Kintsugi

He knew as he began to lay out the beliefs of his family and the depth that truly taking her as his mate meant to him it would be a lot to process and while he didn't doubt that Ikigai cared for him just as he cared for her he thought that perhaps she would want some time to think about it or would even have questions about what he had laid out in detail. Instead, he saw no hesitation in Ikigai's face as her paw reached up to his cheek, the love he saw in her silver gaze that chased away the ever present exhaustion making his heart warm and skip in his chest. His head tipped slightly to lean into her paw while he looked down at this beautiful wolf that had pulled out parts of himself he didn't know existed. The confidence she had in her tone as she accepted him as her soul mate and the smile that graced her lips as she repeated back the same love for him blew him away and made him feel like an idiot for ever doubting this bond they had hard fought to build.

A smile filled with joy, relief, and love pulled across his lips as the scarred man's forelegs slipped around her, sweeping her up into a giddy embrace and nearly lifting her up off of the ground as he pulled her smaller frame into his own. His lips captured hers, kissing her with an eager passion where all words failed as he celebrated this feeling of finally finding a purpose and a love that he had never felt he deserved. With one strong foreleg wrapped around her waist, supporting her delicate frame as he held her up against him, his other paw held the back of her head as he poured every bit of grateful love and passionate desire into that long, lingering kiss. He knew she was still recovering from the ordeal and he wouldn't go any further than this unless she told him to out of concern of pushing her body too far and hurting her more in the process, but it was impossible for him to express his excitement and his gratitude for what she had given him in any other way.

When he finally pulled back from their kiss, he gasped softly, a grin immediately returning to his lips as he blinked open his eyes and looked down at her again as he panted lightly. He gently lowered her back onto her haunches as he told her, "There's a ceremony that my grandmother taught me when I was little... a soul mate vow that's more formal and official, I suppose. But first you have to best me in a fight to win your new name." Realistically he knew it was almost impossible for Ikigai to beat him in a real fight, but the amused, cheeky grin that tugged at his muzzle should give away that he didn't plan on actually fighting her the way that other Mendacium couples often did. Instead, as he released her he shifted back a step before reclining back onto his haunches again and lifting his forelegs to gesture her forward with his bear-like paws playfully. "Come on then, come take your new name, my mate," he taunted, already leaning back and ready to topple over the moment she went to tackle him.

"Deimos & Ikigai"