Reluctant patience

Zee was a sight for sore eyes, as she moved into the den, muzzle first, antlers clearing under the lofty roof he had built for his own considerable height. The blue of her gaze met him in the soft lighting of the den, and his expression instantly began to smooth at the soothing sight of her.

Knowing his eagerness for news, she told him to wait a moment and he, with amused reluctance, shuffled his weight into his rump as he left a spot beside him if she wished to sit near him. Both his legs, the sprained and the broken, were feeling considerably better today. He had motion back in both of them, and well the broken one still felt weak, he knew it would strengthen in time and wouldn’t be slowing him down for long.

Zee came up beside her as he expected her to, and rested her head on his paw. She looked warn, he realized, looking down at her soft, drawn features. he leaned forward, careful to work between her horns as he pushed his tongue gently through the fur just above her eyes and along her brow. He had been trusting her to take care of everything, but it was a lot to throw on the former slave. He needed to be back up and running so he could work alongside her, a pair, a team, as he had always envisioned.

He frowned at the first piece of news his love gave to him, of his Empress and his Sister getting attacked by coyotes. “What do you mean her vanity?” he asked carefully, but he knew that if he had reason to worry, Zee would have mentioned something by now. He mentioned the two avoiding each other, and he knew they had been spending a great deal of time together. More than Io had spent in the Armada, the thought left him feeling restless, but he said nothing.