The trip back home felt longer than he had thought it would, but he was still determined to make it home instead of stopping for the night. He hadn't told Void that he was going to go find the slavers today, only that he was going to go out and try to find some traders to look for more bolts of cloth for his crafting. He certainly hadn't planned on being gone this long, but seeing how much the cloak helped Rava made the extra delay and the injuries worth it. He was glad that he did at least take the time to wash some of the excess blood out of his fur so he wouldn't give his husband an absolute heart attack when he walked through the door. He had imagined he probably looked rough, but when he saw his reflection in the river he looked far worse than he had even imagined.

By the time they made it back to the falls it was dark, the light from the moon guiding them back to the den he built. "I can give you a better tour in the morning if you want," he told Rava with a soft smile. "But I think we could both use some rest first, don't you?" He led her up to the entrance of the den, the space in front of it covered with a patio of stones with a fire pit in the middle, the arch that made the doorway lined with wooden birch tree branches. He stepped inside, not immediately finding his husband on the patio or in the main chamber of the den. "Wait here for a moment," he told her softly once she was inside, "I'm just going to go see if Void is awake."

He walked over to their bedroom, nudging his way past the pelt that covered the smaller doorway to the larger of the two adjacent rooms. "Void? Are you still awake?" he asked gently while he started unbuckling his armor, slipping it off over his head so he could hang it on one of the hooks on the wall. He'd need to spend some time properly cleaning his armor tomorrow, but for now he was far too tired to do much more than introduce his husband to their new den mate and get Rava settled in their new home.

Plague Abraxas-Destruction

They spoke briefly of how they might create their family, finding a surrogate was at the top of their list. Void was uncertain, he’d never cared for the practice of keeping slaves, his mother had been born a slave and just thinking about what that life had done to her destroyed him inside. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he had to do something like that to achieve their goal. The thought hadn’t stayed with him for too long, Plague mentioned finding traders for more fabrics today and Void himself had debated taking the trip home to Abaven. He’d returned to the dan far before Plague, and that fact made it impossible for him to sleep.

When he heard voices outside he was immediately awake. Void hadn’t really fallen asleep, but he was relaxing in a daze. Not enough to be startled when Plague entered the bedroom. Plague was lucky the low light hid the blood that remained on him, and obscured the wounds he suffered. Of course, Void could smell it on him along with the unknown scent of a woman. Alarmed, Void was quick to get out of bed and bring himself to his husband’s side. He still hadn’t gotten over how lucky he was to finally call him by that title. Plague was his other half, he made Void better in all ways and now that they were together he couldn’t see himself apart from him.

"Plague,” he said with relief as he closed the distance between them. "Are you alright?” He asked first, mostly concerned for his love’s health. "Where have you been?”

"Speech"

He heard Void move to hop up from the bed right away after he walked into the room. He was glad that it was fairly dark so he wouldn't see the bite marks on him right away. He felt Void beside him as he finished hanging up his armor and he smiled as he pressed his face into Void's neck with a relieved sigh. More than anything, he was just happy to finally be home. He hadn't meant for this trip to go the way it had in pretty much any sense, but in the end he felt good about what he had done. "I'm fine, my love. I promise," he assured his husband, his lips finding his and giving him a gentle kiss. "I know we had talked about finding a surrogate so I thought I'd go to the slave market and try to surprise you, but that didn't really go as planned," he explained with a little bit of a guilty grin.

"I did buy a woman - she's waiting to meet you... But she's not our slave. I... Seeing how she had been treated and how timid she was... I immediately freed her. I offered her a place to stay as long as she wants," he added, his emerald gaze finding Void's to see his reaction. He knew he had been lukewarm on the idea to begin with so he had a feeling Void might feel better about this resolution than he would have been if he had brought home Rava in the state she was in while still calling her their slave. "So she's not serving us and I don't know whether I found us a surrogate or not, but... I'm glad I got her away from there." Suddenly remembering the wounds he was wearing, he quickly added, "Oh I um... I might have gotten into a fight with them to get her cloak back from them. There are... a couple less slavers in the world now." Chuckling softly he gave Void another kiss and then turned back toward the door. "Come on, let me introduce you so we can all get some sleep."

