She felt bad. Really bad. Iolaire hadn't spoken to Sirius since their argument. She hadn't even seen him since then. She'd made it a point to stay well away from the oasis. Being on her own, however, made her mind wander. She tried to keep herself busy, but you couldn't be busy ever minute of the day. When she wasn't busy, she thought. Too much. Eventually, she thought herself into a state of depression. Dammit. Iolaire realized that she was partially in the wrong. Not completely, mind you, but partially. This was Sirius' rodeo. Not hers. He called the shots. He made the decisions. She just had to be a good lackey and carry them out. Ah, but it was so hard... She knew that she could help. Knew that she could win favor from the other packs with her charm, wit and skills. He hadn't liked that plan and she should have just said okay. Should have just agreed. She didn't. So now... now she had to apologize. Great. Light was waning and night was taking hold. Ever her time to be on the prowl. It would be easier to apologize at night. Then he wouldn't be able to see the hurt and shame in her eyes. Padding towards the area that he had claimed as a temporary base, Io's eyes instantly fell upon the hulking figure. He was resting, as he should be. She could see the shine of his eyes and knew that he wasn't asleep. Ears flat to her skull and posture sagging, the tiny wolf moved forward. Without a word of greeting she sat beside him and pressed the front of her face flat against the thick ruff of his neck, effectively hiding her features from view. "I'm sorry," she spoke softly, barely above a whisper. And that was it. She was content to sit in silence until he either accepted her apology or sent her away. Entirely a possibility if he was still angry with her. "Speech"

He settled outside his den, enjoying the cool night air on his sore muscles. He had begun to introduce daily exercises to his morning, both on his healing leg, and his other three. He didn’t want his muscles to atrophy well he was forced to wait and heal. His leg was beginning to take small amounts of weight, and he was hopeful that he would be up and about, business as usual, very soon. He heard the approach of the small healer, and he winced as he considered his state of mind the last time they had spoken. With Zee not talking to him, his wound still fresh, the bastard had refused to listen to reason in any form. He could hardly expect Io to know him well enough to realise ‘seeking aid’ was not something he did, so losing his cool with her had hardly been reasonable. She sat beside him, body posture submissive as she pushed her head into the ruff of his neck. He looked down upon the woman as she pushed herself into his coat like this, and a soft rumble started in his chest. He couldn’t quite decide if he was annoyed at her or not. On one hand, she was Io, she was family. On the other, she had slept with his Empress. Sirius wasn’t one to share, and that meant sharing Io, or Deathbelle. He had forgiven Death, because she was his Empress, his friend, and he knew that she was miserable. He sighed softly, and rested a paw against her side. He was silent for a moment, her words on the alliances forgiven. She hadn’t gone behind his back and sought them regardless, so there was nothing to forgive. They had just been two moody wolves, but… “Did it have to be Deathbelle?” "Speech"

He accepted her touch and even went so far as to embrace her in return. The tension and pain within Iolaire lessened at that. It seemed as though he forgave her. For their argument, at least. The giant spoke and Iolaire sighed softly into his ruff. She pulled back and looked to his face, her gold and green eyes hiding nothing. "She needed me, Sirius. Honestly needed me." The woman gave a shake of her skull. "She was so sad that night. I offered her companionship but she needed something more. In the morning, she was changed. She smiled. Genuinely smiled. A weight had been lifted from her." How could she explain that she hadn't done it to hurt him? It hadn't even been her plan. Again she would apologize. "I'm sorry if this hurts you, but I'm not sorry for what I did. She's... something special. I'm glad that I could be the one to help her begin to live again." She was also glad that she had been the one and Belle hadn't been thrust into the arms of some lustful brute. Io knew how it was sometimes when you felt that itch. Any hole in a pinch, as they said. Pulling back from Sirius, Iolaire sighed and kneaded the area between her brows. She hadn't been sleeping again and it was beginning to show. The woman was a little thinner. Her eyes held a strange glaze. When the whites showed, they were bloodshot. Like him, she wasn't a fan of sleeping droughts and so she rarely took anything for her insomnia. She would live though. Always did. "How is your leg feeling?" If he had been resting, it shouldn't take him terribly long to heal. At least to heal enough to walk upon the leg. The bone would not be back to its rightful strength for some time and he would have to take care not to injure it further. Nosing into her pack, she brought him a gift. On her way to him, she'd happened upon a pair of sparring rabbits. Both of which were now dead and waiting to be eaten. Placing the larger of the rabbits before him, she took the second and placed it between her own front paws though, at the moment she'd rather use it as a pillow than eat it. "Speech"

