Scattered Scents

Walk | Talk | Think

Knight's approach was so slow and unassuming that Mercianne did not quite realize he was near until he was within sight. Her head turned to take him in, noting his gentle gait and the scrawny hare held within his jaws. A decent meal, all things considered. For me? More than likely. Seeing it brought a little guilt to her conscience that conflicted with her desire to find her daughter. He seemed to have picked up on her bad habit of becoming so lost in her searches that she would forget meals and go too long without sustenance. It was not his job to care for her, to tend to her almost as a mother tended to her young, but he had taken up the mantle without hesitation. He was always close, her conscience in a sense, and such a stable figure in her life now that she could hardly remember what it was like not to have him there.

She did not move nor speak as the brown wolf placed the hare upon the grown between them, letting her attention focus upon it as he sat beside her. She knew he meant well - for whatever reason he continued to stay by her despite all the hardships she faced - but her appetite felt thin at best, nonexistent at the moment. How could she stop to eat when her children were missing, when there was no telling whether they were able to scrounge up even this meager meal? As much as it weighed on her mind, Mercianne made no mention of it to Knight; the last thing she wished was to make him worry more over her than he already did.

A complacent, thoughtful silence settled between them, filled only by the natural sounds of the waves, the gulls, and the chilling wind. Dark brown eyes rose from the hare to resume their unfaltering stare out toward the water, thoughts beginning to go around themselves again. Before she could fall too far within them, she felt it, the soft touch against the back of her neck and Knight's warm breath through her creamy white fur. Immediately her eyes closed, all her attention focusing itself where he touched and mentally clinging to that small, comforting contact. Wanting more, needing more, needing to express just how much she appreciated his concern, Merci turned and tucked her head beneath his chin, ears folding as she pressed upward against the underside of his jaw. "Thank you," she spoke quietly in regards to the hare he had caught, but also for his attention to her habits.

With a little shift in place, Mercianne drew herself almost discreetly closer to the male wolf, not yet willing to draw away from him and sustaining the contact for a moment longer. She had tried at first to associate her feelings for Knight as nothing but friendly, gratitude and nothing more for what he wished to do for her and her children. And on top of that, she was taken, mated to another male. She should not have been looking at Knight as more than what he presently was: a friend and guardian. But Awaken had been gone for so long, nearly a year now; what were the honest chances of him returning? And the kids did need a father figure, especially since her friend and leader Gargoyle had gone missing too. Knight was kind, considerate, steady, and so immensely patient. It was becoming harder and harder for her to keep her feelings and thoughts neutral. "You don't need to keep feeding me," she muttered, trying for a confident, reassuring tone but feeling as if it fell considerably short of the mark, weak and guilty and pitiful even to her own ears.