He led Void out into the main chamber of their den, holding the fur that hung over the door out of the way for his husband to pass through. He brought him over to where Rava was waiting, glancing between the two. He knew Rava was most likely going to be quite timid, which was honestly understandable given her situation, but he also knew that Void wouldn't hurt a fly much less a girl like her. "Void, this is our guest Rava. Rava, this is my husband Void."

"Speech"

Being in Plague’s presence was easier with every step they took together. Rava still didn’t trust him completely, but he had come farther in half a day than anyone else after Saia. The freed slave knew that even if he hadn’t released her she would have been forced to make this journey. When at last she thought they would be travelling through the night Plague led her to the entrance of his home. It was much more luxurious than anything she had ever experienced. He invited her inside with a soft command to remain there while he retrieved Void. Plague told her what to expect with this other man, but she couldn’t help but to feel weary. She wanted to trust Plague, she wanted all of this to be real.

She heard muffled voices and tried not to listen as silver eyes studied the dark room. It was beautiful from what she could tell, obviously Plague wasn’t lying about being some kind of high ranked individual. Now that she was stopped the exhaustion was really beginning to take its toll, her eyes drooped heavily.

When Plague returned with Void she felt on high alert again, the new presence brought uncertainty only because she couldn’t bring herself to fully believe Plague. Every promise and statement he’d made so far was true, he had braved the slavers to simply return her cloak, and already she owed him much. She had long surrendered to the man though, and with how tired she was there would be no running or fighting if anything went wrong for her. So she bowed her head in greeting and timidly peeked up at the giant of a wolf Plague called his husband.

Plague was quick to reassure him, with his words and his touch. Void leaned into his touch, soothed only slightly but he felt better already with Plague back home and in his arms. Their lips met in a welcome kiss before the real explanation began, he hadn’t just been out for supplies it was so much more than that. He knew Plague wanted to be a father, it was not only his duty to his family but he genuinely wanted to raise children. He lit up unlike anything when he was talking about his nieces and nephews. Void knew Plague would make an excellent father on how he treated his sister’s children alone. He’d follow Plague’s lead in all aspects of their life, including this endeavor but the sock and surprise were obvious on his features. Void barely felt like he was capable enough to help his siblings, let alone raise puppies.

He didn’t interrupt as his husband explained, this was not any quick fix to their solution, the woman was free to do what she wished. They wouldn’t be forcing anyone to have their children, something Void hadn’t felt right about. He softened a bit as Plague went on, but was again worried when he mentioned the loss of a couple slavers in this world. "What you did was amazing, but I can’t help but think just how close I could have come to losing you.” Void spoke softly, the emotions clear in his voice. He didn’t want to entertain the thought of life if Plague had been killed out there.

Void leaned heavily into Plague’s kiss as he beckoned him into the living chamber to meet this mystery woman. He allowed Plague to lead him out, and his eyes fell on the shaded form waiting for him there. She was obviously shy and frightened, but looked like she was about to fall over from exhaustion. He smiled softly as she peered up at him, frightened and broken at the same time.

"Hello, Rava. Welcome.” He was quiet, trying not to spook her. He knew already that Plague had made the right decision. She reminded him far too much of his mother, and he wouldn’t have been able to bear keeping her against her will. Let alone making her bear their children.

"Speech"

Plague smiled lovingly when Void expressed the worry over how close he might have been to losing him. Plague took a second before they walked out into the main chamber of the den, leaning his cheek into Void's. "I wouldn't have done anything that would risk taking me from you, my love. I promise. I won't leave you." Getting into a fight with all of those slavers had been a bit reckless, even he could admit that, but he wouldn't have done it if he wasn't confident in his abilities and if he hadn't had his full kit of armor and dagger. He gave Void one more kiss before taking him out to introduce him to Rava, seeing the cloaked woman across the room from them. She looked more like she had when they had first left the slaver camp together, on high alert and timid as she looked at Void for the first time.

