Though it was subtle there was just enough of what felt like hesitation coming from Riva that he couldn't help but take it as a rebuke. Pyrrhic leaned back slowly, breathing hard as he tried to understand what he needed to do to convince her they were right for each other. He felt like this was right. The circumstances were too perfect to be anything other than destiny and that removed all doubt from him. Their time together so far had been brief, yes, but he had never not once in his life felt so strongly for someone who wasn't kin. He was willing to take everything else in stride and he would relish the chance to get to know her properly, but that had no bearing on how felt in this moment. Had the Abraxas tradition demanded a formal betrothal he would have flung himself down at her feet instead of kissing her.

He searched her gaze, his own intense and bordering on desperate, before asking quietly, "Does it feel real?" More than anything else he wanted to hear her agreement. Pyrrhic couldn't have imagined better circumstances for himself. He'd come to the Deluge in search of the sort of solitude he could fall to pieces in. What he'd found was reassurance and answers. It had fallen so neatly into his lap he couldn't imagine it being chance. And he would not - could not, now that he was becoming a little worried - take no for an answer.

Something had changed in Pyrrhic after the kiss, she could tell. The intensity was in more than his body language now, the body language he had just displayed with his very intense kiss. It was in his eyes, as they stared her down. She felt that if she looked too long, she would get swept away in the torrent of him. She cast her eyes downwards, trying to buy herself a moment to think.

It didn’t help that he was easy on the eyes, and there was something romantic about the intensity of his feelings, but it was balanced by a sense of scariness. He was like a zealot, and she suddenly his priestess. That wasn’t the sort of love she was looking for.

“I don’t know Pyrrhic… can I call you Pyr? I’ve never fallen in love before. I just… just need a second.” she whispered, trying not to hyperventilate. How had she lost control of the situation so quickly? She had found a wolf, hurt a little on the outside, and a lot on the inside. She had only intended to offer him her help, not… not… help him project onto her. Was that what he was doing? She was a little afraid his feelings weren’t real, just a sense of need. “Is this what you want Pyr, or what you need?”

She admitted to not knowing and it took him aback. Did she not feel it? Stunned, he answered her question about his name absently. "Of course..." As he processed this information Pyrrhic slowly sank into a seated position. His expression was veiled and his stance reposed, but inside he was awhirl with misgivings. Not about destiny, he was still convinced about that, but about how best to handle this predicament. She was good for him. Riva had done wonders for him in a short amount of time. He'd bared his soul to her, shared his shame and his fear. Right now he was feeling more hope than he had in an entire season. From past experiences with his brothers and his cousin he knew this could be temporary and that was all the more reason he needed her with him. They could grow together.

Pyrrhic wasn't sure how to proceed. More than anything else he wanted to hear she felt like he did. Pyrrhic was intense, he knew that, and he didn't expect her to share his level of commitment. After all he was a son of Abraxas, they weren't exactly known for being small in spirit. And she was a mortal woman. By nature of her birth she was not as blessed in faith or strength as he. Pyrrhic may have been a poor Abraxas specimen, but that didn't put him on the same lowly level as mortals. Any sign at all that she could give him to suggest she felt something similar, no matter how muted, would bolster his spirits. That she hadn't committed to even that yet troubled him.

Now it was her turn to be convinced, it seemed. She had helped him get his feelings in order so it was only fair he return the favor. Since she'd used it he latched onto the falling in love phrase. "Have you ever planned to fall?" No, of course not. "It just happens, doesn't it? You're walking along, minding your own business, perhaps hard at work doing something else, and it just happens." He searched her gaze, hoping she was following his line of reasoning.

As for what he was feeling... "Can it be both?"

The smaller healer couldn’t figure out what she wanted, or thought. The kiss had been… well, it had been something else. She could still feel the lingering heat of him on her lips, and the heat remained in her cheeks. She had liked it, she would be a liar if she said anything different. But did that mean it was love? Could a wolf fall in love in such a short time?

All she knew about Pyrrhic was that he was religious, came from an empire, had lost a mentor in the eruption, and that he was hurting inside. She knew he could be gentle, despite his titanic size. She remembered the feel of his large paw, folded over hers. His lips, pressed against hers, unyielding, but not painful.

“N-no” she admitted, much more comfortable talking about healing, or his problems then she was this. “Hard at work healing?” she asked, a hunt of a smile on her lips, though her eyes were still heavy. She had raised them again however, when she spoke. Meeting the brilliant blue of his gaze. She thought of falling into his arms, of pressing up close to his warm fur on a cold night. She ached for that feeling, but was Pyrrhic the right man? She just didn’t know. “I… I will admit the potential is there, the feeling, but I just… I don’t know you Pyr. Tell me who you are, give me more to have feelings for then just a name, and a handsome face.”

"Speech"

"Hard at work healing," he seconded without a moment's thought and a small smile. That was something, right? Certainly better than her continuing to sit there with a shell-shocked look on her face. He'd take it. And her in depth answer heartened him. The Fallen God had planted a seed. Perhaps it was his job to make it grow. That seemed reasonable, did it not? His god was not the sort to do all the work and just hand His people the finished piece. It was always a process, a chance to learn or hone his skills or grow.

The corners of his mouth rose slightly at the mention of a handsome face but he suppressed the smile. Oh, he had her. "I am an open book. Whatever you want to know, it's yours." He considered how best to describe himself. "I was raised under the belief that I would someday take after my father and lead The Risen Empire. And I did for a time but it wasn't meant to be. My brother now leads and I do what I can for the pack." He was quiet as he considered his character. "I am a tinkerer, like I said, and in my spare time I enjoy making things. Problem-solving things, mostly. I like the idea of making things that make life easier in someway. And I enjoy games of strategy."

