Old Habits Die Hard
Merrick
07-03-2022, 11:17 PM
As lost in her thoughts as she was, she hardly noticed Merrick as he returned to their den, jumping a little with a soft gasp as he came up behind her and growled out how he hoped the herbs she was working on were for someone else. Her ears flicked and she turned her head to look at him over her shoulder, replying, "Gods, you startled me... Yes... they are. I had quite a bit of them left on hand and they'll last longer as an extract. I thought I might see if one of the other women in the pack could make use of them." It was certainly not a lie since that was what she had finally landed on doing with them, but she didn't share the habitual muscle memory of making this mix of herbs that had caused her to start this process in the first place—nor how difficult it was for her to grasp that for the first time in her adult life she was willingly forgoing the herbs in favor of letting Merrick get her pregnant.
She had been in the middle of bottling the mix of extracts in a few vials when he came in so she finished up that task just to be done with it and the herbs wouldn't be sitting in the liquid for too long. She could hear him moving around behind her to the pile of furs that made up their bed and just as she was placing the stopper on the last vial she heard the pained hiss that came from him as he laid down she turned her attention toward him again with a worried furrow of her brow. Ever since his scrape with death it had made her concerned about him and his well being in a way she had never been before. He had always seemed so invincible, so powerful and strong, that seeing him unconscious and barely clinging to life had shaken her in a way she hadn't been expecting. At some point in this strange relationship of theirs she might have seen it as an opportunity to be free of him, but now it only served as a reminder of how her life revolved around him being in it and how quickly it would fall apart if he were to suddenly disappear from it.
With her work done, she wiped off her paws and went over to his side, a small frown on her lips as she sat at his side. "Your ribs bothering you again?" she questioned with genuine concern as her careful paws lifted to his scarred side. Her nimble toes traced the thick scar that than over his ribs and gently felt to make sure everything was still healing as it should. Sometimes she was better at seeing through his charades than others, but right now she was too caught up in the thoughts about their lives and what was to come to notice. "Would you like something for the pain? Let me get you something. I think I still have some of the wintergreen extract left." She started to get up to go over to her supplies to find the right vial, her soft paw pads following the still fresh scar one more time before she got to her paws.
"Keelin"
She had been in the middle of bottling the mix of extracts in a few vials when he came in so she finished up that task just to be done with it and the herbs wouldn't be sitting in the liquid for too long. She could hear him moving around behind her to the pile of furs that made up their bed and just as she was placing the stopper on the last vial she heard the pained hiss that came from him as he laid down she turned her attention toward him again with a worried furrow of her brow. Ever since his scrape with death it had made her concerned about him and his well being in a way she had never been before. He had always seemed so invincible, so powerful and strong, that seeing him unconscious and barely clinging to life had shaken her in a way she hadn't been expecting. At some point in this strange relationship of theirs she might have seen it as an opportunity to be free of him, but now it only served as a reminder of how her life revolved around him being in it and how quickly it would fall apart if he were to suddenly disappear from it.
With her work done, she wiped off her paws and went over to his side, a small frown on her lips as she sat at his side. "Your ribs bothering you again?" she questioned with genuine concern as her careful paws lifted to his scarred side. Her nimble toes traced the thick scar that than over his ribs and gently felt to make sure everything was still healing as it should. Sometimes she was better at seeing through his charades than others, but right now she was too caught up in the thoughts about their lives and what was to come to notice. "Would you like something for the pain? Let me get you something. I think I still have some of the wintergreen extract left." She started to get up to go over to her supplies to find the right vial, her soft paw pads following the still fresh scar one more time before she got to her paws.