Mortis was feeling strange, and lonely today as he padded quietly along the beach, lost in his thoughts. He was feeling… ashamed. Was he the kind of person that could jump from one wolf to another with a backwards glance? First Mal, then Hana, now Hika. He made and lost friends so easily, that the isolation of it started to pitter at him. He missed them, he missed Indigo, and Asla. he had let himself get so lost in the bubble of training, and chores, and friendships, that he had gotten lost and withdrawn from the one sibling that had always been closest to him.

He still saw Asla, it was hard not to, living within the same borders, but it was a quick smile and wave sought of seeing, not an indepths sit down and understanding between kin. He wanted Mal, and Hana, and Asla. he wanted everything and everyone, he wanted love Want, want, want. Was that all he ever thought about?

He glanced out at the ocean with a heavy sigh, his wings hanging limply at his side. He let himself get lost in his pat, of finding a broken bird, and Asla comforting him. Of feeling lost, then and other times, and Asla finding him. Of some of the promises she had whispered to him. You're meant to be here, big brother. Just like the rest of us. You don't bring ruin. To me, you bring comfort, safety, peace. I'd be lost without you.
Why did it feel like with every passing day, he stood a little further apart from those he loved most?

"Speech"

It was by chance that she happened upon Mortis as he sat forlornly on the plain. They saw one another in passing and she always gave him a smile, but they hadn't spoken in depth in a long while. They had their own lives now. Their own interests and friends. It was easy to avoid speaking when you were off doing your own thing. This though, she couldn't ignore this.

Coming up beside her massive winged brother, Aslatiel sat and leaned against him, placing herself within the protective embrace of one large wing. She pressed her cheek against his leg and sighed. "Talk to me, Mort." Her ears were open for him. Maybe she'd talk to him in return.

And just like that, she found. Just like old times, when he used to think she had some weird sixth sense for finding him when he was in one of these moods. Her steps were silent, but he recognised her scent, and then she was beside him, leaning into him. He gently wrapped a wing around her, pulling her in close.

Where to start?

“Mal’s never coming back, is she? I think I hurt Hana, and now I have Hika who sticks close by me. Am I going to hurt and lose him too? Do I drive everyone away? Azure never could stand the sight of me. What if he had the right of it, Asla? Gods. I don’t want to be Heir, I never did. I just wanted to be loved.” and there was the heart of who he was. A boy whose heart broke just a tad too easily. Just like it had when he was a few days free of their mothers den, and holding a broken bird.

"Speech"

She must have been easy to talk to for not even a moment later he was laying it all out on the table. Poor Mort. His emotions often got the best of him. He and Indy were alike in that way. They felt too hard and it was often detrimental.

Once he was done speaking, Asla applied a little pressure with her head, giving him a little neck embrace. Should she be realistic or fully sympathetic? After thinking about it for a moment, she decided to be Asla. "No, Mort. I don't think she's ever coming back. I know you cared for her." But she didn't care enough for you to let you know where she was going. That was what she left unsaid. "As for Hanako..." the girl grinned and nudged her brother gently, reaching up to kiss his cheek. "She's not good enough for you." Or Azure., for that matter. "If you feel bad though, you could apologize."

Hearing Mort add Hikaru into the mix was surprising. Did her brother like boys? It's not like she cared. Asla was attracted to males and females. Maybe they could get into that later. For now, his soul needed soothing. She continued to lean against him but wrapped one slender leg around one of his thick forelegs. "You listen here, Mortis Fatalis. For as long as I live and even after, you'll always be loved. As for being heir, if you don't want it, tell father. I'll go with you if you'd like." She was trying to be supportive, but really she would be going to argue Morts point to their father. Whatever Mort wanted, she would support him.

