He had begun to think that he'd never manage to coax the inebriated Lirim wolf away from Jupiter Imperialis' 'party' unmolested, but he'd finally gotten her far enough away from the pretty lights and laughter and distractions that he could keep her from wandering off, only to realize that she was drunk enough that if he sent her home alone in this condition she was going to either lose her virginity or fall into a ravine long before she got there. So with a sigh he bid farewell to his mission, hoped Fel and Iroh weren't too drunk that he couldn't get information from them later, and hoisted the little woman up onto his back, steeling himself for a long walk with her heat scent constantly coating him and doubtless coaxing all manner of males to come by and challenge him for her. Exhausting. It was a good thing he knew Lirim's whereabouts, because if he depended on his rider to navigate him he'd be walking in a circle all night until she was sober enough to find the way - and then the hangover would probably prevent that anyway. He was able to reach Lirim's borders without undue incident, though his muscles ached from a strain that they were unaccustomed to as he didn't generally carry any more weight than his armor now that the pups were grown. He hesitated, considered just dumping her there and taking off so he didn't have to deal with Torin's bias again, but rejected the idea with a sigh. If he dumped her there drunk as a skunk and stinking of heat, sex, and... well... him, Torin was obviously just going to assume the worst and cause issues for Aerie. Better to stay and deal with him face to face. "Miss Valentine," he said softly, coming to a careful halt at the border so that she wouldn't unbalance, "We're here. We should call for your father so he can help you home." "Speak" "Listen" Think

By the time Eli had convinced her away from Iroh's fire, Aryn's paws were already forgetting in which order they should move to properly walk. Perhaps she'd had just slightly too much to drink for her first time, though already the evening was beginning to blur together enough that no regret had managed to quite catch hold yet. Tomorrow would be a different story if she managed to remember her evening with Iroh and how close she came to giving away her innocence.

Eli's back might as well have been a soft pillow of grass for all she knew and Aryn melted into it with a very happy sigh of pleasure. Her muzzle found itself a little nook beside his shoulderblade where she could rest it comfortably but still see out to where he was going, and she barely moved it from it's perch even when she spoke to attempt to direct him.

When he came to a stop she pushed into his fur further, the familiarity to the land sending a tickle of worry down her spine. Oh, no. "Is it too late to change my mind, maybe we should go back." She had allowed herself to be consumed with thoughts of her comfortable den, precious sleep and tasty food.. it wasn't until she scented him that she remembered her father and how he might react to this. There was no need to call for the worried father, not when his scent warned her that he was already close. "Tell him im not here." Aryn muttered, refusing to dismount and instead hiding her face behind Eli's neck.

To say that Torin didn't immediately hone in on the scent of the other alpha near his borders would have been a lie. Especially as he realized it was mingled with the scent of his daughter, alcohol and sex. Oooooh that he immediately zeroed in on. Quicker than he usually did Torin trotted towards the border. He pulled up before the black and gold alpha, a little closer than might be polite but his gaze was hard and he took a moment to look over the scene before him, his daughter's limbs draped conspicuously off the man's back and if he hadn't seen his daughter quickly ducking her head as if to hide from him, he might have been worried she wasn't exactly... alive... "Aryn Valentine." Torin said, in that way that only a parent can make their child's name sound like a threat. "Care to tell me what happened?" He slid his gaze towards Eli, his mind already starting to piece together that it was likely his daughter had only made it here because of the alpha and offered him a grudging nod, his gaze softened by a minor incrament. "Silent Treatment" & Deep thoughts

Image by Hagon

Aryn grumbled and hid her face into his shoulder and Eligos carefully didn't sigh, though he wanted to. "I'm afraid it is. We've come a long way to get you home." Frankly, he was tired, he'd gotten nothing out of the gathering of interest before he'd left, and he could only hope that his young cousin hadn't moved on from almost impregnating Aryn to actually impregnating another random female. Aryn hadn't been the only female to be sporting eau de heat like a banner over their head saying 'please fuck me' and he'd spent a great deal of the trip here worrying about whether there were more bastard Abraxas offspring running around he needed to worry about. At the rate they were cropping up he'd be tripping over them every time he left the pack lands.

