Nothing was supposed to happen. Valdís had taken a last trip up north to take in the sights of the full northern winter before spring rounded the corner. She hadn't expected to stumble upon a scrawny, ailing pup and his deceased mother. She also hadn't expected the pup to attach himself to her. Sure, pups had been on her mind and if Ásvor wanted them she was all too happy to go hunting for a suitable male to capture, coerce or seduce. So far her trip was not going according to plan and yet despite herself she couldn't just leave the pup there in the middle of that blizzard. Hopefully, Ásvor wouldn't be to irritated with her. Heavens, they'd only just gotten engaged! She turned her head and glanced at the pup. She'd give him this, he was a tough little sucker. It was not an easy walk from the Mile-High Woods to Fireside. When she arrived she called for Tyrian and for Ásvor, reaching out a paw she pulled the pup in close to her to help keep him warm. "Mind your manners and no, no one wants to see you blow bubbles with your snot." "Talk" "You" Think

Panting heavily Úlfr followed after Valdís, pausing every so often to catch his breath. Even moving at a slower pace she still seemed to be going really fast. He didn't know where they were going but the weather seemed to be a bit nicer where they were going. He bounded through the snow, hopping along like a little rabbit until they suddenly stopped and Valdís howled. Oh? Were they singing? Úlfr through back his head and tried to howl along but it was a weak and shaky tone and he quickly fell silent with a little cough.

She wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close. He instinctively snuggled into her warmth. "When we meet your friends can I show them a trick? Can I show them how I-" Valdís cut him off and he pouted. Who didn't want to see snot bubbles? These friends didn't sound that great to him.

Knowing that soon she herself needed to trek to Winterfell with Torrent, Ásvor had declined joining Valdís in her journey north. Knowing that her girlfriend was beyond capable - truthfully, she didn't know a warrior more capable of taking care of herself than Valdís - she hardly worried for her in her absence, though she definitely longed for her return. Being on her own was something she was accustomed to, but over time she found herself valuing her alone time less and less, at least when it came to Valdís. Instead of being burdened by her, she felt as though she was more complete because of her, but when it came to adding another wolf into the fray... Ásvor wasn't quite sure she could loosen her selfishness enough to make it work. Her mind too had strayed to children more than once; building a family with Valdís would be a blessing, but the logistics behind it were more tricky.

Such things weren't on her mind today though. She'd been scouting for springtime herbs. Now that the snow had begun to melt, things were beginning to bloom quickly. Some snow still blanketed the land, but Ásvor would gladly take advantage of the good weather as best as she could for now. Valdís's call was enough to arrest her attention entirely from the task at hand. Without hesitation she dropped a bundle of herbs she'd collected and bounded toward her girlfriend's call. It was hardly an urgent one, but it was an unusual greeting nonetheless, and when she finally reached Valdís she realized she was not at all alone. A small child stood at her side - no, he was pressed into her. Where normally she might feel a surge of confused possessiveness, instead she merely felt curious. She raised a brow as she closed the distance that lay between them, looking almost amused as she greeted Valdís with a warm nuzzle. "Don't tell me you kidnapped him," she half-joked, sure she would quickly explain herself.

Tyrian was there in a flash. He took in the adult wolves first - the pup was easy to miss - and then did a double take when the kid's presence registered. His expression feel into a natural, thoughtful frown as he considered the pup. He wasn't displeased in anyway, just trying to understand the scene he was walking in to. Nothing really jumped out at him. They could have come into possession of the kid in any number of ways and by looking at the trio it wasn't immediately obvious which ones were more likely.

His eyebrows lifted as he looked between the kid and women, his attention lingering most on Valdis was she was the one who had howled for them. Tyrian's gaze kept dropping to the kid and his nose worked constantly as he tried to get a sense for when the boy had been, his health, etc. Finally, in an easy tone, he asked, "What's going on?"

It didn't take long for her mate to arrive. Sprits she looked beautiful when she moved. Val's thoughts shifted to the less than appropriate when she realized that taking in this child was going to make alone time harder to come by. Crud. Well, maybe she could drop the boy off with Álarr or someone when she wanted some privacy. "Don't tell me you kidnapped him," Valdís smirked and winked. "I suppose that depends how you define kidnapping, but no, I didn't." A moment later Fireside's alpha strode onto the scene. Perfect timing, she could explain to both of them. "I was working my way back from the north when I ran into a storm. As I worked my way through the storm I came upon the pup. His mother passed shortly before my arrival and there are no other family members. He seems to think I am supposed to be his new mother." Valdís shook her head and chuckled. It was so weird to even say. "However," she looked to Ásvor, "I will not consider it unless Ásvor is comfortable with the idea. And if she is then I was hoping he could join Fireside. If not I'm sure we can work something else out." They weren't even married yet. She was expecting kids to come a little later but perhaps there would be an advantage to a 'practice' kid and if Ásvor decided she wanted more than one then Valdís was all to happy to go man shopping with her. "Also, there is another matter I wanted to bring to your attention." She grinned at her lover then looked back to Tyrian. "Ásvor and I have decided to become mates. If you were fine with it we'd like to provide mead and food for the pack and have a little gathering. Nothing big or fancy, just a statement before the pack of our commitment to each other." "Talk" "You" Think

Úlfr slunk back behind Val's front legs as the strange wolf approached, but he couldn't resist peeking out and staring at her. He'd never seen such a color of red before. The next wolf to appear was even wilder looking. Úlfr's jaw dropped as he stared at the man's giant teeth. "Wow! How did you make your teeth like that?" Valdís scooted him back a bit and started speaking to the pair. Úlfr fell silent as he realized they were deciding his fate. He shot a pleading look to both the adults. His mom had said someone would come along to be his new mom. Surely, this was supposed to be correct.

