Bad Weather, Good Company

Leon daydreamed quite often, mostly of how he wished his future would end up. He saw himself lying in a field on his back, wriggling pups crawling all over him - pestering him to no end. He saw a wife at his side, jubilantly laughing over the vision of her husband with pups crawling all over him. He saw himself growing old, gray, stiff, as grandchildren frolicked at his heels, yipping at him to move faster, to run farther. He dreamed of a life very much like his uncle Cairo's. Cairo had it all, and then some.. and Leon was still a bachelor. Forever alone. Yes, he daydreamed a lot, but the man knew that there was a chance those dreams might never come true. He might never see children born of his own blood, he might never see a wife who looked at him adoringly. He might never see any of it. That worried him more than anything else.

A silence fell over them, and an ear flicked back in alarm. Had he said too much, let on too much? Had he somehow inadvertently made things awkward between them? Would she want to leave? Would she wish that she'd never come in the first place? Would she think that he was trying to lure her into being his wife? He wasn't, he wasn't trying any of those things, though he feared a few might be coming true - particularly the ones about things being awkward or her wanting to leave. She spoke up, assuring him that he'd be good at it. He forced a halfhearted smile onto his face, meeting her eyes at long last and wondering if that could be some form of kindness in her eyes. No, he must be imagining it. There was no way she could ever fall for him.

"I think you would be too." Ever the gentleman, he could not let a compliment go unreturned. But he spoke it with every ounce of sincerity he was allotted. He knew she would be a good mother, even if it wasn't her dream or goal in life. Ashtoreth was a fantastic and wonderful wolf, and would be good at anything she set her mind to doing. He was sure of it. Just then the chorus of drumming rain seemed to taper off altogether. Leon stretched so that his eyes glanced through the opening of the den. "I think the storm is letting up," It was merely an observation, but he wondered if it somehow might be an omen.

"speeeeech"