He frowned heavily at her words, not because it spoke of Deathbelles happiness, but because he thought he detected a devotion he did not expect in them. He wasn’t sure he was prepared to give up his Sister and his Childhood friend to each other. One night was bad enough. He rumbled again, looking into the distance as he spoke. “I told you my difficult history with her. Did you stop to think how complicated this would make things?” you were mine he thought, feeling more than a little disgruntled. Already he thought of her leaving him for Deathbelles pack. “It’s getting there’ he said noncommittally. No point telling the healer he had been and would push it until it could support him. She pulled out some rabbits, and his stomach gurgled hungrily. He hadn’t been able to hunt, and he had been lending out Marshal and Bast to add to the packs stores. It had meant there was little for the large titan to eat, and he was definitely starving. “Just because you know the way to a man's heart.” he grumbled, as he took the offered rabbit, nosing it to the side for a moment. It didn’t miss his attention, how tired she looked. “Why don’t you catch a few minutes rest? I’ll keep you safe” he promised, indicating for her to take his paw as a pillow. "Speech"

He accused her of being thoughtless and she visibly winced, drawing back slightly. She had thought of the repercussions.  She also thought of the promise that she'd made to him to help the woman heal. "I most certainly did," she replied, her brows furrowing as she spoke. "She was crying and she was cold..." Iolaire gestured a bit, trying to explain the whole situation while also not really needing to justify her actions. "It was what she needed. What we both needed, actually." The woman sighed again and dropped back onto her haunches. How could he understand? He admitted that his leg was getting better and she was glad to hear it. Being left on his own, she imagined that he might do all sorts of bad things to it but she hoped that he had taken her advice to rest and heal. When she gave him the rabbit, he made a comment and she gave a low chuckle. "You're the only man who's heart I want, you big lug." Another yawn tore through her immediately after her statement. So quickly that she hadn't even been able to laugh at her own joke. Sirius suggested that she take a nap and the little viper grumbled slightly. Io rose to her paws taking her rabbit between tiny jaws. She placed it atop the other rabbit beside Sirius before moving to throw herself unceremoniously against his side. Rather than take his paw as a pillow, she simply curled into a tiny black white and grey ball beside him. He would need those paws to eat the rabbits that she'd caught. "Just a small nap, maybe." Another yawn ended in a slight squeak. "Eat them both. I'm not even hungry." He was the reason that she could sleep. Sirius meant safety. He meant comfort. She never wanted to be away from him again. In moments, the small wolf was asleep.

His first thought almost found its way to his lips in a scathing retort I guess I'm accustomed to wolves with more restraint but some part of him must have realised how foolish and unhelpful a thing it was to say. He considered his own restraints, how often he had kept himself apart from Death because he believed it to be the right thing to do. Or how, when he began to fall in love with Zee, he made no move on her until after he had spoken to Deathbelle. He had treated the Empress with nothing but respect. It was too much to hope that his newest recruit would do the same with him, they hadn’t known each other long enough to instal that kind of respect. Still, it hurt, and her thoughtless would have repercussions, but he sighed, and pushed it aside for now. He still loved his little adopted sister, and couldn’t stay mad at her for long. They had already held anger at each other for too long after their disagreement, and he wasn’t about to push her away again. She tossed the second rabbit at him, and curled up against his side. He moved his back legs to cup slightly around her, keeping her in the protective embrace of his arms. Bast, who had been watching from the shadows, slunk forward and curled up on the other side of Io, sandwiching her between the two. With a purr starting in her chest, the cat curled her head into Io’s neck ruff and went to sleep. Sirius quietly began to tear away at the rabbits she had left him, his hunger causing him to salivate. Still, he kept his motions and noise muted so as not to disturb the sleeping wolf. "Speech"

