The home that love built

Briar grinned happily at the complement Art gave her in his family's language–no, their family's language. She still had a hard time thinking of herself as a Carpathian and not just a Fatalis and feared at times that she was overstepping into traditions that were special to him and his siblings, but as Artorias began to give her all of the details and the thought that went into every aspect of the special blade it just served as a reminder of how she was truly a part of his family now just as much as he was part of hers. At his insistence she gave the wood of the handle a sniff and the scent of sea salt immediately brought her back to her days of playing and training on the beach back in her family's original home. He truly had thought of everything and managed to tie every part of the dagger into some part of their relationship–all the way down to the color of the steel that harkened back to the first day they met when she called him Blue Boy.

She leaned into his touch as he brushed his cheek against his, her throat tight with emotion as she took it all in and tears of joy spilling over onto her cheeks as she admired his gift for her. Bringing her gaze up to his, he told her the name of the beautiful dagger–Memento–and echoed her own thoughts about having a piece of the Carpathian family with her now. "Memento is a perfect name," she agreed with a smile so big her cheeks hurt. She tipped her muzzle up to his for a long, tender kiss, her freshly brushed tail wagging and sweeping across the floor behind her. She didn't know what she had done to deserve such a thoughtful, wonderful husband, but she was forever grateful for him and all of the things he did to make her feel like the luckiest woman in all of Boreas and Auster. When she pulled back again she gave him another wide smile. "Thank you, Artorias. I can't tell you how much this means to me." Looking back down at the dagger in her paws, she admired how the light shined off of it again and chuckled softly as she told him, "Once these pups are finally born you'll have to teach me how to wield this."

"Artorias & Briar Carpathius"