He smiled as his gentle husband gave her a quiet greeting, leaning into his side gratefully as Void rolled with this shock so easily and welcomed Rava into their home. This entire day hadn't gone as he had planned, but he couldn't say that he wasn't pleased with the outcome. He had rescued Rava, given her a home, and had dwindled the numbers of those bastard slavers a bit in the process. Their future as parents was still up in the air and uncertain, but he had his husband that he loved so dearly and he had helped someone who very clearly needed and deserved it. He couldn't feel bad about that. "I can show you around the hot springs and the den more in the morning, Rava. You should get some rest." He moved away from Void's side so he could walk across to the opposite side of the den from their bedroom, leading Rava to a smaller room that had a bed made of a pile of plush furs piled along the back wall.

"Please make yourself at home," he told her with a smile. "If you want to change anything at all or add anything feel free. This is your space as long as you want it." He moved toward a small storage area between the two rooms and pulled out some preserved meats, setting them down in her room as well. "Just in case you get hungry." He backed away then, letting Rava get settled in her new room. "Goodnight, Rava," he said with a warm smile. That protective love deep in his chest for her had been building since the moment he laid his eyes on her squeezed at his heart as he turned to go back to his bedroom with Void.

He flopped down onto their bed with a heavy sigh, his own exhaustion creeping up on him. He'd need to go into the pack tomorrow to get his wounds looked at, but he was far too tired to do it now. They had been cleaned off pretty well at least so he wasn't too worried about them. Once Void joined him he snuggled into Void's form happily with his husband's head on his chest, hugging him tight and kissing across his face and ears. "I hope she's happy here," he mentioned quietly, letting his eyes close while the day replayed in his mind.

"Speech"

She was frozen in silence for a long moment as she laid eyes on the massive ivory dappled man. For a moment she prayed that Plague had been telling the truth, that this was a good man. He spoke softly and slowly, full of warm welcome. Dealing with wolves this nice and caring was so different from her whole life. Some had tried to help her, to the point of sacrificing her life for Rava. None had been as convincing or determined to show her a life of freedom. There was apart of her deep inside that wanted so badly to believe what she had happened upon, but trust had to be earned. At least Plague was telling her the truth so far.

”Hello,” she returned softly, her nervousness obvious within her voice but she accepted the two men before her and she didn’t run back out the entrance. What else could she do? She would die if she went back into the wilds right now. Thankfully his introduction wasn’t anything more than that as Plague moved forward and ushered her into a side room with the promise of showing her around tomorrow after some rest. Rava nodded slightly and followed him into her own room. It wasn’t a cage, there were no ropes or chains to bind her.

He told her to make herself comfortable and offered up the space for her to use. She lowered herself to the pile of furs, but jumped slightly when he returned with food, just in case. She looked a little sheepish but offered a slight smile. ”Thank you, goodnight.” Rava offered ever so softly as he backed away and she lowered her head to her paws. Even after everything she felt inexplicably saf where, and fell asleep swiftly.

Rava gave him a soft hello in return, something he honestly ahd not been expecting. Void didn’t want to push her too hard so offered a welcoming smile as Plague directed her to her room. Void didn’t know if they were any closer to expanding their family or not, but saving Rava from such a terrible fate was an accomplishment to Plague’s good nature. Void knew a long time ago that he loved this man, and seeing him with Rava somehow only intensified those feelings. He smiled and sighed softly as the pair disappeared into the side room and their guest could fully be considered home.

With Rava in bed Void followed Plague back to their bedroom, relieved to have the man home and relatively safe. He snuggled into the mound of furs next to his husband, wrapping his arms around his torso and leaning his head on his chest as the both of them sighed and relaxed into each other’s arms. He was peppered with affectionate kisses, and he lifted his features so he could return them. Void would never tire of the electricity he felt whenever their lips met, and the deep emotions that were evoked only by this amazing man.

"She will be, I’m sure it will take some time. This life is much different from what you saved her from. My mother…” He quieted and relaxed his head further into Plague’s pale white fur. Eulogy had never really recovered from her time as a captive, and now she was gone. "We’ll help her.” He said determinedly and kissed Plague once more.

"Speech"