopefully not spread himself too thin.

Gesturing forward with his muzzle he asked, ”Why don’t you show me some of the things you’ve learned from Clover? It’ll probably go over my head but that’s alright.” The day was wearing on but he was happy to spend it with his son.

Eros snuggled into his father's hug, but in that he couldn't help a small pang of pain, maybe even guilt. His mind went to Archer, and he tried to push the train of thought away rather than letting it spoil this moment. It was almost like having his old Dad back, from before everything started going wrong. He wanted to appreciate it appropriately, even though his sibling could not.

"Yeah definitely. It's a lot of memorization, I still gotta use mnemonics sometimes..."

He would take the lead, chattering as they headed toward Clover's infirmary. Thankful for the things that were still normal and good in life.