Asla leaned harder against him, and he leaned lightly against her, appreciating and returning the support. He knew Mal wasn’t ever coming back, but he missed her easy ways. How things had been… easy, with her. He winced when Asla mentioned Hana, saying she wasn’t good enough for him, and that he could always apologise. Asla didn’t think highly of Hana, did she? Keeping that in mind, he decided not to tell her what they had fought about. He didn’t want his sister to think any worse of her. He knew Hana was good people, and his sister was good people too, they just didn’t mix. He wouldn’t add kindling to the fire.

“Asla. I missed this.” he whispered, leaning closer to her. She was ready to be there, no matter. To go to arms for him, if it made him feel even a little better. No matter what, or how much time had passed, she was telling him she would still be there for him. It was something he needed to hear. “I love you sis.” he was silent for a moment, simply appreciating her love, before looking back at her. “Now, I want to hear how you’ve been, what you’ve been up to, and what all has been going on in your life.” he would take this chance to catch up with her with all four paws. He wanted to hear everything.

"Speech"

Mort didn't remark on her comments and she felt like he was holding something back, but what he shared was up to him. She couldn't force things out of him, nor would she want to. He seemed to perk up just the tiniest bit though after her shared words and that was good.

Her brother's words brought a smile to her face and she gave his cheek a kiss again. "I have too. Life has a way of pulling you away with the current, doesn't it?" It had surely done so with her. Rarely did she spend time with Azure these days. She never saw her mother and only occasionally saw her father. As long as they could always reconnect like this though, things would be okay.

Mort confessed his love for her which brought a beaming grin to the cream and grey fae. He then asked for her to tell him about herself. "Ohh.... not a whole lot of good. Things have been tolerable." She tried to decide what to tell him. Azure knew about Indigo, but she didn't know if Mort would understand or accept the situation. "I made a new friend from Ashen. Raijin. He's very nice." She gave Mort a nudge. "I met Hika. He's great." And then on to the negatives. "I really, really miss Indigo. My heart hurts when he's not here." That was putting it mildly.

He nodded vigorously, glad she understood. He wasn’t sure how time seemed to pass him by so easily. But she was here now, and willing to welcome him back into her arms and heart, no matter how long it had been since they last connected. She made it feel… easy, and right.

“I haven’t met Rajin” he admitted, committing the name to memory. It wasn’t often Asla described someone outside of their family as being worth talking to. It was practically a glowing review of the man. Did she… like him?

She mentioned Hika, and he glanced at her again, this time a little more shyly. “Hika is a good sort, isn’t he?” he asked her. Had Asla had a chance to spend some time with the white wolf, and get a sense of him? He was so polite, and often sweet. A little wave of good nature in the muddle of Mort’s life.

“Yeah, it’s hard. I hate any of our family being split apart.” he agreed softly, through it felt like it had been a really long time since he and Indigo had really connected.

"Speech"

"Oh, you might like him. You might not. He's funny and witty and pretty handsome for a fish wolf." She chuckled at her own title for the plethora of koi marked wolves. There had been a drastic influx of their ilk. So far she only liked two of them.

She noted the change in Morts demeanor and tone when she mentioned Hikaru. Mort did like him! "He's very sweet," she admitted. "Respectful. Willing to learn. A good wolf to keep around." Pulling away a bit, Asla narrowed her gaze as she stared hard at Morts profile. "What do you think of him?"

She would wait until he answered her questions about Hika to get more in depth on family. Maybe if he admitted that he had feelings for a bit, she'd admit that she had feeling for their brother.

“Sounds like I’d be honoured to know him” because even if he didn’t, he would. Asla cared for the man. A fish wolf? Ohh… he must be a Koi, like Hottari. Strange, how those folk had started to appear like a flood gate these days. He hoped he would get a chance to meet Rajin and hit it off with the man Asla seemed to speak of fondly.