His head cocked to the side as Valdís said she was going to marry the lady with the red in her pelt. Both his ears perked up. Oh? Was he going to have two moms instead of one?

Tyrian showed up not long after her, questioning Valdís just as she had, though in a much more matter-of-fact sort of way. Almost immediately she confirmed that she hadn't kidnapped him, but that he'd been orphaned, and had taken to Valdís as if she was his new mother. So he was young and impressionable - two qualities she deemed important for any addition to their family... not that they'd really properly spoken of those things. Apparently Ásvor had been at the very least thinking about it enough to have an immediate opinion on the matter, and fortunately for them the perfect opportunity had been thrust at them. She realized she was grinning, probably looking far unlike her usual self, at least to Tyrian. "Well, if that's what he thinks, we may as well humor him," she teased, though she hoped Valdís recognized that her acceptance of this child into their lives was more serious than her words might imply.

Of course, it all depended on what Tyrian thought, though she had a hopeful feeling that he wouldn't deny them this. Nor their little wedding, which Valdís brought up as well. Her attention was largely on Úlfr, sizing up the boy and wondering what kind of wolf he might turn out to be. Hopefully losing his mother at such an early age wouldn't affect him too harshly, but then again he was young enough that she had a feeling he'd adapt quickly to life here, if Tyrian agreed. "What's your name, hm?" Ásvor leaned closer toward him. Children had never really interested her, but this was a different circumstance and she hoped he might warm up to her as quickly as he had seemed to warm up to Valdís.

Tyrian blinked in surprise at Ulfr's question. Sometimes he forgot he was an oddity. After it dawned on him that yes, he was a freak, he quickly replied, "Tied 'em to two bison then yelled 'giddy up!'." The boy was quickly ushered back by Valdis so the possible ramifications of such a comment didn't have time to dawn on him. The conversation shifted back to Valdis' possession of the boy and Tyrian thought no more about long teeth, bison or lying to small impressionable children.

As for what she had to say, well, he saw no reason to tell Valdis no for either thing. He trusted her not to run off into the wilderness, steal a pup, and then lie about it, and in the nicest most neutral way possible he cared not even a smidgen for who was married - or not - to whom in the pack provided nothing conflicted with the sanctity of the pack. If they wanted to be a couple and have a party to mark the occasion, good for them. He admired the commitment. And if they wanted a kid, well, he certainly didn't want one right now so someone needed to take in the little waif. And Tyrian was just glad it wasn't going to be dumped on him.

"Absolutely, sure," he said as he gestured affably at Ulfr and then the adults. "Have a kid, have a party." His broad shoulders rose in a good-natured shrug and he grinned at the elder pair. "Congrats. When can we expect the celebration?"

Valdís grinned, pleased that her fiancé wasn't too upset with her for prematurely introducing a child into their already busy lives. She leaned over to nuzzle her lover before turning her attention back to Tyrian. She chuckled at his response to the boy. Úlfr immediately believed Tyrian and she made a mental note to make sure the boy didn't try anything like that. He was likely to get stepped on by the bison and she didn't want to deal with any broken bones when they still needed to get him back to full health. Tyrian was relaxed as he agreed both to their union and the adoption of a child. She looked to Ásvor, elation on her face. Perfect! "Soon, after things dry up a little here. I'll have Embla get her mead and wine together. It won't be a party with a little alcohol." She chuckled. She'd have Aerndis and Álarr help her with an elk for fresh meat. It would be a relaxed event. Food, drink and friends. What else was needed? -end?- "Talk" "You" Think

Úlfr grinned as he looked up at what he hoped was going to be his other momma. "My name is Úlfr!" Hopefully she liked his name. He thought it was a good name anyway. When the man with the big teeth told him how they got to be that big his jaw dropped open in surprise. "Really?" He wasn't completely sure what a bison was other than they were very big and very tasty. He wondered if Valdís and Ásvor would let him try that with his own teeth. He grinned as the leader said he could stay. He bounded over to Ásvor and leaned heavily against her front legs.


-end?-

Tyrian seemed to care as much about Valdís's requests as she'd expected he would; which was, well, not much at all. He'd always been easygoing enough to trust they were making the right choices, as far as Ásvor had seen, and this situation apparently was no different... even if it regarded the fate of a child who was, by all intents and purposes, a stranger. The seriousness of the situation was hardly lost on her, but it didn't seem worth bringing up around their alpha and Úlfr either. Were she and Valdís ready for this, she wondered? She could only hope they'd be able to figure it out. Which... might be more difficult than she expected, based on how easily Úlfr seemed to believe Tyrian's story. She tried to refrain from cringing at the thought.

The joy written plainly on Valdís's face was enough to soothe any worries that might be threatening to crop up. Even Úlfr seemed happy, despite all the small child had gone through - so mirrored her future wife's grin with one of her own. "That sounds like a plan," she agreed easily. Suddenly, faced with the responsibility of raising a child properly, a wedding seemed like far less burdensome than she knew it could be. It'd be a simple affair anyway, nothing worth stressing over... but this? Ásvor just hoped Valdís knew what she was doing, because she sure didn't... oh well, surely they'd figure it out, one way or another.. right?

- exit Ásvor -