Let's Do This Right

Deimos watched as Ikigai took the bangle he offered her, a little grin lingering on his lips as he enjoyed her reactions. He had taken a shot in the dark on what she would like and what would suit her, but with the time they had spent together and what he knew of her preferences seemed to lead him in the right direction. "I'm glad you like it, my love," he rumbled in reply, hardly even minding the fact that he was still up in the air, caught in a net with the joy and contentness he felt now that their soul mating was set in stone. He chuckled when she eventually looked up from the jeweled bangle that now sat around her ankle, mentioning how she should let him down. "Perhaps," he agreed, amusement in his aqua gaze.

He waited as she moved away from him to work whatever contraption she had come up with for this trap and soon enough he was moving back toward the ground. It was a far more gentle and soft landing than he was expecting which was a welcome surprise. Once he was on the ground, he started wiggling himself free of the net with Ikigai's help, rolling back to his paws with a quick shake. As he turned to face his new soul mate, she questioned him about what this meant in his family's culture and he smirked as he stepped toward her, slipping a large, bear-like paw around her waist as he sat back onto his haunches, pulling her smaller frame into his own. "Almost," he promised in a quiet rumble, nuzzling into the crook of her neck with tender kisses peppering her jaw. "I've never been one for the formality... but you're teaching me to appreciate it all."

He lifted his head enough to press a kiss to her forehead, holding her to him as he repeated the words that Manea had taught him, knowing how much it meant to Ikigai to do this properly. "Ancients, I bring you the woman that I have given my heart and she has given me hers freely in return. She knows my soul and carries it with her in each of her steps, just as I do with his. We are one being in two bodies. I vow that no one else shall know my heart nor my soul for the rest of my days. I do this with the knowledge, understanding, and acceptance that there will be none after her in life or in death. I surrender the spirit you bestowed upon me as your chosen child so that we may share your strength and your power and she may find her place one day in the hall of the Ancients, a true Mendacium by vow. Together we shall intertwine in death, granting our strength to our future generations so that we may live on in them. I agree to bind my soul to her and with it I grant her our name... With this vow I name this woman, Ikigai Mendacium, as my mate."

Proud of himself for actually managing to remember the whole speech, Deimos grinned down at Ikigai, squeezing her gently in his grasp as he dipped his head to press his lips to hers with a passionate kiss. His hold on her tightened with a quiet rumble of delight in his chest and when he broke their kiss he didn't go far–shifting instead to brush his muzzle against hers while his paws traced along her back and over her hips. "Now you are my wife... my mate, my soul mate... the answer to my prayers and the love of my life."

"Deimos & Ikigai"