It was also nice that Asla spoke well of Hika, saying nice things about his new friend. It was a nice change, he had always gotten the feeling that Asla hadn’t liked Mal or Hana. “I.. well…” he stammered over his words, not sure what he wanted to say. “He’s friendly, and he likes to cuddle.” That was who Hika was, right? For some reason he felt like he was swimming in murky waters. “So, Raijin” he said, fending off his confusion with a change of topic “How did you meet him?”

"Speech"

More comments of Raijin were made but Asla was no longer interested in that. She wasn't interested in anything but Morts feelings for Hikaru. She could hear three unsigned in his voice as he spoke of cuddling, then tried to change the subject back to Raijin. Did Mort think she was going to judge him? Others? Constantly. Mort? Never.

"Mortis Fatalis..." she stared at him hard. "You have a crush on Hika." It was a statement. Not a question. She could see it in his indirect gaze. "That's lovely." Coming around front of Mort, she sat on her haunches and placed a tiny paw on either big cheek. "I love you and I would never judge you for anything. I just want you to be happy, big brother." Eyes crinkling at the corners, she smiled up at the winged softie.

“What?” he flushed, pausing, caught off guard by her words. What did she mean, a crush? He’d always had strong feelings for his friends, for Mal, for Hana, for Hika too. It wasn’t the kind of love that Zee and Sirius had. He just… appreciated them.

He couldn’t quite meet Asla’s eyes as she moved herself in front of him and placed a paw on his check. “I love you too, Asla. but it’s not like that. Hika’s just.. A friend. He’s a guy, a friend who's a guy. A guy friend.” it wasn’t that man to a woman kind of love that Asla seemed to think it was. Hika was… a guy. Not one that he had known that long, either. He had obviously given Asla the wrong impression with his words, and now he was mentally flailing. Wishing she had taken the bait of a change of conversation

"Speech"

Ahhh, so maybe he hadn't come to terms with his feelings yet. Not everyone could be as adept at emotions as she was and she wouldn't rush him. His explanation and nervousness made her release his cheeks, but she still smiled. "Whatever you say." Asla sank down onto her belly and flicked a little stone with one claw. "Did you know that I'm attracted to both guys and girls?" He probably didn't. No one really paid attention to her business. She wasn't quite ready to tell him about Indy just yet. With Az it had been easy. This was a little harder.

"Back to Raijin, I suppose. He came to visit the Armada and we had a nice talk. Even though he's one of those fish wolves, he's not stuffy at all. He's easy to talk to and we have a lot in common. I'm going to be visiting him soon." The girl gave a stretch. "Other than Naiche, I'm a little lacking in the friend department. Especially since Basilisk and Kaiser have been absent."

Phew. He was glad when she didn’t push. He didn’t want to look too closely at just how flustered it had made him feel. She then did change the conversation - moving on to one of his favourite topics, Asla. In a truly hypocritical fashion, Mortis grinned, and thought absolutely nothing strange of his sister liking girls. He loved Asla too much to ever blink twice about it. “Have you seen any girls that made you look twice?” he wanted to know.

“He sounds awesome, I hope I get a chance to meet him soon. Naiche is a good sort, he’s helped me out of a bind a time or two.” He admitted. “How about I share Hika’s friendship, and you share Raijin’s” he teased.

"Speech"

Asla was thankful to see the grin on his face once more. He questioned her and she chuckled, giving a little stretch and sitting up again. "Oh, no one that has really wowed me. Your little friend Siren was very pretty." She robbed where the girl had gone to but just assumed that she'd gone home to Ashen. "Other than that, I know that I appreciate the female form." She stretched one brow and looked to the sky as if trying to remember. "I think I kissed Kaizer." Or was it some other girl that she'd kissed? Who knew?

"Naiche is great," she admitted. "He's been there for me a few times but I'm not sure if it's out of desire or guilt." There was humor in her tones. She'd broken her leg saving Naiche's life, afterall.

His teasing was lost on Asla. "Mort, I'd share just about anything with you." And it was true. She loved her brothers. If they ever needed her, they had but to call. All three of them.