That all-too familiar warmth rose in my cheeks again while I admired his features. He had a high cheekbones and a strong nose, though it looked a little bent - quite possibly broken. His cheeks were still shallow, but his jaw was a bit soft as opposed to rigid or jutting, and he… well, he had rather beautiful lips, I had to admit. I of course couldn’t make out his eyes, but I began wondering what shade they might be to compliment the color and texture of his mouth… overall, the man had an incredibly decent set of features, neither too masculine nor overly feminine.
I realized I was fawning slightly over him - but Luna, it was difficult not to! Still, I managed to tear my eyes and hands away from him long enough to stand up and brush myself off. There was much work to do today, and I would have to head back to my own tent before starting any of it. Besides, better to let him sleep now when he clearly needed it so
The rapid sequence of images, sounds and feelings continued, unabated: *Then the first one stopped coming at all. Several warmlights passed. Then several more. I had eaten through all of the stuffs he had brought me, even though the last ones had tasted wrong, kind of like the second him had smelled. *Then, one time… *There were many sounds, now. But this time they came when the warmlight was missing, and they woke me from my sleep. They were all loud and mean and up above. I smelled the second him among them, and I recognized his sounds because they were the loudest. I made my own sounds as loud as I could, and this time I really tried to be nice about it. I tried to say I was sorry for making sounds at him the last time, and maybe if he forgave me he could bring me more tasty stuffs. The sounds up above w
"So you’re telling me he somehow managed to… transpose, I guess, a lifetime’s worth of memories onto you?” I nodded serenely, feeling proud of myself for all that I’d accomplished already that day. It was early afternoon. Surry and I sat a short distance from the entrance to the young man’s tent; we had borrowed a wooden chair from each of our tents respectively, and now sat together over the grass, discussing the events of this morning. There was a lot to discuss. Thankfully though, for once, it didn’t carry the same pressure as warding off another abusive male, or tending to an infected wound, or… I don't know, as scaling a heavily sap-coated tree trunk to reclaim the clothes that blew off Saro’s line? Because that was also a thing that had happened recently. Carta had been the one to climb it, at least, and alright, maybe that one hadn’t been such an emergency. But you’d never have
I recognized the one behind the stall as Placis, a wolf whom I liked. Placis’s shaved head was still an artwork of purple and blue colored streaks; it had been that way since the day Tando had left the Pack. At any other time I would have stopped, as I often did, to admire the artistic identity painted there for all to see. All of the noises ceased as I stepped forward. Two sets of features swung in my direction; two pairs of eyes widened. Placis’s quickly dropped to the ground while Courtning looked to the side, clearly still angry over whatever all had happened. I stopped right beside the food stall and folded my arms, looking from one face to the other, until both sets of eyes met the ground and then climbed their way back to my own, looking slightly more ashamed of themselves. I thought about softening my own looks, but decided that now was not the time. A shouting
Taking a shaky breath, I looked across the stand to the other wolf. It saddened me that this was the best apology Placis was going to get right now, even though it hadn’t actually been directed at them. “I’m so sorry, Placis. As your Alpha, I am truly sorry this happened.” I looked down at Courtning. “It won’t happen again.” 'Liar' I told myself. 'You can’t promise that.' The lavender-scalped wolf shook their head as if to clear it. “I… Yes. Thank you, Ray… Alpha.” Placis hesitated, staring at the unused grill between us. “I’m sorry, I think I need to go be by myself for a while. I… the steaks still need to be cooked. Will that be alright?” I nodded, relieved at the straightforward answer. “Someone else will come over to cook this meat. We’ll save you some. Please do
I hummed while I raised the flap, intent on sitting behind my desk for a while and writing for the fun of it. Maybe today I would spend even more time doing that. I stopped myself right after I entered, however, as I suddenly remembered what was still the most exciting thing of the day; the young male, presumably still resting in the tent practically next door to mine. He would be thirsty, wouldn’t he? And probably quite hungry - Stars. How could I forget such an important thing?! My jubilation didn’t quite fade as I moved over to the desk and frantically sought pen and paper, but I did feel somewhat foolish. 'What a terrible host you are' I chided myself. Finding the necessary writing implements, I sat down to prepare a list of things to have on hand for him while he settled in. Bagged or bottled water, first of all. F
The boy’s eyes were wide he hung on for dear life. He had sunk his unshifted teeth into Tando’s skin - which is to say, not even a little bit. Yet the hulking male was rampaging around the tent as if in a fever dream, seeming to struggle to realize his surroundings. One moment he looked confused, startled to see familiar objects next to him - then in the very next one he was lost again, battling invisible demons. He seemed almost oblivious to the small Shifter hanging from his arm, unsurprisingly. I snapped myself back to the reality at hand. Gritting my teeth, I called out for my Beta a second time. THIS time she responded with a hasty *we’re coming, Alpha!* Satisfied, I began rapidly to assess the situation. I was not currently in any shape to jump in and attack the titan before me. But so long as I didn’t do something, the odds of m
We hauled the unconscious Tando out of the wreckage, almost every Packmember looking to have some part in the process. I mostly sat by and watched. Surry and Rufias refused to leave my side for even a moment, as I resigned myself to the same nanny-ing for the rest of the day, and probably for the next few. Surry’s jaw was tight while she gently poked and massaged around my throat, drawing the occasion wince from me and an accompanying growl from Rufias. I wasn’t sure if he made them out of sympathy or as a warning to stay still - but either way, I was grateful to them for worrying over me, I honestly was. That didn’t stop me from slapping Surry’s hand away once or twice if she started to annoy me. “Hold still” she scolded me repeatedly. “This might still be worse than it looks. I have no way to tell what’s happening inside, yet. Hopefully it’ll just be swellin
All eyes flew to me as I pronounced that name. “Cillium” I repeated. “That is your name now. Cillium.” Rufias was nodding slowly, a half smile playing on his lips. Surry simply looked confused. But I was certain: THIS was the name that he was meant to have. A soft wind flowed between us as Cillium stared at me. There was no way be sure if he even realized what had just transpired, but I felt in my gut that he knew. His eyes were wide and unblinking. How could someone look so confused, so lost, and yet… look so certain of his place? He’d been with us for less than two days now, but his expression told me that he already felt at home here. That he trusted me enough to give him something as important as a name. “Sss” he said. “Ssss…”