He took a deep breath and gave her a look that suggested he wasn't sure if he should continue. "I...am the oldest of five. And..." This was oddly difficult. "I am a twin. The Abraxas, my family, are named after our predecessor Abraxas, the Fallen God." Okay now he was really at a loss. His brow furrowed. "I already said I like games of strategy, didn't I?"

Pyrrhic shook his head and laughed softly. "This is hard."

He promised her every answer she desired about himself. She raised a brow at that. She didn’t know if she would describe him as an ‘open book’ After all, he hadn’t wanted to give away his secrets to his family. Perhaps he would only be readable to her. The thought sent a rush of warmth through her.
‘Risen Empire’ she felt like she might have heard the name in passing, but she hadn’t really been paying attention to politics. Without a home-base pack, it didn’t seem terribly important to learn, she had no allies nor enemies to study.

He expanded on how he was a tinkerer, and she saw potential for team work there. The sort of thing where couples might work on something together, to expand both their knowledge and resources. ‘Couples?’ Sheesh, she was as bad as he was at jumping the gun.

The first part came easy, the next brought hesitation and she wondered why. He had four siblings, and a twin, he had intended to be heir - she had gotten that when she was trying to sort out his inner issues. His god was ‘Abraxas’ and they took that as their last name. That was interesting, and she knew if she allowed herself to end up with him, then that ‘god’ was going to be something she would have to study.

He shook his head, laughing at himself, and she grinned back at him. He was actually rather adorable, and there was a sheepishness in the pools of his gaze when he laughed. Or perhaps she was just imagining it. Regardless, she liked it. He was likeable. She laughed with him, shaking her head, and reaching back over to the towering boy and putting her paw back over his again. She liked it there, it was ridiculous and tiny, but it fit into the grooves where his toes began. Black-on black, as through they were the same, despite the vast differences between them.
“Alright, sprouting facts about yourself isn’t really that easy. Let’s look at it this way, there's something here. You want.. Something, and i’m willing to find out. Where do we go from here? You're a pack wolf, are you going to want me to join… Aerie, you called it?” He had called it the Risen Empire when he spoke of himself as leader. She supposed his brother must have changed the name when he took over. She wasn’t opposed to joining a pack, though she was a little weary, too. She had joined two packs now, and both of them had seemed to fall apart on her.

"Speech"

Pyrrhic rocked back on his heels in surprise. He hadn't expected her to jump to thinking about the pack. Honestly he'd expected to have to fight more to even get to the point of being able to say such a thing out loud without her leaping for the exit. But this was good, right? She was at least thinking ahead in the direction he wanted to take her. That she wasn't closed off to considering it was low hanging fruit, but he would take it. It was a good sign.

His opinion on what she was asking was split. If she was willing to see him then she was welcome to take her time on deciding to join Aerie. If she rejected him - and he was not going to say this out loud, he knew better - then he'd simply take her there and work out the problems that caused later. "I think this," he said, gesturing around them, "Is not a coincidence. If we were...serious...of course I would want you with me. My place is in Aerie. It's made up almost entirely of my family and I wouldn't - couldn't - give them up."

Her paw on his was warm and inviting. Trusting, even. Could she see how easy it was for them? How well they fit together already? Surely it wasn't just him. "Riva, where do you want to go from here?"

She had a feeling his talk wasn’t about fate, but ‘god’ when he spoke of coincidences. He agreed that if it was serious, then he would want her in his pack. She had already gathered that his family was important to him. She would never have asked him to leave them for her. ‘Leave them for her?’ every way she touched at this just made it feel like she was making a mountain out of a molehill. She had just met Pyrrhic, she wasn’t even sure she had formed an opinion of him.

“I understand that” she agreed, and then he turned it back to her, asking what she wanted. “A place to practice my craft, a chance to heal, to grow herbs, and continue to learn. I’ve been wondering for a long time, so I'm not glued down to anything at the moment.” she admitted. She squeezed his paw, looking up at the - her? - giant. “I’m open to the idea of joining your pack. Maybe not today, but soon. Stay with me here for a couple days, in this ravine, if your tasks can spare you. Let’s hunt together, spend time together, and see if this grows. If it does… we can commit to something. If you kiss me again, I might be a little more susceptible to it, too” She suggested slyly.

"Speech"

Her answer provided further proof that she was meant to join him. Aerie only had one healer at the moment; a cousin of some stripe who was only a yearling. They could use someone with more experience. So Riva was not only good for him, but potentially a real asset to Aerie. If she wanted a garden like the one his mother had had or a studio to house her stores, he would give her those things. Having little healer training himself he couldn't provide a learning experience but if she insisted he would come up with something.

He nodded once briskly and tried not to give away his excitement at the prospects she'd laid out before him. Pyrrhic could make this work. He could win her over. If she needed time he would give it to her some fashion. It was inevitable that sooner or later she would come to understand how right they were for each other.  

The last line did him in. One side of Pyrrhic's mouth lifted in a soft, lopsided smirk and he dropped his head to look up at her through his lashes. "I think that's a good idea. And I would imagine," he said tactfully. "That my brother would be very understanding. I think I can get away for a few days. Shouldn't stay down here among the roots so how about we go see if we can throw together a proper campsite?"