Making Moves

When Bowen turned to look at him the moment she heard his voice, Artorias saw the sobering melancholy haunting his beloved sister's mind. Even if she didn't show it outwardly, he could see it behind those beautiful green eyes. Moving into this room wasn't just a change of scenery; it was an entire lifestyle change for her, a new chapter, so to speak. His lips pursed together and he swallowed thickly, feeling his heart ache for her. He knew that ending her relationship with Haiku had been one of the most difficult things she'd had to do, and he didn't take that fact lightly. Bowen had made a choice—a choice to be with him and to be his. Artorias had in turn vowed to be everything he could be for her in every capacity he could. He would be a wolf worthy of her love and devotion. As Bowen crossed the room towards him, Art couldn't help but watch the gold hop and feather sway from her ear, but was gladly taken back by her sweet kiss to his cheek, which he happily returned to her lips with one of his own. The taste of her lingered there, just enough to make the dire brute hum with delight.

Artorias gazed around the sparse room he had once occupied while Bowen explained that she didn't have much to move. It was true, the Carpathian woman liked to live functionally rather than fashionably—a trait he could align with—and didn't have much in the way of personal possessions to take with her. "Well, maybe we can find some things to make it feel more like a reflection of you," he suggested. He knew Bowen wanted to take up the art of fighting. "We could go hunt some predators, maybe find some nice pelts for the bed. A white tiger, or a panther." She asked about his rooms and Artorias nodded with a sigh. "Briar and Lia have gone all-in on the spring cleaning, and I was deemed an obstacle." A low chuckle rumbled in his chest. He was fine with it; it just meant he got to spend more time with his Bowen.

When Bowen moved to slip past him, Artorias stepped aside to let her slide by, the curl of her tail against his foreleg doing as intended and drawing his attention and footsteps after her. Together, the sibling couple headed back up to her old room on the third floor. Artorias peered around the vacant space, cleaned and freshened up by Bowen already. As if it had never been used at all. Artorias knew differently, of course, and when he peered down at Bo, he saw the sad frown on her face as wistful eyes took in the space. He met her sad emerald eyes with soft embers of his own, the corner of his lips tightening as he considered her question. The Aegis drew in a deep breath, released in a slow sigh, then slipped his head beneath Bowen's midsection, followed by his neck and shoulders, easily hoisting her light, svelte body up over his back. A kick of a hind paw shut the door behind them to grant them some privacy while he carried his sister easily over to her former bed, sliding her gingerly off onto the mattress. Artorias then went and took Bowen's glass orb from the mantle, carrying it carefully over to place on the bed beside her before hopping up to join her.

"What does your heart tell you, Bo?" he asked, using his childhood nickname as a term of endearment while he wrapped his larger form easily around hers, as if shielding her, protecting her, keeping her entirely to himself for the time. Large bushy tail slowly curled its way over her rump to wrap around her long silken cream-furred tail, one large azure paw sliding the orb to nestle it between her paws while he cuddled her.

"Bowen & Artorias"