The warmth of the giant and his cat was overwhelming. It was like being a child again with siblings on either side. Iolaire slept what felt like an eternity. Her usual sleep was shattered and broken. A few minutes here. An hour there. Not this sleep though. When she woke, she felt genuinely rested. It seemed as though she hadn't even been asleep all that long. She could still smell the blood of the rabbits thick in the air. As sleep drifted away from her mind, she noted the body on the other side of her and turned her head ever so slightly to see Bast curled up beside her. Io had a fondness for the big cat and was glad to have her close. Io then turned her gaze towards Sirius. Her voice was soft and quiet when she spoke lest she rouse the sleeping feline. "Thank you." The woman spoke from her curled position, head upon the tip of her thick, snow dipped tail. "You, this cat and that bird are the closest thing I've had to family for most of my life." Even her mother didn't feel like family. There was too much of a chasm between them to ever bridge, she imagined. "You have my absolute loyalty. I'll never leave your side unless you ask me to." She gave a soft chuckle. "And even then you might have to make me leave by force." She could have slept a ton more, but she didn't want to impose. With a yawn, Io began pulling herself to her paws. "I should let you get back to recuperating. " "Speech"

Io slept, her breathing turning gentle, and her chest rising and falling with the gentle rhythm of it. He watched her for a moment, smiling at the gentleness of her features, softened in sleep. She was taking a lot onto herself, he knew. Worrying about Deathbelles pack and his own. He was adding to them, with his selfish desire to keep her for himself, but he couldn’t help his nature. Only reign it in a little so it didn’t upset her too terribly. He turned his attention from her, not wanting to disturb her sleep, and with the rabbits eaten, settled his head on his paw, looking out into the world beyond his den, the tall, thin trees of the Oasis taking up much of his view. He breathed in slow and steady himself, placing himself into a meditative state. He would not sleep with Io beside him, but he could still rest easy, knowing at least one of the wolves of his heart was safe and close. He pulled himself from his partial rest when she awoke, quick to get to her feet, disturbing his own restful state. He looked to her, and knew little time had passed. “Stay” he said quietly, as she tried to sneak away, as though she was disturbing him. No, her presence brought him peace, no matter what he thought on Deathbelle. “I’m glad to hear you would stay with my pack. I do believe I told you when we first met, I would always fight to keep you mine” his lip turned in a wry smile, she could take it as a threat or devotion as she pleased. "Speech"

Sirius asked her to stay and Io stayed where she stood. "You seemed like you were ready to sleep yourself. I don't want to keep you awake." She knew that he would try to stay awake as long as she slept beside him out of fear that he might harm her. Iolaire didn't have that fear, but as long as he did, she wouldn't press him. His words about keeping her brought a chuckle from the little wolf. "I'll save you the trouble. You won't have to fight anyone. I'm not going anywhere. Promise." Io sat again, wiggling herself in between her brother and Bast. "You're stuck with me, Big Guy." Again she curled up between them, enjoying the thick, plush fur of the leopard. Her mind instantly thought that the cat would make a great coat, but she brushed the thought away. She liked Bast too much to think seriously on it. "What are you thinking about?" She asked after a long silence. The deep rumble of his voice was soothing. She almost asked him to tell her a story, but thought that he might balk at the request. "Speech"

