Dead Empress Backwater This is how it feels to take a fall

For @Eros only, Takes place the evening of 3/23 after Archer fesses up

Archer Valle

He was conflicted and hurting and didn't want anyone else to hurt either, but he would have to tell his Da tomorrow, and Archer knew consequences would follow his actions. He would take them, but he hoped his da might show a little leniency given recent events. He would at least beg for Kateri to be forgiven. She'd tried to warn Archer away, after all, and he'd insisted they could sit together. He should have just walked away, stupid, stupid!

But he would come clean to his da just like he had to Clo. It would be better for @Viorel to hear it from him first rather than if the young couple simply ran away or the leader figured it out for himself. Soften the blow, perhaps, if they weren't trying to hide it.

...Like Archer had been doing the last week. It was time to seek out his brother and tell him so he wouldn't be blindsided in the morning when punishment was delivered from their da. So Archer wandered the territory until he came across Eros's fresh scent trail and followed it, calling out when he thought he was close enough. He felt they were alone enough, no prying ears, so he said, "Eros, I... have something really important to tell you."

[size=x-small]Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

Kateri had begun to stink the way all women did this time of year, but then all too soon the stench of her heat had started to dissipate. What was overtaking it was not her normal scent, but rather the familiar smell of pregnancy hormones. Eros tried to tell himself that he was wrong, that he was mixing her scent with Clover's or altogether mistaken but every day it was more and more difficult.

Someone had knocked her up, and it wasn't hard to guess who.

Archer came to him while he'd been patrolling, and his fur bristled at his brother's voice. He turned to face him, jaw tensed and eyes dilated with not just anger, but also an immense amount of hurt. Eros knew what he was going to tell him, was satisfied only that this would now be addressed, but still he didn't speak any of the lexemes that had been building within his chest for days now. As though Archer might actually have his own words magical enough to make any of this better.

Archer Valle

It had become obvious that Kateri was pregnant. They'd both realized it early, and had both had a fair amount of panic... thus Archer's avoidance of everyone. Even his brother. He should have sought them all out sooner, taken care of this before there was a chance for any of it to go wrong, but 'should haves' would not change what happened and she was still pregnant and they made an adult decision and now had to face the adult consequences. He wouldn't be protected by being a pup any longer.

His stomach sank as Eros turned to face him. He remained silent, uncharacteristic of the boy, and the anger in his eyes said enough... he knew, and he knew before Archer could be the one to tell him. But here he was, and he was going to tell him anyway. No use sugarcoating it now, though.

"I messed up," he said, leading the same way he had with Clover. Own his mistake - even if Kateri wasn't ever someone he would be ashamed of - and maybe judgement would be less harsh. "Kateri and I... well, she's pregnant. But I bet you knew that already. I should have told you sooner; I'm sorry."

[size=x-small]Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

Swears incoming! apologies for how Eros is likely going to be about this. :c

He didn't. Archer failed to give a valid reason, and worse yet, he seemed to misunderstand where the point of contention was. It hadn't made Eros any happier that his brother had avoided him for so long over this rather than immediately coming clean, but he had understood it. His littermate had had plenty to be apprehensive of.

"And why the fuck did you do it, Archer?"

His words vibrated with his anger, that sense of betrayal coursing deep throughout his being. Rather than sympathizing, he couldn't help but feel this was something his brother had not only inflicted upon himself, but upon all of them. Selfishly, stupidly, and for what? What the fuck was so goddamned special about her?

Archer Valle

Archer flinched, eyes quickly dropping and ears pressing flat in the face of Eros's anger. He'd seen Eros angry like this before, at their da and Sharlee, but never at him. He'd always thought it would be the two of them against the world - and then the mud brothers happened and he thought it was supposed to be all of them against the world. They'd taken an oath, in addition to the bond they already had by virtue of sharing a womb.

"We didn't plan it!" he defended, taken aback by the sheer accusation in his littermate's voice. "I didn't want to hurt you, or da, or anyone! We were sitting together, and it just... happened!" He needed Eros to understand this, to understand that none of this had been intentional.

[size=x-small]Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

It just happened, he claimed. Eros let out a long, seething breath through his nose, trying to steady himself. There had indeed been a bond between them, strong and deep, and then Kateri had come along and brought with her this subtle insecurity. It had culminated into this. He had wanted to give his closest sibling the benefit of the doubt through all of their shared grief, but this blatant act of disregard for anyone else cemented in Eros' mind that which he had dreaded.

This was why he had come home to no little siblings when he'd left three in Archer's care, why only Asmund was left of their most vulnerable generation, and their father was broken and no one seemed to have confronted @Vayko about where the fuck their mother was; because he'd been too far up Kateri's ass to do his job, to look out for anyone but her. Eros had trusted him and he'd let it all burn down.

Then, on the backs of these immense losses, he made the choice to create his own litter with the expectation of, what? Them to all look the other way and care for the little mistakes in the way he hadn't his own family? If all he wanted was her, why should they shoulder the cost of that with him?