His eyes immediately cut to Torin as the other alpha approached, and he shifted his weight, unconsciously moving to keep himself somewhat between Torin and Aryn, keeping himself facing the other alpha. Which was silly, because Torin was Aryn's alpha and had every right to her, and also wasn't going to hurt her anyway because well Lirim, and also also Eligos didn't actually care about the girl so why was he making the effort to protect her from something that surely was more a threat to him than to her. He made himself stop, and returned Torin's glance with a bland, expressionless one of his own. "She says she's not here," came out of his mouth unbidden, in the driest of tones. Well, that didn't happen often.

Aryn continued to hide to the very best of her ability, only burrowing further into Eli's fur as her father's disappointed tone broke through the night air. Torin wasn't going to believe Eli's message, and she definitely didn't want to get the man in any trouble with her alpha. Worse yet would be refusing to move and needing her father to drag her off his back and into the territory. She considered her options quietly, before heaving a sigh and reluctantly sliding off Eli's back and depositing herself onto the ground with as much grace as she could muster. "Hi dad." Aryn mumbled her greeting. The willows were spinning now and she squeezed her eyes shut, splaying her legs to try and stop the sensation. Torin had asked a quite clear question, but whether it was the drunkenness that had her ignore it or the fact that she wasn't about to admit where she'd been, the Valentine girl let it pass by. "This is Eligos. Eli, Torin." She'd have done some vague gesturing with her paw, but she wasn't convinced that three of them could hold her steady in that moment. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Torin had to fight to keep his slight amusement from his face as his daughter deposited herself onto the ground, he glanced at Eligos again as Aryn introduced him. "We've met." He said, offering the other alpha a curt nod. He moved towards Eligos, casting a glance at his daughter. "So are you going to tell me what happened or am I going to have to ask your ride home?" He narrowed his eyes at his daughter slightly, before looking up at Eligos again, his face less stern as he did so. The last thing he wanted right now was to antagonize the only wolf who might actually clarify what happened. "Silent Treatment" & Deep thoughts

Image by Hagon

When Eligos felt Aryn begin to slide from his back, he crouched obligingly to lessen the effort for her to reach the ground from his height, then stood over her protectively as she stood splay-legged. She introduced him and her father, and Eligos tilted his head in ironic acknowledgement as Torin stated that they'd already met. "Indeed," he said flatly, without elaborating. Torin's accusations against the Abraxas family still irritated him like a burr beneath his skin all this time later, but Eligos kept a neutral expression. When Torin reiterated his question about what she'd been up to, Eligos stirred. Better to answer himself, and not risk Aryn, drunk as she was, from mentioning anything untoward in her uninhibited frame of mind. "Fireside hosted a gathering to celebrate the upcoming marriage of one of their members," he said smoothly, telling enough of the truth and no more than that. "There was alcohol provided, and it was perhaps a bit stronger than expected. As the hosts were busy with their own duties, I assisted Miss Valentine home." Torin certainly had no need to know that the duties Valentine and Tyrian Imperialis were busy fulfilling were in the nature of sexual endeavors. Hopefully Aryn had the sense - or lack of coherence - to not fill in any of the holes in the story he'd deliberately left empty.

Aryn's focus was returned as her father and Eli both affirmed they'd already met, and she looked back and forth between the men wondering why they didn't appear to be on better terms. Whatever the reason, her question faded to the distraction of Eli very smoothly explaining the story in the least father-upsetting-way possible. It was quite impressive, and Aryn nodded firmly to confirm every word he said to protective Torin. Even drunk as she was, she knew the alpha would likely want to hear something from her mouth too and so she tried to follow Eli's lead with lying her paws off to downplay the situation. "There was no sex at the party at all." She deadpanned. "Absolutely none." Situation resolved. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."