Bane wagged his tail at Tahlia's complement regarding his caught prey as he stepped up to her. Water misted away from his nose in a delighted breath, wanting to say his thanks but inhibited. She drew forward, Bane almost dropping the fish as his mate didn't take it, but rather beginning to caress his muzzle with her tongue. Hazel eyes slid closed, a rumble surfacing up from within his chest. The one she loved so much. The fluttering in his chest continued to build up as she ventured down his neck, a whine leaving him at what she said next. Yes. He did take the river with him. It was all theirs in a place seemingly made for the two of then. Bane relinquished the trout when she made a grab for it, sitting on his rump as he watched his mate feed. Here they could be by themselves. Share the passion that couldn't be diminished in a place where they could rest and love for an eternity. He turned and watched his mate feed, settling down beside her. "Tahlia when you're done do you want me to show you where we can wait?" Bane settled his neck across hers, letting out a sigh of contentment.

Walk | Talk | Think

He gave up the fish, but not before offering her one of the growls that she enjoyed hearing from him so much. As it had been her intent, she smiled as she took the fish from him, a glimmer within her dark golden eyes, and lowered her head to set it on the ground. A paw was placed carefully atop it to hold it still as she fed, though before she bit into it she stopped, stared. Was she even hungry? Not exactly. How did this world work compared to the one that she had vacated? Would everything continue to feel sort of dream-like or would it eventually become the norm for her?

Because Bane was there and watching, she pushed the thoughts aside and bit into the trout, making herself eat in an attempt to fully immerse herself in her new surroundings. At least it still tasted good, though she wondered how much of that was part of her imagination and how much of it was actually the world influencing her. She licked at her lips between bites and felt her husband drape his neck across her own, his closeness momentarily distracting her from her meal. To think that she had been without him for a while...and was reunited with him now. It was so unimaginably strange. "Wait?" she questioned, failing to follow what he meant. But, even then, not understanding made no difference. She glanced at the partly eaten trout at her paws as she licked her lips once more and turned her head to try peering at Bane from the corner of her eye, "We could go now, if it would be preferable."

Bane wondered if Tahlia thought that eating here in the after life was as strange as when he had initially ate a fish from the river. To him it had been a nervous venture. Catching a fish in his current situation had been an activity filled with caution, as well as a host of unknowns. But he had done it, and it filled out the days spent here. Bane let out a sigh and cleared his throat as Tahlia finished, a somber laugh given at Tahlia's question.

Bane drew back and nosed her cheek with a small kiss. Even as he drew himself way and stopped a short ways away to look back and see if she was following. An overwhelming sense of calm overcame him as he led Tahlia through the grass along the stream towards the hill a few moments walk away. The tree leaves rustled in the breeze as he came upon the dug up earth of the oversized den he had made for himself. Now Tahlia was here and with him. "Wait for our offspring Tahlia." Bane spoke, a somber vocalization but also a truth. One day everyone they had left behind could all be together here with them. "We can wait here. And we'll have all the time in the world for it." Bane leaned forward and gave a kiss on his mate's lips, the flick of a tongue against her teeth. Forelegs wrapped around his mate's neck, his chest brushing up against Tahlia's as he sought to lay her on the bed of leaves. He had saved a few kisses for her in the time they were apart, the old male planning on entertaining her for an eternity.

-End Bane-

Walk | Talk | Think

She could practically feel the quick laugh that her husband made while leaned against her, though she did not yet understand it. Still with her gaze fixed toward him, she watched as he drew back enough to offer her cheek a kiss - savoring how real it felt with a momentary closing of her dark golden eyes - and began to walk away with a look that indicated she was to follow. Obligingly, with a curious sort of smile, Tahlia left the remnants of the fish and padded after him, falling into step as he led them through the trees alongside the river and upward along the rise, the whole area striking a familiar cord for her the further they went. How was it that this placed resembled their riverside home so much? It baffled her completely.

Her eyes continued to wander about, searching for differences, searching for signs and markers that she remembered, but stopped and stared at the den Bane brought her to. As he told her that they would wait here, wait for the arrival of their children when their time came, she turned her head and stared at him, her expression touched by pain. Still she hated herself for abandoning her children when they needed her the most, especially the poor child - her son - that she had been carrying at the time. But she was gone from them now and nothing could change what had happened. She could only hope and pray that they would forgive her as her husband had.

Blinking back a few tears, she was grateful that she had Bane with her to make the transition easier, to fill the hole in her heart that had been left empty with his passing. She felt almost complete again, tarnished only now by the absence of her children, but in time - many, many years from now, she hoped - she would see them again too. Her husband kissed her, and as his tongue passed her lips her own reached out to brush it. Paws wrapped around her, bringing her gently to the ground, and Tahlia signed contentedly, ready to spent the rest of eternity waiting with her husband.

-End Thread-