"Bullshit. You knew exactly what you were doing, I'm the one that fucking taught you!"

He'd had his own experiences with intimacy, knew as well as he needed to just how deliberate an act breeding was. He would not accept that this had been an accident.

"You just clearly didn't care!"

(This post was last modified: Mar 25, 2023, 06:01 AM by Eros.)

Archer Valle

Archer genuinely hadn't expected this level of anger from his brother. It rattled him and defensiveness rose up. He didn't want to fight, but he'd thought Eros would react more like Clover had. Having seen his brother's anger before he should have known better - more should haves!

"I knew that but we didn't plan it! You have to understand! When we sat together that's all it was meant to be! Just sitting together! She was gone almost the whole time you were and I was left here to take care of everyone by myself, and I missed both of you, and then Llinnea ran away and our sisters went up the mountain and didn't come back and I'd promised you I'd look after them and I failed!" His volume was rising, bringing his desperation with it. "I just wanted to be with my friend."

And then Eros said that and the desperation turned into anger of his own. "How dare you!" he shouted. "How dare you tell me I don't care when you were the one that left? You weren't even home! Everyone was gone! I lost them too, Eros, and I'm grieving them! All of them! I was starting to think I was going to have to grieve for you! And then Seph, and I thought I'd lost both of you at the same time and I was alone!"

He stopped, panting after his rant, and glared at his brother. I thought we swore to listen to each other's truths, and hear each other out. But I feel like you made your judgement before I even spoke. How is that fair?"

[size=x-small]Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

content warning for eros using disrespectful language toward a woman

Perhaps if Eros had been older, he might have reacted with more empathy. As he was, the teenager could only feel resentment building with each claim Archer made in his own defense. For his persistence on his lack of agency in this, for his giving a different timeline than Eros had heard from others, even for repeatedly calling Kateri 'friend' when she was now carrying his children. The thought made his stomach turn, the young wolf no longer able to understand how their parents had done all of this at their age.

Then he pushed it further, and blamed Eros for leaving, dared to say he was the unfair one. His lids widened while his pupils shrank into dangerous pinpoints, his rage reaching new heights.

"Because there is no truth to make up for this," he seethed through gritted fangs.

"I left to try and find our mother. I left because I trusted you to look out for our family while I looked for her and I come back to find that Uncle-Fucking-Vayko let her get killed or something, Dad can't even speak to me, and I have no baby siblings, just a corpse I get to help bury as my fucking welcome home."

His voice had thickened with each word, until tears were spilling from his eyes. Eyes that would not blink. Eyes that bore into Archer's.

"And you know what I didn't do? I didn't bury my 'grief' in Kateri's vagina!"

(This post was last modified: Mar 25, 2023, 06:45 AM by Eros.)

Archer Valle

Whatever other emotions had been swirling around in Archer, they were quickly vanishing by a wave of rage. This would hurt later, he knew, but right now anger felt better than everything else. He snarled at his brother. "I'm not trying to make up for anything, simply share with you my truth! I thought as my brother you might..." his voice softened a little, the hurt shining through. He didn't want to say 'understand'. Listen, perhaps, but Eros continuing.

And the anger was back, the blinding rage that had Archer standing upright once again. "I took comfort in the company of a friend I care deeply about, and cares deeply about me. I thought you, out of everyone, would have understood at least that, but I guess I was wrong. Kateri and I made a mistake. We're paying for it. I'm telling Da first thing in the morning and guess what? You'll probably never see me again." his anger was covering his fear, but he knew not for long. He turned and stalked away, spitting over his shoulder, "I guess I'll be grieving you too after all."

Now he had to go find his favorite hiding place, the one he hadn't even shown Eros, to wait out the night.

Archer's exit unless stopped

[size=x-small]Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

Forgive and forget, Eros anticipated the end of that abandoned sentence to be. From his point of view, that seemed to be what Archer wanted of him. As much as he would like to be generous in this moment, there were some lines he still would not, could not tolerate being crossed. Even in grief, even as his closest confident, his brother did not get to play hopscotch with those boundaries.

His nostrils flared with every breath as Archer soldiered on, but he was right - Eros did not understand. He had needed comfort too, and he had chosen to seek out his family. To look after their father and his shattered heart, to appreciate the mother they still had, to try and spend time with Archer, and- and he'd had a friend too. Someone who he shared a deep bond with. Someone he could have tried to use physically to temporarily run away from it all. It had never crossed his mind, even with all the hormones in the air. He felt as though they had been in the same predicament and reacted drastically different, and he had no idea why but it all felt as personal as anything could get, even before the anger had risen in their voices.

First thing in the morning wasn't soon enough in his opinion, but Eros didn't want to be the one to cut into their father again. He shook his head, not at any particular word or phrase but at all of it, and then Archer's back was to him and he was leaving. No doubt off to be comforted by Kateri.

"You were also supposed to put your brothers first!" he shouted after him, tears freely falling and voice cracking, "Not stupid girlfriends!"

His voice just echoed, and the yearling was left alone to cry.