He didn’t have to push her to keep her company, she settled in between him and Bast again, and the sleepy leopard stuck her head back in the small wolf’s coat. “I've slept enough in the last few days, if anything it's your turn” He commented. He felt her chuckle in her chest, and he smiled at his sweet little sister, his Vipress. “That’s good, I would hate to jostle my broken leg and rile up my healer” he teased her softly. He was definitely in a better mood then the last time they had spoken. It helped he supposed that Zee was talking to him again, that Deathbelle had visited. Still, he regretted pushing Io away, no matter how foul his temper had been. He fell silent, and she let it keep for a moment, just enjoying each other's company, before she spoke, seeking out his thoughts. He gave a dry laugh. “Just wondering what i’ll do next that’ll drive Zee away, and how many times will do it before I lose her.” he fell silent a moment, before shaking his head, pulling himself from the spiral of thoughts. “And you, Little Sister, how are you? Your looking a little worn” "Speech"

Her turn to sleep, was it? If she could. She would try, but she always tried. One foreleg moved upwards and she rubbed her face against it as if trying to rub the sleep from her eyes. Life would be a lot easier if she didn't have to sleep. Then she wouldn't have very many problems at all. Curling her neck to the side, she fixed one dull eye upon her sibling, lid at half mast. At first she wasn't sure if he was going to answer, but he did and the answer wasn't a good one. Io frowned slightly and continued to listen. Did he think he would permanently push Zee away? She hoped not, although she didn't know the woman well enough yet to say.  She liked to think that the pair could get through anything, seeing as how their starts in life had been so rocky. Sirius then went on to say that she looked like shit, basically. Iolaire laughed aloud, but quietly so as not to wake the sleeping leopard. "Worn is one word for it. Exhausted another." That single visible eye rolled up to look at the giant once more. "I've suffered from bouts of severe insomnia for years. I've thought about it often and I think it started once I learned that my father was hunting and murdering my brothers." The constant need to be alert and her hypersensitivity to danger back then had shorted out her sleep cycle. She no longer slept like a normal wolf should. "It's always the same cycle: Don't sleep for days, snap, sleep for a few days straight, go back to normal." Iolaire stretched a bit and curled herself tighter. "I'll be fine. Back to normal before you know it." "Speech"

He looked at his little sister, expression watchful concerned as she admitted to being exhausted more than worn. She looked it, but she seemed so put together and certain, so it was difficult to see the underlying mess behind her gentle, watchful eyes. He nudged her gently with his snout, easily enough with her curled up between himself and Bast.

He growled softly at the reminder of her murdering father, and how this was part of the reason she could not sleep. In that moment, he hated his inability to sleep without hurting those around him. “How about I make a third branch in my den, you and Bast can sleep there?’ he suggested softly. He couldn’t offer himself, but it hadn’t passed his notice how his little sister and cat companion had bonded. His eyes upon her were gentle, any of moodiness, or bastardly personality melted away. He genuinely cared for the wolf beside him.

“If I can do anything to make it easier for you, just let me know. For now, how about see if you can get some more shut eye?” he asked gently, nuzzling her again, before starting a slow, rhythmic grooming of her fur behind her ears, in the hope the gentle massage might lull her into sleep.

Sirius suggested an addition to his den where she might sleep and the tired woman shook her head. "It would make you uncomfortable." He worried about harming those near him. She didn't want him to lose sleep just because she was losing sleep. Iolaire gave a soft chuckle. "I wouldn't mind borrowing Bast to sleep with, but I won't invade your den." She would be nearby though. She always was. The giant really was too nice to her. He offered whatever aid he could manage and it touched Iolaire like he wouldn't believe. She'd had a hard life despite being only three. Everything that she had, she took herself. Having someone else care for her was foreign, but not entirely unwelcome. She was, however, still very intent on being self sufficient. She... Oh. Sirius began lightly grooming her. The action was so soothing that she lost her train of thought entirely. Head still resting prone upon her paws, Io closed her eyes. Instantly her mind started racing. She squeezed those eyes shut and tried hard to focus on the grooming. In the end, however, sleep would refuse to find her. "Speech"