Aftermath

Valen followed along and, taking the hint, lowered his voice as he asked the question. Not exactly one she had been expecting - was everything all right? "Nothing's wrong," she assured him quickly. "I just want to make sure we both know what to expect from this." She took a deep breath and let it out, wincing internally at how that sounded. "Ok so... I know this position is meant for... your wife and all and you are probably wondering why I would challenge for it to begin with." His initial joke that she had done it out of boredom still stung a little, but that was hardly his fault. She hesitated, then fixed him with a hard stare. "I did it because I care about you, a lot, and I wanted to be in a position I could be more help to you than just another fighter. I wanted to be the one who always has your back. I want to protect you when you need it. I wanted to make sure you had a partner , not a pretty face who didnt even have to fight for it." She grinned then, a little lopsided, creasing the scar across her muzzle. "Sorry I couldnt provide a pretty face along with it." She sobered again, cocking her head to the side. She had by no means exhausted what she had to say but really she had been rambling and it would be at least polite to give Valen the chance to say something while she caught her breath. Maybe she should have waited after all - pain and weariness dragged at her and she was concerned her rambling wasn't quite as coherent as she had hoped...